12000 and a snowstorm to boot!

Like most North American cities, Ottawa has its fair share of right-on coffee shops inhabited by goateed types banging away on Macintosh notebooks while sipping espresso. Even in the steamy environs of Bridgehead on Bank, Andrew Cameron stood out among the hippies and hipsters. Not because he was, easily, twice as tall as everyone else; but because when he emerged from the snowstorm, he was totally decked out in cycling gear: two Buffs topped by a helmet; a well-loved pair of lobster gloves; about four layers of different tops...and a big smile.

"Cycling in Ottawa in winter is like being able to go on a big mountain bike ride without getting muddy," Andrew laughed, and he would know. This past fall, Andrew had the opportunity to take part in the Tour D'Afrique (http://www.tourdeafrique.com), a twelve thousand, hundred-day-long cycling tour that cuts across the African continent, taking thirty-two cyclists across more than a dozen countries.

I'd found out about Andrew's trip through the Events board on Mountain Equipment Co-op's (http://www.mec.ca) website, and was interested in hearing more about what it's like to take part in such a long trip. Given that Andrew was a racer, not an organizer, of the Tour, most of the information that he could share with me had to do with what it's like to do something like this - useful to know what works and what can be done better.

Thanks, Andrew, for taking the time out to meet with me! And for those of you who'd like to know more about Andrew's trip, be sure to check out his blog at http://12000km.blogspot.com.

Ready to roll

Nine-forty-nine in the morning, and I have decided that I'm ready to go.

Not go to the gym, not go back to Canada, just GO and do the damn Trans-Iberian already.

The only thing that's missing is the time off. I have the maps. The GPS unit is on its way. The weather is nippy, but it's not impossible.

All I'd need is some time free, and I'd be ready to roll.

I WANT A (SUBSIDIZED) BIKE, TOO!!!!

For a couple of months now, the Spanish Traffic Directorate (DGT) has been offering grants of up to €1000 for 17 to 25-year-olds who want to get their drivers' licenses. While I'm certainly not anti-car (I had a gas-guzzling convertible once, too), it seems a little hypocritical to give money to drivers when the people who don't create pollution don't get squat - in spite of not creating more pollution or circulation problems.

So, too, do the nice people at the Plataforma Carril-Bici de Córdoba, who are calling the DGT out on this discrepancy. They're asking cyclists from all over Spain to download and fill out the PDF file on their website, reclaiming the fact that, no, we're not interested in grants to get us driving - but a bit of cash to get a new bicycle would be more than welcome!

Check it out at: http://www.platabicicordoba.org/bici-dgt.html.

Double Life

Winning a prize like the Salomon Women Will competition is fun, but it's a LOT of work. There are days when I feel really nervous about the fact that there are three and a half months left until we go on this trip; and at the same time, it feels like it'll never get here. Slowly but surely, however, it's getting there. I've started making reservations in youth hostels and campsites, and I've got the route worked out; I just need to make more phone calls, make more contacts, do more work than I've been doing...

The easiest thing will be getting on the bike and riding the route when it finally comes!!!

Dear Madam:

(From Rosa Urbión Izquierdo, General Director of Tourism, Junta de Castilla y León:)

Dear Madam:

We have received your letter, in which you talk about the difficulties in crossing National Highway 601 between the towns of Valdefuente and Puente Castro, in the province of León.

The Department of Tourism and Culture is responsible for tourist signage for municipalities of Castilla y León, as well as the Camino de Santiago, and the placement of signs on the town limits in the provinces of Burgos, Palencia and León.

Your letter makes reference to signage of highway, the responsibility of which falls under ther jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works; as of this date, we will pass your observations onto them.

Thanking you for your interest in the promotion of tourism of this Community.

Warm regards,

Rosa Urbón

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(As-of-yet unsent response:)

Dear Director Urbón:

Thank you for your letter of the 25th of September, in which you make reference to my letter sent in August. As much as I appreciate your response, I am concerned that you did not make reference to the core issue of my letter: the danger that pilgrims face crossing that highway.

This is not an issue of signage. The issue is that this a very, very dangerous stretch of road to expect bikers, walkers and horseback riders to have to navigate. There is no way the Camino de Santiago should run right beside a four-lane highway. Nobody's arguing that the signage is good - it's the best of all the four communities where the Camino goes - but the problem is that it's extremely unsafe to walk those 350 metres. The entry into León is one of the low points of the Camino and it shouldn't have to be.

We look forward to hearing of future initiatives, on the part of the Junta de Castilla y León, to improve and re-route this very dangerous part of the Camino.

Patricia Dawn Severenuk
SPANISHCYCLEPATHS.COM

Finding Six Weeks

Six weeks of biking. The thought of getting six weeks away to do nothing but biking is....

...scary. It's quite one thing to have a dream, but quite another entirely to carry it out. After all, the nice thing about having a dream like this is that you don't have to be consistent: you can just let the dream go and let yourself be distracted whenever you want.

...worrisome. What am I going to do for money while I'm not working? How will the course coordinator react when she realizes that I need to get away for six weeks between Easter and May Day? Will I lose my job?

...problematic. What if I'm the only person who goes on this thing?

...exhausting. I'm getting pretty close to forty: will I be up to the demands, physically?

Oh my God, I WON!

Good Lord almighty!! I won the Salomon Women Will competition for Spain!

http://www.salomonwomenwill.com/sp/news/¡¡¡Enhorabuena-a-las-Ganadoras---.html

Good grief! When the hell am I going to get six weeks to cross the peninsula on a bike???