Edmonton, Alberta
The ride from Dawson Creek south and east was fairly uneventful. I did witness an air show as I was passing through Grande Prairie that was pretty cool. I saw one pilot in a fighter jet execute a full loop, followed by a sickening series of rolls and a last-second pull-up to practically strafe the crowd. Those guys are badasses. I wouldn't retain my lunch through 5 minutes of that, but those guys made it look fun and easy.
Somewhere around Whitecourt, I pulled off the road to check on the bike. I had heard a weird sound or two coming from the DL and wanted to investigate it. I happened to stop right next to a small lake that had a stately blue heron keeping watch over it. In the lake were two beavers, who were slowly swimming lazy circles around each other. Every once in a while, one of the beavers (only one - the other never did it) would slap the water's surface with its tail and then disappear under the water for 10-15 seconds before it would reappear a dozen or more feet away. I originally thought perhaps it was trying to stun fish for a snack, but it never caught one. I'm pretty sure beavers are vegetarians, too, so I really have no idea why it was doing it. Also, the slap-happy beaver started following the other beaver around and looked like it was trying to get a little more friendly (wink wink nod nod) with the other beaver, but was rebuffed every time. The other beaver would let Slappy swim up just inches behind her (I assume it was a her) and would then make a sharp turn to the left or the right, leaving Slappy to swim right past her. I'm pretty sure I now know what a frustrated beaver looks like.
I couldn't find anything wrong with the DL, but it seemed like the chain was maybe getting a little loose. I had just tightened it at Fort Nelson, so I was surprised that it needed to be done again so soon. Since I needed an oil change anyway, I figured I'd stop in Edmonton and have them look at that as well.
The next morning, I went over to the Suzuki dealership and dropped the DL off with them. I was still hoping to make it to at least Calgary, but as the morning changed to afternoon, I knew that was going to be tougher and tougher. The dealer told me that my chain was in fact toast and should be replaced immediately, and between that and the other work, I wasn't able to leave until nearly 4:00 PM. Of course, as I rolled my bike out of the service bay, the clouds looked downright pissed and started dumping on me literally seconds after I started riding. I made a dash south to outrun the storm (the area just to the south of Edmonton was still sunny) and was able to get past the rain within a half an hour or so. For the next hour, I blasted south on Route 2 towards Calgary, sometimes just moments ahead of the storm following me. At times, I could see rain falling on the fields to the left and right of me, and the ominous, angry and wet clouds hovering just above me. Keeping the speeds above 90 mph, I was able to outrun it, however, and the clouds were well behind me when I reached Calgary. Since it was still light out, I never stopped there, however, and turned east towards Medicine Hat. A few people have mentioned that I should have stayed there since it is a really lovely city, but I just wanted to eat up as many miles as possible after getting such a late start. Since I also had to skip Banff to save time, I'll have to return to the area someday...not like I need an excuse to ride across the country again!
Somewhere around Whitecourt, I pulled off the road to check on the bike. I had heard a weird sound or two coming from the DL and wanted to investigate it. I happened to stop right next to a small lake that had a stately blue heron keeping watch over it. In the lake were two beavers, who were slowly swimming lazy circles around each other. Every once in a while, one of the beavers (only one - the other never did it) would slap the water's surface with its tail and then disappear under the water for 10-15 seconds before it would reappear a dozen or more feet away. I originally thought perhaps it was trying to stun fish for a snack, but it never caught one. I'm pretty sure beavers are vegetarians, too, so I really have no idea why it was doing it. Also, the slap-happy beaver started following the other beaver around and looked like it was trying to get a little more friendly (wink wink nod nod) with the other beaver, but was rebuffed every time. The other beaver would let Slappy swim up just inches behind her (I assume it was a her) and would then make a sharp turn to the left or the right, leaving Slappy to swim right past her. I'm pretty sure I now know what a frustrated beaver looks like.
I couldn't find anything wrong with the DL, but it seemed like the chain was maybe getting a little loose. I had just tightened it at Fort Nelson, so I was surprised that it needed to be done again so soon. Since I needed an oil change anyway, I figured I'd stop in Edmonton and have them look at that as well.
The next morning, I went over to the Suzuki dealership and dropped the DL off with them. I was still hoping to make it to at least Calgary, but as the morning changed to afternoon, I knew that was going to be tougher and tougher. The dealer told me that my chain was in fact toast and should be replaced immediately, and between that and the other work, I wasn't able to leave until nearly 4:00 PM. Of course, as I rolled my bike out of the service bay, the clouds looked downright pissed and started dumping on me literally seconds after I started riding. I made a dash south to outrun the storm (the area just to the south of Edmonton was still sunny) and was able to get past the rain within a half an hour or so. For the next hour, I blasted south on Route 2 towards Calgary, sometimes just moments ahead of the storm following me. At times, I could see rain falling on the fields to the left and right of me, and the ominous, angry and wet clouds hovering just above me. Keeping the speeds above 90 mph, I was able to outrun it, however, and the clouds were well behind me when I reached Calgary. Since it was still light out, I never stopped there, however, and turned east towards Medicine Hat. A few people have mentioned that I should have stayed there since it is a really lovely city, but I just wanted to eat up as many miles as possible after getting such a late start. Since I also had to skip Banff to save time, I'll have to return to the area someday...not like I need an excuse to ride across the country again!
posted by Mathew Elsner at 7:04 PM
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