PREVIOUSLY, ON EASTCAPADES …
“ADJUSTMENT DISORDERS”
A mysterious virus is spreading out all around the world. A pandemic state is declared. Canadian citizens abroad are encouraged to come back home if they do not want to be stranded on hostile land.
Air Canada is doing its part by tripling its flight prices. The decision is taken to evacuate from Mumbai to Brussels instead, cutting off a couple of months from our original plan. Thank you Turkish Airlines and your very affordable flight tickets allowing us to visit family on an improvised schedule.
It is March 2020, Belgium is inaugurating its first day of full lockdown as we are landing wrapped with a thick layer of 5 months of Indian vapes and dust. Yet, beautifully tanned,… “Cyclist Style”.
Brussels, Belgium, in a strict lockdown
6 weeks later, we are leaving our downtown Brussels Airbnb quarantine without much opportunities to visit anyone but the bakery and grocery around the corner.
Airport Checking stress, …glad we showed up 2 hours before flight schedule
Early May 2020, back in our homestead Vancouver, we are trying to figure out what’s next.
Alone in Brussels international airport ! A lifetime experience
Sunset on travel projects. Time to re-invente
The world is closing doors.
Paul and Jan, whom we have discovered through Instagram - @2lovecycling - and briefly met around coffees 7 months earlier, are avid cycle tourists themselves. They were cycle touring and posting stories from New Zealand, while we were cycling and posting from Central Asia in 2018. Small world…our unexpected common Vancouver Base Camp turned out to be only 20 minutes walk apart.
Both are feeling as stuck as we are, a decision is taken to imagine a bike trip from Home to Home. We just need to fill the gap between point A and point B. We hope that we could handle each other for 8 weeks despite any previous common bike trip experiences. Something that left the ladies concerned and maybe skeptical.
The guys optimism is paying back with one of the best experiences possible. The dices are rolling just fine during the entire trip that takes us all the way from Vancouver to San Jozef Bay on the North of Vancouver Island. Then, a ferry sails from Port Hardy to Bella Coola, from there we cycle to Gold Bridge through Chilcotin and along the Coast Mountain chain. Finally, the Hurley Pass is the last hurdle before Whistler. We manage to make it logistically in a COVID time restrictions and closures of all sorts and physically, despite very slow progress on deactivated horse trails covered by Mikados of dead falls and steep hiking trails over passes.
Nimpo Lake, not just another camp spot
Bikepacking at its best. The path along Taseko Lakes. Pushing is not cheating
Numerous unstable scree slopes are challenging our balance and ….nerves
Unexpected endless scree slopes on our way down to Warner Lake
The last push to reach Warner Pass
Edge Hills along the Fraser River.
A break off the muddy logging roads on Vancouver Island, on our way to San Josef Bay
Into the Chilcotin, leaving Bella Coola, heading South along the Coast mountain chain
Welcomed by a family on the shore of Big Lake. Unpacking our 5 days food supply parcel posted a couple of weeks earlier.
San Jozef Bay, North of Vancouver Island. A must go and explore
Ts’ilos peak viewed from Big Lake
We are scrambling with our loaded bikes. Fed by individual egos. The pride of each couple is constantly hiding the - sometimes - deep feeling of “WTF are we doing here”. Each couple waiting for the other one to give the loud DNF ( Do Not Finish) signal. Long silences replacing future remorses or regrets, we keep moving slowly forward, pushing, carrying, rarely pedaling on a ridiculous 50km during 6 days to finally reach Warner Pass.
The private, remote, cabin at the South tip of Taseko Lake offers a great camp spot before the long ascent to Warner Pass.
Warner Pass
Summer 2020 is punctuated by a few more shorter bike trips in the province, some with close friends we cycled with in the past, like in Nepal. A now regular bike reunion between members of “Team Nepal” as we like to call ourselves.
Sylvia with Alexa, Mary, Lang - “Team Nepal” -
Then,… winter 2020-2021 comes
Winter convoy
A project of winter Fatbiking trip in Quebec is impossible by COVID local restrictions. RJ and Sarah with their 2 year old son Oliver - instagram: @rjsauer - are looking at a winter bike trip in the Cariboo, on a newly open segment of the gold rush trail. A test journey is made more “comfortable” for the family of 3 by the adjonction of a pyramid tent and a portable wood stove. RJ is towing Oliver in his trailer and I am pulling a trailer with the camping supplies. Sarah’s and Sylvia’s bikes are loaded with food and more camping equipment.
The concerns regarding a young infant in cold temperatures seated in a trailer and being entertained at camp in the short days of January/February by temperatures flirting -15c, vanished after the first 24h. Oliver is showing a lot of enthusiasm and ease in all situations. This kid has probably spend as much time in the outdoors and in his trailer than in his own bed. Winter is not causing any further trouble for him.
Past winter races taught us the safety rules of winter outdoor experiences and the specific organisation imposed by such conditions. Everyone is busy with their tasks. Eventually, a brutal change in the snow conditions caused by unusual and sudden positive temperatures after 5 days are forcing us to cut the trip short, leaving the last 2 days of trail unexplored for another year and preserving the good team vibes.
