Over a decade ago, I put a “no farting” sticker on Chris’ bike. Today, I wonder if someone should put a “no-sneezing” sticker on mine. I have been sneezing all day despite taking an antihistamine at breakfast this morning.
Over breakfast, I chatted with a motorcycle tourist of the “backroads adventure” type travelling on a Honda Africa Twin which is derived from motorcycles used in Paris-Dakar rallies. He was from Vancouver and was enthused by my Ortlieb bags which he used for commuting and cycle touring in his younger days. He was about 70 and described himself as undergoing treatment for prostate cancer which robs him of testosterone and therefore energy.
The forecast had been for gentle winds out of the Northwest. This would have been a boost as Highway 9 went roughly East-South-East. Unfortunately, for much of the day, the winds were out of the Northeast, thus posing a thankfully only mild hindrance. The road was rather flat. There was a 60 km section under repair. I braced myself for loose chips. Thankfully, it consisted of twenty plus km of beautifully smooth, recently repaved road without rumble strips, about three km of road where they had ripped off the old surface, ten kilometres of road where they had repaved the other side and the rest prepped for more work. It being a Sunday, there was no work in progress. As I crossed the construction zone, I noticed port-a-potties standing by the side of the road every few kilometres. I eventually deduced that they were where for the use of the road crews.
In Youngstown, I stopped at a gas station cum convenience store. It had bulletin board ads for things such as “two year-old virgin Angus bulls” and a small aircraft with only 67 flight hours on it! Rather different from what you get on the board outside LeBaron’s!
I stopped for the night at a motel just outside of Oyen. At the gas station next door, there is a caterpillar crane being transported on a trailer with 40 tires in 5 rows of 8 being pulled by a tractor truck with 14 tires on 4 axles!
I cross into Saskatchewan tomorrow. With any luck, the sneezing will have stopped by then.
Sunday, 18 August 2019
Saturday, 17 August 2019
On Google maps and gravel roads
Owing to an unexpected phone call from Alice, I left the Taste of the Past and its’ marvellous bathtub a bit after 9 and rolled down the valley of the Red River. It was sunny and cool. I stopped to inspect hoodoos, before arriving at the Atlas Coal Mine historic site. It offered four tours but none of them suit my schedule or temperament (two involved either confined spaces or going way up the rickety looking tipple). So I opted for the general, wander around by yourself, admission. The mine had been open as recently as 1984, so some of the machinery was still in good condition. One thing I found weird was that they shipped coal by box car, rather than hopper or gondola car.
I retraced my route to near the hoodoos. From there, I started on a route that was designed to get me to Highway 9, without going back to Drumheller by taking secondary highways and lesser roads. Google maps suggested it. However, Google maps didn’t factor in the gravel. The surface was quite loose for much of the way. Like many such roads, there was always another part that looked easier. After realizing that I hadn’t seen another vehicle for awhile, I even used the far side of the road.
The high point was seeing a pair of coyotes cross the road ahead of me. The landscape was gently rolling hills full of grazing cattle. Some bits of the road were range land, so there were Texas gates, a.k.a. cattle grids, across the road. At some point I lost track of whether I was in or out of a stock area. About two thirds of the way to Highway 9, my route went from secondary highways to a “range road”. It proved to have a less gravelly surface on average. However, I was quite relieved to get on Highway 9 and get blown along to Hanna and my motel which had no vehicles in the parking lot. When I came back from supper, there were three vehicles, all with out of province plates.
Tomorrow promises to be easier as I will be almost entirely on Highway 9 and there should be a West wind in my favour. Note to self: avoid dirt roads in Alberta. Loose chips, but I am tired!
I retraced my route to near the hoodoos. From there, I started on a route that was designed to get me to Highway 9, without going back to Drumheller by taking secondary highways and lesser roads. Google maps suggested it. However, Google maps didn’t factor in the gravel. The surface was quite loose for much of the way. Like many such roads, there was always another part that looked easier. After realizing that I hadn’t seen another vehicle for awhile, I even used the far side of the road.
