May 22, 2012
Calgary-Bassano
One word to describe today. Wind. We started out from Calgary at 8:10 am. We were supposed to meet at 7:45, but getting out of Kayla's apartment was insanely difficult. She was already gone, so at 7:30 I started the process of getting my bag, bob trailer, and bike out of her place. Her door was SO heavy and if it closed I would be locked out! So that took maneuvering. Then I had to get everything down the elevators, which took me up to the 15th floor instead both times I went on it. Then out the next locking door without getting locked out. 40 mins later, I had escaped.
By 8:45 we were on our bikes. Matt and I followed the river paths out of Calgary, which is the Transcanada trail. And once again, it deceived us. Lots of it was under construction, and detours were poorly marked, and we just tried to follow deerfoot trail (hwy 2) down south. Then we took hwy 22x east to attach us onto hwy 1.
For 2.5 hours on 22x we were fighting against a strong, 35-40 km/hour head and cross wind. It was insane. There were gusts that would push me almost clear off the shoulder. Matt of course was a little dot in the distance, if he was even visible at all. It was crazy when a semi would pass in the on-coming traffic. It was literally like hitting a wall of wind. It would hurt a lot of the time how strong that "semi wall" was. When a semi would pass going our way, it would shower my bare legs with pebbles and would suck me into the lane right behind it. I really had to fight to go straight! And we passed a dead deer! So gross! Bad highway!
Once we were on hwy 1, the winds were at our back. Such a difference! I was going 15-20 km/hr, now all the sudden I was averaging 40km/hr! We were flying! At one point we were going down hill, at 50km/hr, and I decided ten would be the best time to stand up on a peddle an fix my shorts. I lost all control of my bike. I had the biggest speed wobble of life! The shoulders were about 8ft wide, and I was doing slaloms into the actual lane! I had no control and I honestly thought I was going to die! It took a good minute of me screaming, trying to get my bike from swerving everywhere to get it back under control. I was so lucky, because just as I did, a semi passed me. If he would have been any earlier I would have been creamed because I was swerving far into their lane!
After the hill of death, we got to a gas station. I had a delicious Kit Kat to celebrate the fact that I was still alive. I saw a beautiful kitten there that I wanted to steal! But it wouldn't come within 8 ft of me! I would try to inch closer to it, without it noticing. When I gave up, and walked away, it followed, but still stayed a safe distance away. He would have loved Asha, my kitty back home!
After the gas station we pushed for Bassano. Mom and i chatted on the phone for a good 20 mins. It's so nice when someone calls because my headphones let me chat, and it makes the super long kilometers go so much faster! Then, it started pouring rain! The winds picked up again too. We found a camp ground, and we're SO lucky that the rain stopped for 10 mins while we set up camp and went to have a shower! Now it's pouring again, and Matt and I are hiding out in the girls washroom. We are the only ones at the camp ground and we have taken full advantage. All my things are hung up all over the place in here and I even made dinner in here! Now I gotta put some things away and run back out to my tent for bed!
Calgary-Bassano
One word to describe today. Wind. We started out from Calgary at 8:10 am. We were supposed to meet at 7:45, but getting out of Kayla's apartment was insanely difficult. She was already gone, so at 7:30 I started the process of getting my bag, bob trailer, and bike out of her place. Her door was SO heavy and if it closed I would be locked out! So that took maneuvering. Then I had to get everything down the elevators, which took me up to the 15th floor instead both times I went on it. Then out the next locking door without getting locked out. 40 mins later, I had escaped.
By 8:45 we were on our bikes. Matt and I followed the river paths out of Calgary, which is the Transcanada trail. And once again, it deceived us. Lots of it was under construction, and detours were poorly marked, and we just tried to follow deerfoot trail (hwy 2) down south. Then we took hwy 22x east to attach us onto hwy 1.
For 2.5 hours on 22x we were fighting against a strong, 35-40 km/hour head and cross wind. It was insane. There were gusts that would push me almost clear off the shoulder. Matt of course was a little dot in the distance, if he was even visible at all. It was crazy when a semi would pass in the on-coming traffic. It was literally like hitting a wall of wind. It would hurt a lot of the time how strong that "semi wall" was. When a semi would pass going our way, it would shower my bare legs with pebbles and would suck me into the lane right behind it. I really had to fight to go straight! And we passed a dead deer! So gross! Bad highway!
Once we were on hwy 1, the winds were at our back. Such a difference! I was going 15-20 km/hr, now all the sudden I was averaging 40km/hr! We were flying! At one point we were going down hill, at 50km/hr, and I decided ten would be the best time to stand up on a peddle an fix my shorts. I lost all control of my bike. I had the biggest speed wobble of life! The shoulders were about 8ft wide, and I was doing slaloms into the actual lane! I had no control and I honestly thought I was going to die! It took a good minute of me screaming, trying to get my bike from swerving everywhere to get it back under control. I was so lucky, because just as I did, a semi passed me. If he would have been any earlier I would have been creamed because I was swerving far into their lane!
After the hill of death, we got to a gas station. I had a delicious Kit Kat to celebrate the fact that I was still alive. I saw a beautiful kitten there that I wanted to steal! But it wouldn't come within 8 ft of me! I would try to inch closer to it, without it noticing. When I gave up, and walked away, it followed, but still stayed a safe distance away. He would have loved Asha, my kitty back home!
After the gas station we pushed for Bassano. Mom and i chatted on the phone for a good 20 mins. It's so nice when someone calls because my headphones let me chat, and it makes the super long kilometers go so much faster! Then, it started pouring rain! The winds picked up again too. We found a camp ground, and we're SO lucky that the rain stopped for 10 mins while we set up camp and went to have a shower! Now it's pouring again, and Matt and I are hiding out in the girls washroom. We are the only ones at the camp ground and we have taken full advantage. All my things are hung up all over the place in here and I even made dinner in here! Now I gotta put some things away and run back out to my tent for bed!
high speed wobbles are scary things. Just ask Scott. Ease your weight back and lower your centre of mass, and lightly press your back brake. Tighten your shoulders and arms so they add to the rigidity of your handlebars. Scary stuff.
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