(Photos by John Lehmann/Globe and Mail)

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It was a picture-perfect, Canadian postcard moment.

As Jack MacNeill, wearing a tuque and holding the flaming Olympic torch aloft, headed out into the languorous current of a Fraser River side channel in - of course - a canoe, a large flock of Canada geese rose suddenly from the water. They flew low overhead, heading south in perfect V-formation.

For organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics hoping to touch the soul of the country with the Games, it doesn't get much better than that, even during what was just a trial run of the iconic torch relay that's set to begin for real next month in Victoria.

Mr. MacNeill certainly wasn't bothered that he was carrying the torch Wednesday only as part of a day-long simulation of what will take place during the flame's 45,000-kilometre journey from coast to coast to coast.

"When you have the torch in your hand, it doesn't feel like a trial at all," said the 46-year-old psychologist from West Vancouver. "You really do feel part of something. It was a privilege to carry the torch, and I did so with a sense of pride and a lot of humility."

This scenic, placid native reserve on the banks of the Fraser was stop two on the flame's test torch run that began early in the day, perhaps appropriately, in Hope, before coming to a halt 10 hours later in the sprawling Fraser Valley community of Abbotsford.

Native day care worker Viola Peter took her young charges out into the brilliant sunshine to take a look. "These kids are going to be happy that they saw it. It's showing what the Olympics is all about. It's awesome."

"Here's the flame. Woohoo!" another onlooker yelled, as the torch neared the river, its flame burning brightly in the wind. Others clapped and cheered.

Mr. MacNeill's brief journey in a canoe was one of several different transportation methods used by volunteer torchbearers during the day. The torch also travelled by bicycle past hundreds of cheering school children, it was carried in a wheelchair by disabled volunteer Bet Tuason, and took an 800-metre journey on horseback, courtesy of 16-year-old rider Beanie Laws-peel, who said she wore her red cowboy hat specially for the occasion.

As such, despite the broiling sun, T-shirted runners sweltering in the unusual late-September heat and the complete absence of snow on any of the surrounding mountains, the simulated run still managed to capture some of the flavour organizers hope will captivate Canadians throughout the torch's 106-day trek to BC Place in Vancouver. There, on Feb. 12, the Olympic cauldron will be lit by the final torchbearer marking the official opening of the 2010 Winter Games.

"We hope that every day of the torch relay, Canadians will be reminded of the greatness of Canada," VANOC president and CEO John Furlong told pumped volunteers at a celebration gathering in a Chilliwack shopping mall. "We hope it gives everyone a sense of what this country is all about."
For Ms. Laws-peel, her turn with the torch represented a remarkable closing of a torch-relay circle for the young horseback rider.

Thirty-three years earlier, Dennis Joly, so close to the high-school student's family he is considered an honorary uncle, carried the torch for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also by horse and in the same area of rural Chilliwack.

"History goes around, I guess," said Mr. Joly, gazing after Ms. Laws-peel as she headed down the road with the torch. "It's a wonderful experience, just to be in her life and to be part of this. I'm thrilled and very proud of her."
The day's journey began on a mostly deserted road in Hope, across from a non-descript auto service centre and the local RCMP detachment.

As the sun rose over the nearby mountains, torchbearer No. 1, Samantha Buchan, paced nervously up and down the highway, anxious to begin.
"It's got to start somewhere," she said, beforehand. "I can feel the vibes already. It's just great. It's such an honour to be first."

Finally, someone said, "We're off." The ungainly convoy of police vehicles with flashing lights, gaudy red Coke trucks, support vehicles and escort runners surrounding Ms. Buchan slowly made its way east. At least for a few thousand metres or so.

No one ran the torch to its next community stop, Seabird Island. Instead, the famous flame travelled by special van.

That will be par for the course during the official torch relay. Runs will take place within communities, not between them. "It's about choice," said Mr. Furlong of VANOC. "It's about getting as close to as many people as possible, and there's no other way to do this."

Meanwhile, it didn't take organizers long to learn a few basics about how to conduct an Olympic torch relay, based on Wednesday's test.

Bring booster cables, said rueful relay director Jim Richards, noting that some vehicles might not have been delayed in the morning if cables had been on hand.

And be calm, Mr. Richards added. A few torch bearers were so pumped by their role, they ran right past the lead vehicle they were supposed to follow, he said. "They might need a bit more coaching."