Hi everyone!
I apologize for my lack of blogging - it's been hard to get on the internet this past week as we have been so busy with biking, educational touring, performing, and working together to keep our mobile community happy and healthy!
The last time I wrote, I was in Okotoks, Alberta. I've come so far since then!
We spent one evening after Okotoks in Nanton; a tiny little town on the way south towards the highway that would take us on to BC. We camped out in the backyard of a couple named Darren and Ali; Darren is a freelance writer for the Toronto Star, and his wife Ali is also a writer who is currently working on some poetry. They showed us around their very cool house, and talked to us about their travels and how they met - which was on a reality tv show! The town of Nanton was fun for the time we spent there - there was a huge candy shop that was such a treat after a long biking day!
The following day we continued on to Fort Macleod, and the ride there was probably one of the best! The wind was at our backs, and despite the fact that we were going 84 km, we seemed to fly there and managed to do the ride in half the time we anticipated! We stayed in a United Church while there, and gave a performance to a local high school. That was also our last stop with Quinn, our honourary tour member and Otesha staffer, who helped us get on track for the first week of our travels. Thanks Quinn; we miss you!!
Following Fort Macleod was Pincher Creek, Alberta. The ride out there, while significantly shorter than our ride to Fort Macleod, was infinitely more difficult! We were riding directly into headwinds coming west out of the mountains, and since we had performed that day, we didn't leave until the afternoon. The ride was very beautiful - we watched the mountains rise up towards us as we pushed west - but we didn't get there until close to dinner time and we were all frustrated, tired, and cold. The great thing was that the drivers of the Otesha car were there to meet us with food prepared, and we were lucky enough to spend our nights at a man named John's house. He basically opened his home to us, with full use of the showers and kitchen! Pincher Creek also offered us free swimming passes, so we were able to relax in the community pool. While we were in the town we gave a performance and also were offered the opportunity to visit a cattle ranch and a wind farm. The cattle ranch was an interesting learning experience, and allowed us to really think about some of the environmental issues that come out of this farming practice and how we can accurately and sensitively address these issues in our play. Sidenote - while we were in Pincher Creek we were requested not to perform the "cattle scene" of our play so as not to offend the predominantly cattle farming community, so the opportunity to learn more about their farming practices allowed us to alter that scene to be more accurate and less offensive. The wind farm was also a really cool experience - we got to go inside a giant wind turbine, and Catherine (one of my tour mates) got to turn it on! I took some really cool pictures of that place, so as soon as I can I will try to upload some photos!
I was the driver of the Otesha support vehicle for our next leg of the ride - from Pincher Creek to Crowsnest Pass! This was one of our scarier rides, as it was heading directly into the headwinds and gradually uphill. Needless to say, I was happy to be in the car! Rozzy was my car buddy, and we made a point to pick up some fair-trade chocolate to give to the riders as we passed them, and we also left happy chalk messages on the side of the road for them to see! That riding day was also Caili's 23rd birthday, so we had some fun writing birthday messages on the road. Rozzy and I got to Blairmore, the town we were staying in while in the Pass, and met up with Jenice who was our host for the days we spent there. We stayed at the local Elk's Hall, and performed that night in the town of Coleman at the Blackbird Cafe. That performance was by far one of my favourites! Lynn and Lucy sang and played the guitar as part of our intro, and we had a great audience of young and old that really participated in our play and presentation. And on top of that, I got to buy a latte at the end of it! That evening we went out to the local bars for some drinks in Caili's honour - I think we scared away a bunch of locals with all our loud talking. I guess some towns aren't used to a rovng band of crazy cyclists!
