The Smell of Cigarette

I was imprisoned at home for two days! Not that I could not go out. The weather has been horrible. Smoky. I couldn't go for my rutine jogging. What else is to do when you're single? Going to a bar and drinking? I'm not a frequent bar visitor and certainly not a big drinker. Besides, I hate going to the same place regularly. It makes me sick. I go to different supermarkets, as much as I can, when it comes to shopping. 
I checked Environment Canada last night and decided to go to Bob Creek Wildland, the place that I've been to many times and failed to reach Thrift Peak as the ultimate goal. That seemed to be far away from the smoky area. Bad mistake. I woke up at 04:45 and went down and there was this strong smell of cigarettes! I  knew some lowlife trash in the neighbourhood regularly and even heavily smoke but I barely smell that! That is by the way one of the reasons I have planned to move out and find a nicer place. That was when I realized it was the damn smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia and perhaps Washington. 
I left home after loading my stuff but  turned back after only going as far as Piegan Tr.! I don't know what's wrong with me rather than being bored with going to the same destination and driving a long distance! I went for a little shopping and had breakfast and at around noon I said to myself: I can't sit like this. I have to go for jogging and I will see what happens. One guy was cycling when I reached there. I started jogging after 1 round of walking and finished the exercise with another round of walking. When I got home I felt a little discomfort but I'm fine now. If I die later soon and nobody notices at least you'll know what the caused has been! 

(Photo: You can clearly see the smoke in the air. Welcome to New Delhi! This area is not too big for cycling but it's safe because there're no car. My old Steve Bauer bicycle have been sitting in the garage for a long time. I don't know weather I should have it fixed, buy a new one or forget about it!)

All the Missing Opportunities

I decided to have a ride today in the afternoon. So I went to MEC and checked my bike. It had just been deflated. There was a nice girl there who inflated both tires and didn't even charge me for that. The past few days have all been very nice and best parts of the year for hiking but I'm stuck at home due to unemployment and having just a little saving to survive. I thought a like cycling would be better than staying home all day long. I also thought of all the job opportunities that I have missed so far and how they could have changed my life but at the same time I didn't think too much because it's not helpful. 

The pedestrian overpass close to 32nd Avenue NE. The camera did a good job

I took a pathway and first went parallel to Bow River and then parallel to Deerfoot. I also tried my new phone and I really liked it. I got Blackberry KeyOne from Staples and its awesome! I wanted to try it camera. It really shows that's a good one. Now that I need to send my camera to Canon in Ontario, at least there's something in addition to my little Sony that I can rely on, in case I need to take a good photo. 

(Photo, top: Deerfoor Tr. close to 32nd Avenue NE)

The Strategic Reserves

I and my ex-friend(!) Cyrus went to Rudbar, a small nice town nearly 65 Km away from Rasht, the capital of Gilan province in Iran, by bicycle, some 25 years ago. Considering I lived in Tehran my whole life before immigration, that was one of my best trips I have ever taken so far in my life. Almost 365 Km (227 miles) by bicycle, of course not in one day(!) and one way only.

How we did that is we first paddled to Qazvin a major city on our way and stayed a night over there and then the next day headed to Rudbar. I eliminate the detail here to make my point. but on the way back we decided to rent a car, and drive up the valley because we simply didn't think we could bike up! Rudbar is located on the bottom of a valley which Sefid-Rud (White River) is passing through. Going back to Tehran required us to peddle up the valley and we didn't see it in ourselves in those days to be able to do that! We hired a guy, after talking to the locals to just get us up the road. Cyrus asked me how would pay the guy and I referred to the strategic reserves! I had enough cash to not only pay the fella but also get us to home.

You can get the best olive in the world in Rudbar. This is a typical olive store in that town. I hope I can go there one day soon again

Now more than 25 years after those years which the country was still stable and habitable I am using my strategic reserves here! The difference is these reserves are being used while I don't know when they could be replaced unlike those years that I was employed! These strategic reserves of mine are divided to low reserves and high reserves and I have been using them both in the past two weeks since I came back from my unsuccessful training.

My strategic reserves while are good and help me to stay floated are quite similar to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserves! Considering the amount of consumption per day, those reserves only, as far as I know last for 35 days only, no surprise though, considering how much is consumed on daily bases!

