PEDAL Crew Breaks Through to the Central Time Zone!

Posted by Ken Mahy - 8 August 2010

As Lucas and Justin indicated in their joint blog entry from Thunder Bay, access to the Internet is often difficult to find along the TransCanada Highway in Northern Ontario.  The PEDAL team has, therefore, authorized me to periodically post information on their behalf gleaned from telephone conversations with parents and friends.

Topping the recent news: PEDAL Across the Americas has broken through into the Central Time zone!  Phone calls received Saturday evening were from a campground about 20 km east of Upsala (or 115 km northwest of Thunder Bay).  Or as Paul Gauthier put it into broader perspective - "more than 1/3 of the way to Victoria BC".

For the "time zone challenged", this means that the PEDALers are now an hour behind most of Ontario and 2 hours ahead of British Columbia.  In other words, if it's 3 PM in "PEDAL Time", that's 4 PM in Ontario and 1 PM on the west coast.

Speaking of Thunder Bay, the PEDAL adventure made big news there as the group was interviewed by both the local CBC Radio station and the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal (click to see the article).  Triple thanks Lin, whose farm they stayed at just outside Thunder Bay and Rosslyn Village, as she got them the interviews through her local connections and also drove them back into Thunder Bay to be interviewed!

And more good news, this time from Toronto.  The Tooker Gomberg Greenspiration Fund has announced the following:  "A $500 grant was given to P.E.D.A.L., a 16,000 km bicycle tour and environmental education and media project documenting sustainable living models."

One final thought-provoking perspective for those of us cheering the PEDAL team from the sidelines.  Apparently the group are finding the more level riding northwest of Thunder Bay a bit dull compared to the more hilly terrain they traversed earlier.  They miss the challenge of the uphill climbs followed by the exhiliration of the vistas seen as they reached the top - and the restful glides on the downhill side!