The next day we had a presentation at the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, and what a cool place that was. The town of Frank was partially buried in a rock slide off of Turtle Mountain during the early 1900's, and the area is completely covered by huge boulders! If you have some time, I highly recommend looking up the "Frank Slide"; it is really a crazy sight to see. We performed to a wandering crowd that day, which wasn't ideal but was still enjoyable, and then got some time in the afternoon all to ourselves. I spent some extra time at the interpretive centre learning more about the slide, and then I attempted to go for a very challenging hike up Turtle Mountain with some of my team! After about 10 minutes of hiking up the outer ridge of the mountain, I had to turn back - my fear of heights got the better of me. But, a couple of my tour mates made it all the way to the top! They have some pretty fantastic pictures of that experience too. It took them all afternoon and into the evening!
We headed out the next day from Blairmore, excited to be crossing the Alberta/BC boundary! That ride was also pretty fantastic - it was the first ride we ever spent in just our shorts and t-shirts, and it was also mostly downhill! Mountain streams followed us all along our travel route, and we stopped for lunch in a park alongside the road with a fantastic view of the mountains. We made it to Fernie in great time, and were able to spend the afternoon lounging in the sun at a local organic cafe and alongside the river. That night a few of us hit up the local pub and mingled a little with the Fernie crowd - my impression of this place so far is: cool, laid-back, sporty, and fun! It seems like a great place to visit if you like mountain sports of any kind: snowboarding, skiing, biking, hiking, whatever! They really cater to the mountains here.
That brings me to today! We performed twice already today; once in the morning to a great audience at the Fernie Academy, and to a not-so-great lunch crowd at the local high school. I don't really know who's idea it was to set up a performance during a high school lunch hour, but whoever it was should have seriously reconsidered! It was definitely my least-favourite performance of the entire trip; no one was listening to us, and we weren't getting much from them in return. Hopefully this can be a learning experience for Otesha - don't book performances where no one will pay attention! I'm planning on spending the rest of my time in Fernie doing a little essentials shopping (need toothpaste!) and just relaxing before we head out tomorrow on our longest ride yet - 100 km to Cranbrook!
I'll do my best to update this blog more often - I hate falling behind, I don't want to forget anything! I hope all is well with everyone at home, I miss you all very much. Wish me luck for tomorrow - I hear the going isn't too tough, but anything could happen!
Take care, and be safe!
Sarah
Showing posts with label bicycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycling. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Training Week!
Hello from Bragg Creek, Alberta!
I'm currently sitting in a real estate... store? shop? establishment? typing away while my fellow Oteshites do the same! The people here have been very hospitable - I think we've taken over the place.
So, training week is almost over! We are currently on our "day off" - 24 hours from today at noon to tomorrow at noon - so I biked out to this town, just down the road from our training camp, and I'm getting my fill here on the internet and will be picking up a few necessities, like warm socks and sunglasses!
We have spent the majority of our week out at Kamp Kiwanis, where we have been learning how to facilitate groups, how to conduct workshops, and how to work together as a team. My team, called the Kootenay Mountain Tour, or KMT for short, already feels like a family to me: we all get along really well even though we are all so different! Everyone has a lot of love to give and is really supportive, so I'm more excited than ever to spend two months with them on the road.
Since I've been out here I have taken on a completely vegan diet - it's been interesting for my digestive system (to say the least) but for the most part it hasn't been much different from what I normally eat! Just a lot more tofu, grains, lentils and beans, and whole foods. Oh, and a ton of bananas! The chef for the week went to a number of grocery stores and markets looking for food donations, and a grocery store must have donated crates and crates of slightly bruised bananas for us - it's amazing how much food you can get just by asking a store what they are planning to throw away! Seriously; if you're looking for ways to feed a large group of people cheaply, just try this tactic, it's amazing.
We have spent a few nights sleeping in cabins and a few out in our tents, to test our gear. I've discovered that my sleeping bag is wonderfully warm, but my feet still manage to get cold. I'm planning on picking up a pair of woolly socks while I'm here in Bragg Creek. My tent is great too - so easy to set up and take down, and really roomy! Two people would easily be comfortable in it. Funny anecdote: there are currently 4 Hubba Hubba tents out here at the moment: two on my tour and two on the other! Looks like MEC made a lot of money off of us!