But the story of how these reserves of the US is quite interesting which I may say later alongside the story of my trip to Rudbar.

(Photo, top: John Pinkerton the Scottish cartographer made this map of northern part of Persia [Iran's name at the time] in 1818. The town of Rudbar can easily be seen in this map of 201 years ago! In the map Rudbar is spelled Roudbar which is fine!)

To Work on Bike for 3 Days

Something happened earlier this past week that eventually made me to go to work riding my bicycle. I went to a carwash to clean my car a little on Sun. where I saw a sort of screw in my front left tire. In cases like that it's said it's better to leave the screw in because if you took it out, you'd lose the pressure. Wrong! You have to immediately but gently take it out, go to a repair shop and have the tire fixed. That's what I didn't do and went to work on Tue. The next morning when I came down to get to the car, I saw the flat tire! Thankfully it was not too late. So I went back in, grabbed the bike and went to work and arrived on time.

Despite the fact that it is not a good photo, I still hope it shows the beauty of spring alongside Calgary pathway

It's almost 14 Km one way and the majority is designated bicycle pathway, safe and fun to ride except the spots that it gets uphill or one spot that I have to cross the railway. Of course if you're not at the crossroad when the train is approaching, you'd be fine. Otherwise you have to wait as long at 6 minutes and 6 minutes is crucial in cycling. In addition to this route that I would took,  there's another one which goes from the city in between two pathways and is kind of a shortcut because saves you 2 Km each way. Perhaps I should try that to see how the streets are but as soon as I fix the car I will reduce the days to 2 or maximum 3 only because it's very tiring. Nevertheless I saved 22.5 Km x 3 ~ 67 Km worth of gasoline this week as well as the mileage of course.

The pathway is nice and beautiful and goes by two rivers, the Zoo and wildflowers and singing birds but you always have this anxiety that you might not be able to get there on time or you get a flat tire. If your tire gets punctured, you're done! You have to walk all the way either to work or home depending on your distance from them but there're quite a number of people who ride their bikes to and from work every day and although I only did that for three days, I saw people in the third day that I remembered seeing them in the first day but most of them have easy office jobs, I assume.
(Photo: Part of the designated bicycle pathway in Calgary)

Going to Work on Bike?

Last Fri. was Bike to Work day but I drove because the weather looked scary! The weather always, maybe not always, most of the time looks that way but the fact is if you have an easy job, something quite similar to what I used to do, it's easy to bike to work but if you have to move continuously, push, pull and lift and at times consume more than 2500 Calories a day, then it would not be as easy to ride a bike to work. 

Nevertheless I decided to try it, for the second time, yesterday. This time, tough, unlike what Google Map suggested I took a different path and instead of 48 min. it took me only 39 min.! It's obvious that 9 min. in cycling is a huge difference. That reminded me of another time that a route was suggested to me by this website and I found out later that it was not the best! I think Google Maps calculated that time based on an average cyclist with a normal bicycle. I rode fast at points and I have my old Steve Bauer bike which still does not have good brakes but have a new front tire and is as fast as hell! 

Here is a problem that I might face on my way to work: There was a railroad crossing and although I caught up with the train, by the time I got there the arms were down, the light were flashing and the bell was ringing! I had to wait for nearly 6 min. for the train and then cross. That could be a problem on a working day but since I'm 9 minutes ahead of the calculated time by Google Maps, I guess that 6 minutes could be easily ignored. There's an alternative to the path which bypasses the crossing but that gets me to a major highly-congested road while this way it's all pathway except the last 5 minutes. It took me 5 minutes less to get home when I was returning, nearly 35 min. only, considering there's 51 m. elevation difference. I have to see whether I will be able to do that for the rest of the time that I work this disgusting job, at least every other day.

(Photo: Canadian Pacific train that I had to wait for at the crossing)

A Good Bike Ride Around the City

The Hope is a moody and disorganized person. Not in appearance though! He's neat and well-dressed but when it comes to our common activities which is getting together for a coffee, hiking or this past one, cycling, he's always late or changes the plan in the last minute. That's what I hate the most but at the moment there's no one else to go hiking with. So I have to stick to this one! My guess is he's become this person because of all the jet lags that he has suffered in the past 10 to 15 years! I'm not joking! Sleep deprivation has serious affects on brain. It makes people impatient, nervous, you name it. I know he has sleeping problem. Just don't know how sever it is.

