The First Day: Hills are Steep and Zeta makes friends!

This first day feels about a week long! I leave Jasper, and start heading south. The first couple miles are lovely, and then I turn off onto what I think is the old highway. The advantage is that there is a lot less traffic- it is quiet, wooded, and lovely. The disadvantage is it's a hill. A hill that goes up. Fortunately there are few cars to see me stop to catch my breath... which I do a lot.  An hour or two in I stop for a granola bar, and talk to a passing day cyclist who stops ask me questions. He's quite taken with the idea of cycle touring and has lots of questions and asks me for advice... and seems quite disappointed when I tell him I'm on the first hour of the first day of my first tour... and have no advice!

I ride on- past a rest stop where a family is eating peaches and I temporarily fantasize about stealing the peach from the youngest child (4 hours in and I'm already craving fresh fruit!). At a rest stop farther on a nice family gives me blueberries. Everyone is amazed to see a solo girl cyclist with a fully loaded bike, and the conversations bring me zero joy:
Standard comment/question: "You are amazing! Where are you biking from?"
Me: "I started in Jasper."
Them (said with disappointment): "Oh. Isn't Jasper that town just 10/20/30 miles away?"
Me: "Yes. It's the first day. Leave me alone."
I'm doubting myself a little and these conversations aren't helping me.

I ride past my first black bear on the side of the road- I'm glad a couple cars stop for picture so I use the cars as a barrier between me and the bear... I do not stop to take a picture... and on I ride.

Pretty water.

Pretty rocks.

I stop to camp at Honeymoon Lake, and camp near a couple families in an RV. Cindy and Barbara are biking- they each have kids and adult support riding in the RV. They feed me salmon and pasta and birthday cake!

Packing Packing (organizing) and Packing

What am I taking? A bunch of stuff. Not worried I'm forgetting anything, pretty sure I'm taking enough. Concerned I'm possibly taking too much?

This is all my stuff spread out, and ready to be packed:

FIRST AID KIT: Assorted band-aids and bandages, antiseptics, ibuprofen, antihistamine, ace bandage, anti-rash stuff, scissors, tweezers, gloves, wound cleaner stuff... I won't list it all here but it's extensive. I hope.

KITCHEN KIT: stove and fuel, lighter, bowl, spoon and fork, mug, pot, pot, spatula, ziplocs, sponge and soap, hand cleaner, drying cloth, cutting board/plate, knife.

OVERNIGHT CAMPING STUFF: tent, sleeping bag and pad, pillow, headlamp, and teddy bear.

TOILETRIES: toothbrush and toothpaste, brush, soap, shampoo, travel towel, insect repellent, sunscreen, tissue, hair ties, ibuprofen, toilet paper, ear plugs, etc.

CLOTHES: helmet and warm hat, sunglasses and bandana, cycling shorts and rain pants/jacket and non-cycling pants/shorts, cycling tops, non-cycling short sleeves and long sleeves and fleece top, bike shoes and non-bike shoes and sandals, cycling gloves and warm gloves, long underwear and regular underwear and socks and swimsuit. Fleece jacket too. It's cold at night.

BIKE REPAIR STUFF: tire pump, spare tubes, patch kit, tire irons, tire boots, multi-tool, spare chain master links, spoke wrench, spare spokes, duct tape, tie wraps, electrical tape, extra brake cable and shifter cable, spare brake pads, pedal wrench, oil, spare nuts and bolts.

BIKE STUFF: water bottles, reflective triangle and vest, bungee cords, lights, lock.

MISC FUN STUFF: camera/charger, phone/charger, journal and pens (and tape), binoculars, watch, fold up backpack for short hikes and stuff,  and a book (TBD- but all leaning towards travel narratives).

TRAVEL STUFF: wallet, passport, maps and notebook

And this all fits in 4 panniers and 1 handlebar bag. Actually all the stuff fits in 3 panniers- the 4th one is all food- I'm taking some hot chocolate and granola bars, oatmeal and a couple dinners. I'll buy a lot along the way.

Here's the bike, all packed up. It's heavy...

The plan in a little more detail...

 So I was a little vague before about my plan and my route. I'm not trying to be mysterious- I just keep changing my mind. Considering I really don't know what I'm undertaking, or what my daily mileage will be, I suppose that's normal.