Sudden warm up on Lake la Hache
2021, Spring…then Summer
Hope and pledge for better times, weekly being announced by the provincial health officer, clearly will never happen any time soon, we are taking the decision for a local summer bike trip again. The previous one, a rough 2000km loop, covered a very little part of British Columbia. Encouraged by the previous summer biking experience with Paul and Jan, we get together to make plans on the British Columbia backroad maps. Much more terrain and logging roads remain unexplored and many unsuspected secret places wait to be discovered. “Our” Canadian most western province has so much to offer that the unfortunate Pandemic becomes a great opportunity to find close what we are usually searching far. It may sound less exotic but it is definitely not less adventurous.
In the quest of a smoke and wildfire free area, we decide to hop islands between the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island with local supports.
Unexpected encounters
Secret trails creating links between main logging roads
Surprisingly most of the logging roads offer smoother surfaces than some paved Hwy
Only Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the numerous islands in between are not a fire hazard and are welcoming to our bike wheels.
The route needs constant adaptations. We are hopping with fun from one island to another with the help of local boat owners during our 6 weeks of biking and hiking. Another eye opener to confirm our “backyard” can satisfy all of our desires of escape from any kind of sad reality. Experiencing a pandemic time in BC is definitely not a punishment but a chance to explore our close environment that we otherwise would have postponed to a later date.
Improving our white water pack rafting technique on the Mamquam river with Cameron Fenton ( @camfenton604)
5c in the water, 45c in the air. Begging for more splashes during a Heat Dome event
Western Canada has much more to offer than only endless dirt roads and logging roads to ease explorations. Covered by about 17000 glaciers occupying 3% of British Columbia land mass, the province is a great playground for anyone who is looking for water fun other than those provided by 25725 km (!) of ocean coast lines. Each river, each lake becomes a wilderness Hwy. Traitorous environment that requires a minimum of expertise to be used safely.
Secret and type 2 fun trails
An original project to cycle from the northern part of the Rockies back to Vancouver does not take place because alike most of the North American West Coast, numerous wild fires and smoke are covering most of the province.
For some mysterious reasons, our morning starts seem to coincide with good climbs
Endless camp spots
Statment
British Columbia is a paradise. It is very disturbing to witness all the wounds and scars caused/left by climate change consequences. We can attest of more drought, more heat, more wind, more rain heading to extremes. The shocks are obvious from one year to another when we take the time to explore deep wilderness. Dry rivers and streams, sudden flash floods caused by dry and compact grounds require better and more logistics to make our outdoor journeys doable. Also, we have been surprised this last summer by many people and families squatting in tents or vans few wild rest areas for the summer months with, for some, no plans for the fall months. The Covid, the wildfires, have a huge toll on the economies and local opportunities. They impact dramatically many. As early as the first breath, we all become survivors and fighters. Nothing in existence should be taken for granted.
Canoe journey along Sechelt Inlets
Calm and serenity
Anniversary
Two years almost day to day and we are now anxiously counting down days on getting back on the road.
End of March, it will become true.
Lisbon-Portugal will be our starting point for hopefully another 6 months biking trip through Europe.
After the last 2 journeys in Asia, Sylvia wanted to challenge me with a maybe more appropriate project in a COVID time. Europe offering more flexible options and safety guards in case of a new crisis. The present updated crisis list, unfortunately, is not being reduced to a simple virus these days. A tacit pact to preserve the harmony of our relationship is to alternate bike ideas and projects. This year it’s Sylvia’s project.
From Portugal to North Cape in Norway, then cycling back South through Norway. Aware that the master words these days are “adjustment” and “flexibility”, we are keeping up in the air a special treat that should end and spice up the end of the journey: the Faroe Islands are at a short distance by plane from Norway and have a ferry sailing to the Eastern coast of Iceland. Eventually reaching our final destination, Reykjavik which is only 6h away by air to Vancouver….
So the mantra is ‘one day at a time’ and keep projects and ideas handy.
Bikes are ready, bodies have been consciously fattened all winter with too much of good food and probably lately less strenuous actions, our minds are open to whatever shows up and our spirits are charged at 100%.
An adventure is just a bad holiday by design. A rough draft of a possible route has been done, more to estimate the feasibility in terms of “time/distance” then the “must seen” highlights. Wild camping possibilities, remote places and natural environments will dictate daily choices. Sensations of adventure, sensations of uncertainty, need of adaptations, eventually will lead to the greatest satisfactions.
The use of our 6 senses and the feeling of freedom are more than ever the best treatment against a general morosity these days.
In 2020, riding our bikes through Nepal and India, we were looking daily over our shoulders, chased by the “virus”. This year, straddling our bikes, our sights will be all around, watching East Europe developments and keeping an eye on pandemic volatile situations. However, the wanderlust virus will drive our pedal strokes.
A bike wandering journey will give us back the feeling of freedom. Just a little bit of sweat….and we are both more than ready for it.
Never too much life.
to be continued…. from the road