Having that said we planned for this 60 Km cycling in the city through its pathway system today and he was supposed to meet me at Peace Bridge at about 12:20. I'm there at the time and he's not. I called him at 12:21(!) and he says that he's on his way! In the meantime I detected a problem with the rear gear. It get changed by itself and sometimes when I change it, it doesn't get changed! I went to MEC and there was an Asian guy whom had a look. Didn't detect much! I told him that I'd bring it over later. Then he calls me! I said to myself: I waited for you and you wait for me now!

We eventually started at about 12:45, I guess, and rode toward west. We passed Fort Calgary and then headed south and that was when the heavy rainfall started. We continued until it turned to hail. We luckily reached an overpass on that time and sheltered from hail for about maybe 10 minutes. We then continued south. The Hope has a brand new Carbon bicycle and is well-equipped. I was riding my RoboBike and I was OK. I guess if he wanted to go really fast and leave me, he could do it and actually did it a few times. We passed Old Refinery Park, Carburn Park and continued to Fish Creek and then turned west and got ourselves in Weaselhead Natural Area which connected us to North Glenmore Park. 

We only stopped for a short break in that park and then continued on 37 St. The Hope was guiding us through his little GPS all the time until we reached Richmond Road. 

We headed further north from there towards Edworthy Park were he had parked his vehicle. He was worried about his BMW but we realized that the hail had not caused any damage to it.
(Photo: This is the only picture which was turned out OK and shows the rainy and haily(!) clouds in and around city which served us very well!)

RoboBike

I got this old bike when I was in B. C. from a municipality. When they find a bike, if no one claims it for a certain number of days, I guess maybe 90 days, the bike is either donated or goes to auction. So I got that after that time period. When I used to work a job in the evening shift, I'd put it on the bus, the rack in front, to work and on the way back, because there was no bike, I would ride it, most of the time all the way back home. It was some 30 Km! Then the bike got a problem, I was thrown out of that job but I kept the bicycle and never used it. Moving back to Alberta, The bike was outside in the balcony for some 4 years and that is in addition to one year in British Columbia! Last week I decided to bring it back to life because this mountain bike I have and that has a separate story, is heavy and not very good for pathways and roads. This Steve Bauer is a very light bicycle with very narrow tires but the poor thing has so many problems. The fact is when I got it, it was not in a very good shape and I had to change both of the tires. Then a problem with the rear shifting lever started. The gear would go back to the original when you changed it to a higher! I took it to a disgusting poser who claimed to be a bicycle mechanic in south Surrey, near White Rock border, the numb-nuts fix it temporarily the first time I took it there (I realized it was temporary when it started acting the same way after just a few days!) The second time I took it there, the bastard refused repairing, stated that it could not have been repaired!

Last week I took it to MEC and there was a guy who seemed to be knowledgeable and experienced in repairing bicycles. He also seemed nice and polite as well. He took me to the shop and told me that a bicycle quite similar to mine could cost some $1300. So I decided to go with the repair which would cost some $200! So much money for a bike which I have not paid a dime. It might sound excessive but I want to get on it and exercise a little bit more, particularly because it's much cheaper than buying a brand new moderate-quality bicycle for $1300. The guy showed me many parts that should be changed including the chain, the main gear in the back (which he used a different term for) and a few others. That reminded me of the famous movie, Robocop that the doctors had to change or replace many main parts of his body after he was found almost dead in an old warehouse! The gangsters shot him probably more than 10 times and they all thought that he was dead when they left him.

Anyways the guy told me that it would take more than 4 days, maybe, to have to bicycle completely fixed because he said there was at least one part that they had to order. Fine! I haven't been on that bike for more than 5 years. I can wait a few more days. I will probably have another post after I try it just to see how it performs. But who is Steve Bauer. I asked the MEC bike mechanics and they even didn't know that he is Canadian! He actually is the first Canadian who won a medal in cycling in an Olympics and that was 1984 Los Angeles. I don't want to degrade anybody's performance and achievement but we all know that 1984 was a bogus Olympics because many countries boycotted that. In addition to that being on Canadian road cycling team should not be very hard. How many people practice cycling in Canada overall. With harsh winters and people's passion for hockey, other winter sports, football and many other sports, I don't think there are many who are interested in cycling. I don't know who bicycle manufacturing like is doing now but I like that bicycle and that's why I wanted to keep it by spending more than $250!

