Jean-François' Bicycle Trip - Montreal To Kelowna

Jean-François' Cross Country Bicycle Trip
Trip Tracker From Montréal, QC, to Kelowna, BC

My youngest brother, Jean-François, decided to come out and visit for a few days. Problem is, he doesn't live in the neighbourhood. Nor does he live in the same city. Thing is, he doesn't even live in the same province! "No problem" he tells me. He packs his stuff, gets on his bicycle, and says "I'll be there in a month or so."

Yeah, that's right -- from Montréal, Québec, to Kelowna, BC! Across 6 provinces and 3 time zones. 5000 kilometers of biking. (That's more than 3000 miles for the metric-chalenged.)

Trip Day Bike Day Date Location Distance Notes
Starts Out From Montréal, Québec
1 1 Sat July 3 Montréal to Papineauville, QC 135 km in 5h39m, 135 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C.
2 2 Sun July 4 Papineauville to Gatineau, QC 69 km in 2:37, 203 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C. Stopped at Mom & Dad's house for the night. E-mail #1.
Crosses Into Ontario!
3 3 Mon July 5 Gatineau to Cobden, ON 126 km in 5h53m, 330 km total Rainy, windy, 15°-20°C.
4 4 Tue July 6 Cobden to Bissett Creek, ON 141 km in 6h16m, 471 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C
5 5 Wed July 7 Bissett Creek to North Bay, ON 108 km in 4h50m, 579 km total Rain, 15°-20°C. He called my parents today. He's spending the night at the home of some distant cousins we have in North Bay.
6 6 Thu July 8 North Bay to Sudbury, ON 126 km in 6h12m, 705 km total Cloudy, windy, 10°-15°C. Had to change the back tire today. E-mail #2. (Happy 30th birthday, Christian!)
7 Fri Jul 9 Sudbury, ON Sunny, 20°-25°C. Day of rest #1. Bike gets tune-up #1. E-mail #3.
8 7 Sat Jul 10 Sudbury to just past Spanish, ON 143 km in 6h15m, 848 km total Sunny, 20°-25°C
Breaks the 1000 km mark!
9 8 Sun Jul 11 Spanish to Sault Sainte Marie, ON 171 km in 6h45m, 1019 km total Partly cloudy, 20°-25°C.
10 9 Mon Jul 12 Sault Sainte Marie to Agawa Campground (Lake Superior Provincial Park), ON 155km in 6h54m, 1173 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C
11 10 Tue Jul 13 Agawa Campground to just past Wawa, ON 119 km in 5h9m, 1292 km total Sunny, 20°-25°C. Jean-François called my parents tonight. He's heard about two other people also biking from Montréal to BC -- he's hoping to catch up to them as it seems they're not travelling as fast as him.
12 11 Wed Jul 14 Wawa to Marathon, ON 172 km in 8h0m, 1464 km total Partly cloudy, windy, 20°-25°C
13 Thu Jul 15 Marathon, ON Sunny, 25°-30°C. Day of rest #2. E-mail #4.
At this rate, Jean-François will probably reach the Manitoba border in 7 days. In the next few days he'll be coming across Thunder Bay, then (if he continues on Hwy #17) an unfortunate long stretch lasting several hundred kilometers with just a few small towns, followed by Dryden, Kenora, and finally the Ontario-Manitoba border. However, in Thunder Bay, instead of following Hwy #17 he'll also have the option of taking #11 followed by #71 to reach Kenora; both of these options are labelled as part of the "Trans-Canada Highway".
14 12 Fri Jul 16 Marathon to Nipigon, ON 199 km in 8h46m, 1663 km total Sun (morning), rain (afternoon), 20°-30°C
15 13 Sat Jul 17 Nipigon to #102/#17 intersection, ON (just past Thunder Bay) 140 km in 6h3m, 1803 km total Hazzy (forest fire smoke), 20°-25°C
Crosses Into Central Time Zone (CST6CDT)!
(Next time zone is 3 provinces away.)
16 14 Sun Jul 18 #102/#17 (Thunder Bay) to English River, ON 153 km in 6h24m, 1956 km total Partly cloudy, hazzy (forest fire smoke), windy, 20°-25°C. Short on food supply. Only 3 buildings in the town of English River, and the only one with food (restaurant attached to motel) is closed. Had to change both the front and rear tire threads today. Stayed in a hotel tonight.
Breaks the 2000 km mark!
17 15 Mon Jul 19 English River to #622/#17 intersection, ON 100 km in 5h6m, 2057 km total Sunny, 30°-35°C. Had to ride this morning without breakfast. Stocked up on food at the next town.
18 16 Tue Jul 20 #622/#17 to 44km before Kenora, ON 160 km in 7h5m, 2217 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C
