In the July 13, 2012, edition of The Observer there was a story on Ingrid Eder-Carrizo. She had come to Canada on May 1, with the intention of cycling across the country. On her journey she had turned 61 and had been having a magnificent time crossing Canada.
Eder-Carrizo has lived in Spain for the last 40 years, having originally come from Germany. At the age of 50, after her children were grown, she decided to take up cycling. Having been to Canada previously she was looking forward to bringing her bicycle for her third time visiting the country, which she found to be amazing.
Her husband had declined the invitation to join her, but Eder-Carrizo decided to travel on her own. Their previous visits to the country had made her comfortable in tackling this long bicycle ride on her own. She found Canada to be a safe country with very welcoming people and discovered this to continue to be true as she made her way across the country.
She had stated previously that without the help of many Canadians, through their encouragement, she was able to continue her difficult trek through strong wind and much rain, having not realized how cold it could be in Canada in May.
Though the wind sometimes worked against her, she found the long distances between towns as being quite difficult and worried about the possibility of meeting a hungry bear.
Luckily she never met a hungry bear and found kind people offering her lodgings, food, and hot tea throughout the isolated areas she was cycling through.
Eder-Carrizo arrived in Vancouver, after pedalling 6,500 km across the country, with another 800 km along Vancouver Island, on Aug. 10. Her trip took her 102 days, starting in Halifax and continuing across the many features of our nation.
"I had no problem at all. No accident and only two flat tires on the whole distance. I was so lucky and everybody was friendly and helpful with me," Eder-Carrizo stated.
"I miss so much your beautiful country and want to say thank you to all the people on my way who made this journey unforgettable."
Through her travels Eder-Carrizo found that there was no "one place" in Canada which stood out as her favourite.
"I was asked sometimes, which province I liked best and I thought about it, but there is no "number one". Each province has its own character and every place has its own charm and I like all of them. Nature is impressive and overwhelming everywhere in Canada. Pedaling in unspoiled places, seeing birds and other animals, experiencing the magnitude of this huge country was the original reason I came to your country, not knowing before, that the people living there are so incredibly friendly. I dont remember any other country where I felt so safe, comfortable and happy. So for me it was a very special journey."
Following her travels across the country she now has many Canadian friends who are sending her many photos of the snow and describing life in winter in Canada.
Eder-Carrizo's next destination will be to come back to our country, though, next time she won't traverse across the entire country. She hopes to focus on more of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Quebec as she was unable to see much of these places during her trip last year.
She is doing very well at home and is going to be presenting photos from her journey and stories of Canada to her village of Alaior on the island of Menorca, Spain.
