Picking up where we left off... After a week back at work, I'd travelled back to Cochrane by other means, and re-united with Badger. I tackled a couple of minor maintenance items in the garage, then spent some time with family and eventually undertook the dreaded project of re-assembling my possessions from three different sets of kit (and laundry) into hopefully the original and correct combinations. Socks here, insulating layer there, can't-fly-with-that thing here, might-need-that-on-the-side-of-the-road-but-also-want-it-back-in-the-trunk-of-the-car-next-week there. Having (surely successfully) demonstrated to my in-laws that I am indeed the world's slowest person, I set off from Cochrane at 14:00 and headed west. Setting off, I remained undecided whether to truck it west on the Trans-Canada, or divert south through Kananaskis and the Forestry Truck Road down to Crowsnest, but with the late hour and imposing rain clouds all along the front range, I stuck it west on the 1A to Canmore. |
I had a tough time getting into the groove today, and never really did. I'm not quite sure why. My best in-helmet theory was something along the lines of big-highway traffic's effect of numbing the senses -- the numbed touch from surfing through semi-trailer wakes, a numbed sense of taste from passing vehicles' cigarette stench and diesel exhaust, the numbed hearing from the always-turbulent wind noise, numbed vision from the rain spray that you can never get ahead of, numbed memory because there's no place to pull over for that picture, the numbed social senses from getting gas in Golden where every pump has a line-up four cars long and everyone has to go back to work tomorrow and Pay-at-the-Pump is down so will-you-please-just-go-die-somewhere-and-be-out-of-my-way is the prevailing mood in the air -- my working theory is that this 'grand numbing' effect of the interstate has the same effect also on the senses of wonder, curiosity, and adventure.
I gained an hour crossing into Pacific, but got sick of the rain spray (et al) in Revelstoke and found a hotel with a restaurant and a view of the mountains for the night.
Day total: 397 km, 4h40m Trip total: 2,513 km | Start: Cochrane, AB. End: Revelstoke, BC. Soundtrack: Shuffle, then wind noise, earplugged quiet. |