October 2007
Monthly Archive
Bike Trip 2007 – Day 17
Monday, June 25
Distance: 103 km
Riding Time: 4:25 hours
Average Speed: 23.5 kph!
Top Speed: 63.4 kph
Location: #7, 36 Windridge Road, Exshaw.
Home.
I was ready for the trip to end. Not desperate, mind you, I still had been having a fair bit of fun, but the ongoing days of steady riding had grown a little old, and it was time to be home.
Bloody hell it had been a cold night! I had a pretty lousy sleep, constantly shifting around trying to stay warm as it poured rain outside. Not many options, though, so I ended up pretty much suffering through it. I was able to sleep, though, so it wasn’t all that bad. When I got up, there was still a bit of drizzle coming down, and everything was bitterly cold, though there wasn’t any ice anywhere. There was a gazebo nearby, and I ended up moving all my gear under cover for breakfast and packing up. Definitely time for some warm food.
There were a bunch of other folks there as well. One couple who were also touring, and had left from Calgary to head up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. They had some nifty “moustache� handlebars, which I won’t bother trying to describe. They looked pretty old school, but I could see they would be better than simple mountain bike bars because they allowed numerous grip positions. There was another biker as well, a fellow who had taken his bike down from Edmonton and was going to circle up through the parkway as well to get home. Crazy bugger had ridden from Cochrane to Exshaw along Highway 1A, which is one stretch of road that I’ll never ride on. No shoulder, VERY winding, with lots of morons driving it. I’m a bit surprised he survived.
And then there were the two poor British girls. They had come out to Calgary to live and work for a number of weeks, and it was almost time for them to go home. They decided to spend a couple days visiting Lake Louise and Canmore. So they went to MEC and bought a noseeum mesh “tent� which will keep out the bugs, but not the rain and not even a light breeze. They also bought two of those foil reflective emergency blankets to serve as their “sleeping bags.� Mattress? Who needs a mattress? As the rain was approaching last night, they draped and secured a whole bunch of plastic bags to the outside of their tent and hoped for the best. They each bundled up in every scrap of clothing they’d brought, and lay down to wait for dawn. Once I heard about all that, I stopped feeling all that cold. They MUST have suffered, but really weren’t complaining. I was duly impressed.
I made up the last of my dried dinners, mostly because it would be a hot meal, and put more water on to boil. I quietly said, “If anyone’s interested, I’m going to make some tea.� There was a quickly indrawn breath, more of a quiet gasp, really, from one of the girls. They took me up on my offer. Funny thing was, they had no source of heat for boiling water, and nothing to boil water in, but by damn they had tea bags.
At any rate, after the most social start to the day I’ve had all trip, it was finally time to get moving. The rain had stopped and the clouds had lifted, so I figured I’d better get while the getting was good. As I made my way out of town, I was shocked to see how close I’d come to getting snowed upon. The snowline on the surrounding mountains wasn’t that much higher up that I was. Not that it would have made much of a difference, unless it stuck to the roads, but it was still a good indication of how chilly the night had been.
What a nice view to wake up to!
Distance: 103 km
Riding Time: 4:25 hours
Average Speed: 23.5 kph!
Top Speed: 63.4 kph
Location: #7, 36 Windridge Road, Exshaw.
Home.
I was ready for the trip to end. Not desperate, mind you, I still had been having a fair bit of fun, but the ongoing days of steady riding had grown a little old, and it was time to be home.
Bloody hell it had been a cold night! I had a pretty lousy sleep, constantly shifting around trying to stay warm as it poured rain outside. Not many options, though, so I ended up pretty much suffering through it. I was able to sleep, though, so it wasn’t all that bad. When I got up, there was still a bit of drizzle coming down, and everything was bitterly cold, though there wasn’t any ice anywhere. There was a gazebo nearby, and I ended up moving all my gear under cover for breakfast and packing up. Definitely time for some warm food.
There were a bunch of other folks there as well. One couple who were also touring, and had left from Calgary to head up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. They had some nifty “moustache� handlebars, which I won’t bother trying to describe. They looked pretty old school, but I could see they would be better than simple mountain bike bars because they allowed numerous grip positions. There was another biker as well, a fellow who had taken his bike down from Edmonton and was going to circle up through the parkway as well to get home. Crazy bugger had ridden from Cochrane to Exshaw along Highway 1A, which is one stretch of road that I’ll never ride on. No shoulder, VERY winding, with lots of morons driving it. I’m a bit surprised he survived.
