So, I definitely don't want to spend time with this post commenting on strange northern accents, Mounties, or the fact that I'm surrounded by a bunch of cattle because the Calgary Stampede is about to go on...Kind of a like a big county fair, but with more livestock.
As I was falling asleep, I wondered, "what have I got myself into?" I mean I've bike toured numerous times and I did a long tour by myself in 2003. But the last few months have been very busy. The idea of a bike tour, although I made firm and substantial plans to ride, still seemed like a daydream.
Here I am sleeping in a comfortable bed in a "foreign" country. It was just like I was on a business trip and I would quickly return home and get to sleep in my own bed. Was I dreaming that I had my touring bike in my hotel room with me?
No, it wasn't a dream and I would soon be riding, touring, sightseeing, and enjoying myself. But it wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. There will be a sore rear end (mine, I believe); days where I ride all day and end the day exhausted, so many PB&J sandwiches I won't even try to count, and I hope a bear doesn't break into my tent.
After the last of couple of days, the change of pace is totally disorienting. I spent the last three nights up late - the first finishing with my projects at work, the next packing and emptying my studio apartment, and the last sitting in this hotel room preparing. The only thing I have to give me a sense of familiar is the Barq's root beer sign outside my window (there is a Coca Cola bottling plant next door).
Other than a bumpy flight from Seattle to Calgary, where some passengers screamed during a turbulent freefall, I have arrived in Calgary safely.
Day 0 - Calgary
