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Dec 4, 2017
Day 217: A Glitch in the Timeline
This is the last post in a while and, therefore, a long one. One of the books my father grew up on was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance...
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Aug 25, 2017
Day 117: Hitchhiked
We had a cold rain yesterday that reminded me of nothing more than the late-spring rains on the highways of Newfoundland. In talking about the logistics of getting to the...
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Aug 23, 2017
Day 115: From Sun to Sun
Overnight there was a hard rainstorm. It didn’t start until after we’d settled into bed, and it was raining so hard I had a strong feeling it wouldn’t last until...
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Aug 21, 2017
Day 113: Hills Towards the Yukon
Left Liard after sleeping in for a bit because of the lingering rain. Then came the hills northwest towards the Yukon border. The road follows the Liard River for the...
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Aug 19, 2017
Day 111: Mountain Pass
Got a free cinnamon bun (yum), perused a pictoral history of the building of the Alaska Highway (wow) and got the news that my climb over Steamboat yesterday (tiring) was...
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Aug 17, 2017
Day 109: Catch-up in Fort Nelson
Writing about the rodeo took most of the day. Met a French couple hitchhiking south who had bicycled up from Vancouver, then canoed the Peace and Slave Rivers over the...
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Aug 15, 2017
Day 107: Mountains on the Horizon
More highway life northwest of Fort St John. I met the first bicyclists I’ve seen since Manitoba(!), which was a really great few minutes. I felt reluctant to leave them,...
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Aug 14, 2017
Day 106: Stay in Your Lane
We spent most of the day filming Wiel Prosper, one of the architects behind the gathering which has become hoodstock. My dear friend Derakhshan offered her kitchen to film in...
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Aug 13, 2017
Day 105: My First Rodeo
Today was a very, very cool day. I woke up early, not realizing that Dawson Creek goes along with Pacific Standard Time, and wandered around the deserted early-morning post-Saturday-night fairgrounds...
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Aug 12, 2017
Day 104: We Are Done Now
One of the most jarring mornings as I wake up in Montreal North. I have it unpacked fairly and clearly where I am but do not have the time or...
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Aug 11, 2017
Day 103: View of the Valley
I started the day with about 60 km to Valleyview. I wasn’t sure if I would have enough water so was thrilled to find a little motel (which wasn’t even...
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Aug 10, 2017
Day 102: How does this shape policy?
For a few seasons now I’ve wanted to check out the BuzzFeed offices, so this morning I met with my cuz, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, and we commuted down to work together....
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Aug 9, 2017
Day 101: Back on the Road
Made it back on the road today, with a lift out of Edmonton from my gracious hosts. Getting back on the bike felt a lot better than I expected; I...
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Aug 8, 2017
Day 100: A Chicken Before Eggs
Channeling one of my favourite photographers, Taha Mahuruma, as I wander the streets of Toronto. My Aunt Jay Pitter invited me to gathering in Montreal North this upcoming weekend so...
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Aug 7, 2017
Day 099: Board Games
I played three board games today, which I think may be a record and I also think is indicative of the good company I am in with my hosts in...
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Aug 6, 2017
Day 098: Tell Her About It
A good metric of success in life, I think, is how many weddings you are invited to and I’m at the point in my life, already somehow, where folks are...
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Aug 5, 2017
Day 097: Heritage Fest
This weekend in Edmonton is the Heritage Festival, a three-day celebration of diversity with dance, arts and foods represented from over 100 different countries. It’s the largest multicultural festival in...
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Aug 4, 2017
Day 096: Glitch in the Timeline
When I spent some time with Ryan McMahon in Winnipeg he showed me to me some of the artifacts and gifts in his bundles. One of them was a Treaty...
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Aug 3, 2017
Day 095: Greyhound
Today we grabbed a Greyhound bus from Saskatoon to Edmonton in order to make it to the city in time for Asad’s flight back to Toronto for a wedding. I...
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Aug 2, 2017
Day 094: Oxbow Community
We got in early in the morning from Esk to Saskatoon, hitching a ride with Charlie the direct grain feedlot farmer who was driving past Saskatoon with his brother. “Today...
