On the Road Again 2012 #26

I woke up in Revelstoke fairly early in the morning. Actually I had not slept that well. When I had been dropped off the night before  I had found, I thought, a nice little spot behind the Days Inn, just beside the Public Art Gallery. It was bit too well lit but it felt relatively private and safe. I had noticed a seven to eight foot incline just behind me and had debated a few seconds as to whether or not climb the little hill to see if there was a better spot on the other side. I decided I was far too lazy and/or tired to bother. Perhaps I should have, at the very least, looked.

I set up my bivy sack and covered up my pack. It was a pleasant evening and I was looking forward to a good night's sleep. The ground was a bit hard but by moving my body around I fitted it to the hollows and bumps. I was content with my day. I had travelled a good distance and all felt right with the world. I fell asleep quickly.

I awoke just as the first of at least 4 freight trains rumbled by me on the embankment.  If I had climbed that seven to eight foot high hill I would have realized that on top was the main CP train track between Calgary and Vancouver.  The ground literally shook as the train went by. Not only did the ground vibrate but it sounded as if every bearing on every wheel on every car needed a lube job. It was an exceptionally harsh alarm clock especially as it was only 1:00 in the morning. Three more times that harsh alarm clock went off.  The night was not as restful as I would have hoped.

Things were a bit damp with a heavy dew the next morning.  I got up, backed my gear, brushed my hair, teeth and beard and walked down to the road. I dropped my pack off at the front door or Denny's and went in for what was the best breakfast of my trip - lots of green peppers, mushrooms, onions, potatoes and scrambled potatoes all served in a small cast iron frying pan. The pan was hot but it came with its own small oven mitt. Tasty stuff.

Revelstoke is one of my more favourite towns in the Rockies to visit. In fact Lorraine and I had discussed staying a day at the hostel just to enjoy the view but when I got up it looked like it was going to be a cloudy day.  I decided to keep on moving. Leaving Revelstoke is a bit challenging in that there is a long hill to climb before the shoulder widens out enough for car to pull over. For me it takes a full 30 minutes to walk up the hill. Of course I can' walk 30 minutes uphill without stopping at least twice so it takes me a bit longer to get to the top. There is however, a great spot at the top of the hill. It is great not only because there is a wide spot for cars to park in as I load up their car, but also because in the afternoon it is shady.

After standing there for an hour or two watching the cars and trucks pass me by a large four door pick-up truck stopped and the driver offered me a ride. Once again the driver was a female in her mid 30s. Never in all of my years of hitchhiking, not even on the islands, had I gotten back-to-back drives from women.  It was a nice change.

Valerie owned along with her father and brother, an EMT (they provide ambulance services to the oil companies that are drilling or processing oil) company. While she lived in Kelowna her head office was in Grande Prairie. She was willing to drive me to Calgary where she was going for some meetings before heading north. Again my driver was articulate, bright, hard working and knowledgeable about her business. She just was not terribly interested in mine.

Her business was in some ways a simple one. Oil companies need to have individuals who have para-medic skills on site at their various operations. Valerie's company provided such services. The problem was that as the price in oil dropped below a certain point, companies closed down some of their operations until the price rose again. It struck me that it must be very difficult to run a business when one is entirely dependent upon someone else’s bottom line and secondly that it is hard to argue that the oil companies don't manipulate the prices. Prices for crude get too low - they stop producing until there is a shortage and then the prices go up. Then they start to produce again.

Valerie noted that it was mainly the western international oil companies who did this. The companies owned by the Chinese keep on exploring and producing regardless of the price. They are not producing for the world market - just themselves.

Valerie and I did not have a lot in common. While I could appreciate the complexities of her business and of being a sole support mom, I am not a sales person. And that was what she needed to be. For example Valerie had set up two days of meetings in Calgary to meet prospective customers. As we drove she made a number of phone calls to friends and contacts to get even more names of people she could talk to.  There were a number of times, especially as we got closer to Calgary that she asked (told) me to be quiet as she had some phone calls to make. She was an intensely focused individual who was driven to succeed. I am grateful for the ride and a chance to see another side of life. But I was not envious of the various tasks she had set for herself.

Valerie let me off in downtown Calgary. They were doing some repairs to the sidewalks around the “C” train tracks and I ended up going the wrong way. It is fortunate that there were no trains running…. I could have been trapped with no way out of the track area. Fortunately one of the construction guys opened a gate, asked what I was doing there and let me through to a safer area.

On the Road Again 2012 # 25

Lorraine drove me all of the way to Revelstoke (although she was somewhat coy about telling me where she was going - she later admitted that she did not want to tell me how far she was going until she was sure that she wanted me with her that long). She was the first in a series of four drivers who, while some of them had achieved remarkable success in their lives, were somewhat self-centered in their conversations and none of them ever exhibited any real desire to hear my stories. Lorraine for example never asked once in the near six hours we were together what I did for a living. All of the rides were somewhat easy rides in that I didn't have to participate in much of the discussions. I would just ask a simple question and they were off on another monologue.

