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Every year about this time they begin to arrive at the hostel. The first to arrive are a German couple Iris and Christoph. They’ve brought their bicycles and are about to head out of the Toronto, bound for the Pacific Coast.
They are no strangers to long distance cycling having traveled from Germany through Spain and back. However, I am always under the impression that European travelers don’t really realize just how vast Canada really is.
They have their own website at www.barinja.de/kanada (in German) to chronicle their adventure. They refer to it as the Trans Canada Velotour.
They intend to camp for most of the trip and stay in hostels when possible. But the Ontario portion of their trip is over 1200 miles to the Manitoba border and, off the top of my head, I can only think of two hostels between here and Winnipeg.
They also seem to have collected as much information about camping in Canada as was available in Europe. I suggested that they invest in a powerful can of Bear Spray. Christoph said that since Ontario only had Black Bears they didn’t think it would pose too great a threat.
Wrong!
Although they are considerably smaller, Black Bears are a greater danger to humans than Grizzly Bears. Grizzly Bears only attack when they feel threatened whereas a Black Bear will try to eat you! And there are lots of them!
It’s best to have a can of Bear Spray handy and not need it; than to need it and not have it!
The first part of their journey over the Great Lakes to Thunder Bay and on to Winnipeg, Manitoba is spectacular! Then they’ll reach the prairies which are flat and seemingly interminable. It stretches from Winnipeg almost to Calgary in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Just for your passing information, this is where they might find Grizzly Bears! The mountains are breathtaking and in more ways than one! Get ready for a lot of uphill climbing!
I hope they are able to keep their website updated. I’d like to follow their progress, even though I’ll have to get one of our German speaking staff embers to translate for me.
Good luck and safe journey to both!