Day 37: Calgary, AB -> Beiseker, AB

Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Start: Calgary, AB (Staying with a friend)
End: Beiseker, AB (Municipal Campground)
Distance: 106km

I woke early.  It was time to leave Calgary, and I needed to shower and pack.  I went downstairs and had breakfast with Anne and then started packing up!

I'd pulled everything out of my bags to organize, so packing took a while.  This is also when I realized that I'd lost the magnet that attaches to my spoke that allows my bike computer to know when the bike is moving.  I'd foolishly removed it when I brought the bike to the shop, worrying they'd spin the wheel a bunch and mess up my stats.  Now I had a problem, because without the magnet...the whole computer didn't know when the wheel was turning!  Luckily I found some shops in town that sold just those magnets, so that would be my first stop.

At about 9:30am I was packed and ready to go.  I thanked Anne and said goodbye.  She's the mother Tyler: the friend who did the cross-Canada trip in 2008 and largely inspired much of this trip.  I'm very close with Tyler and Sarah, and by extension their families (I've stayed with both their parents so far this trip!).  Anne and I agree on a lot, and spent a fair amount of time discussing the world's problems.  We always seem to agree on the solutions.  She's great company.  Down to hear, plain spoken, with a lot of incredible experiences to draw upon.  In the recent election she decided to get involved and worked to unseat the sitting MLA whose reputation was terrible and didn't deserve the dignity of public office.  He lost his seat by 7 votes (still pending a judicial recount I think).  But Anne helped get him out of there!  I shook her hand when she told me about it!  I always enjoy time talking to her and got a lot of it as she hosted me in Calgary.  She also made sure I was fed and taken care of.  I can't thank her enough for her generosity and friendship.  Thank you Anne!!!

We hugged, said our goodbyes, and I rode off.

I decided to head towards the Glenmore Reservoir.  It was a bit out of the way, but the pathways around there are beautiful and familiar.

I rode along the water, stopping to take pictures frequently at the places I'd stopped so many times over the years.

From there it was through Sandy Beach.  Along the Elbow River.  Into Mission.  Through Downtown.  Across the Peace Bridge.  Into Kensington to pick up the bike sensor.

All of these are places I spent a lot of time, and so this was also a ride to say goodbye.

I crossed the Peace Bridge again.  The River Pathway through Eau Claire.  Prince's Island Park.  Past Chinatown.  The East Village where I stopped for another photo.

Then onto St. George's Island.  Past the Zoo.  When it came time to turn north on Nose Creek I stopped to say goodbye to the Bow River.  I'd biked and walked along this pathway too many times to count.  The mighty Bow River is an incredible feature of life in Calgary.  Now it was time to say goodbye to it as well.

I turned north onto Nose Creek and the tears started.  I think I had a pretty ugly cry.  As one friend said: "You've given a lot to that city, but it's also given a lot to you."  It felt crazy that I was leaving.  But if I had to, let it be by bike.

I continued north and stopped in a neighbourhood at a bank.  I had to do one last errand.  Once it was complete I continued north.  At some point I came close to another controversial but much loved Calgary icon: The Big Blue Ring.  I stopped and took some last photos with it.

From here reached Country Hills Boulevard and turned east.  I saw the city to my right in the distance.  The tears found me again.

I was in suburbia and there weren't many choices for lunch, but I found a Thai Express and was happy for the comfort food.

Continuing out of the city I passed two people on a tandem bike heading the other way.  I turned around and chatted with them.  They were Steve and Jan from Boston.  They'd biked to Calgary from Wisconsin and were on their way to Whitehorse and eventually Skagway, Alaska.  They've circumnavigated the world on bikes.  I couldn't hold a candle to their experience!  I took it upon myself to welcome them to Calgary and gave them my information in case they needed any help or advice in Calgary.  You can follow their journey on Instagram here.

I continued out of the city and at some point crossed Stony Trail, the official edge of town.  The night before I moved to Calgary I went to see a band from Victoria named The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra.  Though they were from Victoria, they had a song titled Nose Hill that was inspired by the giant park in Calgary's north end.  It's always reminded me of the city, and as I biked out I listened to it a few times.

