YAOGBB

This will be a test of emailing blog posts using my blackberry, so excuse the tyops. I loaded up and left Edmonton around noon on the 29th and stopped in Hinton to see my friends Dave and Joan and their kids. It was snowing in the morning and the snow did not stop until Chilliwack when it turned into rain. Nothing like driving through the mountains on icy roads with blowing snow. What a gong show. The van is an absolute pig to drive when the roads are less than perfect, but we made it to Vancouver, unlike the little red car that was planted into a drift like a dart, or the upside down pick up truck by Hope. I made it down the Coquihalla by getting behind two Tim Horton semis, the thinking here that if I was going to lose it, I would end up buried in donuts as opposed to flying off the mountain. D&J & kids were driving to Edmonton to see Avatar, hopefully they had a better trip, but I doubt it :-)

As I write this the temperature is -14 C,  great weather to start on a bike trip.  Originally I was supposed to be gone in the fall, running from winter and returning in time for summer in Edmonton.   One delay led to another, and I finally decided that if I was going to leave around Christmas, I might as well stay for the holiday...  One of the delays will be a Hawaii cruise leaving San Diego on the 21st of January with my 85 year old mother, my brother and his wife. Obviously I won't be leaving Edmonton on two wheels.  The bike and I will travel by a disposable booster  rocket-van to somewhere I am able to ride. The booster van will fall back into Canada piloted by my Nephew Adrian who needs to move his stuff from BC to Ontario.   The bike pod, is a combination loading ramp and skid that will hold it with its front wheel removed as the bike is too tall to go in the van.  The last month I have been preparing everything, bike ch...

Edmonton in October As I intend to share this blog with the people I meet on my travels, this post is about Edmonton, my home for the past 20 years. Anyone reading this can view the Wikipedia entry on Edmonton Alberta and find out how many people live here, where it is, and lots of other information, so I will talk about what it is like to live here.   In many ways Edmonton is a typical North American new city.  Edmonton became a city in the early 1900's, before that it was a Hudson's Bay fur trading post and a few farms. In summer Edmonton is suburban every-city, with nothing to distinguish or define it from its cousin cities in Canada and the US.  Edmonton like most  North American 20th century cities is all about cars and traffic, a collection of suburban islands surrounded by an asphalt swamp of parking lots, shopping malls, low rise industrial parks, copy cat chain stores,  motor hotels and restaurant franchises. Close your eyes and turn around, y...