Day 60: Final Day - Brooks, Alb. to Calgary, Alb.

A surreal sort of feeling

Distance: 206.6 kms
Riding Time: 9:17 hrs
Average Speed: 22.1 km/h
Max. Speed: 60.4 km/h
Date completed: 9/10/11

Wow! is all I can say. It still hasn't completely sunk in yet what I've just done. It's unreal and I think this feeling of completion is going to take some getting used to. I almost don't want to get used to it; so I won't. Where I'm at right now and what I'm doing I'll say is only an extended rest. I know the adventure isn't over and will continue if only every other weekend or whether it's on canoe, kayak, foot, parachute, snowboard, what have you. I'll keep on doing the not-so-normal and pushing the limits of what I might think is possible.

So back to today. I knew that the light-wind forecast was untrue as soon as I left after breakfast. It slowed me considerably and today's ride was the longest of the trip for the time I spent riding I think. The wind managed to stay in my face all day even as the road led me Northwest, North and then West. It somehow anticipated my turns and changed course to match every time. Fortunately, at around 5 pm, when I reached Strathmore, the wind nearly died, so I made a relatively short ride of the ~50 kms into Calgary.

When I was nearing Calgary I began to see the skyline about 30 kms out. My heart leapt. Then, I saw a campground called Mountain View Campground and my eyes strained west passed the city's skyline; there were the mountains. I almost cried it was so beautiful to see.

A really cool thing happened on my way into the city. I have been honked at before, most being friendly, but a good number surely meant to startle. Today I was honked at two times where I was certain it was hostile, and I happily flipped the bird to these arseholes as they sped away in the trucks. When I was honked at a third time, which was unusual, it came from a small sedan that tooted seemingly friendly and then pulled off the highway up ahead a few hundred meters. I was a little timid because you never know who wants to murder you for just riding a bike, but as I pulled alongside the car, the driver kindly beckoned me over. It was a fellow cyclist by the name of Kev, who offered me a $20 bill! He said that he had done a cross country trip in 2003 and that he promised that if he'd ever saw another long-distance bicycle tourist he would pay for their supper. I felt so grateful to him, and I promised that I would one day pay it forward.

On my way into the city I was again lucky and found a virtually perfect pair of Spy sunglasses just lying on the very busy street being driven around, but not on. So I grabbed them and they weren't even really scratched. Finally after 206 kms and 9:15 hrs of rounding I met up with my brother and his dog, Bruno.

I'm going to eat the supper Shawn cooked and drink some beer while I relax to the max. I want to end this with a couple quotes:

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” - Mark Jenkins

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” -Freya Stark

Total kilometers ridden: 5328.1 km
Total riding time: 227.26 hrs
Total number of days: 60
Number of reasons I had to not do this trip: 500 +
Regrets for ignoring these reasons and doing it anyway: 0


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