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Aug 1, 2017
Day 093: Perfect Weather For All of August
Writing from a kids’ fort in the backyard of a rural Saskatchewan farmer. Today was perfect weather; after a really hot day and a really windy today, someone sent us...
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Jul 31, 2017
Day 092: Prairie Chicken in this Headwind
If you asked me today why the chicken crossed the road, I’d respond with something about the headwind forcing it to move across the highway. It was the windiest day...
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Jul 30, 2017
Day 091: Give My Apologies to Manitoba
This day felt bizarrely long. We had a beautiful breakfast on the farm we stayed at in between Bagot and MacGregor. Then hit the road as the sun was starting...
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Jul 29, 2017
Day 090: Morning Comes Early
We rolled out of town a little later than expected, I was up trying to catch up on some (paper) mail correspondences while meeting some interesting folks at one of...
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Jul 28, 2017
Day 089: Provincial Archives
Spent most of the morning working on some overdue written and audio pieces, most notably Energy East from North Bay, an interview that I’ve been working on for a while....
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Jul 27, 2017
Day 088: Centre longitudinal du Canada
When we were growing up in the Middle East and Canada and would go back to India and drive from Delhi or Meerut to my mother’s hometown where my paternal...
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Jul 26, 2017
Day 087: Hello, Manitoba
It’s almost 1:30 AM in Winnipeg after around 150 km at this point so I’m going to keep this brief. Bicycle maintenance kept us in Kenora. It was the farmers’...
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Jul 25, 2017
Day 086: Mecca for Cyclists
We got up and got going and it was a beautiful day. We’ve been so exceedingly fortunate in SO many innumerable regards, the weather being one of them. Hopefully it...
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Jul 24, 2017
Day 085: The Return of Sunshine
Today felt pretty uneventful when I looked back on it. There wasn’t a lot of wind. There was a lot of sunshine. I think highlight was meeting Andy, a cyclist...
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Jul 23, 2017
Day 084: Good Things in Threes (and Twos)
Every now and then you meet people on the road that you somehow wish you weren’t spending more time than necessary with. We met someone like that yesterday. People like...
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Jul 22, 2017
Day 083: Westward
We left Thunder Bay with a tailwind and a very fond farewell to our hosts, the guys of Community Spokes. Definitely the kind of place and the kind of people...
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Jul 21, 2017
Day 082: Access to Clean Water
There aren’t too many photos of today. The batteries of my DSLR died, I wasn’t traveling with the film camera. So the images are from Farhan Yousaf. We decided to...
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Jul 20, 2017
Day 081: Painting in the Rain
This is going to be a slightly strange log entry because all of the photos are Asad’s and all the stories are unrelated. We spent most of the day in...
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Jul 19, 2017
Day 080: It Is Getting Worse
The airport code for Thunder Bay is YQT which I find to be lovely. It’s like the question, “Why cutie?” Jonathon had a series of flats in the morning, he...
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Jul 18, 2017
Day 079: First Flat Tire
Another cool morning. I kept my rain pants on although it started getting warm, especially on the uphill sections, because I knew a thunderstorm was rolling towards us. Eventually it...
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Jul 17, 2017
Day 078: The Mob Did It Better, There Was Less Crime
We went to sleep quite late talking to Pierre and Lori and then wandered over to eat our breakfast with their fire. Toast with jam, mmmm. Dianne and I had...
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Jul 16, 2017
Day 077: Feels Later Than July
We were on the road by 8:30 AM but it wasn’t until after 11 that I really felt warm. I kept telling myself I should put on a layer but...
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Jul 15, 2017
Day 076: Four Years Later, Different and the Same
We woke up to the sound of waves, beautiful and incredible spot, and the bugs weren’t too bad. We started zigging and zagging. Wawa wasn’t too far and as I...
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Jul 14, 2017
Day 075: The Day I Met a Trucker
Headed north after a lovely breakfast with André and Andrea into the hills of the Lake Superior coast. The clouds broke up and the sun came out. The warmth felt...