And then there were the two poor British girls. They had come out to Calgary to live and work for a number of weeks, and it was almost time for them to go home. They decided to spend a couple days visiting Lake Louise and Canmore. So they went to MEC and bought a noseeum mesh “tent� which will keep out the bugs, but not the rain and not even a light breeze. They also bought two of those foil reflective emergency blankets to serve as their “sleeping bags.� Mattress? Who needs a mattress? As the rain was approaching last night, they draped and secured a whole bunch of plastic bags to the outside of their tent and hoped for the best. They each bundled up in every scrap of clothing they’d brought, and lay down to wait for dawn. Once I heard about all that, I stopped feeling all that cold. They MUST have suffered, but really weren’t complaining. I was duly impressed.
I made up the last of my dried dinners, mostly because it would be a hot meal, and put more water on to boil. I quietly said, “If anyone’s interested, I’m going to make some tea.� There was a quickly indrawn breath, more of a quiet gasp, really, from one of the girls. They took me up on my offer. Funny thing was, they had no source of heat for boiling water, and nothing to boil water in, but by damn they had tea bags.
At any rate, after the most social start to the day I’ve had all trip, it was finally time to get moving. The rain had stopped and the clouds had lifted, so I figured I’d better get while the getting was good. As I made my way out of town, I was shocked to see how close I’d come to getting snowed upon. The snowline on the surrounding mountains wasn’t that much higher up that I was. Not that it would have made much of a difference, unless it stuck to the roads, but it was still a good indication of how chilly the night had been.
What a nice view to wake up to!I struck out along the Bow Valley Parkway. This was the same road I’d taken from Banff to Castle Junction on day 1, and the road continues all the way to Lake Louise, so I figured it would be a nice route to take back to Banff. And it might have been on a normal day. But because this was the last day of the trip and all I really wanted to do was get home, I found it frustrating. There was so much up and down that I felt I was going a lot more slowly than I would have on the freeway, and I just didn’t seem to have that much energy, probably again because I was close to home. I stuck it out, even after Castle Junction where I could have rejoined the freeway, because I thought that the 2nd half would have much more downhill, based upon my memory from before.
Stupid memory! It bloody well took forever! The whole time the clouds were menacing, though I wasn’t getting dropped on. I kept my rain jacket on for most of it, and only took it off once I finally got back to the highway and the day started to warm up a bit. Once on the highway, things changed. The downhill that I’d been hoping for all day was very apparent, and I began to fly. The other change was that a thundershower appeared up ahead of me and on my left, and I was worried I was going to go straight into it. I knew that I was traveling north east, and once I got past Banff I’d turn to more south east, and if I could just get there before getting caught by the storm, I might be okay. The race was on.
Had a pretty good conversation with Mother Nature as I rode, trying to convince her that since we’d gotten along so well for the trip, there was no point in spoiling it now. I was averaging about 40 kph along that stretch, really burning up the miles, but I was feeling droplets of rain and wasn’t at all sure I’d make it. And of course, once I saw the corner, I hit a gradual uphill and slowed right down. Though it was touch and go right down to the wire, I did get around the corner before getting truly rained on, and from there the storm pushed me all the way to Canmore. I made amazing time, but was racing the weather all the way into town and it didn’t stop there. I could see the storm now pushing over the Rundle range, and there was no way that I was going to be able to get away if I made a push for Exshaw. My only hope was to get to the clinic before it hit. I was down to shorts and a tank at this point, because though it was chilly, I was pushing really hard and generating lots of my own heat.
And I made it. I swung around the back of the clinic so Dee couldn’t see me come in, and she WAS surprised. Turns out she had wondered a bit after my comment from the night before, but had assumed I’d just slipped up a bit, and she wasn’t expecting to see me at all. I know she was happy to see me, because I got a hug despite being all sweaty, and that’s the first time that’s ever happened. We chatted a bit and I talked some to her coworkers as well, and during all this, a torrential downpour was coming down outside. My timing had been perfect.
