Retired couple bike across Canada

What will you do when you retire? This oft-asked question brings all kinds of responses from selling up, downsizing, moving south, lying around a a beach, writing.

But this couple from Binbrook, Ontario, had a retirement goal quite different from the usual. They began planning their retirement dream ... or rather, goal ... about 8 years ago when both were still teaching. Their dream is something most folks their age wouldn't tackle: to ride across Canada, coast to coast, not in their car or trailer, but on their bicycles! And now, that retirement goal has been realized. Carl, 56, and Rochelle, 63, set out from Vancouver Island in May and completed their journey at St. John's at 3:30 pm on August 12th. Battling all kinds of weather, including snow in the mountains and rain elsewhere, they covered the 7608 kilometer ride in 98 days. That was about a month earlier than they anticipated. They expected to cover about 72k a day, but instead, kept pushing themselves and managed about 96k a day. Was there a point at which they felt they'd taken on too much or bitten off more than they could chew? Well by the time they got to St. Johns where the hills were really testing them, Rochelle yelled at her husband from not agreeing to take the ferry instead. As one would expect, both lost weight on the trip: Rochelle lost 12lbs and Carl 25lbs. But with every turn of the wheel, they became fitter and fitter. But they say the best part of it all, apart from the feeling of accomplishment, was the nice people they met along the way. What an achievement! Folks half their age would have found this an ordeal that was just too much. Anyone else have retirement plans as ambitious as this one?