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Jul 13, 2017
Day 074: Welcome to my Camp
We finally left the Soo, it was a bit of a dilly-dally in the morning while waiting for my rear wheel to be built. Something the owner of Velorution worked...
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Jul 12, 2017
Day 073: Goodbye Sunshine
More writing today. The rain poured down all morning and I thought to myself that one of these rainy days I really ought to find myself a hot chocolate. Among...
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Jul 11, 2017
As the Raven Flies, Flight No. 4
Light as rain, humorous as…well…you’ll find out if you listen. Covering a wide range of topics in three pieces: Belgian fries, reunions with dear friends, and a story that provides...
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Jul 11, 2017
Day 072: Want the Culture Not the Struggle
Whenever there is a bed to sleep in, my body takes its time rolling out. I don’t mind this much. You take your hours of rest when you can and...
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Jul 10, 2017
Day 071: Warm Sky, Cold Water
Spent the day working on pieces about Shaylynn from Beausoleil First Nation and Ruth from Arviat on the coast of Hudson Bay, as well as editing and uploading photos for...
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Jul 9, 2017
Day 070: 2 AM in Stockholm
We woke up in the horse shed that we called home last night, a little later than expected. I don’t know where the sense of tiredness came from. But we...
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Jul 8, 2017
Day 069: Sagamok Pow Wow
The first thing we did this morning was pedal south to Sagamok First Nation, where we interviewed two Ojibwe Elders, Dolores and Harvey. They talked about residential schooling and the...
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Jul 7, 2017
Day 068: Free Cab Ride
We left late from Sudbury; I was wandering around the night before with my dear friend, harvesting audio of train tracks (didn’t quite get what I wanted but something). We...
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Jul 6, 2017
Day 067: Power in the Blood
We left North Bay late, but thanks to our amazing host Liz who gave us a boost, still made it to Sudbury on time. Plus we stopped at Duchesnay Falls...
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Jul 5, 2017
Day 066: Jackson Pollock Made CrĂŞpes
I’m exhausted. Jonathon wrote about this earlier about Ottawa not being as much of a respite as we’d hoped it would be. I could not agree more. My friend Grant,...
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Jul 4, 2017
Day 065: Midnight Curry
I biked up to a gas station in the morning in order to refill my water, and was surprised to find that the tap water was untested and therefore undrinkable....
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Jul 3, 2017
Day 064: Encrusted Saxifrage
Slept in a little in one of the comfiest beds of the entire tour. There is something magical about revisiting a place that felt like a portal into how you...
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Jul 2, 2017
As the Raven Flies, Flight No. 3
Our most poetic and rapidly produced episode yet. Recorded on Canada Day in Ottawa on July 1st, 2017. Would love to hear any feedback you have, please send it to...
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Jul 2, 2017
Day 063: Headed West
In the morning, there was blue sky littered with cumulus clouds. After a while it clouded over, looked like it was going to rain, then cleared up again. We packed...
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Jul 1, 2017
Day 062: Pro-Indigenous Movement
There was a sunrise ceremony at 5 AM in the morning and I meant to be there but Ottawa hasn’t given me the physical rest I’d hoped for, which meant...
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Jun 30, 2017
Day 061: Home on Native Land
We were at the Faith in Canada 150 Millennial Summit all morning, but I left a bit early to join the Indigenous reoccupation on Parliament Hill. I’m writing this on...
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Jun 29, 2017
Day 060: Pods and Parliaments
It is the first day of the Faith in Canada 150 Conference which we’d been racing to Ottawa to get to in time. It’s held at the Global Centre for...
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Jun 28, 2017
Day 059: Ottawa Plans
Not much to report for today. Spent the day doing historical research and interviewed someone at Canadian Blood Services. Made myself grilled cheese at lunch, which was nice, and enjoyed...
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Jun 27, 2017
As the Raven Flies, Flight No. 2
The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the second episode of our podcast! Three stories from three people in three different places. Coloured People in Quebec and Cyclists Hitchhiking as...
