One of the greatest highlights of my life so far was when I cycled across Canada in the summer of 2012. I did this with a dear friend, and blogged about it almost every day. It was a very formative experience.
I thought I’d try reposting them here with a short foreword of reflection for each blog post. It is my ambition to do this with regularity. Some of these posts are embarrassing and poorly written. Many are hyperbolic. Regardless, they are for the most part, at least somewhat entertaining. I gave my all to entertain loved ones and paint an accurate picture of what it was like to cycle this majestic landscape.
First, stats…
LE STATS:
Start: Sunday, June 17, 2012 – Vancouver, BC
End: Friday August 17, 2012 – St. John’s, Newfoundland
Longest day: 252 km (Swift Current to Regina)
Active Cycling Days: 55
Rest days: 7
Total days: 62 days
Total kilometers cycled: 6, 881 km
Average: 125 km/day (cycling days only) / 111 km/day (including rest days)
CONTEXT:
At the time, I had just finished teacher’s college and realized I hadn’t really done anything exciting with my life. I did however go to Japan to teach English the previous summer, but quit very early on. I returned to Canada feeling worthless and depressed, determined to never again give up prematurely on anything worthwhile. It remains the lowest part of my life. Also: I wasn’t with Sara at the time. She was just my coworker. A woman named Tamara was my partner throughout this trip. I have nothing but positive regard for her.
I wrote nearly every blog post from my phone.
Foreword: Jesus – I told you this would be embarrassing. What a title. What a picture. Strap in! Or on. I don’t know. I guess the title of this post is vague. The shaved head certainly isn’t. Why I chose to do this, I do not know – probably attention. I love attention. I think I wanted to see how my both my facial hair and head hair would grow in over the course of the trip. As for the “50 Shades of Grey”? Well, it was the talk of the town at the time, and I wanted insight into this pop-culture phenomenon. I decided to download it onto my mother’s Kobo e-reader to read throughout the trip. I started the reading on the plane trip.
SUNDAY, 17 JUNE 2012
Blog Post 1: It begins with a shaved head and 50 Shades of Grey
