Not exactly roughing it…..

 

As part of my speaking at Calgary Police Services tomorrow the city of Calgary has put me up for the night tonight. In pretty posh digs, I must say. As the pictures below attest to, this is not back-country camping. But that is coming, I assure you.

Today started with something new. Riding in the pouring rain. *sigh*

On the bright side, my new rain gear and waterproof boots passed the test with flying colors.

I rode over to CPS headquarters and took care of the introductions and finalized arrangements for tomorrow morning. I should mention that Calgary Police Services have the largest (square footage) headquarters in Canada – the city got a deal that could not be refused when Nortel went south, so to speak. The place is absolutely huge. Well done Calgary. Ottawa could take a tip or two on NOT wasting tax payer dollars, wise property investments, and about 101 other things.

But I digress.

After finishing up there I came here to the hotel to check in and then……yes, hopped on my bike and rode around Calgary. With a mission, I might add. It just so happens that one of the biggest online distributors for all things GPS, GPSCity.com, have an outlet right around the corner from the hotel. And I need a new handle bar mount. How I got talked into buying a new GPS to go with my new mount I am still not quite sure. But if the mount arrives in the store tomorrow (they had no stock on the item that I needed) I will be walking out with a new Garmin Zumo 550 waterproof motorcycle GPS and the aforementioned mount.

My poor visa.

Later in the afternoon I went and had a spaghetti supper with John and his sister – very good spaghetti. I also made a gift of my now redundant 2nd pair of boots – they fit John just fine.

After supper we went to a local A&W and met up with 3 members of the Calgary chapter of the CMC. Two of them are actually originally from Ottawa – Chris, nicknamed ‘Flem’ made sure that I would say Hi to the 011 Ottawa chapter – so Hi from Flem.

And then – the highlight. A ride north on the Glenmore Trail up to a little town known as Bragg Creek. What a spot. And what a view on the ride there. I am now able to say that I have seen the Rockies – albeit from a distance. The scene is pretty much beyond my ability to describe. I am hoping to repeat the ride tomorrow so I can snap a few pictures, as I left my camera behind this evening.

I was given some ‘voice of experience’ advice on routes that I absolutely must ride – as well as some updates on current conditions. Between mudslides, floods, washouts, torrential rains and…yes…SNOW….it appears that I may have to delay my entry into the mountains by a day or two. Which I may have had to do anyway, because……

There is one sour note to the day, however. I am now pretty much convinced that my bike is suffering from some form of bottom-end mechanical problem. I am thinking clutch – but I am not experienced with motorcycle mechanics. Zen maybe, but that is another story.

I will be bringing my baby in to a local repair shop tomorrow. And waiting patiently, trying not to show my nervousness and unease, for the motorcycle doctor to give me a prognosis.

Pray for me, my fellow travelers.