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Trip FAQ and Index
Go straight to the itinerary.
Where are you going?
The tour basically covers the San Juan Islands, Vancouver Island, the Inside Passage (by ferry), the Yellowhead Highway, the Canadian Rockies, Glacier National Park, the Idaho Panhandle, Colville National Forest (in Washington State), the North Cascades Highway, the Cascade Mountains, Mt. Ranier National Park, Mt. St. Helens National Park, Columbia River gorge, Hood River and Mt. Hood, and Olympic National Park. The second half of the trip involves travelling to Utah and touring Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, the Canyonlands, and of course mountain biking at Moab. This part of the trip is still in the early stages of planning. For more details, see our itinerary.
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What mountain biking destinations will you be visiting?
Mountain biking is an important part of the trip. We plan to stop and camp for a few days at various places just to ride the mountain bike trails without our bikes loaded up with gear. Our first stop will be at Moran State Park on Orcas Island. A week or so later we will arrive at Hornby Island off the East coast of Vancouver Island. A month later we should arrive in Jasper, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. There is a lot of mountain biking opportunities in the Canadian Rockies between Jasper and Banff so we will try to explore as many of these as possible. Kootenay National Park in British Columbia also offers mountain biking in the park. There are also a couple "new" mountain bike destinations in British Columbia that are working hard to attract mountain bikers. The small town of Fernie, in the shadow of the Rockies, is one of these. Rossland is another small town located near the Washington State border that is being referred to as "the next Moab". We also plan to do some mountain biking in Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Ranier National Parks, as well as on the Olympic Penninsula (all in Washington State). In Oregon, we would like to explore the Mt. Hood area. Lastly, we will be making the required pilgramage to Moab shortly before we fly out to Honolulu. There is mountain biking on Oahu that we plan to do as well as in the jungles of Fiji, although we haven't worked out the details of this yet. If you know of other mountain biking destinations along our route, please let us know! Good mountain bike tracks are much harder to find out about than touring roads!
How do you do a trip like this?
Some of the challenges we have found in planning a 6 month bicycle tour include getting the time off work (and saving the money to travel for 6 months), staying fit enough to do the ride, and making sure our bikes and trekking gear are in good enough condition to survive the trip. Although my employer, IBM, was very supportive of granting the time off, both Jody and I have each decided to pack in our jobs for the trip. We live a simple life which has helped us save the money we require to travel for this period. Not owning a car has probably made the biggest financial contribution to the trip and has also helped us with the next challenge - staying fit. We both commute to work by bicycle, which we have found the perfect way to maintain our fitness. On weekends we often organise short bicycle camping trips, which is not only a nice way to spend the weekend and explore new areas, but also a good chance to test out our gear. For the actual planning of the trip, I have made extensive use of the internet and also talked to other bicycle tourists and travellers who have been to some of the areas we are going.
Why are you doing this trip?
Jody and I love to travel and that is the main motivation for the trip. We are also keen to visit friends and family back home in Washington State and elsewhere (even though we have been here for over two years and none of my family has come to visit us). We have decided to travel by bicycle because it is the best way to get a true feeling for the area you are travelling through. It is impossible to travel through an area by car and get the same experience that you do by bicycle. On a bike you feel the hills, smell the fresh air, see the wildlife, meet the locals, and spend enough time to really experience an area, rather than just pass through it in a metal box. On previous tours I have compared notes with motorists who travelled through the same area, even motorists who felt they had explored the area thoroughly, and found that I had a much more intimate experience than they did. On a bike you are free to go wherever you want, while in a car you are restricted to hotels or commercial campgrounds. Lastly, travelling by bike is cheap. We can rough camp in the woods and enjoy the peace and solitude while at the same time saving a lot of money.
When are you doing this trip?
We are flying into Vancouver on 30 June and will return to Melbourne on 27 December.
Can I contact you while you're travelling?