Originally this was a very long post, because for the past several weeks I kept adding new route plan to it as I kept changing my mind, so as of a few minutes ago it had the 8 different plans listed. The plans included varying amounts of trains, busses, rental cars and included, at different times, 2 countries, 4 states, and ranged from 400 -1200 miles. I've recently simplified, and the actual new plan is this:

I'll take the train to Vancouver, BC where I'll spend the day, and then a different train to Jasper. When I arrive in Jasper I'll take the first hour to reassemble my bike (after taking it apart to stuff it in a train box).  I'll spend my first two days in Jasper to do a little biking, some hiking, and some general touristy stuff, then I'll start biking south through Banff, and then onto Glacier, Montana. I'll take the train home from East Glacier at the end of the month.

It seems so simple...

Preparation

I've been planning this for a few months, and still amazed I don't feel ready.

Here's what I've been doing to get ready:

• bought a bike. It's a pretty tan Surly bike called a Long Haul Trucker. It's a touring bike, ready for big loads. I'm just not sure I am.
• made friends with the bike. This included getting the fit right, adding racks, fenders (still to-do), a front handle bar bag, computer and additional brake handle-things, getting panniers to fit, and riding a lot. A couple weeks ago I rode to Portland- 204 miles in 2 days. Training.
• took bike repair classes, and learned how to fix a flat, a broken chain or a broken spoke, and replace brake and shifter cables and brake pads, and make adjustments for tires, brakes and derailleurs. Of course, since I haven't actually done all this, my knowledge is somewhat theoretical, but I figure necessity is a great teacher, and a broken bike 30 miles from the nearest town is a great motivator.
• bought and assembled a bike repair kit for all these repairs, and a full first aid kit for needed repairs on me. I hope my use of both is minimal.
• double checked and test run camping gear- stove and kitchen and all related parts, tent and sleeping bag and a new fluffy pillow.
• bought and started using actual bike clothes- real bike shorts are super comfy compared to regular shorts. I have bright colored shirts and reflective triangles. I have new shoe covers for when it rains, and sunscreen for when it doesn't. 
• bought maps of my route, been freaked out by the route when I actually looked at the whole route at once on a big map. (Did I mention actutal mountain passes?), revised the path multiple times (maybe I'll add a little greyhound in the middle and skip some dull sections? Take the train in middle and ride through the Columbia River gorge?) and made so many trips to REI it's amazing they haven't just issued me a name tag.
• bought a new small journal, written and revised multiple packing lists, read about camping in the parks in Canada, learned with parks pass I need, become well acquainted with Amtrak routes, and completely confused myself on routes and directions.

In short it feels like I've been preparing for this for a year, and I'm looking forward to the day next week when I'm no longer preparing and actually doing.

How is it I still don't feel prepared??

The basic plan...

... feels like it should be farther along since I leave in a week.
In its simplest form, the plan is this:
1- take the train from Seattle to Jasper, Canada.
2- bike back to the states, specifically south through Banff, and then into Montana.
3- get back home via train/bus/or bike. Probably all 3 in various amounts.

However, the simplest plans are the most complicated at times. In reality this plan includes the following:
camping, biking unknown miles each day, cooking most meals on a camp stove, not being eaten by a bear, not being stuffed into some crazy dude's basement, avoiding big cars and RV's, carrying everything I need on my bike, at times being cold, lost, and lonely, see some amazing scenery, make friends with Canadians, fix my bike as needed, and hopefully having a blast.

Did I mention I'll be biking over mountain passes? No, I've never done that before. Hills yes. Mountain passes... no.  Actual mountain passes. Nor have I camped for several weeks in a row. And yes, I'm going solo.

I've made the mistake of reading books and blogs of people who are biking around the world, and my little 3 week trip seems small by comparison, and I just refer to it as going on a bike ride. My friends have been kind enough to provide prospective and remind me I'm biking from one country to another, and through a couple states. They've asked if I've actually looked at a map, and pointed out it's a long distance. I actually haven't really looked at it on a full map, I prefer to think of it in stages. It feels more manageable that way. If I thought of it all at once I may be too intimidated to start, and that would be embarrassing.

So it all boils down, each day, to this: I'm going for a bike ride. Want to come along?