The End of a Long Journey

Distance: 3km
Time: ?
Experience: Priceless!What seemed like only a dream and a possibility has become a reality this morning. The end of our more than 6, 300 km journey across this great country of ours comes to an end today. The three of us boys got on our bikes one last time for the shortest ride of our entire trip. As we made our way down Barrington Street in Halifax it didn't seem to matter that there was a heavy mist in the air. It was good to know we were finished and that we had done our very best throughout the course of the journey. Wanting to do this trip together we were blessed enough to go the full distance in the time frame intended with all three of us biking the entire time. A pretty good accomplishment for three brothers who had never really biked together before.

The media had been invited to meet us at the Delta Halifax hotel and with none in sight as we left the hotel it was comforting to have our wives, Mother and Grandmother in the van behind us as we made our way. Arriving at our destination, Point Pleasant Park, we came to the beach where we planned on dipping our tires and found that there was an event scheduled to begin there very soon. The event was called "The Black Rock Beach Party" and was to celebrate the reopening of the Halifax waterfront to swimmers after a 30 year closure due to a sewage problem the city once had. One of the event organizers (Sue) was kind enough to let us intrude on their party before it began. It is always amazing to see how God works certain things out in our lives as we found out that Sue's husband had passed away with ALS a number of years ago and that cleaning up the waterfront for public swimming had been something her husband had first spear-headed! Not only did we meet Sue, who is a city counselor but we also met the Mayor of Halifax. There were also a number of reporters there to cover the story and we had a chance to share of our journey with a number of them.

We dipped our tires in the ocean, gave each other high fives and got hugs from family as we enjoyed the reality of being finished. We decided to stick around until the official opening of the waterfront and were among the first people to take a dip in the newly reopened Halifax harbor. So there was history in the making in many ways for us on this very special day!

WE MADE IT!!! Today marks the official end to our 62 day journey that saw us travel across eight provinces, go through 8 flat tires, a combined 3 spills off our bikes and 1 stolen bike. There is so much to be grateful for that it is difficult to start. We were truly blessed with good to decent weather throughout our trip and even more fortunate to make it across the country with only a few minor mishaps. We truly enjoyed seeing, smelling and hearing the Canadian landscape as we slowly traveled through it. The people we met along the way were so encouraging and we could not have kept going if it were not for the encouragement we received at timely junctures along the way. There is so much to take in that it will likely only be in reflecting upon our experience in the days, weeks, months and years ahead that we will truly be able to appreciate what this time has meant in our lives and the lives of others. We hope that you have been encouraged and blessed by our journey and would love to continue hearing from you. To be in touch email us at brothersbike4als@gmail.com

HALIFAX

Distance: 85km
Time: 3hrs 25min

Waking up this morning we all knew it would be a day of lasts. The last day to take down the tent trailer; the last day to bike, traveling from one location to another; and the last day before the end of our cross-Canada journey. Cycling into Halifax was a great feeling and a little surreal to be honest. It will likely take all of us some time before it really sinks in.

Arriving in Halifax we checked into our hotel the Delta Halifax. We are so grateful and appreciative to the Delta Halifax Hotel as they were willing to give us complimentary rooms for the duration of our stay in Halifax! Not only that but the staff at the hotel were extremely helpful and kind. It is definitely true what they say about east coasters being nice people. If you are ever in Halifax we would definitely recommend that you stay at one of the Delta Hotels (www.deltahalifax.com).

After checking into the hotel us boys had an interview with CTV news and then headed off to the airport to pick up our Mother and Grandmother who were flying in for the weekend to see us end our journey. Having both of them here is really special and means a lot.


After picking them up from the airport we all went out for a special celebratory dinner at the Haliburton Hotel. The east cost hospitality was in full force as the Haliburton provided us with a top of the line complimentary gourmet dinner at their hotel's restaurant called "Stories". The meal was outstanding, the atmosphere warm yet formal and the service extraordinary. They even put "Brothers Bike 4 ALS" on top of their menu which changes daily. If you are looking for an exceptional meal Stories is the place to go! (www.thehalliburton.com)

A True Thought From Truro

Distance: 130km
Time: 4hrs 15min

Today we made our way into our eighth and final province of the trip! The best part of making it to Nova Scotia is knowing we only have two days of biking before we finish. If only that were the case with every province!