The high point was seeing a pair of coyotes cross the road ahead of me. The landscape was gently rolling hills full of grazing cattle. Some bits of the road were range land, so there were Texas gates, a.k.a. cattle grids, across the road. At some point I lost track of whether I was in or out of a stock area. About two thirds of the way to Highway 9, my route went from secondary highways to a “range road”. It proved to have a less gravelly surface on average. However, I was quite relieved to get on Highway 9 and get blown along to Hanna and my motel which had no vehicles in the parking lot. When I came back from supper, there were three vehicles, all with out of province plates.
Tomorrow promises to be easier as I will be almost entirely on Highway 9 and there should be a West wind in my favour. Note to self: avoid dirt roads in Alberta. Loose chips, but I am tired!
Friday, 16 August 2019
On the Royal Tyrell
I rode out to the Royal Tyrell Museum through intermittent rain this morning. After attending to some business, I spent the next several hours enraptured by the diversity of fossils on display as well as the excellence of the presentation. No wonder the town of Triton enlisted the Royal Tyrell to mount their sperm whale! I began to wonder if they needed a librarian! After going through the galleries, I went back to re-inspect a 21 meter long marine reptile. That size puts it in the sperm whale size league. I then watched a couple of documentaries about the Tyrell, both of which discussed what amounts to the librarianship of the Museum. So there is a librarian position there.
On the downside, the museum is relatively crowded with families with small children. After the relative quiet of the road, I found it a bit trying.
Leaving the Museum, I discovered from a newspaper headline that the movie being shot in Drumheller is Ghostbusters 2020! Or at least that is the tentative title. IMDB lists Dan Ackroyd and Sigourney Weaver in their roles from 1984 version, and Bill Murray as rumoured.
Outside, there was a short walk to explore and explain the Badlands. It seems that no matter the language or culture (including First Nations) the term for the place translates as “Bad Land”!
My original plan had been to visit the Atlas Coal Mine. However, when I realized it was about 30 km downwind, I used it to finally make a decision about where I will sleep tomorrow. I have been dithering about where I should aim for next. Towns on Highway 9 (and 7) are relatively few, especially with regards to ones with motels. They are spaced out at inconvenient intervals making for either shortish days or overly long ones. Before leaving Montreal, I made a list of the “useful” ones and the distances between them. I was faced with two options tomorrow: Hanna at 80 km and Youngstown at 130. I chose Hanna so I can do the coal mine as well. This also means that barring a serious tailwind, the day after will be a decent distance as well.
I can only gush about my hosts at the Taste the Past B&B. They are super nice and helpful. They even allowed me to do a load of laundry in their machine. This was very appreciated. Then again, our last names share an origin!
In other odd observations about Alberta, I walked into one of its’ privately owned liquor stores which had “discount” in the name. A 750 ml bottle of Newfoundland Screech was $33.95 plus GST. At the “inefficient” drain-on-the-public-purse SAQ, the same is $26.50 including GST! Maybe there are additional transport fees! Either that or maybe this is an expression of Albertan prejudice towards Newfoundlanders! ;-)
On the downside, the museum is relatively crowded with families with small children. After the relative quiet of the road, I found it a bit trying.
Leaving the Museum, I discovered from a newspaper headline that the movie being shot in Drumheller is Ghostbusters 2020! Or at least that is the tentative title. IMDB lists Dan Ackroyd and Sigourney Weaver in their roles from 1984 version, and Bill Murray as rumoured.
Outside, there was a short walk to explore and explain the Badlands. It seems that no matter the language or culture (including First Nations) the term for the place translates as “Bad Land”!
My original plan had been to visit the Atlas Coal Mine. However, when I realized it was about 30 km downwind, I used it to finally make a decision about where I will sleep tomorrow. I have been dithering about where I should aim for next. Towns on Highway 9 (and 7) are relatively few, especially with regards to ones with motels. They are spaced out at inconvenient intervals making for either shortish days or overly long ones. Before leaving Montreal, I made a list of the “useful” ones and the distances between them. I was faced with two options tomorrow: Hanna at 80 km and Youngstown at 130. I chose Hanna so I can do the coal mine as well. This also means that barring a serious tailwind, the day after will be a decent distance as well.
I can only gush about my hosts at the Taste the Past B&B. They are super nice and helpful. They even allowed me to do a load of laundry in their machine. This was very appreciated. Then again, our last names share an origin!