After about 20 minutes, the rain had pretty much stopped, and I headed off. To Safeway, as it turns out. We needed groceries for supper, and I thought it’d be cool to pick them up. Also, I was trying to time my ride to Exshaw to match when all the Lafarge folks would be leaving work, so that I could do a couple triumphant waves and fist-shakes. So off I went. Most of my food was gone, so I had enough room to carry the stuff. Despite my hopes, I didn’t see anyone I knew there but the delay was perfect and I started off for home at exactly the right time.
Not one wave. I was a bit disappointed. Even Chris Hutton, who I saw and who I waved at, didn’t notice that it was me until he was just passing, so I missed the point of recognition. Ah well, no point in being a glory hog anyways; it can only lead to bad things. I was fortunate that my neighbour was home, since I’d forgotten to get house keys from Dee and Tom has one, kept on file for just such an event. So it turns out the first person to see me at the true end of my trip was Tom Brannigan. The second was our dog, Bailey, who didn’t really seem any more excited to see me than her normally is when I’ve been away for a single day. But it was still a nice welcome home.
So despite all my grousing, I still had the best average speed of the trip, and it would’ve been much higher except that I had a bit of a headwind the last stretch from Canmore to Exshaw. No pictures, though, there wasn’t time. There wasn’t as much pleasure in the ride as I’d had on other days, but the reward of making it home more than made up for it.
The ride is finished! But there’s one more entry to make, and it’ll be the hardest to write. Here’s s couple of shots from the night I got home.
Stupid memory! It bloody well took forever! The whole time the clouds were menacing, though I wasn’t getting dropped on. I kept my rain jacket on for most of it, and only took it off once I finally got back to the highway and the day started to warm up a bit. Once on the highway, things changed. The downhill that I’d been hoping for all day was very apparent, and I began to fly. The other change was that a thundershower appeared up ahead of me and on my left, and I was worried I was going to go straight into it. I knew that I was traveling north east, and once I got past Banff I’d turn to more south east, and if I could just get there before getting caught by the storm, I might be okay. The race was on.
Had a pretty good conversation with Mother Nature as I rode, trying to convince her that since we’d gotten along so well for the trip, there was no point in spoiling it now. I was averaging about 40 kph along that stretch, really burning up the miles, but I was feeling droplets of rain and wasn’t at all sure I’d make it. And of course, once I saw the corner, I hit a gradual uphill and slowed right down. Though it was touch and go right down to the wire, I did get around the corner before getting truly rained on, and from there the storm pushed me all the way to Canmore. I made amazing time, but was racing the weather all the way into town and it didn’t stop there. I could see the storm now pushing over the Rundle range, and there was no way that I was going to be able to get away if I made a push for Exshaw. My only hope was to get to the clinic before it hit. I was down to shorts and a tank at this point, because though it was chilly, I was pushing really hard and generating lots of my own heat.
And I made it. I swung around the back of the clinic so Dee couldn’t see me come in, and she WAS surprised. Turns out she had wondered a bit after my comment from the night before, but had assumed I’d just slipped up a bit, and she wasn’t expecting to see me at all. I know she was happy to see me, because I got a hug despite being all sweaty, and that’s the first time that’s ever happened. We chatted a bit and I talked some to her coworkers as well, and during all this, a torrential downpour was coming down outside. My timing had been perfect.
After about 20 minutes, the rain had pretty much stopped, and I headed off. To Safeway, as it turns out. We needed groceries for supper, and I thought it’d be cool to pick them up. Also, I was trying to time my ride to Exshaw to match when all the Lafarge folks would be leaving work, so that I could do a couple triumphant waves and fist-shakes. So off I went. Most of my food was gone, so I had enough room to carry the stuff. Despite my hopes, I didn’t see anyone I knew there but the delay was perfect and I started off for home at exactly the right time.
Not one wave. I was a bit disappointed. Even Chris Hutton, who I saw and who I waved at, didn’t notice that it was me until he was just passing, so I missed the point of recognition. Ah well, no point in being a glory hog anyways; it can only lead to bad things. I was fortunate that my neighbour was home, since I’d forgotten to get house keys from Dee and Tom has one, kept on file for just such an event. So it turns out the first person to see me at the true end of my trip was Tom Brannigan. The second was our dog, Bailey, who didn’t really seem any more excited to see me than her normally is when I’ve been away for a single day. But it was still a nice welcome home.