Making our way to Truro, NS we had to do a lot of hill climbing but with the thought of only one more day to go in mind we could have conquered any hill. With the day's ride finished we all spent some time going through the tent trailer and van to be ready for the end of the trip and our parting ways. It is crazy to think that we are almost done after traveling for 9 weeks!

A Flat Day

Distance: 78km
Time: 2hrs 40min

All of us boys had been looking forward to having a shorter biking day after many long days on the road. It is crazy to think of how one's perspective on "short" changes on a cross Canada bike trip. If you were to ask any of us guys if we thought a 78km bike ride was short before our trip we would have said no way! Now a bike ride that takes under 3 hours seems like no big deal. CRAZY!!!

Not only was it a short ride but a fairly flat road, which was a nice change from the amount of uphill riding we seemed to do coming out of Quebec and heading through the first part of New Brunswick. The annoying flats of the day came from flat tires. Adam had a flat at the end of the past day and had two more again today. We decided that his back tire needed to be changed out as it was becoming too weak. Overall we have done really well with flat tires as with these three we are at 8 flat tires for the whole trip thus far. Not only that but all of us boys have been on the same set of new tires for most of the over 6,000 km we are traveling. We've all decided that the key to not getting flats is to have good tires.

Biking aside we also had a rest day in Moncton and decided to take in some of PEI. None of us had been over the Confederation Bridge before and so enjoyed our first crossing of the 13km bridge. Juliet attempted to have us all hold our breath for the distance of the bridge. Needless to say any attempts to do so were in vein. Once on PEI we drove to Charlotte town and took in some sites before heading back.

Where's the Exit?

Distance: 140km
Time: 5 hrs

While we were in Fredricton it was nice to be in a home again and to have a real bed to sleep in. Thanks so much Aron & Sarah for opening up your home to us it is greatly appreciated!

The next morning we were off again and heading for Moncton, NB. It was a scenic ride throughout the morning before we got onto the Trans Canada, which while not as scenic was a nice ride especially with the wind as it pushed us along. The day's distance was to be a little shorter then the rest of the week had been but when we made it to our end the day exit there was no exit in sight! Alas, we had to carry on to the next exit making our day similar in distance to the others. All in all though it wasn't too bad as we all knew it would mean a shorter day of bike riding would follow.

Crabbe Mountain

Distance: 140 km
Time: 5 hours 50 minutes

We had two options: A) Go a longer distance with fewer hills by taking the Trans-Canada or B) Eliminate some distance by taking back roads and face Crabbe Mountain. We chose plan B, harking to the call of Crabbe Mountain. That was our first mistake. The roads were in really poor shape and the grades on the hills were near ridiculous. Luckily some of the heat from the previous days had dissipated and so we were able to survive until lunch. That’s when we made our second mistake. The girls had driven ahead and found a ‘5km’ stretch of gravel on the road that they came back to warn us about. They were kind and offered to drive us over it, but assured us that about a kilometre in there was pavement underneath. We figured we’d tough it out like we did with Crabbe Mountain and so we gave it a shot. Turns out it was a little longer than 5 km and it was loose stone the whole way. Regardless, we finally reached Fredericton and were able to enjoy another meal out courtesy of our sponsors. Also, Amy and Heather slaved in the kitchen making delicious brownies, rhubarb bread, morning glory muffins, and stewed rhubarb. All in a day’s work for the ladies! Just 4 more days of biking left!

Ugghhh!!!

Distance: 155 km
Time: 6 hours 15 minutes

After nearly 8 weeks of biking, we were all very excited to knock off another province from our list and enter New Brunswick. Spirits were high as the day began but apparently not as high as the wind, hills or temperature and so this day was trying for all involved. The boys had a tough time as the wind would not give them a break all day. In any other circumstance it might have been humorous that they literally had to pedal on the downhill to keep up their speed but unfortunately today was not one of those times.
However, the boys were not the only ones to struggle as the girls had an interesting time of their own. Normally they pack up camp and then drive ahead and wait for us to eat lunch with them. During that time they usually enjoy an episode or two of The Office on the van’s DVD player but today the boys took a little longer to catch up. Needless to say, a car battery can only last so long and luckily Amy and AJ have CAA. Battery boosted and problem solved.