I'm really looking forward to hitting the road on Friday, but first we have our first real performance on Thursday evening out at Kamp Kiwanis. I'm nervous about it, but it's amazing how quickly my team has learned the play and our parts! I think it's going to be really good already, and it's only the beginning.
I'm concerned about some of the bigger rides (I'm currently not anywhere close to the fastest rider on the team) but I think with the support of my teammates and if I really stick to it, I'll get my speed up! I also think I may have overestimated the number of toiletries I needed, which is just adding to the excess weight. Some people have camp soap and a toothbrush, and that's it! I gotta learn to be more of a minimalist. :)
Oh, and an interesting fact for my family: there is a Danish girl heading out on the Prairie Sky Tour! Her name is Mille, and she flew here from a town just south of Copenhagen. It's been really cool talking to her about the places I've seen and sharing some words in Danish!
Alright, that is all for now! There are other people waiting to get on the internet and I don't want to keep them waiting. I'd just like to say hello to my family, my friends (thanks again for the hilarious card - I've read it so many times!), and to my old team at YCI - if you're reading this, I hope the hunt for the new Admin Assistant was successful! Miss you all!
Much love,
Sarah
Oh, and PS - I didn't pack my camera cord, so I currently don't have a way to post the pictures that I've taken! (Mountains!!!) I'll try and figure out a way to get them uploaded as soon as possible, so you can see what I'm seeing as I hit the road on my crazy adventure. Take care!
I'm currently sitting in a real estate... store? shop? establishment? typing away while my fellow Oteshites do the same! The people here have been very hospitable - I think we've taken over the place.
So, training week is almost over! We are currently on our "day off" - 24 hours from today at noon to tomorrow at noon - so I biked out to this town, just down the road from our training camp, and I'm getting my fill here on the internet and will be picking up a few necessities, like warm socks and sunglasses!
We have spent the majority of our week out at Kamp Kiwanis, where we have been learning how to facilitate groups, how to conduct workshops, and how to work together as a team. My team, called the Kootenay Mountain Tour, or KMT for short, already feels like a family to me: we all get along really well even though we are all so different! Everyone has a lot of love to give and is really supportive, so I'm more excited than ever to spend two months with them on the road.
Since I've been out here I have taken on a completely vegan diet - it's been interesting for my digestive system (to say the least) but for the most part it hasn't been much different from what I normally eat! Just a lot more tofu, grains, lentils and beans, and whole foods. Oh, and a ton of bananas! The chef for the week went to a number of grocery stores and markets looking for food donations, and a grocery store must have donated crates and crates of slightly bruised bananas for us - it's amazing how much food you can get just by asking a store what they are planning to throw away! Seriously; if you're looking for ways to feed a large group of people cheaply, just try this tactic, it's amazing.
We have spent a few nights sleeping in cabins and a few out in our tents, to test our gear. I've discovered that my sleeping bag is wonderfully warm, but my feet still manage to get cold. I'm planning on picking up a pair of woolly socks while I'm here in Bragg Creek. My tent is great too - so easy to set up and take down, and really roomy! Two people would easily be comfortable in it. Funny anecdote: there are currently 4 Hubba Hubba tents out here at the moment: two on my tour and two on the other! Looks like MEC made a lot of money off of us!
I'm really looking forward to hitting the road on Friday, but first we have our first real performance on Thursday evening out at Kamp Kiwanis. I'm nervous about it, but it's amazing how quickly my team has learned the play and our parts! I think it's going to be really good already, and it's only the beginning.
I'm concerned about some of the bigger rides (I'm currently not anywhere close to the fastest rider on the team) but I think with the support of my teammates and if I really stick to it, I'll get my speed up! I also think I may have overestimated the number of toiletries I needed, which is just adding to the excess weight. Some people have camp soap and a toothbrush, and that's it! I gotta learn to be more of a minimalist. :)
Oh, and an interesting fact for my family: there is a Danish girl heading out on the Prairie Sky Tour! Her name is Mille, and she flew here from a town just south of Copenhagen. It's been really cool talking to her about the places I've seen and sharing some words in Danish!
