You’re Doing What? Cycling Across Canada at Your Age?

    I try not to dwell on the outrageous proposition in front of me in just 3 weeks time; cycling across Canada to act as an ambassador for Ovarian Cancer Canada.  It provokes a performance anxiety – both the riding and the public speaking parts – that makes we wobble just when the way, and my tires, need to be true. To reassure myself, I spool back a  memory or two. “Remember those day-after-day slogs in the mud in northern Queensland, the climbs through canyons in southern France with a fully-loaded bike, and the relentless rattling along the Pamir Highway on roads so rutted you wished they were still dirt  tracks?”

         Perhaps, indeed, the recounting of a few of those billion steps and pedals around the earth may help to convince myself, and perhaps you, that even a self-doubting mortal and non-athlete like me might be able to do this.

Don’t Stop Walking

            The building of my endurance muscles started with walking. I got intrigued by the reports of the 800 kilometre long ‘camino’ in northern Spain (‘the way’ in English, and in Martin Sheen’s movie) which passed through fairytale villages and farms and vineyards that had been part of the pilgrim’s story for 1000 years.  Twenty-five kms a day for a month seemed the standard estimate of the pilgrim’s journey, and I started to consider whether one of those pilgrims could be me.  I began to walk.  I had hiked before – the West Coast Trail, Inca Trail, Kilimanjaro, Abel Tasman Trail – but they had been week-long hikes 30 years ago.  I walked some more.  After six months of seriously dedicating myself to long-distance walking,  I hit 25 kms.  I was ready.

         I didn’t stop walking until, over the process of three years and three trips to Europe, I had completed 3 caminos and 2750 kilometres.  And from there, I began exploring the more rugged, isolated and stunningly beautiful coast of Turkey and islands of Greece.  I loved how it felt, I loved the proximity to life on-and-off-road, and I loved the self-powered autonomy it gave you.  I began to turn down rides in everyday life when distances were less than 5 kilometres.

Don’t Stop Cycling

            Cycling?  A love of mine since forever. Hoping to incorporate that love into everyday experience, I started commuting to work on my bike in my 20s, and more intensely in my 30s  I didn’t mind all its other bonuses, either; its silence (which was reason I ditched the motorcycle), its health benefits and its righteousness as a low-cost, non-fossil fuel burning transportation alternative (and no, I never did preach about it.  As a teacher, I had too many other things to preach about for a living….).

        Ten kilometres a day became 35, became 55.  In six years of commuting, I circumnavigated the earth (40,000 kms), and began to feel that touring may be a possibility.  Meeting a committed cyclist from New Zealand who had cycled up from San Diego to the Canadian Rockies in her 40s kickstarted the process.  After cycling many of the national parks in the Rockies together, many of which involved punishing three hour ascents, a world was opened.  New Zealand, Hawaii, Alaska & Yukon, then a 2-week cycle through Europe, followed.  I managed all on loaded bikes, tent included.

          The tricky part has been continuing to do this into my 60s.  Luckily, there have been a few exemplars to follow, like Bettina Selby and Dervla Murphy, whose colourful accounts of riding through Asia and Africa in their 60s have kept the dream alive. The main thing, like anything you want to do respectably well,  is to do it…..daily.  And challenging yourself to go a little bit longer, a little bit faster, and  a little bit harder.  Occasionally riding with gear, or entering a road race also boosts the challenge.  Putting your developing skills on public display is a great way to put your commitment to the test!

Cycling the Silk Road

            Joining a tour is yet another way to challenge yourself, and mingle with like-minded sports enthusiasts.  After a few years of building time and mileage on the bike (retirement helped there as did including the

bike in my luggage when we retreated to Mexico for the winter), I found reason to believe I could keep up with a tour on the Silk Route in Asia  It was run by TDA Global Cycling – a Canadian bike tour company that specializes in epic trans-continental expeditions –  and this particular tour called my name.

          And challenge it did; 130 km a day through heavenly mountains but hellish roads and brutal expectations.  Sometimes there would be two ascents a day – 1000 metres each time –and they would be fueled by locally sourced food in countries where people’s main sustenance is yak’s milk, and with accommodation as luxurious as you could make your own tent.

Cycling Across Canada

            It did make me stronger, though, and has made training for this tour surprisingly doable.  Fifty kms a day, six times a week, with a little time in the gym to ensure key core and back muscles will be working for me on those long ascents and afternoon rides.

            So when you consider that, after some of the demands I’ve put on myself, I’ll be riding 100 km days with a support van in a country with paved roads, traffic signs, running water and fresh seasonal produce aplenty, the mega-ride is suddenly looking a lot more friendly.  And when you couple that with the possibility of making a positive impact on women’s lives, the upcoming adventure may not only be a congenial one, but meaningful, too.

         Come, follow my ride. And if you’d like to learn more specifics about how to prepare for long-distance touring, and sail alongside me when you can on this tour – start by subscribing to my blog.  A free PDF – “How to Train for Long-Distance Cycling” – will magically follow.  See you on the road!