(Photo: My bike on the repair rack. The rusted chain is easily seen and will be replaced)

The Ride of Boxing Day

I was supposed to join The Chef today to enjoy a turkey that normally he receives at the end of each year for New Year but a bastard fucking piece of shit cheapskate Pakistani coworker of his, apparently has taken the turkey for himself! I mean seriously am I being rude here or Pakistanis are probably the nastiest creatures in the entire universe?! So the program was canceled and probably will be held tomorrow. The fucking bastard told The Chef today that he had purchased a turkey instead and would give it to him tomorrow! 

Nevertheless I called The Hope to see whether or not he's back from his trip. He is. We decided to meet in Crowfoot Shopping area where there are a few cafes. I wanted to surprise him so I got on my bicycle and left around 16:50. The temperature was around -11º C at the time, of course without considering windchill. If we added that it would go down to -18º C or something. I took Bow River Pathway and headed west. It was not bad but it got dark and because of too much snow I got tired. I had gone to the building gymnasium earlier today so I was a bit tired of that. I checked Google Map before leaving and took notes but when I reached John Hextall Bridge instead of turning to 52nd St. I kept going. Shortly after that I realized that it had not been a good decision but I found a sign directing to Bowness Park. My destination was Nosehill Dr. because I knew it would take me directly to the shopping area and I knew it was close to the park so I decided to go there and make a decision. Luckily the skating rink and its fire pits were available so the first think I did was I warmed myself up and saved my finger toes! 

I asked one fella the way to the shopping area but he suggested to go to Market Mall and go from there! I called The Hope to see whether he would come over there or not but he said that he had not changed his storage insurance to regular insurance after he came back and it would be risky, I checked with another fella who was there with his son or maybe grandson for skating and he was great. He took out his phone and found the route for me via Google Map. 

I then took 85 St. and from there got myself to Nosehill Dr. This part was the toughest because I had to walk the bicycle! It was going up a hill, apparently Nosehill which starts from the banks of Bow River and ends at Crowchild Tr.! From there everything felt easy and we met in his favorite coffee chain! 

On the way back I realized that I did not have much energy left to pedal all the way home and it was late. I rode the bicycle and took LRT from Crowfoot station to Sunnyside and pedal the short distance to home. This route apparently is only 17 Km but beat the hell of me but was not a bad exercise. I wish I just had started earlier. 

(Photo: When I got back home I was tired and no appetite! Not hungry at all. So what I did was just ate the Papaya that The Lady had bought a few days ago and a handful of peanuts. In the coffee shop I had only a small Americano which by my surprise was very good. Maybe that what I should order when we go to this coffee chain but it's expensive. Just two damn hot drink, and I'm not being a cheapskate cost $6.72!)

Fitbit Flex not for Biking

The Chef called me this morning and said that needed my help. I didn't want to drive so I got on the train and headed NE. He only wanted me to buy a few things for him. On the way back I decided to ride his bike back as I consider it a good exercise. Since I had talked to him earlier, he agreed and I got on the bike and headed back south. Although I had not ridden a bike for a long time and I didn't have comfortable outfit, I was OK. The challenge was where I had to first cross Deerfoot Tr. and then Bow River! I got myself on a pathway parallel to both and then used an underpass to go to the west side of Deerfoot. It took me a while until I realized I had made a mistake! The pathway would run parallel to Deerfoot to reach Peigan Tr.! I noticed instead of closing to Downtown, I was departing from it, going south! Ithen turned back and went all the way to 17th Ave. SW and continued toward west. There I realized it would have been much easier, had I taken that route earlier. I cross both Deerfoot Tr. and Bow River and passed Fort Calgary and got myself to Downtown. By the time I reached home it was 16:52 and considering I had left The Chef's place in NE at 14:25, I had been on the road for almost 02:30 h., pedaling! This is considered a good exercise because according to the map it's some 22 Km ride and considering the part that I went and returned, I guess I traveled at least 25 km but this stupid Fitbit Flex doesn't show it was my daily exercise! When I checked the website for this information I read that only Fitbit Surge is designed to calculate the energy spend and the distance traveled in a bike trip. Fitbit Flex is basically useless. So today while I could be on the top of my group, I remained as the 9th! Does that make me change my Fitbit tracker? Not now! Maybe not even later although I liked biking after this long time. 