Alright, that is all for now! There are other people waiting to get on the internet and I don't want to keep them waiting. I'd just like to say hello to my family, my friends (thanks again for the hilarious card - I've read it so many times!), and to my old team at YCI - if you're reading this, I hope the hunt for the new Admin Assistant was successful! Miss you all!
Much love,
Sarah
Oh, and PS - I didn't pack my camera cord, so I currently don't have a way to post the pictures that I've taken! (Mountains!!!) I'll try and figure out a way to get them uploaded as soon as possible, so you can see what I'm seeing as I hit the road on my crazy adventure. Take care!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
And so it begins...
Hey everyone!
I am in Calgary! Woo! After a very long couple of days, I am so glad to be here and settling in before my big ride begins tomorrow. Why were my last few days so long, you ask? Well, let me tell you...
So, the night before I'm set to fly out to Calgary, I stop in to pick up my bike at the local bike shop; the staff of which promised me they would box up my bike following it's tune-up at no charge. I thought, "what a great deal; why wouldn't I take them up on this?". Bad idea...
I get to the bike shop just before 4 pm, and my bike is in pieces, tucked away in the tiniest box possible! There was no room in the box for any of my bigger items like my tent and sleeping bag, and what's more, they had removed so much of the bike that it looked more like a giant metallic puzzle than a mode of transport. Needless to say, I freaked out.
I called up my boyfriend, who quickly put me back together and told me he'd bring home a nice big Greyhound box. I don't know what I would have done without him!
We spent the rest of the evening and into the wee hours of the morning boxing up my bike, packing all the extra items neatly between the frame, and as a finishing touch, we made sure to lash everything down tightly so it wouldn't move around during the flight. I thought I was home safe.
Not quite.
Sending the bike off through the oversize baggage check-in was no trouble - in fact, WestJet didn't even charge me! I was thinking I had finally gotten through the worst of it, and everything was going to be fantastic once I arrived in Calgary. I would get my bike on the other side, take it back to the hotel with me, and easily reassemble what little parts I had originally removed! Of course, this was not the case.
My bike arrived at the oversize baggage claim in Calgary, with no less than two giant holes on either side with both wheel hubs sticking straight out, and the corners of the box sagging and barely holding their own weight. Not to mention, the guy at the baggage claim handling my bike literally threw it down the ramp to me. Not what I'd expected!
I hoped for the best as I drove toward downtown Calgary, and when I finally got my bike up to my 5th floor room (with the help of a nice maintenance dude and the cab driver), I was all set to rip open the damaged box and get to work putting together my bike! I was almost finished - just adding some air to the tires before fitting them on the frame - when I noticed my derailleur looking a little crooked. Hmm.
Great. It's the night before my big journey begins, and my back wheel won't fit on the frame due to this bent-out-of-shape part! Before having another meltdown, I called the woman at the front desk who quickly gave me the address of a local bike shop only two blocks from the hotel. I was so grateful I grabbed my bike and literally carried it the two blocks to the shop - I didn't want to waste any valuable time.
The folks at the shop were a godsend - the girl who was working on my bike didn't even charge after she heard my story. All she asked for was a green tea latte in return for her hard work, and I gladly obliged (I needed some serious Starbucks at that point myself). I came back to the shop just in time to see her pumping up my tires, fixing the alignment of my handlebars, and tightening up my brakes! I walked back to the hotel, latte in one hand, and wheeling my bike with the other, feeling like the biggest weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Now I can (hopefully) relax a little more while making sure my gear and panniers rest just right on my rack tonight - after today, I don't think anything will surprise me. I just have to thank the bike shop folks and the other friendly Calgarians who helped me through the day. I doubt they even know it, but their hospitality kept me sane!
