Heyo from Golden, B.C.
Rather than bore those reading this with more details of my day-to-day journey, here is a quick list of some things I have done recently:
- Biked up and down untold numbers of hills.
- Deemed that the Gatineau Hills are unworthy of their name and shall henceforth be referred to as the Gatineau Lumps.
- Screamed various gibberish or internet meme references while careening downhill at 70km/h (examples: “I am the cowboy massssteerrrr,” “Power level over nine thousannnnnnnd,” “mudddddkipppppp.” Note that biking very quickly through the city you might be going 25km/h, just so you’ve got an idea how ridiculously fast I was.)
- Seen signs for the Deadman’s Creek Rodeo.
- Considered joining the Deadman’s Creek Rodeo.
- Decided against joining the Deadman’s Creek Rodeo.
- Regretted that decision immediately.
- Sang “I Will Survive” while biking through various hick towns.
- Been honked at by truckers, RV-ers, and other motorists in a friendly manner.
- Formed an impromptu powow with other cyclists on the road.
- Raced other cyclists on the road (being careful about traffic, don’t worry!)
One of the things about tour biking is that you’ve got a lot of time for thinking. While doing this, I’ve realized that I will probably never be able to fully appreciate stream-of-consciousness poetry or prose, largely because my own stream of consciousness works in a rather different format. These are my thoughts, as verbatim as I can translate into language, from a few days ago:
- Damn, this road is nothing but hills. This is really wearing me out.
- If I’m having this much trouble biking the road it must’ve been absolutely devastating for Terry Fox when he ran the course with just one leg and cancer.
- Man, Terry Fox was badass.
- You know, Lance Armstrong bikes even more hardcore than I do, and he’s got cancer too.
- Cancer must give athletes some kind of superpowers.
- Sunburns can cause cancer, right?
- My shoulders are sunburned
- I hope I get wings or regeneration or something.[
- I’m really hungry.
- Maybe being able to photosynthesize energy would be a better power – not quite as flashy, but gods is that sun bright.
This is noticeably different than the writings of Virgina Woolf, and may be why my appreciation for her work is somewhat more limited than some scholars seem to feel it should be.
That being all I can think of to say right now, here is a google map of my progress so far.
Cheers!
Paul,
Sound’s like you’re doing pretty good so far. I hate to tell you though, but Terry Fox didn’t make it as far as BC. He had to stop around Thunder Bay, On. Anyway, hope you’re still ok and that things are going more or less according to plan. Keep it up!
Johan
Hey, it’s Justin from Dell…
Wishing you the best on your ride… Approaching the B.C./Alberta border… should get a lot easier for the next leg of your trip.
If I had come along, I would have died long ago.
Agreed about Terry Fox – he unfortunately never made it across Canada but I do remember when he came through Ottawa.
Keep with the updates!
I’d love to see some of your stream of consciousness poetry! That would be awesome
Paul, dear, sounds like you’re having fun!
I still think you should head down to Windsor… BUT! Chris and I are headed up to Ottawa mid to late august, so perhaps you might be rolling through at that time.
See you then, hopefully!
@Justin and Johan: yes, I know Terry Fox didn’t make it all the way to B.C. – I was commenting more on the cross-country travels than anything else.
@Nicole: that’d be pretty sweet!