Karl's Trip Across Canada

by Karl Augenstein

The ride covered 4,674 miles (7,539 kilometers).   The trip itself took 66 days, 55 riding and 10 rest days.  I didn't do this on my own.  I was one of 24 people who set off from Vancouver on June 29 as part of the Tour du Canada.

The journal is divided into sections to keep the pages from getting too large.  My apologies to those with a dial up connection.  The images will take a while to download, but it's worth the wait.

I'd love to hear from you -- comments, corrections or questions are welcome.  My address is karl@karlaugenstein.com.  Neri, the 70 year old rider in our group told me to put my phone number here.  Send me an email instead.

Tour du Canada ® - June 29 - September 2, 2000
"The Tour du Canada route is one that samples the flavour of the country.  It's a 7,250-kilometre (4,500-mile) trip that goes through all 10 provinces.  We ride from west to east, taking advantage of prevailing winds.  From Vancouver, we go through the Fraser River Canyon, across the Okanagan Valley and over Rogers Pass to reach the Rocky Mountains and Kicking Horse Pass.  Riding alongside Prairie grain fields, we pass old dinosaur trails near Drumheller and the Qu'Appelle and Red River Valleys.  In the rugged granite canyons of the Canadian Shield, we track the northern shores of the Great Lakes.  And in Southern Ontario, we follow rural roads past historic settlements to reach the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.  From the capital, we follow the Ottawa, Richelieu and St. Lawrence Rivers to reach the sea.  Along the way we pass through Old Montreal and Quebec City.  After crossing the base of the Gaspe Peninsula, we follow the Acadian Coast in New Brunswick to the Prince Edward Island bridge.  Then it's on to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island for the ferry to the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland." - Bud Jorgensen, TDC organizer

For those of you who don't recognize the landmarks above, we went through or around most major Canadian cities:  Vancouver, Banff, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and St. John's.  Bud's description did nothing for me before the trip.  I checked out maps, trying to find the names and met with little success.  Now I sit back and incredible memories come pouring back - the first climbs in the Fraser River Canyon, Robert climbing Kicking Horse Pass twice, the horrible headwinds riding into Fort Qu'Appelle, and so many more.  

I wrote this journal to let friends and family back home join me on the trip without having to put up with the uncomfortable seat of a bicycle.  After Bud and Margot added a link to it from the CycleCanada homepage a few readers from Canada, the US, and even a few from Europe admitted to wasting time following along.  Now that the trip is finished, I've done a little editing and have added more photos. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Other views and other years (and darn good reads):

	The Great Canadian Cycling Adventure by Alan Medcalf
	"SPIN, SPIN, SPIN", A 1996 Cross-Canada Bicycle Adventure by Don Peddie