So despite all my grousing, I still had the best average speed of the trip, and it would’ve been much higher except that I had a bit of a headwind the last stretch from Canmore to Exshaw. No pictures, though, there wasn’t time. There wasn’t as much pleasure in the ride as I’d had on other days, but the reward of making it home more than made up for it.
The ride is finished! But there’s one more entry to make, and it’ll be the hardest to write. Here’s s couple of shots from the night I got home.
Long hair and scruffy beard. I've had comments that this is a pretty lame beard for 2.5 weeks, but what can I say, it's in my genes.
Biggest legs I'll probably ever have. Dee thought they were disproportionate to the rest of me. And look at that razor sharp tanline!
comments off Sunday 07 Oct 2007 | MrSodomy | SlantyNet - General
Bike Trip 2007 – Day 16
Sunday, June 24
Distance: 84 km
Riding Time: 4:50 hours
Average Speed: 17.5 kph
Top Speed: 69.5 kph
Location: Lake Louise Municipal Campground
Well, this was a pretty uneventful day, which is good, because there were some really crappy stretches of road, and an event could have been really bad news.
Slept in a bit, since I hadn’t been able to really get to sleep the night before, so got going around 10:30 or so. The weather didn’t look that great; there were ominous looking clouds all around Golden, but I was dry, at least for the first stretch. And man, did that first stretch suck ass.
Turns out there are some real challenges with building highways through the mountains. As you leave Golden, you’re faced with a stretch of road that was literally carved out of a cliff. The road has to hug the cliff face, and there are concrete barriers along the edge to keep you from driving off into oblivion. All great if you’re in a car.
Cliff face from the highway.
After that, I reached the newish bit of road that pours down to a bridge across the river, and wouldn’t you know it, not much shoulder for high speed riding. Again, a bit freaky, and I couldn’t even look in the mirror to see what was coming at that speed, so I just went with it and muttered prayers under my breath. All went well, and on the far side was a big chunk of construction. I was quite amused to note the brand new wall of dirt that had a small river pouring right out the side of it.
Distance: 84 km
Riding Time: 4:50 hours
Average Speed: 17.5 kph
Top Speed: 69.5 kph
Location: Lake Louise Municipal Campground
Well, this was a pretty uneventful day, which is good, because there were some really crappy stretches of road, and an event could have been really bad news.
Slept in a bit, since I hadn’t been able to really get to sleep the night before, so got going around 10:30 or so. The weather didn’t look that great; there were ominous looking clouds all around Golden, but I was dry, at least for the first stretch. And man, did that first stretch suck ass.
Turns out there are some real challenges with building highways through the mountains. As you leave Golden, you’re faced with a stretch of road that was literally carved out of a cliff. The road has to hug the cliff face, and there are concrete barriers along the edge to keep you from driving off into oblivion. All great if you’re in a car.
Cliff face from the highway.However, if you’re on a bicycle, you realize what happens when little bits of rock and dirt fall from the cliff to a road with a concrete barrier. They stay there. Not on the road itself, because the vehicle traffic pushes it aside, but those bits of dirt end up collecting on the shoulders of the highway, exactly where you want to ride. In addition, there’s not much of a shoulder left, since the barrier takes up a good chunk of it. So basically, it’s not very pleasant place to ride a bike. I spent most of the stretch staring into my mirror.
After that, I reached the newish bit of road that pours down to a bridge across the river, and wouldn’t you know it, not much shoulder for high speed riding. Again, a bit freaky, and I couldn’t even look in the mirror to see what was coming at that speed, so I just went with it and muttered prayers under my breath. All went well, and on the far side was a big chunk of construction. I was quite amused to note the brand new wall of dirt that had a small river pouring right out the side of it.
I wonder how long this will last?
Shortly, I came to the real cause of all the construction: The Overpass. This thing’s been in the works for a couple years now, and finally looks to be nearing completion. Although the pictures don’t do it justice, it truly is a gargantuan project, particularly when viewed from below. Naturally, the stretch of highway I was riding on is due to be decommissioned sometime in the near future, so it wasn’t maintained. REALLY bumpy, minimal shoulder. And just after the overpass, it got worse. I very cautiously crossed a narrow bridge, then proceeded up what was to be the hardest hill of the day. Very steep, with no shoulder at all, just more concrete barriers for the big trucks to squish me up against. At least there were two lanes going uphill, so people could avoid me. There were a couple of times that I just stopped and leaned on the barriers to give some trucks room to pass me. With cars in the other lane, it was a bit snug. No contact though! Though crappy, I still say the Lumby to Vernon stretch was more dangerous.
