Duane Hicks
A Fort Frances native is chronicling her first long-distance cycling trip across western Canada.
The public can follow the progress of Leah Nowak and her partner, Ryan York, by checking out her blog at leah-nowak.squarespace.com
Nowak, the daughter of Cathy Richards and Vik Nowak, and York, who just graduated from medical school, flew to British Columbia last month and now are biking back home to Winnipeg.
“Ryan had recently done the MS charity bike tour with his classmates and loved it,” Nowak noted Friday, writing from Salmon Arm, B.C.
“Since he was graduating and would have a big chunk of time off before starting his residency, we thought that planning a bike tour would be fun—and also provide motivation to get back into shape,” she added.
“He was definitely the planner and organizer of this whole trip.”
The pair flew to Vancouver on May 16. Nowak brought her bike with her while York got his from a shop there.
Once they had both bikes and all the other gear needed, they headed to Victoria and made that their starting point.
Travelling by bike, the duo has packed light.
“It’s kind of refreshing carrying so few belongings,” said Nowak. “But at the same time, we don’t need too much, either.
“Some people camp along the way, which obviously requires a lot more gear,” she noted.
“Since we are staying in motels, all we really need are the essentials: a change of clothes, pedestrian shoes, basic bike tools, and a few spare parts.”
Over the past few weeks, Nowak and York have biked, hiked, zip-lined, wined, dined, and had to do the occasional bike repair.
“So far it’s been an amazing journey and very much unlike anything we’ve done before,” Nowak enthused.
“It’s been a really wild and unique experience, that’s for sure.
“All of B.C. has been beautiful to cycle through, but I think Nanaimo and Vancouver have been among our favourite stops so far,” she added.
Nowak said they’re anticipating getting back to Winnipeg by around June 25.
They’ll be cycling most days, but may take a few rest days over the next couple of weeks—depending on how hard the Rockies hit them, she joked.
Once past the mountains, cycling will be much easier.
“At the start of the trip, we talked about how unexciting the Prairies would seem after touring in the mountains for so long,” Nowak remarked.
“But if you were to ask us now, especially in the middle of a steep climb, we’d probably tell you how much we were looking forward to that beautiful flat Prairie landscape.
“It’s all a matter of perspective, it turns out.”
Nowak noted she and York are having such a good time, they’re thinking about doing the other half of Canada for their next holiday.
