Pushing Past the Resistance: How we learned to stop worrying and love our decision to cycle across Canada

Alex & Vanessa's Bikes

In the summer of 2009 we decided on an uninformed whim to do a cycle-camping trip around Vancouver Island. It wasn’t until we booked our flight from Toronto to Sydney, BC that we realized what lay ahead for us: mountains. That trip prompted us to buy two cyclo-cross bikes that could hold up to the rigours of touring and all it took was our first 80km training ride to hook us in; from that moment we were transformed from casual city commuters to bike-obsessed fully loaded tourers.

After our magical two week Vancouver Island trip the itching for more became insatiable. By early 2011 our latent dream to cycle across Canada became fierce enough to squash all of the resounding doubts, fears and excuses that have prevented us from creating the opportunity in the past. After a night of mutual goading ‘can we do this?’ ‘Should we do this?’ ‘Are we actually going to do this?’ we finally realized that for all of the security (and funds) that we’ll ‘lose’ by taking the trip we would miss out on a much more valuable and life-altering experience by not taking the trip. We don’t know how long we’ll physically be capable of such a feat and imagining a life without ever having attempted the cross country dash made us feel deflated and stuck; we realized that we couldn’t not take the leap. It was settled, we will cycle across Canada this summer.

The next day, Alex gave notice at work and we booked flights to Vancouver so that we can complete the trip eastward to St. John’s Newfoundland from the end of May through August. Telling friends and family has elicited a huge array of responses, from the silent treatment to outright accusations of insanity but also genuine awe, jealously and excitement for the incredible journey that we’re about to begin. To be honest, the same responses flare up in each of us from time to time, when we let the ‘what ifs’ takeover, but that can usually be cured by a bike ride, or reflecting on the wonderful simplicity of traveling sustainably under our own power for days and weeks on end.

There are so many ways that we feel fortunate and privileged to be able to create the opportunity to do the cross Canada ride this summer, the most important of which is physical health. In 2006, when Alex was 23 he was rushed into emergency open heart surgery for an aortic aneurysm. This is a condition with an approximate 1% survival rate because most patients do not make it to the operating table. While the surgery saved Alex’s life, he was left weak and depressed in trying to cope with the new physical limitations that were imposed on what had previously been a young and healthy body. It wasn’t until Alex was enrolled in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program at the Toronto Western Hospital that he found the support, guidance and confidence to regain strength and control over his own life. Because Cardiac Rehab literally helped Alex take his life back, we aim to use our Cross Canada tour as a “Ride for Rehab” to benefit the Cardiac Health Foundation of Canada. Through our ride we hope to promote awareness and funds for the critical work they do in supporting post-surgical recovery and preventing cardiac illness.

Alex & Vanessa

Alex Holton and Vanessa Parlette are just two non-elite athletes who love to travel by bicycle. They live in Toronto and will be cycling from Vancouver to St. John’s from May 29 through August. To learn more about their trip and to follow their journey, visit them here.