19 17 Wed Jul 21 just before Kenora to Kenora, ON 56 km in 2h49m, 2273 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C. E-mail #5. Take a look at the first set of 8 images Jean-François sent! Bike gets tune-up #2.
20 Thu Jul 22 Kenora, ON Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C. Day of rest #3. Went kayaking today. Staying with some friends-of-friends in Kenora.
21 Fri Jul 23 Kenora, ON Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C. Day of rest #4. Feeling sick today (too much wine last night?) and decided not to travel. Taking another day to get better. Will be back on the road tomorrow.
From here, Jean-François is half a day from the Manitoba border. There are few towns between the border and Winnipeg, which happens to be near the midway point on his trip. Perhaps 70 km further west from Winnipeg is Portage la Prairie, the midway point through Manitoba.
Crosses Into Manitoba!
22 18 Sat Jul 24 Kenora to Whitemouth, MB 126 km in 5h48m, 2399 km total Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. E-mail #6.
23 19 Sun Jul 25 Whitemouth to Stonewall, MB 118 km in 5h28m, 2518 km total Sunny, windy, 30°-35°C.
24 20 Mon Jul 26 Stonewall to Landar Beach Provincial Park, MB 126 km in 4h36m, 2643 km total Sunny, very windy, 30°-35°C. Starting to have problems with left knee.
25 21 Tue Jul 27 Landar Beach Provincial Park to The Narrows, MB 111 km in 4h47m, 2754 km total Partly cloudy, light wind, 20°-25°C. Jean-François called my parents this afternoon. He was hoping to reach Ste. Rose du Lac by this evening. Knee is still bothering him.
Jean-François is travelling much farther north than what I'd imagined. I haven't spoken to him since the 23rd when he was in Kenora, so I'm not certain yet why he chose this particular route. His next large goal is Saskatoon, more than halfway through Saskatchewan.
When Jean-François spoke to my parents this afternoon, they discussed different routes to get from his current location through to Kelowna. My parents spent some time looking at some maps this evening and came up with five different trips.
26 22 Wed Jul 28 The Narrows to Ste. Rose du Lac, MB 74 km in 3h47m, 2828 km total Cold & very windy, rain, 15°-20°C. Now very painful to bike due to knee pain that started several days ago. E-mail #7
27 23 Thu Jul 29 Ste. Rose du Lac to 10 km past Granview, MB 113 km in 5h13m, 2941 km total Cloudy, light wind, 10°-15°C. Stopped in Dauphin, MB, to see a doctor. Prescribed some anti-inflamatory drugs for the knee.
Crosses Into Saskatchewan!
Breaks the 3000 km mark!
28 24 Fri Jul 30 just past Granview to Yorkton, SK 122 km in 5h25m, 3063 km total Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C.
Jean-François spoke to my parents and he's decided on which of the 5 big trip options he's going to take. It turns out the longest of the trip option is what he wants -- the one that will take him through Edmonton, Jasper, Banff, and then across to Kelowna. I've updated the page that lists the trip options with additional information that my parents took the time to look up.
29 Sat Jul 31 Yorkton, SK Sunny, 20°-25°C. Day of rest #5. Jean-François called Christian today. He's taking a day off to help rest his knee. He figures he has about 15 days left before getting to Kelowna.
30 25 Sun Aug 1 Yorkton to Wynyard, SK 147 km in 5h59m, 3211 km total Partly cloudy, rain, 15°-20°C. Jean called my parents this morning. He was leaving from Yorkton today. (Happy birthday Mom!)
31 26 Mon Aug 2 Wynyard to Clavet, SK 170 km in 6h51m, 3380 km total Sunny, 25°-30°C. Was hoping to get to Saskatoon today. Next big goal is Edmonton before the end of the week.
32 27 Tue Aug 3 Clavet to Radisson, SK 103 km in 3h46m, 3483 km total Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. E-mail #8.
Longest Distance Travelled In One Day (228 km)!
33 28 Wed Aug 4 Radisson to Lloydminster, SK 228 km in 7h8m, 3711 km total Partly cloudy, very windy, 25°-30°C. The wind was from the east today!
Crosses Into Alberta!
Crosses Into Mountain Time Zone (MST7MDT)!