(Photo: The pathway parallel to Deerfoot Tr. looking south. Deerfoot Tr. is on my right. This reminded me of the time I used to live with Microbe in the nearby neighbourhood)

Murrin Provincial Park

I had a short ride to Murrin Provincial Park today in the afternoon. The park is located on Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) shortly before you get to Squamish. It was a little hard for me to leave home because it was more than a month that I had not been to a ride. I finally got out at about 03:00 PM. I was doing very well because when it’s cold you pedal faster to get warm and there’s no disturbing heat that makes you sweat and overwhelmed quickly. It took a little less than an hour to get to the park. There were only three fishermen in there. Murrin is actually a very small park but in summer gets packed. People go there to swim in Browning Lake, walk, do a little fishing or have something at the picnic benches. The park is named after Mr. Murrin, the head of British Columbia Electric Company, the firm which donated the land. I stayed only a few minutes over there, took photos, rode around the lake and headed back.
It got colder and darker on my way back but didn’t have any problem. A light would have been definitely a huge help. I bought a light last year from MEC in Calgary but never had a chance to try it on. I just have tested it. After all it was a good exercise in this cold Nov. whether of this part of B. C.

(Photo: This map shows where the tiny park is located)

Alice Lake Park

I had an amazing ride today after more than a month. This is probably the last time I start my ride from Valley Cliff. I’m moving to the other side of the town which is closer to the job site. I took the Powerhouse Road and then Highway 99 and made a right to Alice Lake Park. In the beginning I thought I will face the same bumpy, steep, rocky road as Evan Lake’s which made my chain broken and had me back but this was the easiest. Fortunately it was not crowded and busy. Everywhere, fall was so beautiful with different colours: Red, amber, orange, different greens. After a few snapshots which I regretted why I didn’t have my Yashica camera on me, because they didn’t turn as well as I wanted them, I went to the other side of the lake and found the greatest trails ever: John’s Trail. The last time I had such an amazing ride was in Sep. of ’02 when we went to Banff, from Canmore. Obviously that was a better ride because we were riding alongside Bow River and there were 6 of us (4 Caucasian Canadian, one Mongolian Canadian and me) but John’s Trial made my Sun. really special. I will go there again and this time I’ll take my real camera and spend more time in there, trying the other trials.

(Photo: This is what I got from Alice Lake from the beach and has not even half of the beauty of the place)

Horrible Ride to Evans Lake after a Gout Attack!

I’m having a very bad pain in my left toe joint. It started almost a week ago and I have to take a capsule every night before I go to bed or I won't be able to sleep. Last night I didn’t take any and I had a light supper, hopping that I’d be fine but I had nightmares and woke up as the pain was souring. I took another capsule and the number dropped down to one. Then I felt dizzy. This damn gout attack has never been so awful since I was diagnosed in ’03. Looks like nothing works on it. I don’t eat rich food like liver, steak, brain, bacon and egg that much while at the same time I don’t do my regular exercises. This fucking damn job for A. J. takes most of my time. So because today was the second time I had that dizziness feeling, like I had two or more can of beer, I decided to see a physician. Luckily the clinic was open and no one was there and I could see the doctor quickly. But it cost me $75 because I’m not covered.
Anyhow the doctor wrote me the same prescription and also sent me to the lab. I first went to Wal-Mart pharmacy and got the capsules. There was a very nice and cute Canadian girl there who spent half an hour to explain everything and said that she would be there Mon. to in case I needed anything. I wanted to give her a hug and kiss her eyes and forehead but obviously was not possible. Then went the hospital for the uric-acid test but was told that the lad was closed and Tue. Is the next day that I could be there.
I went back home and got ready for a ride after 2 weeks. I took Paradise Valley Road, the same one that I had taken as my first ride in Squamish and had written about that but shortly after North Vancouver Outdoor School, I took a gravel road to Evans Lake and oh my that was the worst road that I’ve ever taken in my life so far: Slope up with a 60⁰ degree angle, holes and bumps! There was not even one single bike in the road and only 4 x 4s and SUVs are able to climb the road. The gout attacked me again after a few miles and I had to walk the bike while sweating like a whore in confession! Then I had to stop and lay down for about half an hour and let my heart go back to its normal rate. I was so angry at me. I guess stress is the main cause of the damn gout illness because out of all the possible cause that the cute girl in Wal-Mart pharmacy explained to me, only this one matches.
Anyhow I started my journey after a few min. and had to climb down off and on and walk the bike. The passengers in the passing car mostly looked at me with a strange and respect mixture of look! I don’t know how far I was from the damn lake when I broke my chain! Damn! I turned back and went all the way down to the main road. I hitchhiked and a very nice guy took me to Government Road where the town house complex is located and fixed my chain for no cost. I thanked him and went back home. So here I had so many failed bike trips so far but I promise that I’ll go to the damn lake another time, all the way.