So, as you can now see, I am truly grateful for the end of the day, and excited to hit the road tomorrow and really get my bike in motion! I'm hoping that my bad luck has finally run out, and I can head out with the Otesha crew tomorrow with no worries! (At least for now... )
Okay, I must go find some food, but I will be sure to post again as soon as I can! I'm not sure at this point when that will be, but I can definitely say the next post will be a good one - training week begins tomorrow! What's not to love about team-building, ice breakers, games, and theatre??
Take care everyone; miss you and love you!
Kisses and hugs,
Sarah
I am in Calgary! Woo! After a very long couple of days, I am so glad to be here and settling in before my big ride begins tomorrow. Why were my last few days so long, you ask? Well, let me tell you...
So, the night before I'm set to fly out to Calgary, I stop in to pick up my bike at the local bike shop; the staff of which promised me they would box up my bike following it's tune-up at no charge. I thought, "what a great deal; why wouldn't I take them up on this?". Bad idea...
I get to the bike shop just before 4 pm, and my bike is in pieces, tucked away in the tiniest box possible! There was no room in the box for any of my bigger items like my tent and sleeping bag, and what's more, they had removed so much of the bike that it looked more like a giant metallic puzzle than a mode of transport. Needless to say, I freaked out.
I called up my boyfriend, who quickly put me back together and told me he'd bring home a nice big Greyhound box. I don't know what I would have done without him!
We spent the rest of the evening and into the wee hours of the morning boxing up my bike, packing all the extra items neatly between the frame, and as a finishing touch, we made sure to lash everything down tightly so it wouldn't move around during the flight. I thought I was home safe.
Not quite.
Sending the bike off through the oversize baggage check-in was no trouble - in fact, WestJet didn't even charge me! I was thinking I had finally gotten through the worst of it, and everything was going to be fantastic once I arrived in Calgary. I would get my bike on the other side, take it back to the hotel with me, and easily reassemble what little parts I had originally removed! Of course, this was not the case.
My bike arrived at the oversize baggage claim in Calgary, with no less than two giant holes on either side with both wheel hubs sticking straight out, and the corners of the box sagging and barely holding their own weight. Not to mention, the guy at the baggage claim handling my bike literally threw it down the ramp to me. Not what I'd expected!
I hoped for the best as I drove toward downtown Calgary, and when I finally got my bike up to my 5th floor room (with the help of a nice maintenance dude and the cab driver), I was all set to rip open the damaged box and get to work putting together my bike! I was almost finished - just adding some air to the tires before fitting them on the frame - when I noticed my derailleur looking a little crooked. Hmm.
Great. It's the night before my big journey begins, and my back wheel won't fit on the frame due to this bent-out-of-shape part! Before having another meltdown, I called the woman at the front desk who quickly gave me the address of a local bike shop only two blocks from the hotel. I was so grateful I grabbed my bike and literally carried it the two blocks to the shop - I didn't want to waste any valuable time.
The folks at the shop were a godsend - the girl who was working on my bike didn't even charge after she heard my story. All she asked for was a green tea latte in return for her hard work, and I gladly obliged (I needed some serious Starbucks at that point myself). I came back to the shop just in time to see her pumping up my tires, fixing the alignment of my handlebars, and tightening up my brakes! I walked back to the hotel, latte in one hand, and wheeling my bike with the other, feeling like the biggest weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Now I can (hopefully) relax a little more while making sure my gear and panniers rest just right on my rack tonight - after today, I don't think anything will surprise me. I just have to thank the bike shop folks and the other friendly Calgarians who helped me through the day. I doubt they even know it, but their hospitality kept me sane!
So, as you can now see, I am truly grateful for the end of the day, and excited to hit the road tomorrow and really get my bike in motion! I'm hoping that my bad luck has finally run out, and I can head out with the Otesha crew tomorrow with no worries! (At least for now... )
Okay, I must go find some food, but I will be sure to post again as soon as I can! I'm not sure at this point when that will be, but I can definitely say the next post will be a good one - training week begins tomorrow! What's not to love about team-building, ice breakers, games, and theatre??
Take care everyone; miss you and love you!
Kisses and hugs,
Sarah
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