Toronto ➔ PEI Tracker

Day 20: Saint Peter's Harbour – THE END!

This 20-day long journey has finally come to a close. We reached our final destination, Saint Peter's Harbour today (July 12) at approximately 2:30 p.m, Atlantic Standard Time. While we are definitely hanging up the bikes for at least a few weeks, this has been an absolutely amazing trip, and we are so grateful to have been able to take it. Before we left, we were asked what it would mean for this journey of raising funds and awareness to be successful. We said that having the ability to touch just one person's life would make the whole jourey successful. This trip has definitely done that and more. We interacted with countless people, each with a different story, and even some who had suffered or were suffering from prostate cancer. We also learned a lot ourselves, but if there's any one takeaway from the past 3 odd weeks, it's that there is so much goodness in the world. We did not have a confirmed place to stay or shower a single night, and yet through the kindness of complete strangers, we managed to get both each and every night. Whether it was a fire station, marina, country club, or a local's house, there was always someone willing to help.

Day 19: Bonshaw

Today was a very civilized day. We woke up at around 5:30 (as per usual), and were given a lovely breakfast involving aloo parantha's from Bharat. We hit the road around 7, and managed to do 30 KM before stopping in Shediac on the coast. It was in this moment that the last three weeks of biking finally began to feel real. We were finally on the Atlantic Ocean, and could practically taste how close we were to PEI. When we got around 30 KM out from the Confederation Bridge to PEI, we could see it in the distance. While we couldn't bike across it, the shuttle service was pretty easy and dropped us right on the other side of the bridge. The only hiccup was the fact that we only could take one bag each... see the pictures for our solution. It was almost surreal to finally be in PEI after working toward getting here for almost a month. We were taken aback by how red the sand was on the island, and of course had to stop at a beach for an hour. After our stop, we biked another 20 KM before reaching our warmshowers for the night in Bonshaw, PEI. Our hosts for the night, Marion and Tony are super kind, and also have a deep passion for the environment which led to some nice conversations at dinner and exchanges of stories. After dinner, Marion took us for a paddle on the beautiful Bonshaw river. We saw many herons and much wildlife. Tonight we risk getting wet with no fly on our tent. Tomorrow, we make it to Saint Peter's Harbour at last!

Day 18: Moncton

Today went about as well as a rainy day could have gone. We woke up in a mildly wet tent at about 6:45 and got out to make some breakfast around 7. The Lions club staff arrived around 8am and opened the building. After eating breakfast, Rohan got some work done (digging his own grave writing a program to replace himself) and Theo got a good 2 hours of scrolling done! We were able to use the toaster to make some delicious sandwiches for the road. After a couple technical difficulties with drying the tent, we managed to pack up and head out around 12:45 pm. Since we only had 30km to go, it was a breeze and we got here around 3. Tonight, we are staying with Rohan's family friend Bharat and his family. They are extremely kind people and excellent hosts.

Day 17: Salisbury

This trip has gone from a battle of stalemate and attrition to one of highways and avoiding rain. Last night and decided to wake up at 4 am (bad idea #1) to get a head start on the day given Rohan's meetings at 10-11:30. By the time we found a place to stop for the meetings, we ate nearly all our sandwiches (bad idea #2) and reached the 60km mark. We still have yet to decide on a place to stay for the night, we figured it would be a problem for another hour (bad idea #3). Nonetheless, we stopped at the only grocery store/gas station for the next while. There, we made some Uncle Ben’s and merged onto the Trans Canada Highway (bad idea #4). By this point, I (Theo) was dead set on the idea of Salisbury which was a town only 26km away from Moncton. This would leave us with a 26km day when it is supposed to rain. Much to the discontent of Rohan (sorry man), this meant about 50km of rolling hills on the Trans Canada shoulder. Eventually, we got off and made our way into Salisbury. Here, we knocked on some doors and pitched our tent in Blair’s backyard. Luckily, we were able to take a shower next to Blair's. Gracie, who was the lifeguard on duty, kindly let us use the shower and wifi, and we had a great conversation! Hopefully the rain isn’t too bad tomorrow, but regardless it’s safe to say that we will hopefully make it to Moncton in one piece! All in all, we did 160 KM today, leaving a pidly 25 for tomorrow.

Day 16: Fredericton

If we’ve learned anything from today, it’s to never trust the New Brunswick trail. Though flat, we were sentenced to 40 km of brutal terrain, rocky grounds and potholes (all without any turn offs or alternate roads btw). Luckily that’s there and here there’s none of that! The rest of today’s ride was scenic and hilly. At this point we will take that over the treacherous “NB Trail”…. We made quick work of Fredricton, taking a wonderful shower at the fire department, where the head fire officer Rick was kind enough to let us in. Afterwards, we talked to several of the firefighters, who super cool. We quickly grabbed groceries at the Sobeys, and did laundry at the laundromat. Tonight we stay with Amy and Michael who were kind enough to let us camp in their back yard after we knocked on their door!