(Photo: This detailed map shows the way to Evans Lake regardless the fact that nothing is mentioned about the elevation and the difficulty of the road, possibly because that's not a road for bicycles. I'll print it and take it with me next time I'm goin' there)

Furry Creek

I challenged Highway 99 today and went to Furry Creek. It’s only few kilometres away from Squamish. Took almost an hour to get there. Beautiful big houses are built there, at both sides of the road. Some looking at the Ocean and the other ones on a little higher land looking at the mountain and jungle from one side and the Ocean's rush from the other side. There’s a golf course just by the road and it was busy as I was passing by. The houses should be expensive as it’s only 1 hour to Downtown Vancouver. There’s no shop or any other services but people obviously get all their needs from Vancouver or if don’t want to drive that much, Squamish is only 20 min. drive. But X was saying something else when I was talking to him a few min. ago. He was saying that most of the people don't live in those houses. They use 'em as their second house. On the other hand the house that is only used on weekends or for vacations. He also mentioned that the houses are very expensive because of a high cost of development. One more interesting thing he added was that many of the people who live in these houses could be foreigners, mostly Americans. I noticed that I haven't seen anyone in one of the houses up the road and he said that they are people from Seattle which is only a few hours from here and they come and visit not very often.
Basically what’s happening to Canada and British Columbia is they are destroying the nature and building highways, houses, golf courses and other pieces of shit! When will it stop? My answer would be never. Furry Creek itself has biking trials as it’s said but I didn’t try any of them. I needed energy to go back! I didn’t see anything though. I will stop by and ask the little office in there in a weekday. The whole ride including looking around, photography and a little hand-set game(!) I played, took 03:15 hour. It's not something very interesting that I want to write about it.

(Photo: I always like to take photos of my travels and rides and all the events that I write here which shows the uniqueness of that. Here you see a kind of, I'd say fruit which is very much like grape but it's not it. I took it in Furry Creek where there's a gravel road goin' up and that's probably for construction or something like that. Definitely not a biking trial! But you might find it anywhere else. I even tasted that and is not too bad. I didn't take any photo from the houses or the golf course)

Howe Sound

I had a little ride on Thu. evening. I went to Howe Sound. That’s marvellous. The world Sound has different meanings in English. Apparently I’m not writing this for the people whom the language is their mother tongue but one of the Sound’s meanings is a long, wide body of water, larger than a strait or a channel, connecting larger bodies of water. In another word you may use the term Sound instead of inlet. Being safe and free from defect and also the most popular and spoken one a distinctive noise are the other meaning of the word.
But the one I’m talking about right now is the first one. Howe Sound is practically Squamish’s water terminal. The only log sorting mill in the town is located there and the log boats load the trunks in there. I don’t think the terminal is used for the other commercial purposes though. The district of Squamish has a development plan for this part of the town. As there’s a cool and kind of permanent wind in the Sound, it’s a perfect place for wind surfing. And also a trial has been built around the oceanfront which I took last Thu. and enjoyed the cool breathe, the ease and beauty of nature and everything. Unfortunately I couldn’t find my way to the point that the wind sports are performed but will try that one another time soon. CN Rail has also a station in Howe Sound and I believe residential properties are coming as a part of the development plan, although I’m not sure about that yet.
So if you want to have a nice ride in a quiet and easy trail while a cool breathe is creasing your body and also if you want to see the beauty of Squamish, including the Chief Stawamous, Shannon Falls, the oceanfront and do wind sports, it’s a perfect place for all of that.
(Photo: Chief Stawamous the almost 700 m. height rock who looks at the town is seen here from the inlet. Abandoned all logging equipment is seen at the other bank)

