Introduction to Tour du Canada (TDC) Bicycle Tour

This is the blog of Tour du Canada (TDC) participant Jim Hansen, as he cycles across Canada with a group of 21 riders.  Having grown up several hours south of Canada in Minnesota, but only venturing a short distance north across the border on a few fishing trips, Jim looks forward to experiencing the full gamut of things Canadian on two wheels.

Tour du Canada is an annual cross-Canada bike ride. The tour has been discovering Canada by bicycle since 1988.  The tour website is at: http://tourducanada.com/

The 2022 TDC is a bicycle tour for 21 cyclists on road bikes who traverse Canada from west to east nominally starting in Vancouver, BC and ending in St. John’s, NL.  On June 21 & 22 Jim will also participate in the optional two-day excursion to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island and back at the beginning of the tour.  The tour travels through all 10 Canadian provinces in the following order:

British Columbia BC

Alberta AB

Saskatchewan SK

Manitoba MB

Ontario ON

Quebec QC

New Brunswick NB

Prince Edward Island PE

Nova Scotia NS

Newfoundland and Labrador NL

With the optional ride to Victoria, BC, the tour has 74 total days and 62 riding days.  The total distance by Bike is 7,771 km (4,835 miles) with a daily average of 130 km (80 miles) and longest day of 175 km (108 miles).  There are 11 English century ride days.  The optional ride to Mile 0 near Victoria, BC to dip the bicycle rear wheel into the Pacific Ocean will add mileage and two additional riding days to the tour for Jim.  Including extra mileage for Mile 0, riding on rest days, and getting lost; riding should come to about 8,047 km (5,000 miles).  

Accommodations are primarily outdoor tent camping, broken up by a few nights indoors at university residences and one night on the ferry from NS to NL.  The meals prepared by riders at the campsite incorporate hot breakfasts, hot dinners (1/3 vegetarian with some Tofu) and make-your-own sandwiches and gorp carried on the bike for lunch.  The single driver of the tour truck/trailer carries gear and purchases food for meals.  Drinking water is provided at camp each morning, and riders must find additional water along the route as required.  If a rider has problems and cannot cycle to the encampment site for the night, the rider must find a way to get there.  The tour truck/trailer is needed at the forward campsite and cannot retrieve lost souls.  Uber?  Jim has bought AAA Roadside Assistance coverage for automobiles that covers bicycles and their emergency transport in Canada in case of a breakdown.

Jim is blessed that his loving wife, Merry Ann, is supportive of his participation in the TDC.  Merry Ann has graciously agreed to add information to the blog daily from text and photographs that Jim texts to her.  The purpose of the blog is to save memories in a format more permanent than Facebook.

 Tour du Canada Official Bicycle Jersey

The Bucket List Challenge