34 29 Thu Aug 5 Lloydminster to Elk Island National Park, AB 221 km in 9h2m, 3932 km total Sunny, hot, 30°-35°C. Though yesterday was a greater distance, today was a bigger accomplishment since there was no wind to help. Elk Island is a beautiful park, but mosquito infested!
Breaks the 4000 km mark!
35 30 Fri Aug 6 Elk Island to Edmonton, AB 78 km in 3h55m, 4010 km total Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. Visited parts of Edmonton today, including some time spent at West Edmonton Mall.
I spoke to Jean-François tonight (Fri Aug 6) and he is doing quite well. His knee is actually feeling much better now with the medication. The next two big milestones are Jasper, followed by Lake Louise/Banff. He believes he'll reach Jasper by August 9, and Banff by August 13, at which point he'll be taking a day off from biking.
36 31 Sat Aug 7 Edmonton to Nojack, AB 137 km in 6h39m, 4148 km total Cloudy, windy, 10°-15°C.
37 32 Sun Aug 8 Nojack to Hinton, AB 158 km in 7h, 4306 km total Cloudy, 10°-15°C.
38 33 Mon Aug 9 Hinton to Jasper, AB 98 km in 4h5m, 4404 km total Sunny, 20°-25°C. E-mail #9.
39 34 Tue Aug 10 Jasper to Columbia Ice Fields, AB 109 km in 5h46m, 4512 km total Sunny, 5°-25°C.
40 35 Wed Aug 11 Columbia Ice Fields to Lake Louise, AB 149 km in 6h57m, 4662 km total Sunny, 5°-25°C.
Crosses Into British Columbia!
41 36 Thu Aug 12 Lake Louise to Golden, BC 120 km in 5h29m, 4781 km total Sunny, 5°-35°C. Bike gets tune-up #3.
Crosses Into Pacific Time Zone (PST8PDT)!

42 37 Fri Aug 13 Golden to Revelstoke, BC 160 km in 6h29m, 4941 km total Sunny, 35°-40°C. E-mail #10.
Breaks the 5000 km mark!
43 38 Sat Aug 14 Revelstoke to Kelowna, BC 220 km in 8h33m, 5161 km total Sunny, 35°-40°C. Had 3 flat tires today. Got to Stéphane's place just before 10pm. E-mail #11. Bike needs a tune-up.
The trip is done! From Montréal to Kelowna, 5161 km, in 38 days of biking. Jean-François took several hundred pictures during the trip, most of which are available from here.
Early on the morning of Wednesday August 25, Jean-François boarded the train in Kamloops (just north of Kelowna) to head back to Montréal. The train trip will take him 4 days. The goal of his next big bicycle trip is not yet decided, though he's hinted it would be nice to do a trip outside of North America.