In other odd observations about Alberta, I walked into one of its’ privately owned liquor stores which had “discount” in the name. A 750 ml bottle of Newfoundland Screech was $33.95 plus GST. At the “inefficient” drain-on-the-public-purse SAQ, the same is $26.50 including GST! Maybe there are additional transport fees! Either that or maybe this is an expression of Albertan prejudice towards Newfoundlanders! ;-)
On loose chips
For various reasons, I left the Hostel relatively late. Consequently, I opted for Plan B for getting out of Calgary, namely taking the C-Train to Saddletowne. From there, I managed to leave City quickly though not without some creative interpretations of road usage and a bit of off-roading required by a road closure and a unidirectional interchange. This put me on Highway 564 which had very little in the way of a shoulder but was going due East which was the way I wanted to go and meant I had a tailwind.
I came to Highway 9 which is what I really wanted and which will likely feature in this blog until Saskatchewan when it will become Highway 7. It took me North and East with a hard shoulder that was almost a lane wide. Rather regrettably, there was a looong section having a new seal coat added. I gather this means spreading tar and then gravel of about one centimetre size. Unfortunately, the process did not include the shoulders so there were a lot of what was termed “loose chips”, i.e. loose gravel. It was very annoying to the point that I was considering making “loose chips” a personal swearword as it was biting into the high sustained speed I was otherwise making through the fields of Alberta.
The fields seemed to go on forever beneath the big sky. As I child, I once had a vivid mental image conveying the idea of an infinitely large planet being a car driving across flat farm land that would never end. The image had a 1950s feel, the car being a station waggon with a family with 2.5 kids in it.
At one point, a flatbed truck went by with a pair of police cars on it marked Summerville Sheriff’s Department. Hmm, I thought, I guess those are the new cars being delivered. Then it struck me that I didn’t think that Alberta had such Sheriff’s Departments and that I couldn’t place Summerville in Alberta and it didn’t seem like an Alberta-type place name.
Nearing Drumheller, I was pleasantly surprised when the road curved to avoid Horseshoe Canyon. For one thing there was a place to buy a nice, cold drink. More importantly, the Canyon dramatically appeared out of nowhere. It was simply a gap in the Earth. It is what I think of a Badlands type-canyon, i.e. gently eroded from seemingly muddy type rocks. I chatted with a mother who expressed a desire to one day go on a bike tour. She couched it in terms of "but not until her kids were older", which was sensible enough.
I don’t think I knew how big Drumheller was. As I came into town, the signs made me realise my mental image was off. First there was the penitentiary. Then a Canadian Tire, and finally a Walmart. I turned onto the street leading to downtown only to see a barrier and very strange vehicle making its way toward me. A closer look showed it to be a large black pickup with a camera mounted at the end of a large crane. At the barricade, I was approached by a young lady who explained the downtown was being used as a film set. I asked if the film was set in “Summerville” perchance? It was. Summerville, Oklahoma in fact. My B&B hosts told me it was the fourth film shoot this year.
I came to Highway 9 which is what I really wanted and which will likely feature in this blog until Saskatchewan when it will become Highway 7. It took me North and East with a hard shoulder that was almost a lane wide. Rather regrettably, there was a looong section having a new seal coat added. I gather this means spreading tar and then gravel of about one centimetre size. Unfortunately, the process did not include the shoulders so there were a lot of what was termed “loose chips”, i.e. loose gravel. It was very annoying to the point that I was considering making “loose chips” a personal swearword as it was biting into the high sustained speed I was otherwise making through the fields of Alberta.
The fields seemed to go on forever beneath the big sky. As I child, I once had a vivid mental image conveying the idea of an infinitely large planet being a car driving across flat farm land that would never end. The image had a 1950s feel, the car being a station waggon with a family with 2.5 kids in it.
At one point, a flatbed truck went by with a pair of police cars on it marked Summerville Sheriff’s Department. Hmm, I thought, I guess those are the new cars being delivered. Then it struck me that I didn’t think that Alberta had such Sheriff’s Departments and that I couldn’t place Summerville in Alberta and it didn’t seem like an Alberta-type place name.
