What an amazing day yesterday. Since it was going to be the only clear day this week, I, along with my friend justin, decided to to drive our bike up to Banff yesterday. It was a full day of riding, and it was cooooooold (between 36F and 55F) But, it was in one word, amazing. I'm including a pic here of the of the place where we took a rest on the way into the national park.
We started out by stopping at one of the local ducati dealerships to set up an appointment for my bike to get its first tune-up. You, see after this week the next time the tour is going to be anywhere near a ducati shop is going to be at least a month. So, after drooling over the shiny new 999's, talking bikes, and reassuring a local maple leaf that he was making the right decision by getting a monster620 dark, we headed off in search for some new cold weather riding gloves. Turns out there are 3 motorcycle shops with in one block there (I'm liking this town more and more ;-) ) and so finally at the 3rd shop, the holy grail, gloves that were insulated, waterproof, the right size, AND I could afford them (although I've been living off of my credit card for the past 2 1/2 weeks anyway, been waiting for my direct deposit to kick in) Not only did we get gloves, but meet some crazy cool people besides. Best way to describe them....they're about as close to circus people as one can be w/out being in the circus, so needless to say, J and I felt at home and hanged for a while. So, we got moving in the direction of the mountains about 12:30 or so, and made the 80 drive to Banff. It was so beatiful, I know I keep saying it, but imagine riding open air on a motorcycle through what is widely know as the best scenery in North America.......it was one of those experiences I never forget. After a gargantuan lunch at Wild Bills in downtown Banff, we took 1A (the scenic route) to Lac Louise (yes, lake is lac in French) By that time it had started getting quite cloudy and was even sprinkling a bit. But, fortunately we didn't hit any animals and managed to make good time. Now, I had been at lac louise when I was younger, when out family tooka month long western US trip in a minivan (that's right, 4 kids, 8000 miles in the back of a minivan. There has to be a reality show in that somewhere) But, this time it just looked bigger. Granted, it is more developed now, there's this big resort pretty much right on the shore. They even tried to make it look rustic. A house on a lake is one thing, but when you put a business, namely a hotel, because that is what it is, on a lake an try to make it look like it fits in the scenery or even augments the scenery, well that's blasphemy to nature in my book. Anyhow, ignoring the monolith of a resort, the lake and mountains were, well, just look the pics on my pbase site. Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat at the little mall nearby, and proceeded to make our way on the cold journey home. After wearing my backpack on my back all and freezing because I don't have a leather riding coat yet, stupid me relaized and I said to myself, "self, why don't you wear it on the front to break the wind" Well, I looked like a pregnant moose, but it worked and kept me warmer on the 100 mile trip back to Calgary. It was a good day.
Today is opening night here in Calgary. Soon I'll have more pics of the goings on around the show, and just my life out here in general, but right now my full attention needs to be on performing. till next time.....
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
what a day, what a day
What an amazing day yesterday. Since it was going to be the only clear day this week, I, along with my friend justin, decided to to drive our bike up to Banff yesterday. It was a full day of riding, and it was cooooooold (between 36F and 55F) But, it was in one word, amazing. I'm including a pic here of the of the place where we took a rest on the way into the national park.
We started out by stopping at one of the local ducati dealerships to set up an appointment for my bike to get its first tune-up. You, see after this week the next time the tour is going to be anywhere near a ducati shop is going to be at least a month. So, after drooling over the shiny new 999's, talking bikes, and reassuring a local maple leaf that he was making the right decision by getting a monster620 dark, we headed off in search for some new cold weather riding gloves. Turns out there are 3 motorcycle shops with in one block there (I'm liking this town more and more ;-) ) and so finally at the 3rd shop, the holy grail, gloves that were insulated, waterproof, the right size, AND I could afford them (although I've been living off of my credit card for the past 2 1/2 weeks anyway, been waiting for my direct deposit to kick in) Not only did we get gloves, but meet some crazy cool people besides. Best way to describe them....they're about as close to circus people as one can be w/out being in the circus, so needless to say, J and I felt at home and hanged for a while. So, we got moving in the direction of the mountains about 12:30 or so, and made the 80 drive to Banff. It was so beatiful, I know I keep saying it, but imagine riding open air on a motorcycle through what is widely know as the best scenery in North America.......it was one of those experiences I never forget. After a gargantuan lunch at Wild Bills in downtown Banff, we took 1A (the scenic route) to Lac Louise (yes, lake is lac in French) By that time it had started getting quite cloudy and was even sprinkling a bit. But, fortunately we didn't hit any animals and managed to make good time. Now, I had been at lac louise when I was younger, when out family tooka month long western US trip in a minivan (that's right, 4 kids, 8000 miles in the back of a minivan. There has to be a reality show in that somewhere) But, this time it just looked bigger. Granted, it is more developed now, there's this big resort pretty much right on the shore. They even tried to make it look rustic. A house on a lake is one thing, but when you put a business, namely a hotel, because that is what it is, on a lake an try to make it look like it fits in the scenery or even augments the scenery, well that's blasphemy to nature in my book. Anyhow, ignoring the monolith of a resort, the lake and mountains were, well, just look the pics on my pbase site. Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat at the little mall nearby, and proceeded to make our way on the cold journey home. After wearing my backpack on my back all and freezing because I don't have a leather riding coat yet, stupid me relaized and I said to myself, "self, why don't you wear it on the front to break the wind" Well, I looked like a pregnant moose, but it worked and kept me warmer on the 100 mile trip back to Calgary. It was a good day.
Today is opening night here in Calgary. Soon I'll have more pics of the goings on around the show, and just my life out here in general, but right now my full attention needs to be on performing. till next time.....
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