Trip Day	Bike Day	Date	Location	Distance	Notes
Starts Out From Montréal, Québec
1	1	Sat July 3	Montréal to Papineauville, QC	135 km in 5h39m, 135 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C.
2	2	Sun July 4	Papineauville to Gatineau, QC	69 km in 2:37, 203 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C. Stopped at Mom & Dad's house for the night. E-mail #1.
Crosses Into Ontario!
3	3	Mon July 5	Gatineau to Cobden, ON	126 km in 5h53m, 330 km total	Rainy, windy, 15°-20°C.
4	4	Tue July 6	Cobden to Bissett Creek, ON	141 km in 6h16m, 471 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C
5	5	Wed July 7	Bissett Creek to North Bay, ON	108 km in 4h50m, 579 km total	Rain, 15°-20°C. He called my parents today. He's spending the night at the home of some distant cousins we have in North Bay.
6	6	Thu July 8	North Bay to Sudbury, ON	126 km in 6h12m, 705 km total	Cloudy, windy, 10°-15°C. Had to change the back tire today. E-mail #2. (Happy 30th birthday, Christian!)
7		Fri Jul 9	Sudbury, ON		Sunny, 20°-25°C. Day of rest #1. Bike gets tune-up #1. E-mail #3.
8	7	Sat Jul 10	Sudbury to just past Spanish, ON	143 km in 6h15m, 848 km total	Sunny, 20°-25°C
Breaks the 1000 km mark!
9	8	Sun Jul 11	Spanish to Sault Sainte Marie, ON	171 km in 6h45m, 1019 km total	Partly cloudy, 20°-25°C.
10	9	Mon Jul 12	Sault Sainte Marie to Agawa Campground (Lake Superior Provincial Park), ON	155km in 6h54m, 1173 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C
11	10	Tue Jul 13	Agawa Campground to just past Wawa, ON	119 km in 5h9m, 1292 km total	Sunny, 20°-25°C. Jean-François called my parents tonight. He's heard about two other people also biking from Montréal to BC -- he's hoping to catch up to them as it seems they're not travelling as fast as him.
12	11	Wed Jul 14	Wawa to Marathon, ON	172 km in 8h0m, 1464 km total	Partly cloudy, windy, 20°-25°C
13		Thu Jul 15	Marathon, ON		Sunny, 25°-30°C. Day of rest #2. E-mail #4.
At this rate, Jean-François will probably reach the Manitoba border in 7 days. In the next few days he'll be coming across Thunder Bay, then (if he continues on Hwy #17) an unfortunate long stretch lasting several hundred kilometers with just a few small towns, followed by Dryden, Kenora, and finally the Ontario-Manitoba border. However, in Thunder Bay, instead of following Hwy #17 he'll also have the option of taking #11 followed by #71 to reach Kenora; both of these options are labelled as part of the "Trans-Canada Highway".
14	12	Fri Jul 16	Marathon to Nipigon, ON	199 km in 8h46m, 1663 km total	Sun (morning), rain (afternoon), 20°-30°C
15	13	Sat Jul 17	Nipigon to #102/#17 intersection, ON (just past Thunder Bay)	140 km in 6h3m, 1803 km total	Hazzy (forest fire smoke), 20°-25°C
Crosses Into Central Time Zone (CST6CDT)! (Next time zone is 3 provinces away.)
16	14	Sun Jul 18	#102/#17 (Thunder Bay) to English River, ON	153 km in 6h24m, 1956 km total	Partly cloudy, hazzy (forest fire smoke), windy, 20°-25°C. Short on food supply. Only 3 buildings in the town of English River, and the only one with food (restaurant attached to motel) is closed. Had to change both the front and rear tire threads today. Stayed in a hotel tonight.
Breaks the 2000 km mark!
17	15	Mon Jul 19	English River to #622/#17 intersection, ON	100 km in 5h6m, 2057 km total	Sunny, 30°-35°C. Had to ride this morning without breakfast. Stocked up on food at the next town.
18	16	Tue Jul 20	#622/#17 to 44km before Kenora, ON	160 km in 7h5m, 2217 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C
19	17	Wed Jul 21	just before Kenora to Kenora, ON	56 km in 2h49m, 2273 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C. E-mail #5. Take a look at the first set of 8 images Jean-François sent! Bike gets tune-up #2.
20		Thu Jul 22	Kenora, ON		Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C. Day of rest #3. Went kayaking today. Staying with some friends-of-friends in Kenora.
21		Fri Jul 23	Kenora, ON		Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C. Day of rest #4. Feeling sick today (too much wine last night?) and decided not to travel. Taking another day to get better. Will be back on the road tomorrow.
From here, Jean-François is half a day from the Manitoba border. There are few towns between the border and Winnipeg, which happens to be near the midway point on his trip. Perhaps 70 km further west from Winnipeg is Portage la Prairie, the midway point through Manitoba.
Crosses Into Manitoba!
22	18	Sat Jul 24	Kenora to Whitemouth, MB	126 km in 5h48m, 2399 km total	Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. E-mail #6.
23	19	Sun Jul 25	Whitemouth to Stonewall, MB	118 km in 5h28m, 2518 km total	Sunny, windy, 30°-35°C.
24	20	Mon Jul 26	Stonewall to Landar Beach Provincial Park, MB	126 km in 4h36m, 2643 km total	Sunny, very windy, 30°-35°C. Starting to have problems with left knee.
25	21	Tue Jul 27	Landar Beach Provincial Park to The Narrows, MB	111 km in 4h47m, 2754 km total	Partly cloudy, light wind, 20°-25°C. Jean-François called my parents this afternoon. He was hoping to reach Ste. Rose du Lac by this evening. Knee is still bothering him.