Nearing Drumheller, I was pleasantly surprised when the road curved to avoid Horseshoe Canyon. For one thing there was a place to buy a nice, cold drink. More importantly, the Canyon dramatically appeared out of nowhere. It was simply a gap in the Earth. It is what I think of a Badlands type-canyon, i.e. gently eroded from seemingly muddy type rocks. I chatted with a mother who expressed a desire to one day go on a bike tour. She couched it in terms of "but not until her kids were older", which was sensible enough.
I don’t think I knew how big Drumheller was. As I came into town, the signs made me realise my mental image was off. First there was the penitentiary. Then a Canadian Tire, and finally a Walmart. I turned onto the street leading to downtown only to see a barrier and very strange vehicle making its way toward me. A closer look showed it to be a large black pickup with a camera mounted at the end of a large crane. At the barricade, I was approached by a young lady who explained the downtown was being used as a film set. I asked if the film was set in “Summerville” perchance? It was. Summerville, Oklahoma in fact. My B&B hosts told me it was the fourth film shoot this year.
Thursday, 15 August 2019
On more about Calgary
I neglected few of incidents from yesterday. The first was that along the T-Can, I came across a bike helmet beside the road. The condition of the strap suggested that someone had clipped it to their bike on the back of a car and the strap had slipped. There was something eerie about it sitting there, so I brought it along. At the hostel, I decommissioned it by jumping on it, before tossing it. There was little chance it was still safe.
When I was approaching the Hostel, I spotted an odd looking airplane on approach to Calgary Airport. I looked again and confirmed my first impression: it was a bright red DC-3. While I have seen them on flight line, it was first time that I have seen one in the air. It was humbling to see a plane that was quite possibly older than my parents in the air.
The HI Calgary Hostel has gone through some changes since I was last there seven years ago. Breakfast is better than bananas and DIY pancakes that used to be on offer. Unfortunately, there is no longer a gopher colony out back. The area is being redeveloped and doubtless will attract the gentry. This has not prevented the homeless from frequenting the area, partially encouraged by a bunch of bible thumping, Devil-serving evangelicals who hand out food after sermonizing in the evenings.
When I was approaching the Hostel, I spotted an odd looking airplane on approach to Calgary Airport. I looked again and confirmed my first impression: it was a bright red DC-3. While I have seen them on flight line, it was first time that I have seen one in the air. It was humbling to see a plane that was quite possibly older than my parents in the air.
The HI Calgary Hostel has gone through some changes since I was last there seven years ago. Breakfast is better than bananas and DIY pancakes that used to be on offer. Unfortunately, there is no longer a gopher colony out back. The area is being redeveloped and doubtless will attract the gentry. This has not prevented the homeless from frequenting the area, partially encouraged by a bunch of bible thumping, Devil-serving evangelicals who hand out food after sermonizing in the evenings.
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
On making Calgary in time for lunch
I made Calgary City limits at 1:05 PM. Having left S and T’s house in Canmore, in 3 hours and 49 minutes of biking, I covered 92.69 kilometres, for an average of 24.3 km/h with a maximum of 65.8 and long periods of sustained speeds in mid thirties. None too shabby even if I say so myself. I had lunch at a second rate donair place. I had been joking about getting to Calgary by lunchtime, but I was surprised I managed it! Mind you, I did have a slight tailwind.
Following S and T’s advice, I had followed the 1A to the 1X at Seebee. This was quiet secondary highway, if that word can be applied to a road that passes a heliport and has a certain amount of heavy truck traffic! It did have a very good shoulder. The nearest thing to a hiccough was when I was nearing a plant entrance and a truck behind me was behaving as if it was planning to to enter. In my opinion, our speed vectors would have conflicted, so I signalled I was stopping and stopped well before to let him go ahead. He indeed turned in.
Just after crossing the Bow River at Seebee, I took a gravel road short cut as recommended by S and T. They have a good knowledge of the local bike routes from personal experience and from hosting many Warmshowers guests.
This brought me to Alberta Highway 1, a.k.a. the Trans-Canada Highway. This took me to Calgary in bright sunshine, chased by small rain showers.