Garibaldi Provincial Park

I had a plan to go to Garibaldi Provincial Park today and to accomplish that I geared up and started at about a quarter to 11:00. I took the same road, Powerhouse Road, that I did last week and went all the way up to where the rental cabins are. I got tired but not so bad. The owner who gave me some water told me that it was only 6 km to the parking, where’s actually as far as the drives go. He, too, mentioned the difficulty of the route because of its slope.
I found myself not able to finish the damn road after the first 3 Km and had to walk it! Also the damn camera was out of the battery. So when I got to the parking lot, decided to go back. The return was not easy too! I had to hold the break every single second and my wrists and palms were sore! The rear break got ripped off on the way back and fortunately I was close to home. I have to take it to a bike shop and have it fixed. I pull it all the way back and there’s just a little resistance.
So that was the trip. I was so tired when I got home. A. J. and the family, his sister and his tenant all came over for an afternoon tea. We sat for few minutes and chatted. Had a good time. My next time to the park would be fully equipped and I go inside and discover.
(Photo: This sign is seen at the beginning of the Garibaldi Park road, right after the University but I didn't feel a wind, not even a breathe!)

Close to Garibaldi Park

As I had decided last week I went for a ride today but couldn’t start sooner than 03:40 PM. I started in Valley Cliff and instead of taking the same road I took the road at left, the one which has a warning about the logging trucks.
My plan was taking the trial which takes you eventually after a long ride to Britannia Beach, the place I was goin’ to have a post about it but that one starts at right and goes to the east while the one I took goes to the left. I confronted a few guys of a contractor company who were climbing up one of the power line. None of them told me that the road is dead end but it was just after few meters from them! Then I returned and took another route and after crossing a bridge saw a three cyclist and found out that I’m at the University Heights. Those guys pulled over after a few meters as their vehicle was parked there and I continued on my own. That was a wide and easy road but uphill all the way up. I didn’t see any other cyclist. Surprisingly when I almost approached to the point that was actually my point of return, I found a few houses, big houses and that was where I saw a sign indicating the road goin’ to Garibaldi Provincial Park.

I saw two guys from Alberta right at the corner of the road and one of them told me that it’s 20 min. to half an hour to the boundary of the said park. That was late and I decided to go back home, with this thought in my mind that next time I can start early and get to the park around noon as I know where to go now. It was almost 06:45 PM when I got back and I should say that was a 3-hour good ride. I took another way to get home. I went down the hills of the University and got into Mamquam road and then taking Highway 99 and Clarke took me to my suite.
(Photo: Mamquam River over the bridge next to the Power House)

Idleness

I really don’t feel good about myself these days. I feel that I’m not the strong guy I used to be, neither mentally nor physically. It’s mostly because the dark future that is waiting for me! I try to keep saying that everything is goin’ to be fine but I know that nothin’ is gonna be OK until I try hard to dig myself out of this shit! I called those bastards in CF Vancouver office and left a massage and also e-mailed them but no one replied back. That’s something that I still think could be a cure.
I went to the project site to see what’s happening yesterday morning and I was off at about 04:00 PM and wanted to go for a ride but didn’t go until almost 07:10! I went up the same route as the last ride and because that was late and the road was so foggy, I just took a few photos and got back. I broke a sweat but hopefully I defeat this laziness and over-eating and go for a good ride today if it’s not raining. I’ve also planned to meet with Dr. S. to consult him about the possibility of graduate studies in any school and hopefully that happens this Mon. I’ll write about that, if it happens.

(Photo: I was surrounded by fog after just a few miles up the road and decided to go back. Happily the road was not busy, just a few cars passed by)

Paradise Valley (Squamish area, British Columbia)

