It's good to touch base with you again, here in Fort MacLeod. The mountains are beautiful but I'm not missing the climbing. B.C. could stand for Big Climbs. I was almost blown out of B.C. by the winds in the Crowsnest Pass 2 days ago. What a ride! I'd guess 70 km gusts. I flew (almost) into Blairmore, Alberta, a gorgeous little town in the Pass. The locals told me I'd get the prevailing winds to aid my ride to Ft. MacLeod but noticed that the flags were waving east to west the next morning. Crosswinds and headwinds were the order of the day all the way making it a 90 km workout. Welcome to the prairies! Oh well, it's a rest day today...sleeping in, laundry (my Century II Motel operators, the Kims, did my laundry for me - kind but brave souls!), write, stretch, review my map, walk around town, etc. Went to the local Anglican church this morning which was built in the late 1800's for the RCMP. The Foothills were gorgeous yesterday with rain clouds all around the mountains but it was clear and sunny along Hwy. 3. The sun and clouds made for beautiful colours on the landscape so I look forward to reviewing photos sometime this evening. It's sunny and warm here today but the weather report predicts rain tomorrow so I may have to get out the rain gear. I've only had 2 days of rain so far so I'm pretty fortunate. Gotta get into rain mindset and embrace it when it comes.I think the most memorable part of my last leg since Trail has been riding the Kootenay Pass, the highest serviceable highway in Canada. In truth, I wasn't sure I could do it but I made it to the base at Burnt Flats and spun for 4 hours to the summit at 1774 meters. Rain and some fog patches kept me cool but the truck traffic was a bit unnerving. The summit was still a winter wonderland although it rained fairly hard up there. The 40 km run downhill was kind of crazy and colllld! What rain shadow?!
One descending highlight was when I passed a healthy-looking black bear about 10 km down on the side of the road. He/she didn't hear me coming and when I passed him/her at about 25 kmh, I called out, "Hey there big guy!", I guess I surprised him/her and he/she took off in the other direction. What a beautiful animal! After 124 km, I arrived in Creston pretty elated. I have to admit, I was pretty dog-tired the next day and missed my goal of Cranbrook and camped in Moyie Lake Provincial Park that evening. 28 bucks to park your tent on a piece of gravel with access to an outhouse. There were more ammenities available but holy cow, I think the Ministry of Parks is going to make a little money this year.
I've budgeted to stay at a hotel every 3rd night but so far, I've only camped once. After some challenging days in the hills, a warm, dry room is preferable so I'll have to be a little more disciplined in the prairie provinces. I really like finding inexpensive, (in some cases, quirky) motels between the big towns. There's a whole blog article to be written on "motels"! There's also another blog topic on "cognitive itches"" or as Randy Bauchman calls "ear worms" on his CBC show which are tunes that get stuck in your brain and play over and over. Two anoying pop songs for me have been Sacre Charlemagne by France Gall, (heard on Lee Rosevier's CBC radio show Earlier), a sixties pop star and a more current and even more annoying tune called Calle Ocho or something like that. They've been driving me mildly insane but have involuntarily replaced them with some sixties oldies which have come out of nowhere. Could someone please tell me how to get rid of "Take a Letter Maria"? The psychology of long distance riding has much potential for study, perhaps more in the field of abnormal psychology.Before I go, I have to tell you about my 22 story. Yesterday, I turned 58 (May 22)and along the Crowsnest Hwy. I photographed a sign which said Junction 22 for fun. To my mild surprise I noticed a sign across the highway that read, 22 km to Crowsnest. Wow, I thought that was an interesting coincidence but when I arrived at my motel in Fort Mcleod, I was assigned unit #22. As they say on Sesame St., "[Yesterday] was brought to me by the number 22". Interesting. I had a virtual birthday celebration last evening over Skype. Lynda sang Happy Birthday and my cat Latte literally meowed between verses.
It was the funniest thing I've heard for a long time. Happy 58th birthday to one of my best friends, Pat Farley(in Calgary) today. Thank you to all who have communicated with me along this journey so far. Sometimes I'm afraid that I don't have the courage or physical strength to complete my goal but one has to begin with an end in mind. So think big and do what you can is probably the most realistic mantra and enjoy the people you meet along the way. Your words of encouragement and interest All the best,
Doug
www.dougsride.net
1 comment:
Happy belated birthday Doug... and thank you for the update on your adventure. Being a distance runner, I can appreciate your pavement-level views of our highways and by-ways and while my running pace may be somewhat slower that your cycling pace, I find my encounters with nature and the elements always enlightening and memorable... and like you, I get the sense that life is really traveling by way too fast sometimes. I picked up on your "begin with the end in mind" phrase from the update and quite agree that we should all consider being more pro-active in doing what matters most in our lives, beginning with the end in mind when setting out to achieve what matter most, and putting "first things first" in organizing our personal and public landscapes to meet the needs of our goals and dreams. You are a on a long journey Doug... that will undoubtably bring lasting memories so your mantra of thinking big is very realistic because not only will tomorrow bring more miles under your wheels, it will bring another day of lasting memories and a satifying sense of achievement that is a model for others to follow. Ride safe.
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