Heading North.

A post that was written at 3 different stages over multiple days, pardon the broken unreadable aspect of it.

April 27 – 5:15pm – Port Hardy
Listening to the chatter of the locals in the Port Hardy legion, is making me smirk and laugh quietly to myself, while desperately trying to avoid making them irate or offended at the ‘imposter’ in their clubhouse. I’ve just had a heart to heart with a logger who proceeded to tell me I was a beautiful man, while not being so graceful about his body language and commentary. It’s tough to offend me however..

Out of all the days of bicycle touring (which really, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t much at all compared to others) was the worst. My attitude is good, but my energy is just not there whatsoever. I have been pushing myself pretty hard to get to this point in time, and while a sense of completion is sounding, exhaustion is clouding any of the goals. Thank goodness that I have a 9 day vacation ahead, taking the ferry over to Prince Rupert, and then over to in Haida Gwaii. I plan on picking up a fishing rod, and catching some steelhead, that appear down the riverways during each tide from what multiple locals have been telling me.

I’m surprised I actually made it this far in such short amount of time – the next morning after I wrote the previous post my huge ambitions of cycling right into sayward started with the birds chirping at 7am / daylight. I sat up, reaching over to pull the plug of my air-mattress (eliminates any concept of a snooze button) I heard the tiniest drop of rain hit the tentfly. Next thing I knew it was 10:30am, previous nights lack of sleep catching up.. I made the decision to to head over to Elk Falls for the next night just outside of Campbell River for a light 22km day. Somewhere along the line at 1pm while getting caffeinated in a cafe I got the itch to make the move up to Sayward as originally planned. Knowing that I had some serious climbs ahead of me, I mentally prepared at 2pm, knowing that dusk would arrive when I hit my destination.

The hills were nothing. As a matter of fact, 28km of the ride was downhill! I found a campsite right off the North Island Highway, setup quickly and sat down in a pub just in time for the hockey game to start between the Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings. I’m not really into the sports – but nice to cheer with a crowd for the “home” team. We even won, and moved on to the second round of playoffs. Someone lost their flag attached to their car on the side of the road and it now hangs off my trunk bag. Go fanboy.
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Continued April 28, 2010 1:39pm

The legion was getting a bit weird, so I opted to head over to my hosts house, and neglected to finish last nights post, so here we are.

The weather became downright nasty when I left Sayward, into Woss. Wind and rain, combined with some downright chilly temperatures (snow on the ground in the ditches) made for a hectic 67km, with no sign of the weather letting up. Woss has minimal amenities, and I chuckled when I pulled off the side of the Island Highway to enter the town and saw a pair of work boots hanging from the power lines. Luckily I had prearranged to stay with someone I met on the Warmshowers.org website, a community where cyclists are offered – yup, you guessed it – Warm Showers, places to stay, laundry, or coffee. I met Pat who immediately told me that the nights rain was going to get worse, and I should stay inside. Didn’t have to convince me twice. He was right, with the torrential downpours lifting at about 5am the next morning.  I wasn’t able to get a solid sleep, perhaps receiving a most of 6 hours, before leaving early in the morning to my final Vancouver Island destination – Port Hardy.

After my 7 hour ride, again pelted with rain, gruelling hills and not seeing any bears on the road like I had hoped I made it here – A once bustling town with an industry heavily intertwined with fishing, and logging, population has drastically dwindled over the past 20 years, with many stores, and areas closing, buildings becoming condemned, and minimal tourism attractions to annually draw visitors. Visually, this place is one of BC’s best kept secrets, with lush forests, clear water, and a mild yearly climate. Land is cheap, housing is reasonable, and for one who wishes to wake up to an ocean side view, it certainly is within the realm of most people’s affordability.

I stayed with another Warmshowers.org host last night, who made me feel 150% welcome. She even went as far as acting as a mail drop for me so that I could upgrade to my new home, the Hilleberg Nallo GT 2 tent (complete with garage). She cooked me a wonderful meal, quenched my thirst with fine wine, and provided a comfortable guest room with internet access all the while being able to communicate in an effective manner and keep things interesting. I was her first cyclist on the website, and I hope that her experience was as positive as mine. Her dog, Charlie was a bundle of energy and I laughed at all the antics and moves she would try as a 1 year old.

I visited the post office and sent off my tent to the buyer in Winnipeg, MB – and the first set of equipment bAck to my house in Surrey, BC. This will likely be one of many. I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to bring a Soup Ladel (how bout a spoon?), A deck of cards (I’ve got enough things to amuse me where I don’t need to play Solitaire), A cigarette case (c’mon), a bowl (I’ve got 2 already), an inflatable globe (I’ll buy another one before Africa), paperwork, operation manuals for the Kindle and the Zoom Q3 Player (I’ve got PDFs), a computer mouse (I have 2),  and some other miscellany. I’m sure I’ll be ready to send a bunch of clothes ahead and eventually my sleeping bag to someone in Ottawa, as it won’t be needed during the hot prairie summer months.

I’m planning a couple posts during the ferry ride up to Prince Rupert, focussing on technology, both hardware and software – and it couldn’t have come at a perfect time, my ‘w’ key on my keyboard has stopped working! My plans have changed and continue to change daily, where as only 2 hours ago I expected to travel to Bella Bella,  but instead have decided to head straight to Rupert due to a pain in my left knee, likely from pushing myself too hard. The benefit of this is that it’ll give me almost 2 days to rest up off the bike, and the elevation and climbs are non-existant in that area.. Due to the lack of cellular towers, it may be a bit until we get a live post from me for a while. Must-Finish-Taxes as I’m running out of money