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Jun 27, 2017
Day 058: Parallel Tracks
Jonathon is staying in Ottawa while I quickly venture for one of my shortest visits to Toronto ever. Trains move a lot faster than bicycles. I bid farewell to one...
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Jun 26, 2017
Day 057: The End of an Era
We made it to Ottawa, which has been our de facto destination for the last several weeks, if not months. From here we recalibrate, re-plan, and set out across inland...
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Jun 25, 2017
Day 056: A Pitstop for the Heart
I fell asleep late last night. Some of my favourite people live in Montreal and I asked them to show up and they did. Always a surprise. Some of them...
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Jun 24, 2017
Day 055: The Taste of Summer
Years ago, I lost the cap off the mode dial of my Canon 6D. It never posed a problem and I figured it was a cosmetic issue, until I ran...
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Jun 23, 2017
Day 054: Route Des Fleurs
We rolled out a little s-l-o-w, I’m not entirely sure why but I think we perhaps suspected how long the day would be. We had a call with our terrific...
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Jun 22, 2017
Day 053: Unexpected Catch-Up
Hung around for a bit in the morning because we had a live interview on SiriusXM radio, then headed out into the sunshine with an expectedly brief stop at a...
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Jun 21, 2017
Day 052: Route de la Nouvelle France
We began early and biked into the mist, away from the wonderful spot where we’d camped indoors and eaten dinner in the dark to keep from being discovered. The weather...
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Jun 20, 2017
Day 051: Thunderous
Whirlwind of a day. Started out being chased away from our campsite by blackflies. Despite doing our best to hide from them by not showering in…forever, feels like. In Saint-Siméon,...
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Jun 19, 2017
Day 050: Route des Baleines et Du Fjord
When I woke up this morning, the outdoors looked like a river filled with piranhas. This photo is maybe a third of the bugs which were actually waiting for me....
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Jun 18, 2017
Day 049: Back Into the Woods
Today was arguably the flattest day on the trip so far. Back beside the Chic-Choc Mountains northwest of Gaspé was pretty flat, with high cliffs rising behind the ocean-level highway,...
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Jun 17, 2017
Day 048: Quand la voiture (et le cœur) a arreté
Some days inspire, perspire and conspire to concoct their own epics and sonnets and ballads and sheres and kavitas and more. Today felt like one of them. It was so...
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Jun 16, 2017
Day 047: Out of the Woods
This morning was all hills, and I was grateful that we’d started as early in the morning as we had because the air was cool and still. Still, I ran...
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Jun 15, 2017
Day 046: Si Dieu Le Veut
It is just past 9 PM and I am toast. One of the main differences between this tour and past tours is that the work spills past sunset. All the...
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Jun 14, 2017
Day 045: Windy Coast
Asad was up with our farmer host, George, in order to help bottlefeed an orphan calf, say good morning to the barn cats, and grind some fresh coffee beans. The...
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Jun 13, 2017
Day 044: Frette Pas
We were up and at it early. Lovely to have the extra hour of sleep due to the timezone shift. Jonathon had asked someone if we could camp on their...
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Jun 12, 2017
Day 043: Time to Practice Speaking French
Biked from the country’s only bilingual province into the country’s only French province. “When you get to the other side,” said a local in Campbellton, “you’re in Québec.” I’m not...
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Jun 12, 2017
Bienvenue au Quebec
We’re in Quebec! It’s only the second timezone we’ve crossed into.
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Jun 11, 2017
As the Raven Flies, Flight No. 1
The moment you’ve all been waiting for, the first episode of our podcast! A hodge podge of clips from the road, a cultural museum’s retired-teacher-turned-fisherman captain, a former machinist talking...
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Jun 11, 2017
Day 042: Helluva Drug, Youth
We woke up with the intention of hitting the road. I slept in a little having stayed up late to finish not one but two reports that I’ve been unable...
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Jun 10, 2017
Day 041: Make a Day, Lose a Day
Spent the day at our beautiful spot in Charlo watching the white-capped waves roll towards the east and working on a few pieces. I wrote about wind energy and forced...
