Start: Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada
End: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
What happened in-between those points? Lots of improvisation.
I didn’t have much more than a rough route sketched out in my head when I started my ride. I wanted flexibility when riding so that my travels could adjust to local insights and knowledge that I gain along the way.
The majority of my route was on paved roads, but a not insignificant portion was on gravel roads and dirt trails—approximately 1,500 km (or 12%) of the ride was not on asphalt.
Part 1: Southbound
The first part of my ride was in the Canadian West: from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
From Tuktoyaktuk, in the north of Canada on the Arctic Ocean, I travelled through the Northwest Territories along the Dempster Highway into Yukon. At the southern end of the Dempster Highway, I transitioned to the Alaskan Highway through Whitehorse towards the border with British Columbia. I travelled through British Columbia on the Cassiar Highway (no. 37), Trans-Canada Highway 16, and then Highway 99. To avoid some highway sections, I took secondary forestry roads.
The end of this segment was on the western edge of Canada in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. There, I dipped my wheels into the Pacific Ocean.
Part 2: Eastbound
From Victoria, I travelled northeast towards Edmonton, Alberta. I then went due east to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, followed by a turn southeast to Winnipeg, Manitoba. I crossed into Ontario near Kenora and continued into southwestern Ontario towards Toronto.
From Toronto, I turned northeast towards Montréal, Québec. I crossed into New Brunswick near Edmundston and looped through Fredericton and Moncton before entering into Prince Edward Island. From Prince Edward Island, I took the ferry to Nova Scotia and travelled south to Halifax.
I then travelled north to North Sidney, where I took the ferry to Port-aux-Basque, Newfoundland and Labrador. I finished my ride in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on Canada’s Atlantic coast.
My trip took me across all ten Canadian provinces, two territories, and twelve capital cities (each provincial capital plus Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon Territory, and Ottawa, the federal capital).
In the course of 106 days (including seven non-bicycling days), I travelled 12,608.8 km and ascended 89,619 m — more than 10x the height of Mount Everest!
Talk about the adventure of a lifetime.