Kidding (2018)

Kidding (2018)

This is called

Shaynas Sequence

I am a simple biker.

If children scream "REV IT!"

I must Brap.

Canada 2020 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Self-Isolation.

Day 1 Map.

Day 14 - Opinions on Traffic.

Sitting in my motel room and I hear the adrenaline charged scream of sports bikes nearby. Resisting the urges to throw my gear back on and find them, they'll be long gone by then.

Edmonton's traffic is wild, to me.

I mean, I'm sure population density plays into it, but compared to the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, the drivers and roads here are GOOD. The street layouts are GOOD.

Dedicated right turn lanes with yield warnings.

Dedicated left turn lanes with their own signal lights, no parking in the middle of the intersection and going blindly whenever.

Curbed islands in the middle of major streets preventing vehicles from randomly left turning into shops (and maybe me) like so often I have to worry about with the "center turn lanes" back home. Also prevents vehicles from just driving 300 yards IN the center TURN LANE.

People are actually driving the posted speed limits? Like it's 50. And people are doing 50. 55 tops. Speed check signs giving you live reminders of your rate of travel. People actually slowing in construction zones.

3 to 5 lanes wide in each direction, allowing easier shifting for merging traffic cooperation.

People using the left lane to pass and then GET BACK OVER. Whaaaaaattttt???

Many many pedestrian crossings signal zones? Unfortunately I'm so unused to them, and on the highway on the way here, flashing yellow lights meant "prepare to stop ahead", presumably to give people, especially truckers, time to slow down from 110. The one time tonight I saw the yellow lights I was like "oh, a red ahead", and blasted through the crosswalk, only seeing the dad with occupied child seat on a bicycle waiting on the sidewalk at the last second as I passed. I felt horrible. But probably won't make that mistake again.

The loop and links and massive highway sort of system that encompasses and crosses the city seem to get me anywhere, quickly, within 20 minutes?

The area surrounding downtown has SO MANY GOOD CURVES.

The roads are barely busy during rush hour, and next to abandoned by 9:30 pm. It was unnerving. Streets aren't that empty in Hamilton until after 2am.

Now, again. The Golden Horseshoe has a LOT of people. And the road systems were built on a foundation of native trails, convenience trails, small city centers that were never anticipated to contain hundreda of thousands of people, and far too ingrained to strip away and start over. The QEW is hampered by businesses and service roads to either side. I'm certain factors like those play a lot into the traffic hells I've encountered in the old Upper and Lower Canada regions.

And I'm sure people here think the traffic is bad. The riders I found last night seemed genuinely surprised on my opinion on how good drivers here were. Apparently there's big hate for noisy bikes, but they aren't any worse than the jacked up pickups. There's just LESS traffic so the noise seems more noticable, it seems.

But even the guy trying to merge who almost cut me off (I saw him coming, was prepared for it, and I had no problem letting him in) - he saw me at the last second and panic aborted the maneuver until there was more space between us. Back home? Yah, not a chance. I'd be pushed out of the lane before a car would admit I was there first.

I'm not saying Edmonton is perfect, but in the three days I've been tooling around, it's been a pleasure to motorcycle commute in.

Side note: What the hell's up with all the abandoned electric scooter boards all over the place in the city core?

Day 10 Part 2.

Found the rain.

Driving through it.

Under and out.

And then you get scenes like this...

Chasing the sun.

'Berta border!

Fabyan campground. On brand.

----

Okay so.

I'm alone. In an empty campground. The sun set over two hours ago, I can't see anything past my headlamp beam. My bike is on its side. I've found the camp sites, and have moved some gear to a picnic table, but I'm wigged out on adrenaline and getting serious The Ritual vibes from the trees around me. I'm damp, everything's damp, but the ground is covered in crinkly leaves.

And that's when I hear it.

Remember the scene in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban movie (yes, fuck JKR, but it was still a really good movie) where Harry's in the hallway with the Maurauder's Map trying to find Peter Pettigrew, and the name on the map is coming right towards him, and he's frantically trying to see with his Lumos wand, and the name is getting closer, and the soundtrack is playing a scratching, scurrying, frantic sound?

So that happens.

I hear something approaching through the leaves.

Something that's not afraid of being heard.

Something noisy.

Something getting closer.

Coming right towards me.

The picnic table is between me and the SOUND, is it a bear that's smelt my meager foodstuffs, and is coming for a meal? Am I about to meet Moder? What is it? WHERE is it?!

And now it's passing the table and?!?

Oh.

Thanks buddy.

Also thanks to the wonderful RCMP officer who drove out from Wainwright and helped me stand the bike up.