More straight west than North from home
This land was once my tomb
Now reconciled by thoughts alone
Stones once where the buffalo roamed

These venoms of the land take hold
Of quiet coulee brown and gold
Where eagle flew the clouds so bold
The distant cry, the story’s told

And Rise, Rise Again
Don’t let those voices from behind prevail
And Rise, Rise Again
Don’t let those ghosts break your heart, and win

Those once weak, now strong they know
To hold their ground and fight the cold
So sun and rain and moonlight fall
To the ground….we pray for more…..

And Rise, Rise Again
Don’t let those voices from behind prevail
And Rise, Rise Again
Don’t let those ghosts break your heart, and win
And Rise, Rise Again
Don’t let those spirits stop your song, and sing
And Rise, Rise Again
And in the cold and dark, I’ll take you in

I cried the entire time I listened to it.  I gasped for breath at times.  I continued to pedal though.  If I stopped now I might never make it out.  As I continued I almost looked back for one last glimpse of the city, but something told me not to.  There was no use.  It was behind me now.  It was time to move forward.  I had to leave the comfort of this place if I was going to find something new and grow.  The chapter of my life that is Calgary was now over.

I rode out on the highway feeling sad.  I would feel sad the rest of the day.  It was difficult to leave the friends behind, and the memories were everywhere.  I try not to dwell in the past.  As someone who studied History that might seem ironic, but it's too easy to get stuck there.  Memory turns to nostalgia turns to longing.  I've always enjoyed this quote by John Hodgman:

...normally I consider nostalgia to be a toxic impulse. It is the twinned, yearning delusion that (a) the past was better (it wasn´t) and (b) it can be recaptured (it can´t) that leads at best to bad art, movie versions of old TV shows, and sad dads watching Fox news. At worst it leads to revisionist, extremist politics, fundamentalist terrorism, and the victory-in Appalachia in particular-of a narcissist Manhattan cartoon maybe-millionaire and cramped-up city creep who, if he ever did go up to Rocky Top in real life, would never come down again.

The future is a far more interesting place.  Time to go explore it.

I headed out of town and onto dirt roads and I wound around the rural outskirts of Calgary.  It was wonderful.  The dirt roads had no traffic, and the dirt was hard packed.

At some point I passed through Kathryn, AB.  (only a few buildings)

At this point the horizon was filled with dark, almost purple/green clouds.  It was clear that I was biking into the rain.  I checked the weather radar and noticed that - based on it's direction - I might be able to get through the two storm cells if I just kept going.  At some point I had to push my phone away because of the rain, but managed to snap some pretty good pictures before then!

It worked.  I got rained on pretty solidly, but I wasn't in the worst of it.  I made it to Irricana and grabbed groceries.

From Irricana it was only about 30 minutes to Beiseker.  The highways was drenched, but it had stopped raining.  The problem was that it was no more than 12C and my hands weren't able to do much.  I made it to Beiseker and couldn't unsnap my helmet.  I registered and took some time to warm my hands.  Once that was done, the storm had passed.  The sun was shinning, and the sky was clearing up.  It felt good knowing that the storms of the previous few days of Calgary might be done.  I listened to the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir who managed to put the feeling into glorious song:

I setup camp and had dinner in the sunshine.  I did a video call with my sister and took some pictures of Beiseker's mascot, which is a giant skunk named "Squirt".  It claims to be the world's largest skunk.  In any case, it's really quite endearing.

Dinner was potatoes and sardines.  I didn't like the sardines as much as the mackerel and might just switch back forever!

I started a blog post, but got so tired that I had to turn in.  It was freezing outside.  The longest day of the year, and it was barely 8C at 10pm.  But the sun was still shining.  I fell asleep and my tent was still well lit by sun.

It was a really rough day.  Even writing this post I keep choking back tears just thinking about it.  Thought I had complicated feelings about it, Calgary was home.  And the people there were my life.  I'm really going to miss it.  But it was good while it lasted, and just because I'm leaving doesn't mean I cannot go back.  Who knows what the future will bring.

Until then, as the motto of the City of Calgary tells us: Onward