Stats & Fun Facts

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Stats & Fun Facts

Total Kilometers Ridden – 6,530 km’s
To help put that into perspective; Canada is about 5,500 km’s long.

Total kilometers Ridden On Gravel Roads – 715 km’s

Total Number Of Ferry’s Taken – 13 (10 in BC, 2 NWT, 1 AB)

Flat Tires - 1

Since Leaving Hamilton Ontario

Nights slept in a tent – 74

Nights slept at a hostel/friends – 27 (including a laundry room)

Nights slept on a ferry or bus - 4

Biggest Surprise – Enjoying this bike ride way more than I ever expected.

Biggest Disappointment - Not seeing any Grizzly Bears and not having the crap scared out me by an angry bear

Biggest Climbs – Rennell Sound (Queen Charlotte Island), Ice Fields (Banff to Jasper) and Tetsa River (Alaskan Highway)

Boring Sections – Mackenzie Highway in N. Alberta and the Bad Lands heading to Drumheller; but I am not complaining.

Wanted to Spend More Time In – Hyder Alaska, Lava Park, Queen Charlotte Islands and Pacific Rim National Park

Black Bears Seen – I did not keep an exact count but it was between 45 - 50

Coolest Town – Hyder Alaska

Favourite City – Yellowknife NWT

Most Scenic Highways – Banff to Jasper & Rocky Mountain to Muncho Lake on the Alaskan Highway

Most Amazing Areas – Tow Hill & Rennell Sound (Queen Charlotte Island), Pacific Rim National Park and Drumheller was pretty amazing and of course Banff to Jasper

Most Memorable Experiences – Riding with Bison, Queen Charlotte Islands, walking through rainforests in The Pacific Rim Park

Most Dangerous Times/Moments – Setting up a tent in an industrial area of Thunder Bay had me a bit freaked out. Dealing with Bison in the NWT and northern BC was also an experience and half. Riding through the George Massy Tunnel to catch the ferry back to Vancouver Island and riding the highway to Ucluelet would be the most dangerous riding I did.

Missed the Most – salad & beer

My Best Move – Doing the road less travelled and riding it solo

Regrets - None. The only things I would have done differently in the whole trip was bring a smaller laptop from the beginning and have a (second) water proof camera.

Average Meal –

Breakfast – 6 eggs fried. I should have brought a pair of chickens and tied them to my trailer to lay eggs.

Lunch – granola bars, apples and bagels (plain). Not a big fan of granola bars but I ate hundreds of them.

Supper – Chunky Soup sometimes a box of KD if water was plentiful (for boiling)

I would take advantage of burger joints if I was going through a town at time that I was feeling hungry or that I could take advantage of instead of a can of Chunky Soup or if I was already in town and getting a late start that morning.

I was not particularly happy with my diet. I missed my salads and fresh fruit. Salad was not practical and reasonably priced fruit is difficult to find in very small northern towns. I found myself snacking on junk food in the evening and replacing my regular evening beers (that I normally drink) with soft drink.
As I got into more civilized parts of Canada I have consuming more and more fruit.

Breakdown of Costs and Expenses

Is/was there room to save money? Absolutely, less camping in campgrounds, more cans of Chunky Soup. The trick is to have some kind of balance. To have a shower (in a camp ground) or go to bed grimy (by sleeping in the wilderness)? Try riding past a burger joint after Chunky Soup for the last 3 nights. I never set any set rules for myself other to then walk away wanting more of the experience. I did not want to walk away with regrets or push my comfort levels to the extreme, so I did my best to have balance.

Bike (including upgrades and panniers) - $2,000.68

Camping Gear - $1,235.09

New Laptop - $215.24

Food - $2,319.82

Supply (laundry, postage, phone cards, minor tools & gear along the way, camp fuel etc.) - $1,134.53

Transportation (ferry’s) - $416.52

Food + Supply + Camping + Ferry’s = $4769.62

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