Day 15: Hartland

We met a lot of super cool people today. We left Isabelle and Clay's, where we made 12 eggs once again (thanks guys), and rode down toward Hartland. Throughout the day, we hopped between the trail (which was flat, but extremely poorly maintained) and the road (which was well maintained, but hilly and had cars). Eventually, we reached a town called Bath, where we went to fill up our water bottles at a house. The guy who lived there, Mike, invited us to his backyard where we were treated to grapes, and a nice conversation for a few hours. After about an hour, his brother Tom came, who drove in from Halifax. When we mentioned that we did not have a place to shower or sleep for the night, Tom suggested we try the golf and country club in Hartland. We called ahead, and spoke to John who was incredibly kind. John let us shower, and treated us to a meal at the clubhouse, and then led us to the club's trailer park where we are currently staying. He was extremely kind, and we ended up having a great day!

Day 14: Grand Sault

Today was a short day, culminating in a crazy series of hills at the end. We left Edmundston at 7:15, local time after a generous breakfast provided by Denis and Lynne. The first 50 KM were pretty relaxed, however when we got close to our destination, we saw some of the biggest hills we'd ever seen. To make matters worse, they were rolling hills, so we just went up and down several times. We arrived at our warmshowers for the night, whcih is just outside of Grand Sault, NB. Isabelle and Clay, our hosts for the night, are wonderful people. They welcomed us into their house, despite the fact that they had a lot going on with a three year old and a 10 month old. We spent a long time just exchanging stories with them about bike trips. They are some of the few people we met who travel by bike in a similar way to us, and are honestly super down to earth people. After dinner, Clay gave us a tour of the potato farm, which was one of the coolest things we've seen this trip. He explained that they grow millions of potatoes each year, and showed us the massive storage facilities, and drove us through the fields! Sadly, we didn't get a photo with both Isabelle and Clay aas Clay left for work early, but we did managed to get a photo with each of them separately!

Day 13: Edmundston

Today was a long day, but it ended on a very high note. We left Riviere-du-Loup at around 7 and headed for Edmundston. It was extremely cold, even after we put on all our clothes. We biked on, stopping at a gas station to make some Uncle Ben's rice with our gasoline-powered stove. By this point, we realized that we had spent too long there, and were on track to get to Edmundston at 5 pm due to the time change (ahead one hour). We arrived in Edmundston at 6:30 pm, AST, with the plan to shower at a fire station again. Unfortunately, the Edmundston fire department did not have a shower, so that was out. We spent the next hour searching for a place to shower, before we eventually cut our losses and began to look for a place to stay. It was at this point that our fortunes took a complete 180. After many "no's," one couple finally allowed us to camp in their backyard. Denis and Lynne took us in, eventually setting us up with an air mattress in their garage, let us shower inside, invited us in to use their kitchen to make dinner, and even gave us ice cream sandwiches. We then talked for about an hour, after we met their son Mark. They are truly lovely people, and made our day infinitely better. Tomorrow, we head for Grand Sault!

Day 12: Riviere-du-Loup

Today started off mildly upsetting, but was able to redeem itself at the end. Yesterday, we were unable to find jam for our peanut butter and jam sandwiches, so we chose to buy marmalade instead, thinking it would be fine. Unfortunately, the two did not mix and they required much water to go down. We left La Pocatière this morning at 7:30, and set off on road 132. We followed it for about 80 KM until we reached Riviere-du-Loup (pretty quickly because we dreaded stopping to eat). We finished the sandwiches before Riviere du loup, and bought a bunch of instant noodles, fruit, and supplies for tomorrow. We ate the instant noodles in the parking lot, spending a total of 2 hours there. Finally, we left Riviere du Loup and followed a rail trail towards Edmundston, NB. The trail was essentially uphill for all 20 KM we took it, but eventually we arrived at a beautiful campsite on the side of the trail. We were able to bathe in the river. Overall, a pretty good day!

Day 11: La Pocatière

Today was a long, hot day. Many bottles of water were consumed. We stopped for lunch along the Saint Lawrence, which was super nice. We also had a 30 KM/H tailwind, which propelled us towards La Pocatière; we were cruising between 30 and 40 KM/H for a lot of the day. When we arrived at La Pocatière, we didn't know if we would get a shower because we were staying in someone's backyard, so we stopped by a local fire station to ask. The guy (Mattias) was super nice, and let us take a shower in the station's showers. We an absolute dinner of champions, clocking in with instant ramen, oreos, powdered milk, and tea.

Day 10: Quebec City

Today (which started with a flat tire) we had a crazy tailwind. We managed to crank out our short 65 KM in just a few hours, which put us in Quebec City at around noon. We got Theo's bike checked out upon arriving in Quebec City, and went to the old city for lunch. Afterwards, we were welcomed into Mark and Joanne's home, where we are spending the night! We were treated to burgers and salad in their yard.

