I have been on many bicycle trips around the world and seen some truly amazing things. This is in part to the relaxing atmosphere that riding a bicycle brings. Nothing beats an open road or an empty trail, where you have to whistle to let the potential wild animals know you are not their supper. Or an early morning ride before the sun is up to catch a ferry to take you off an island paradise. Or riding along a converted rail line and imagining what brilliance new inhabitants to the land felt and if my emotions are so different. Then I moved to Vancouver….. Riding my bike in this city is ...

Recap! My name is Miles Howe. I'm in Ottawa. I'm from Ottawa. I purchased a Dahon folding bike in Winnipeg and hitchhiked/rode to Thunder Bay. I was riding an Ezee Torq across the country, playing music shows, spreading the electric bike lovin' like peanut butter on hot toast. I started in Nanaimo, BC, and rode it all the way to Shoal Lake, Manitoba. Let's get caught up. Ottawa. Well, hot greasy damn! I’m back in Ottawa, my hometown. Good old Ottawa on a sunny day in the fall. The colours are out. The joggers are out. The civil servants come out at lunch, all pasty faced and squiting at the sun. Dear mom is still here. Some good friends are still here too. They're still plucking ...

Game, Set, Match. Friendly Manitoba? Manitoba just trampled my ride like a heard of friendly bison. It is with a sense of regret that I must inform you that outside of sunny Brandon, Manitoba, the Torq met its match. All the mountain ranges in British Columbia could not stop this magnificent electric bicycle. All the oil derricks in Alberta couldn't slip me up. All the prairie fields in Saskatchewan couldn't...cause me to fall asleep at the handlebars. I was sure that the worst was behind us, and that the rest of the country would spread its autumnal beauty for me in one incredible cornucopia of attentive audiences, serene landscapes, and gentle fall weather. I was looking forward to Thanksgiving in Manitouwadge! Now, I'm back ...

Recap! When last we spoke I was in Swift Current, Plains Cree territory. I had just finished playing for a crowd composed largely of seminary students from Millar Bible School. Its been a few wacky days since then. So let's get caught up! Multicultural Festival in Swift Current. Picture a late September Saturday in Swift Current. Its windy, although I get the feeling that goes without saying in Swift Current. Its also sunny and warm, and after what sounds like a very wet summer, the Swifties are downtown in significant numbers. Its multi-cultural celebration day in Saskatchewan, and the Lyric Theatre in Swift Current is putting on a day-long show. There are tables with dioramas, food samples, and traditional clothing from a variety of countries of ...

Recap. Through every mountain range that BC could throw at us, the Torq proved itself to be as nimble as a mountain goat. But, is it as fleet as an antelope? What would happen when the ground flattened out and I started making long-distance requests from the bike? Would the battery packs begin to tire? Would I begin to tire? These were the questions resting heavy on a nation's collective mind. But fear not, the answer to this question is that the Torq and I are as at home on the range as we are in the plains.  I find myself in Swift Current, traditional territory of the Plains Cree. The Cree historically held a vast territory, so its kind of a catch-all statement to say ...

Recap! Greetings from Medicine Hat, Alberta, traditional territory of the Saanis First Nation. Its been three days since the last post, which found me in Fernie, BC. I was in the doldrums. My mandolin had met an untimely demise, my phone and digital camera had turned to useless, and things were rainy, damp and wet. It was a low, low time. But not to fear, the ride continues and things have gotten flat and fast. And summer's back. Let's get caught up. Fernie to the Border. Bye Bye BC. The ride from Fernie to the Alberta/BC border takes you through the Crowsnest Pass and the Rocky mountains. The Crowsnest Pass is a geological masterpiece, with massive snow-capped peaks rising everywhere you look. Autumn is, in my mind, the best time to ...

Tough Breaks. What can I say? BC is a rainy mother in September, and it comes down in droves as I head southeast out of Sirdar, traditional territory of the Ktunaxa nation. There truly can never be too many mist-caped mountains in the vista, but when its pouring rain and you're on a bike, even a kick-butt electric bike, let's be honest with ourselves...they all start to look the same. I'm sure I'll miss them later, but for now I'd settle for dry and no mountains. I'd settle for the complete absence of beautiful mountains, I don't even need one, if it would ...

 Recap My name is still Miles Howe. I am still riding an Ezee Torq across the country, headed eastward. I started in Duncan, BC, and am now in a coffee shop in Creston, BC. The last time we spoke, I was just finishing a gig in Winlaw, BC. So many fascinating things have happened since then, you wouldn't even believe it! I don't even know where to begin... Winlaw and the Slocan Valley Winlaw and the Slocan Valley are part of the traditional territory of the Siniixt people. Man, when traditional territories were being handed out, these guys got lucky! The Slocan is a special spot on earth. Its fertile and lush, and seems hidden away from the rest of the world by ...

Recap My name is Miles Howe. I have riden an Ezee Torq from Nanaimo, British Columbia to Winlaw, BC.  Today is my ninth day of consecutive riding. I'm also a musician. Today is my ninth consecutive day of gigging. If you're new to this blog, I'm riding the Torq to Halifax. Yes, I'm aware that winter is coming. But for now, I prefer to think of it as a cross-Canada Indian Summer Tour, no offense to our First Nations' Peoples. In fact, all the respect in the world. My travelling companions on this voyage are young Peter, and his dog Hazel. Peter is a great guitarist and an accomplished Tahini pail player. He's hitchiking home to Moncton for the winter. We meet ...

Recap My name is Miles Howe. For the past eight days I have been riding an Ezee Torq across British Columbia. I started in Nanaimo, went down to Duncan, backtracked, and began racing against the winter, headed eastwards. My girlfriend moved to Halifax, so that's the end destination of this mad cap, cross-country, tour. I'm also a musician, and I've been playing shows every night. Right now I'm in Grand Forks, BC, set to play at Kokomo's Coffee House tonight. Last time we spoke (last time I wrote a blog that is) it was late at night in Penticton. That was two days ago. Let's get caught up. Penticton to Rock Creek I begin heading southwards out of Penticton, through the traditional territory of ...