From the donair place, I followed a semi-coherent network of bike paths along the Bow River. This involved stopping to check Google Maps on the iPhone every so often. Consequently, it was well after 3 when I arrived at the Hostel in the East Village area.
Good day, today. Final stats: time: 5.12.29, distance: 117.25, avg 22.5, max 65.8.0.
Oh. The plate tally is 7 provinces, and the NWT with a probable on the Yukon. 28 states with 3 probables. Switzerland plus another unidentified European Union other than the UK (the rear plate was white).
I wrote the bulk of this having supper in a place on Stephen Avenue which is semi-pedestrianised. As I walked out of the bar, I may have walked into the frame of a commercial for Co-Op grocery stores that was being filmed. A flunky came up to me and asked me to sign a waiver, in case I appeared in the shot!
Following S and T’s advice, I had followed the 1A to the 1X at Seebee. This was quiet secondary highway, if that word can be applied to a road that passes a heliport and has a certain amount of heavy truck traffic! It did have a very good shoulder. The nearest thing to a hiccough was when I was nearing a plant entrance and a truck behind me was behaving as if it was planning to to enter. In my opinion, our speed vectors would have conflicted, so I signalled I was stopping and stopped well before to let him go ahead. He indeed turned in.
Just after crossing the Bow River at Seebee, I took a gravel road short cut as recommended by S and T. They have a good knowledge of the local bike routes from personal experience and from hosting many Warmshowers guests.
This brought me to Alberta Highway 1, a.k.a. the Trans-Canada Highway. This took me to Calgary in bright sunshine, chased by small rain showers.
From the donair place, I followed a semi-coherent network of bike paths along the Bow River. This involved stopping to check Google Maps on the iPhone every so often. Consequently, it was well after 3 when I arrived at the Hostel in the East Village area.
Good day, today. Final stats: time: 5.12.29, distance: 117.25, avg 22.5, max 65.8.0.
Oh. The plate tally is 7 provinces, and the NWT with a probable on the Yukon. 28 states with 3 probables. Switzerland plus another unidentified European Union other than the UK (the rear plate was white).
I wrote the bulk of this having supper in a place on Stephen Avenue which is semi-pedestrianised. As I walked out of the bar, I may have walked into the frame of a commercial for Co-Op grocery stores that was being filmed. A flunky came up to me and asked me to sign a waiver, in case I appeared in the shot!
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
On what I did in Canmore
S and T have known Margo and Chris for many years and resemble them in various ways. I thought the match particularly acute when I saw a Devinci Caribou of the same vintage as Margo and Chris’ first touring bikes in their garage. Then it emerged that the bike in question was in fact Chris’ old bike complete with the “no farting” sticker I had put on it in Spain! ;-) It was odd to see it again. Equally strange was to note that it didn’t have the provision for disc brakes that my bike has.
Despite suggestions from S and T to hike up one of the nearby peaks, complete with the loan of bear spray, I opted for a day of relaxation. I have done laundry, updated the blog, seen the Warmshowers guest off on her trek and done a few things on the ‘Net including some route finding. I had lunch at the Grizzly Paw Brew Pub. Leonardo now has a clean chain and fully inflated tires.
I found, bought and mailed off a wee present for Edward. I visited the local museum which was mostly about coal mining in the area but also had a fun section on the reintroduction of bison to Banff. At the museum, I had my first taste of Virtual Reality which didn’t agree with my stomach. And I watched some of Canmore’s feral bunny population keep the grass short.
In short, I took it easy.
Calgary tomorrow.
Despite suggestions from S and T to hike up one of the nearby peaks, complete with the loan of bear spray, I opted for a day of relaxation. I have done laundry, updated the blog, seen the Warmshowers guest off on her trek and done a few things on the ‘Net including some route finding. I had lunch at the Grizzly Paw Brew Pub. Leonardo now has a clean chain and fully inflated tires.
I found, bought and mailed off a wee present for Edward. I visited the local museum which was mostly about coal mining in the area but also had a fun section on the reintroduction of bison to Banff. At the museum, I had my first taste of Virtual Reality which didn’t agree with my stomach. And I watched some of Canmore’s feral bunny population keep the grass short.
In short, I took it easy.
Calgary tomorrow.
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