I don't want to imply that Lorraine or the others were not interesting. In fact the opposite is true. For example Lorraine had achieved some impress successes in the realm of professional downhill racing (bicycles) and was by all accounts somewhat in demand as a trainer and as a coach. I had lots of questions about the sport and that life. Lorraine was generous in answering them. As she freely admitted, the sport is more about lifestyle than about a high level of competition (e.g. Olympics). She made money not only by coaching for various lodges but also by getting free products including clothing and bikes (some of which were worth more than $10,000.)  As she was in her late 30s she was working hard to get more sponsorships from the various companies affiliated with the sport. It was her hope that she could convince them that more women would buy high end equipment if there were more women in the sport. (I thought it was a great argument)  She was also quite convinced that her photos in the various magazines and her coaching of men would allow her to be a good representative. We spent  a fair amount of time talking about various marketing approaches that might convince the owners that they should sponsor her. It could be a lucrative business. Lorraine was fairly sure that the top men were making $120,000 to $180,00 a year both by winning competitions and through sponsors.

Her business was in fact a strange one and somewhat incestuous. The races (and other similar events) were sponsored by the companies that made products (clothing, bikes and even Red Bull drinks); racers competed in these event to win prizes and to get them the name recognition that would get them sponsorships from those companies; the people watching the event do not pay to watch; the sole purpose of the events is to sell products made by the companies that sponsor the event. It is in fact one giant commercial.  However the real money is not in racing, it is in getting the affluent audience to buy the clothing and the bikes.

Lorraine had a very positive approach to life and worked hard at staying that way. She had a strong spiritual side and really believed that if she believed things were possible, then they were. She had numerous examples where because of her attitude, things had worked out well for her. I suspect that the fact that she was a female, quite genuine and charming, very bright, and very hard working helped as well.

We only had one disagreement. I suggested at some point that she worked in a sport that catered to the financial elite. The cost of equipment and training for the weekend warriors is extraordinary. The sport only can exist as long as rich people and their children buy the stuff that is being advertised. The sport would not exist if it were not for the millions that are being made by the sponsoring companies. Lorraine was a little bit offended by my observation. I am not too sure why. It would seem to me that the truth is pretty obvious.

I asked Lorraine why she had never wanted to compete in the Olympics. Her answer was interesting. First of all there is no downhill hill racing in the Olympics ( there is a distinct difference between the cross country racing in the Olympics and downhill racing. Amongst other things, the later sport requires a rather high mountain for the contestants to go down); secondly, while she was obviously very fit, she had no desire to work very hard for four years without reward just to compete. As she said - her sport is about lifestyle as much as anything else. Lorraine enjoyed her life and did take time off to travel.

Lorraine also had another job. She, during the five winter months, worked in a semi-government office dealing with avalanches and their effects on the roads etc. For much of her career, it was this job that put the bread upon the table.

We get to Revelstoke around 11:30. Lorraine was somewhat concerned about where to let me off. I was quite content for it to be anywhere. She did offer her backyard (she seemed to understand that I wanted to sleep outside) but as it was out of down I elected for somewhere near the highway.

It had been a long day. I had gone from Naniamo to Revelstoke in a day. That was pretty good travelling.

On the Road Again 2012 #24

I have stayed at Painted Turtle in Naniamo a few times before and generally I have enjoyed it but the room that I was in this time was on the street side. It is a busy street as all the folks from the local bars used it on their way home, or at least so it seemed. There was a lot of yelling back and forth amongst friends. There were times when their voices were so loud that it sounded as if they were in my room. I was tired before I got up.

The next morming the taxi was on time, I got to the ferry in good time and the ferry got to the other side just when it should. The Greyhound which last time was almost empty, was full to standing room only but the views on the Sea to Skyway are so extraordiary that I did not mind. When I got to Whistler I checked the city bus schedule. I would have had to wait half a hour to catch the bus that would get me to the edge of town. I decided to hitch from downtown Whistler. Perhaps that decision not a good one.

I got a ride fairly quickly but it was only a short one. At the next spot, while I waited for a ride, the city bus passed where I was standing. I would have better of spending the $2.75. As well a person walked across the highway and started to hitch 15 feet in front of me. That is just bad manners. Although I must confess that the spot he chose was a better spot. After he got a ride, I took his spot.

I had to wait another twenty mintues before I got another ride. This one was equally as short to the tiny village of St Croix ( I think that is what it was called but I can't find on a map)

This village is part of a First Nation's community. There were a lot of hitchikers and they all got rides quickly from people they knew. I had to wait well over an hour and a half. While waiting for a ride, a large black bear ambled across the road. He/she paid no attention to me about 10 feet a way nor to anyone else in  the area. As it was now getting close to 4:30 I was getting a bit  worried. If I didn't get a ride by 7:30 I knew that I would have to look for a place to sleep.The fact that a bear was in the area and was apparently not particularly concerned about humans caused me some concern.  Sleeping anywhere near a bear sounded like a bad plan.

There were a fair number of cars passing me by, but I think they were mostly local traffic although it is always hard to be sure. For example one of the vehicles that passed me was a blue Toyota pick-up truck with two mountain bikes in the back. It was driven by a young woman. It seemed logical to assume that that this driver and truck were heading towards where the owner of the other bike was waiting for them. Afterall - who has two bikes in their truck?

The answer is a professional downhill mountain bike racer. The driver turned around and came back for me. The first think that Lorraine asked was " are you going to rob me or hurt me?" I of course answered no - but it is a strange question. If I did plan on doing any of those things - would I admit to it?