Day 9: Lyster

Today was probably the hottest day we had so far. We each drank several litres of water, while sweating buckets. The ride itself was extremely flat, and entirely on rail trails. Overall a pretty average day. We were welcomed in Lyster by Mariette and Inree, a local couple, which required us to brush up on our French! We did not take many pictures today :(

Day 8: Richmond

Today was a great day. We start strong again with another 12 eggs, scrambled of course. We biked through some super nice paved trails again before getting into the countryside. Eventually, the paved trails were no more, and we found ourselves on a dirt road. While it was slightly tougher, and uphil, we managed to make it to Richmond. We hit 60 KM/H on our descent into Richmond, and saw literal smoke coming off Rohan's brakes when we stopped (no joke, we really did). We were welcomed by Guy, who lives in Richmond, and is an amazing cook. We had some amazing deer meat, which he hunted himself, as well as greens, potatoes, and to top it off, some excellent panacota. At the end of meal, as is tradition in Quebec, we had a plate of fresh cheese.

Day 7: Granby

Today was a long day. We started strong with 12 scrambled eggs, and some turkey bacon. After Theo's bike trouble yesterday, we left Montreal at around 10:30, and headed for Granby. Leaving Montreal, we biked through some of the best bike paths we'd ever seen. They were super straight, flat, paved, and completely isolated from cars. We are starting to get to the point where things are starting to hurt, but the end is still quite far. In Granby, we are staying with Andre, a warmshowers host with a beautiful mini house in his backyard. Tomorrow, we are aiming for Richmond.

Day 6: Montreal

Yesterday we chose to make it all the way to Montreal. We were forced to make a pitstop at McDonald’s to make all our sandwiches for the day which set us back an hour. While we were eating our sandwiches (after passing the Ontario/Quebec border), we were welcomed into a Mel and Willem's backyard where we shared lovely stories and they provided us with plenty of food. They were absolutely lovely people, and genuinely interested in our journey! Unfortunately, this did set us back another hour (though it was totally worth it). With just about 65 km left, the rain began to come down hard (it was a torrential downpour). While putting the tent in a garbage bag, Theo’s bike fell and his pannier rack broke. Luckily, nothing important got wet, and we were able to do laundry and dry off when we arrived in Rohan’s apartment in Montreal. The rain finally stopped and we made it to Montreal by 7:15 pm with spirits at an all time low. On Monday (today now) we go to bike shops to get a new pannier rack.

Day 5: Cornwall

Day 5 was smooth sailing for the most part (our legs are taking a toll)... A late start at 9 am meant we were playing catch up all day, but thankfully the weather gods were on our side once again. Almost all of the ride today was wonderfully flat, with negligible head winds and other bad omens. We met a few riders doing the same ride today from Brockville to Cornwall, and they were More than happy to chat! Tonight we stay with Tish and Terry in Cornwall, who was kind enough to provide a delicious roasted chicken with ice cream for dessert. We plan to head all the way to Montreal tomorrow (134 km) and take a rest day there.

Day 4: Brockville

Today was an extremely lucky day. We woke up at 5:30 initially, but we pushed the wakeup by an hour since it was pouring rain, in hopes of dodging the rain. The morning started with egg and english muffin sandwiches from Richard, which were super good and kept us fueled! When we passed through Kingston we met up with our friend Evan. Throughout the day, we encountered some mild rain, but mostly stayed dry. Much of today was biked on a trail beside the Thousand Islands Parkway, which was awesome. Yesterday's cheese and turkey sandwiches were a success and we stopped along the trail on a nice rocky outcrop to eat the second batch. We arrived in Brockville around 3 pm, where we were greeted by our Warmshower hosts Jacky and Ralf. They are extremely kind, they provided us with showers, dinner, and several hours of conversations, including their cycling adventures across the world! Shortly after our arrival it began to pour rain.

Day 3: Amherstview

We planned for rain in the morning, but instead we were greeted with clear skies and sun! A cool train on the side of the road caught our attention, so naturally we had to climb it. As soon as we got to Amherstview around 3, the rain started coming down while getting groceries. Tonight we stay with Richard, who is letting us sleep in his garage (and let us take a shower) while the rain comes down (fingers crossed it's over by tomorrow). Richard is a super awesome host, we talked to him about his biking adventures and he helped us with some route planning for 2 hours! We plan to change up the diet tomorrow with chicken and cheese sandwiches so we will be sure to give a rating!

Day 2: Belleville

Today was a rest day. We started by eating 12 eggs, then rode a total of 80 KM to Belleville. Shoutout to the Crate Marine Belleville for letting us shower and do laundry!

We met a lot of cool people today. While biking we met Clyde and Tia who were finishing a coast-to-coast bike ride.

We also met Tom, who worked at the Crate Marine and is training for an Iron Man this summer. After we were clean, we knocked on doors and Madeleine and Abi were kind enough to let us pitch our tent in their yard for the night!

Day 1: Cobourg

Navigated our way out of Toronto early this morning. Had a long, 140 KM day, through semi-hilly terrain. Made it to Cobourg where we were welcomed by Sheila and Ken.

The adventure officially begins!