Alex’s Bike Trip

posted by alex on Mar 26

Now that the school year is winding down, I am entering a new phase of planning. I call it the OMG, I’m leaving soon phase! So far I’ve figured out the itinerary for the route between Ottawa and Halifax which I will take between the 11^th of may through the beginning of June. The western part, more specifically the Route in British Columbia has changed and needs more planning. A friend of mine recommended that I do not take highway 5 between Hope and Merritt since it is a heavy traffic toll route. Instead, I’ll go through the Okanagan valley on highway 3. This will surely take me through the biggest climbs of the trip and some of the peaks can reach well over 2000feet. BC will be my greatest trial as a cycle tourist because of the serious elevations and the wilderness of the interior. I touched on the wilderness issue in one of my last posts. However, this time I would like to be a bit more serious about it since I do not feel that bears are godless killing machines just like I don’t listen to NSYNC (in case you’re wondering 🙂 ) BC boasts a great diversity of dangerous wildlife (black bears, brown bears, bobcats, wolves) and all of these species should be treated with respect and be given their space. This is why I will try my best to not do any free camping along the highways in BC and camp only at provincial parks. In case you have a few bears hanging around in your neighbourhood and would like to know how to deal with them. Visit : http://www.lwwf.org/avoiding_conflicts_with_bears.htm