New overpass, opened as of September.
At the top of the hill was some more construction where the new highway will join the existing one, but that was easy for me to navigate. I was starting to worry about the rain, though, as the clouds were looking worse than ever and closing in rapidly. I waited as long as I felt comfortable, but since there was not question about avoiding a serious downpour, I pulled off at the national park toll booth and slowly geared myself up for rain. By the time I set out again, I only had about 10 minutes of rain left, but I was still pretty happy as this was only the 2nd time all trip I’d needed full rain gear. Gradually began stripping it off before long, and was eventually back to shorts and a tank.
After that, not much happened until I reached the pass. Nice, quiet, and enjoyable day, though. I was feeling not too bad, which was nice considering how much I’d done the day before. I had initially planned on stopping at another national campground on this side of the pass, but since I was feeling okay and there were no showers there, I decided to push for the pass. Stopped off at the visitor center in Field to juice up for the push up Kicking Horse, then set out. I found the pass to be reasonably steep, but I didn’t have to stand and pedal. I was in granny gear, though, when I stopped at the Spiral Tunnel viewpoint to catch my breath and energize again. I think there are two tunnels that spiral down the inside of a mountain there. Kindof cool, and lots of information booths were there, but the rain was coming back so I didn’t have time to dawdle. I began to push on again, and didn’t realize until I reached the top that I’d been in 2nd gear the whole time. Stronger than I knew! Avoided the rain, too.
Mountains, river flats, and train coming into Field.
And here was the biggest disappointment of the day. What’s the best part of riding up a pass? Riding down, of course! Well it turns out that Kicking Horse pass is a bitch. Really rough battle to get up one side, then no reward of a glorious cruise down the other. Granted, it was pretty gentle riding for the rest of the way to Lake Louise, but there were some nasty cracks in the asphalt that took most of the fun out of it. By the time I reached the campsite I was pretty beat and somewhat annoyed.
However, it’s a nice site. Because of the bear concern, they’ve put up electrical fencing all the way around the tent area, so you’re pretty well protected. Fancy security gate to walk through and all. And as I was unpacking my gear I had a little friend stop by for tea. Riding back from my shower, I noticed at least two other sites where there were tour bikes to be seen, but no people. No biggie, I may touch base with them tomorrow before taking off. I’m a bit hesitant though, because I feel a real sense of competition whenever I see someone else on a bike, and it ruins the conversation a bit. Strange.
A little company to help the evening pass.
I called Dee up before bed, and basically told her everything that I did the previous night and day, in order to maintain the illusion that I was still on schedule and not a day ahead. Unfortunately, as I was hanging up I said, “See you tomorrow!� Hopefully she assumes I meant that I’d be talking to her tomorrow. We’ll see.
I also spoke to Dave Williams, who’d left a message on my phone. Dave was duly impressed by my effort of the day before, and has some scary news to pass on. Turns out that a couple days earlier, a lady was riding her road bike between Canmore and Exhsaw and was killed by a car. Dave believed that she drifted into the traffic, so he wanted to le me know so I could be more careful. Advice taken.
Time to turn in, it’s starting to feel really chilly out. I’ll definitely have to bundle up tonight.
Tomorrow I’m home!
comments off Friday 05 Oct 2007 | MrSodomy | SlantyNet - General
Note to self regarding bad search engine mojo
Flash is a bad thing as it can prevent one’s website from being indexed. Of course, I _know_ that (part of the job, hello). But never has it become more apparent to me as when I looked for the website for Hons Noodle House, specifically Hons on Robson. I didn’t discover they had a website until after I was in the restaurant to pick up a menu — Google searches for Hons lead to a bunch of restaurant review websites and a bunch of dead links.
Maybe Slanty has enough mojo to at help a little (less now, than before I suppose), but at least now I know for myself where to call when I’m craving some sweet sour pineapple pork… 
PS: Canucks season opener tonight, my butt will be in front of a TV. Unless the kid comes. Glad it isn’t the post-season…otherwise it’d be a tough call.
0 comments Thursday 04 Oct 2007 | 24601 | SlantyNet - General