I decided to have a ride today so I inflated the front tire and hit the road. Just ride around a little and then got to the gravel road that once got closed to it when I was goin' to landfill. It's called Paradise Valley. It was an easy ride at the beginning, wide road, quite. Then it got narrower and narrower and then sloped up. I got somewhere that it was so rocky and I had to climb up with my bike on shoulder. I went up and up and seemed there's no end. There were no one around but I saw a few SUVs parked so it proved that people come up here to enjoy the beautiful nature. That's the only vehicle could be driven here.
The interesting thing is I saw many properties on my way and the road was so scenic with the river at my left and the railroad at top right. I didn't have my camera on me but that was a good experience and will take it in the second ride.
Anyhow after minutes of climbing up, I faced slope down and there was a beautiful lake and few people around, some fishing. I talked with a local guy who indicated that he had been there for more than 25 years. He was fishing and he said that he didn't see as many as fish as he used to. He showed me the way and said that it would take about 15 minutes to come down the lake and then should be double that time goin' up to the highway specially because I have to carry my bike.
Then I continued on the bike and in a minute there was a two-way. I said Hi to a few big Canadian guys and asked them the way. The told me that I should have taken the road ahead because that's not too much of up hill but I preferred to take the road they were coming from because sounded closer to me.
I put the bicycle on my shoulder and started going up and up. After a few minutes that I reached up and there was a very beautiful scene. You could see all the valley covered with trees and snow caped mountains and I continued after that. I went and went with my bike on my shoulder all the time and I was scared that might not be able to make it on time and get lost in jungle. So I decided to go back all the way to the lake and take the same road. As soon as I turned back, I saw a motorcyclist coming up. I asked him, or better to say yelled at him to ask the way to the highway but he didn't hear me because of the bike's noise or pretended that he didn't. Then I decided to just take the same road he took and that finally got me to the highway. That was very beautiful as well and all through the jungle.
As soon as I hit the road and after probably not more than half a mile, I hit something and shit! I heard the air going out! I climbed down and start walking. I had no idea how far I am from Squamish and was going to walk the bike all the way home. I didn't try hitchhiking because I though people wouldn't take me. Everyone was goin' home after a day of fun in Whistler and were driving really fast in Highway 99. Beside why would they pick up a guy with dark hair? But I was wrong! In a moment I turned my neck back and an small two-door SUV with two passenger pulled over! As I said before these people, Canadians, they are mostly unbelievable people: Kind, friendly, helpful, etc. Don, who later told me is a high school teacher, with his French friend (from France not Quebec), picked me up! We first stayed in a Starbucks, joined a few other guys, their friends and they took me all the way home. So the nice ride in a nice sunny day, after two days of pouring didn`t end in disaster. Don showed his interest in travelling to Iran and climbing one of the mountains in north, the Alborz and I said I would take him. He has a plan for Christmas of `09 but who knows May be we go together.
Anyhow that was a good ride and as I said I would repeat it, well-equipped and then once will go all the way to Whistler.

(Photo: This amazing portrait is taken by the French guy, Pascal, right after they pushed me in the car and gave me the bike's frame!)

Signs of Spring

I went for a ride yesterday at about 12:53 and returned after almost 2 hours. It was not bad, partly cloudy, and snow was melting but it was windy as usually it is! I was fine in my jersey and short but my toes and fingers was almost frozen, esp. my right hand. It was numb and God! bothered me a lot but as clouds were wiped away and sun started shining I felt a little bit better. You could see the signs of spring everywhere: Flocks of Canadian geese, ducks, squirrels and other kinds of birds and mammals. Calgary Zoo, as I went by, was crowded. Families brought kids and animals were out of the shelters. (I should go and see the Zoo this summer)
I was goin' to call and ask P. M. to join me but didn't, although I was almost close to his place.

(Photo: Canadian goose is a lovely and amiable bird. Every time I see one, I wanna jump, grab it and give it a kiss on its head and neck, but never has happened! They roam around freely everywhere, sleep and graze themselves and if you get too close to them they might attack you and force you back! It happened to me twice almost two years ago while cycling in their territory. At first I thought it happened accidentally but when occurred for the second time, found out that was something I should have expected when I crossed the border!)

A Good Photographer Always Has a Camera Handy

I went for a ride to Glenmore Park, Fri. and Sun. afternoon. There were very nice days but windy and changing and also partly cloudy, especially Fri. Glenmore Reservoir was still partly frozen but very beautiful, although it was about 20 C, sometimes. Ducks, Canadian Geese and some other birds were sailing. The park was not crowded. On Fri., while I was heading home on a hill I saw beautiful flowers like Saffron. I wish I had my camera on me. The whole ride took 01:35:15 218. The other day it took only 01:31:30:744, although I stopped for some photos. Today it was snowing and a little bit cold. It’s very unpredictable weather here and you will face problems, if you don’t listen to weather forecast.