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Jun 9, 2017
Day 040: Little Things and Your Health
It was our earliest start yet, we had a long day ahead. We’re two days behind schedule and by the end of the day we’ll be just one day behind....
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Jun 8, 2017
Day 039: The Bug War Continues
Summer arrived with a vengeance. Today was the hottest weather I’ve experienced since the Utah desert last September. Hard to believe that two days ago I was wearing mittens. My...
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Jun 7, 2017
Day 038: Storytelling Spectrum and Mosquitoes
Keeping it brief because there is much to do and both the main topics I’m about to write about need more refining and fine-tuning in my brain before I stumble...
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Jun 6, 2017
Day 037: 90 Kilometres Before Lunch
Going to keep this short because I’m going to try to finish a write-up of an interview from Lennox Island tonight and it’s already 11 PM. Got up early and...
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Jun 4, 2017
Day 036: Encore en français
These past few days I’ve been very rigorous about being up early. If I wasn’t cycling, I’d be fasting for Ramadan and waking up before the crack of dawn to...
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Jun 4, 2017
Day 035: Alders
With this trip it’s become necessary to pick and choose our route, our detours and stops and our through-cycles, and it’s always a challenge but we do our best to...
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Jun 3, 2017
Day 034: What the Hail?!
The longest cycling day we’ve had on the tour so far with 144 kilometers from Tignish to where I’m writing this from in Port Elgin, New Brunswick. Another day, another...
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Jun 2, 2017
Day 033: Salt and Waves
Going to (yet again) keep it brief so I can head to bed before it’s too late. We have a long ride back to mainland Canada before us and lost...
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Jun 1, 2017
Day 032: From Heron Out
It has been a few years since I’ve scared herons into taking flight. Five years in fact and I saw just as many today on our ride off Lennox Island...
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May 31, 2017
Day 031: Raindrops Like Salt Water
We spent the day in Lennox Island First Nation, and the day was full of people and stories. Interviewed the community planner and leader of the local drumming group, met...
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May 30, 2017
Day 030: In the Kingdom of Gratitude
It starts to weigh me down, heavier than all the stuff we’re lugging around (we weighed our bags for the first time yesterday*), all these goodbyes. At what point in...
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May 29, 2017
Day 029: Cracked Asphalt
Left a delicious breakfast on the east coast of the island to let the sun lead us west. Stopped in the local post office, crossed Murray River and then followed...
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May 28, 2017
Day 028: Bismillah
Much to say but words will fall short, particularly in the tired state I’m writing this in. An almost perfect feeling was holding a cup of peppermint tea as we...
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May 27, 2017
Day 027: Bread and Honey
Final day at the farm on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. The lilacs are in bloom. I spent the morning finishing up some more content from Cape Breton....
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May 26, 2017
Day 026: Emotional Nutrition
It was a perfect start to the day, on a farm in this neck of the woods I’ve been in love with for over a year. It was a rest...
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May 25, 2017
Day 025: Tu es si belle*
A day full of cycling. I’ve mentioned this a couple times already but I think my brain doesn’t fully pay attention to the uphill parts, and then is fully aware...
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May 24, 2017
Day 024: Ahlan wa-sahlan*
The days are packed. Even the ones in which we don’t bicycle more than a few kilometers or any kilometers at all. We were up early-ish, to start the morning....
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May 23, 2017
Day 023: Off Cape Breton
Today we crossed the Strait of Canso on the southwest coast of Cape Breton, which meant a couple hours of fighting a fierce wind that was coming straight across the...
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May 22, 2017
Day 022: Better Than Colour Television
Picture perfect day for being outdoors, we got up early to read and write, back-up files, try to catch up on the digital side of chores like sending out Dispatch...
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May 21, 2017
Day 021: Wind on the Coast
It’s hard to imagine a house more filled with laughter than the one in which we stayed in Chéticamp. We started the day with coffee and a huge breakfast as...
