Jason Unrau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (June 03/05) - There's a long and lonely highway ahead for Quebec cyclist Claude Gagne.

But the electrician from Shawinigan, Que. - hometown of former prime minister Jean Chretien - doesn't mind, he's travelled this road before.

"I cycled from Whitehorse back home last summer," he said Saturday afternoon from his campsite just outside Fort McPherson.

"I always wanted to see Inuvik and the Delta, so this year I decided to do this."

While Gagne is a seasoned distance cyclist who's pedalled his way through Europe, the United States and across Canada several times, there's still a lot to be discovered as he travels the Dempster for the first time.

"I went to a place just back there with all these colourful houses but nobody was there. It was depressing," he said. After learning that Midway Lake campground was a music festival grounds and not an abandoned town, Gagne seemed pleased.

"Oh, that's good. I got there and thought, where did everybody go?"

As for his journey, Gagne says many have stopped to ask about his intentions and he noted that they have all been extremely friendly.

"It would be nice to travel with somebody, though, for security," he said, adding that it was not the curious folk he was concerned about, rather the animals.

"Every night, I move the bike and my food a ways from the tent, just in case."

After spending several days in Inuvik, Gagne was ready to begin his 7,200-km journey back home.

He was the first passenger of the season on the Arctic Red Ferry at Tsiigehtchic.

"I was waiting at the crossing and when the ferry was in they agreed to take me across before it was officially open. That was nice," he said.

In terms of refuelling his personal engine, Gagne came very well prepared. No trail mix and noodles for this cosmopolitan cyclist.

"I've got a chicken and mashed potato dinner planned for tonight," he said.

Gagne expects the trip to take him about two-and-a-half months, including a stop in Toronto to visit his sister.