Yes. Jody and I have each setup e-mail accounts with Yahoo that we plan to check at public libraries along the way, hopefully about once a week. The addresses are:
randyontour@yahoo.com and JodyOMeara@yahoo.com
| Dates | Locations | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 30 June to 1 July | Arrival in Vancouver, B.C. | sightseeing in and around Vancouver |
| 1 July to 2 July | Vancouver, B.C. to Lopez Island via Anacortes | Bicycle Touring |
| 2 July to 5 July | Ferry to Lopez Island, Washington | Family gathering |
| 5 July | Lopez Island to Everett | Sailing trip |
| 6 July | Everett | rest day, trip preparation |
| 7 July | Everett to Anacortes via Whidbey Island and Deception Pass | Bicycle touring |
| 8 July to 18 July | Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Victoria to Port Hardy) Take the scenic Ferry from Port Alberni to the Pacific Rim National Park. Mountain bike on Hornby Island. Climb over Strathcona Park. See the highest waterfall in Canada. Explore the rugged North West of Vancouver Island by combining ferries and little-used dirt roads. details | Bicycle touring and mountain biking |
| 19 July | BC Ferries trip, Inside Passage, British Columbia | admire beautiful coastal scenery, cost is approx $80 US pp |
| 20 July to 5 August | Prince Rupert, BC to Jasper, Alberta | Bicycle touring |
| 5 August to 7 August | Jasper, Alberta | Mountain biking, walking |
| 7 August to 12 August | Canadian Rockies, Alberta | Bicycle touring - Jasper to Banff |
| 12 August to 14 August | Banff, Alberta | Mountain biking, walking |
| 14 August to 20 August |
Banff, Alberta to US border at Glacier-Waterton National Park Mountain Bike in Waterton Lakes National Park. | Bicycle Touring |
| 21 August to 25 August |
US/Canada border to Troy, Montana Climb over Logans Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Ride along Lake Koocanusa in Montana which was featured in Bicycling magazine as one of the best rides in the country. | Bicycle touring |
| 26 Aug to 30 Aug |
Troy, Montana to Priest River, Idaho
via Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint (Idaho) |
Bicycle touring |
| 31 August | Priest River, Idaho to Metaline Falls, Washington State climb over the Selkirk Mountains on a rough gravel road through some of the wildest remote countryside in Idaho. Look for herds of Woodland Caribou, grizzly bears, gray wolves, moose, and wolverines. | Dirt Road Mountain Bike touring |
| 1 Sept | Metaline Falls, Washington State to Rossland, British Columbia | Bicycle Touring |
| 2 Sept to 3 Sept |
Rossland, British Columbia | Mountain Biking |
| 4 Sept to 6 Sept |
Rossland, British Columbia to Omak, Washington State | Bicycle Touring |
| 7 Sept | Omak, Washington State to Chelan, Washington State | Bicycle Touring |
| 8 Sept | Chelan, Washington State to Leavenworth, Washington State | Bicycle Touring |
| 8 Sept to 9 Sept | Leavenworth, Washington State to Selah, Washington State via Blewett Pass | Bicycle Touring |
| 10 Sept to 11 Sept | Selah, Washington State to Mossyrock, Washington State | Bicycle Touring |
| 11 Sept to 13 Sept | Mossyrock, Washington State Miller Family Reunion |
cycling, boating, waterskiing??? |
| 14 Sept | Mossyrock to Randle, Washington | bicycle touring |
| 15 Sept | Randle, Washington ride the Bishop Ridge Loop trail | Mountain Biking |
| 16 Sept | Randle, Washington to Mt. St. Helens National Park | Bicycle touring |
| 17 Sept | Mt. St. Helens National Park to Carson, Washington State | Bicycle touring |
| 18 Sept | Carson, Washington State ride the McClellan Meadows Tail Loop | Mountain Biking |
| 19 Sept | Carson, Washington State to Mt. Hood, Oregon bicycle touring along the Columbia River Gorge | Bicycle Touring |
| 20 Sept to 23 Sept | Mt. Hood National Park, Oregon | Mountain Biking |
| 24 Sept to 11 October | Mt. Hood National Park to Seattle via Olympic National Park | bicycle touring and mountain biking |
| 8 October to 9 October |
Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington | easy but fun mountain biking, camping, boating, waterskiing??? |
| 10 Oct to 2 Nov |
Seattle, Washington | visit friends and family |
| 3 Nov | Vancouver, Canada to Honolulu and Fiji | more cycle-touring, mountain biking, and surfing! |
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Last updated 13 June 1999
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