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May 20, 2017
Day 020: Wait 15 Minutes
It has been a perfect day. All of it, from breakfast to dinner to now, sipping on coffee in the gathering dusk. The events that follow are just the last...
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May 19, 2017
Day 019: Back on the Road
Left Sydney in the morning for a divided highway and tailwind that took us back to North Sydney and across the east side of Cape Breton to Baddeck, where the...
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May 18, 2017
Day 018: Mui'n*
The most difficult lesson for me to relearn these days is being present. Being now and here. I used to be very good at this but then felt that I...
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May 17, 2017
Day 017: Farewell to Newfoundland
Woke up to more rain and the painstaking process of putting on slightly damp layers from yesterday. I hadn’t been able to find my gloves last night, and they turned...
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May 16, 2017
Day 016: Good Day To Be A Duck
Slept in a little and hit snooze a few times before rolling out of bed. I didn’t sleep as much as I could’ve in Corner Brook and we didn’t think...
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May 15, 2017
Day 015: Just Raindrops
Dropped by CBC Radio for an interview and then the local centre for cycling culture, Cycle Solutions, for a tune-up. That, combined with bicycling all the way to the top...
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May 14, 2017
Day 014: Mile Wide, Inch Deep
“Do you know if there are any gas stations up ahead?” “Honestly, I have no idea. Headed there for the first time myself.” It started out as a gorgeous day,...
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May 13, 2017
Day 013: Birch and Spruce
We aimed to do 125 km of cycling today; from our campsite last night we had 250 km to Corner Brook. Only made 114, for two main reasons. The first...
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May 12, 2017
Day 012: Manoomin
We bid farewell to our home with walls for the past several nights, our incredible host, our canine buddy, and the two felines who’ve been seeing all our charging cables...
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May 11, 2017
Day 011: Foggy Island
“It’s a shame,” Steph said while driving two days ago, “that you aren’t staying another day, because you really should see the islands.” Ever since I successfully avoided being killed...
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May 10, 2017
Day 010: An Ode to Cod
It was a s-l-o-w but early start to the day, which began with an elaborate breakfast and walking the dog around the pond. It is one of the most magical...
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May 9, 2017
Day 009: First Rain
Last night clouds rolled in before the sun went down and while I was warm overnight we awoke to a cold drizzle. Packed up quick and breathed in the wet...
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May 8, 2017
Day 008: Rendezvous with Destiny
Today’s log is brought to you by (one of) the handsome human specimen(s) on these logs. “Asad you’re so meta,” is probably what you’re thinking right now. I know. Or...
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May 7, 2017
Day 007: The Farthest I've Ever Biked in a Day
Today marked the farthest I’ve ever gone on a bicycle in a single day. Deep Bight to Glovertown is 97 km, with more than a few hills in between. We...
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May 6, 2017
Day 006: Dancing with Darts
We slept in this morning, not because we didn’t want to greet the morning sun, but the need for extra sleep was a higher priority. Rest is as much fuel...
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May 5, 2017
Day 005: The Windy Province
Woke for the sunrise above yesterday’s dirt bike track. Packed and were on our bikes within half an hour, which was pretty impressive for our first time taking down camp—but...
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May 4, 2017
Day 004: This Majestical Pretension
We were up late (yet again) and woke up later than expected and rushed to the St. John’s Native Friendship Centre, something which had been a priority for us but...
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May 3, 2017
Day 003: Final Preparations
We pulled another late night last night. Were at a local art gallery doing a couple photoshoots until close to midnight and then spent some time planning and processing. Slept...
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May 2, 2017
Day 002: Skookum
Another 4 AM start, we are racing the sun, pushing ourselves and these new machines, which are almost fully loaded to the easternmost tip of this continent. The sun wins....
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May 1, 2017
Day 001: My Heart and Soul Are With You
Newfoundland is blue sky and generosity. The sun rose as we were picked up from the airport by a friend of a friend of a friend, then the 24-hour Tim...
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Apr 30, 2017
Day 000
We woke up at 4 AM in Edmonton. That time of the day always reminds me of one of the most beautiful talks, the Museum of 4 in the Morning....
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