Jean-François is travelling much farther north than what I'd imagined. I haven't spoken to him since the 23rd when he was in Kenora, so I'm not certain yet why he chose this particular route. His next large goal is Saskatoon, more than halfway through Saskatchewan.
When Jean-François spoke to my parents this afternoon, they discussed different routes to get from his current location through to Kelowna. My parents spent some time looking at some maps this evening and came up with five different trips.
26	22	Wed Jul 28	The Narrows to Ste. Rose du Lac, MB	74 km in 3h47m, 2828 km total	Cold & very windy, rain, 15°-20°C. Now very painful to bike due to knee pain that started several days ago. E-mail #7
27	23	Thu Jul 29	Ste. Rose du Lac to 10 km past Granview, MB	113 km in 5h13m, 2941 km total	Cloudy, light wind, 10°-15°C. Stopped in Dauphin, MB, to see a doctor. Prescribed some anti-inflamatory drugs for the knee.
Crosses Into Saskatchewan!
Breaks the 3000 km mark!
28	24	Fri Jul 30	just past Granview to Yorkton, SK	122 km in 5h25m, 3063 km total	Partly cloudy, 15°-20°C.
Jean-François spoke to my parents and he's decided on which of the 5 big trip options he's going to take. It turns out the longest of the trip option is what he wants -- the one that will take him through Edmonton, Jasper, Banff, and then across to Kelowna. I've updated the page that lists the trip options with additional information that my parents took the time to look up.
29		Sat Jul 31	Yorkton, SK		Sunny, 20°-25°C. Day of rest #5. Jean-François called Christian today. He's taking a day off to help rest his knee. He figures he has about 15 days left before getting to Kelowna.
30	25	Sun Aug 1	Yorkton to Wynyard, SK	147 km in 5h59m, 3211 km total	Partly cloudy, rain, 15°-20°C. Jean called my parents this morning. He was leaving from Yorkton today. (Happy birthday Mom!)
31	26	Mon Aug 2	Wynyard to Clavet, SK	170 km in 6h51m, 3380 km total	Sunny, 25°-30°C. Was hoping to get to Saskatoon today. Next big goal is Edmonton before the end of the week.
32	27	Tue Aug 3	Clavet to Radisson, SK	103 km in 3h46m, 3483 km total	Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. E-mail #8.
Longest Distance Travelled In One Day (228 km)!
33	28	Wed Aug 4	Radisson to Lloydminster, SK	228 km in 7h8m, 3711 km total	Partly cloudy, very windy, 25°-30°C. The wind was from the east today!
Crosses Into Alberta!
Crosses Into Mountain Time Zone (MST7MDT)!
34	29	Thu Aug 5	Lloydminster to Elk Island National Park, AB	221 km in 9h2m, 3932 km total	Sunny, hot, 30°-35°C. Though yesterday was a greater distance, today was a bigger accomplishment since there was no wind to help. Elk Island is a beautiful park, but mosquito infested!
Breaks the 4000 km mark!
35	30	Fri Aug 6	Elk Island to Edmonton, AB	78 km in 3h55m, 4010 km total	Sunny, windy, 25°-30°C. Visited parts of Edmonton today, including some time spent at West Edmonton Mall.
I spoke to Jean-François tonight (Fri Aug 6) and he is doing quite well. His knee is actually feeling much better now with the medication. The next two big milestones are Jasper, followed by Lake Louise/Banff. He believes he'll reach Jasper by August 9, and Banff by August 13, at which point he'll be taking a day off from biking.
36	31	Sat Aug 7	Edmonton to Nojack, AB	137 km in 6h39m, 4148 km total	Cloudy, windy, 10°-15°C.
37	32	Sun Aug 8	Nojack to Hinton, AB	158 km in 7h, 4306 km total	Cloudy, 10°-15°C.
38	33	Mon Aug 9	Hinton to Jasper, AB	98 km in 4h5m, 4404 km total	Sunny, 20°-25°C. E-mail #9.
39	34	Tue Aug 10	Jasper to Columbia Ice Fields, AB	109 km in 5h46m, 4512 km total	Sunny, 5°-25°C.
40	35	Wed Aug 11	Columbia Ice Fields to Lake Louise, AB	149 km in 6h57m, 4662 km total	Sunny, 5°-25°C.
Crosses Into British Columbia!
41	36	Thu Aug 12	Lake Louise to Golden, BC	120 km in 5h29m, 4781 km total	Sunny, 5°-35°C. Bike gets tune-up #3.
Crosses Into Pacific Time Zone (PST8PDT)!
42	37	Fri Aug 13	Golden to Revelstoke, BC	160 km in 6h29m, 4941 km total	Sunny, 35°-40°C. E-mail #10.
Breaks the 5000 km mark!
43	38	Sat Aug 14	Revelstoke to Kelowna, BC	220 km in 8h33m, 5161 km total	Sunny, 35°-40°C. Had 3 flat tires today. Got to Stéphane's place just before 10pm. E-mail #11. Bike needs a tune-up.
The trip is done! From Montréal to Kelowna, 5161 km, in 38 days of biking. Jean-François took several hundred pictures during the trip, most of which are available from here. Early on the morning of Wednesday August 25, Jean-François boarded the train in Kamloops (just north of Kelowna) to head back to Montréal. The train trip will take him 4 days. The goal of his next big bicycle trip is not yet decided, though he's hinted it would be nice to do a trip outside of North America.

Legend:
Text on a gray background indicates usual day-to-day information.
Text on a bluish background indicates important milestones.
Text on a white background indicates rest days.
Text on a red background indicates comments by Stéphane.

I wish you many cloudy days with no rain, bro!
Hey! HEY! That mosquito is taking off with your bike! Get him!

Last modified on 2004-08-26 01:45.