Ready to get on that Pacific Coast Highway

This post is from a newsletter I sent out while cycling from Canada to Mexico in 2017

Hello friends

As you probably know by now, I’m staring down the barrel of a very long bike ride from Canada to Mexico.

Thanks for signing up to this newsletter and for all the support so far. Mitch (my bike, of course) wanted me to say that it means a lot to him.

He’s back in one piece after some tricky surgery following a flight from London to Vancouver, which he spent in a cardboard box. Although one mysterious screw doesn’t seem to have a home post-op. If you find us both in pieces on route 19, at least we’ll all know why, sort of.

We get going tomorrow (Friday), headed somewhat counter-intuitively north out of Vancouver for a bit, then over to Vancouver Island where we turn left towards Seattle.

I’m all packed and provisioned, severely overloaded vs recommended benchmarks despite every effort to own my “Minimalishka” alter-ego. Think my legs will probably have the final say in the battle of bike weight vs “luxury” items like a second pair of socks in the next few days but I start optimistically.

Vancouver has been sunny and wonderful (sailing boats AND mountains!) but mostly marked by a shamefully non-mindful urge to get on that road.

Love, Elishka