The blogwebs and Sailing

Sorry about the lack of content lately. The internet just hasn't been readily available or high on my priority list of late. But I'll make an attempt to shake off the blogwebs and throw up a little content.



Let's start with sailing. The first night I was in Thunder bay, I met some German girls who were drinking wine in the main room of the hostel (which is really more like a home, and is where I'm staying). Of course, I joined them, regailed them with some on-the-spot guitar songs and tales of times gone by, and we laughed and spend a lovely time. So they took me sailing.



Sailing is awesome. From what I can tell, all you need is:

• a high-strung captain who can scream, and curse, a LOT...
  
• a fairly incompitent crew with a complete lack of experience
• a lot of beer

Little did I know when we started, but our sailing adventure was part of a sailboat racing league. The standing were close, and the ship I was on was in a dogfight for first overall. Everything was great out of the gate, we won that part of the battle... but things started to go awry when we dropped the sail in the water. Holy crap was the captain pissed. I thought the vein in his neck was going to explode. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it then got dragged under the boat, completely demolishing any chance of our victory. The captain then put on an astonishingly curse-tacular oral lashing on the experienced members of the crew. Slowly the red in his face drained as he accepted our fate.

But let me tell you, I have never enjoyed losing so much. It meant beer.


And a relaxed captain.



That is until his friend dropped the $600 rope into the water, at which point the neck-vein tagged in the forehead vein, and they put on a spectacular throbbing display. Thankfully, he lived through the experience.



And all is well that ends well. We got back to shore, and went out for an evening of merriment at a fine local establishment.




PS: Thanks to Bianca for the photos!

Nice Dress, Beer

I know, I know, I've always looked good in blue and white, it works so well with my eyes.

As you may or may not be able to tell, this is not just another of my dress up fantasy parties, this is actually a hospital gown. After a few days of excruciating pain that started in the outside joints of my knees, and progressed in both up and down my legs, I decided that I needed to see a doctor about this. So on my way into Thunder Bay, I went to the hospital.

Went to the doctor, the doctor said,
"Sorry Jonno, your IT bands' are dead"
"Dead? heck no! maybe inflamed,
listen doc, what are you REALLY saying?"
"I'm saying if you ride, a monkey you are,
I suggest your trip is done, take a bus, or a car."
"How can I fix it? Pills? Intravenus?"
"Well we can stick this here tube in the end of your..."
"*gasp*"
"Just kidding." Man doctors have a sick sense of humor.

And on we went like this for some time, until he finally gave me the 3 step process required to fix my problem:

1. rest for a minimum of 1 week, 2 is *much* better
2. go to physiotherapy
3. continue going to physiotherapy

Hmmm. What a shame, I came so close, within a few hundred kilometers of catching Katherine, and now I am laid up.



But not to worry, my spirits aren't down, although when I got the news I was initially disappointed, until I realized that there must be a reason for this. So I went and found a hostel, drank wine with beautiful women and played guitar until bed. Then the next day I went sailing. Now I'm hitchhiking to Timmins, to visit a Chinese medical doctor friend of mine who I'm going to convince to poke me with needles for a few days. Then, who knows!

Kakabeka Falls

Wow. And I didn't even know Kakabeka Falls existed.



They call it "Niagara du Nord," and for good reason, as it's only 13m more shallow than Niagara Falls, although the amount of water that flows over the falls is quite a bit less.



It's 70m across by 40m deep. If you're ever around Thunder Bay, go the extra 30 km outside town to see this. They've got a great information centre at which you can learn the history of the falls, and the significant role the river that leads into it played in the formation of our country (specifically the use during the rise and fall of the fur trade).

Passing on good advice

As I sat in a coffee shop, waiting for the rain to pass, an elderly man came in and got a coffee and sat at the table next to me. I sat looking at this man, his back straight, although his body well weathered. His eyebrows has stretched with age, so they drooped over his eyelids to the point where you couldn't see them for the eyebrow skin. But his eyes shone, with a twinkle of youth. And he wore this gigantic gap-toothed smile, with creases from his eyes to his neck. Wore it like it wore it every day of his life.

We started chatting about the weather, as all good conversations have to start somewhere. One thing lead to the next, and we ended up talking for 20 minutes, as he told me stories from his time gone by. He worked in a mill when he was 18 or 19. Carried in his lunch box, did his job, at his peanut butter and jam sandwich, breathed in the polluted air, and went home. It was a simple life. Then one day he looked around and saw these 65 year old men, with their lunch boxes, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, breathing in the same polluted air he was, and he realized that they were him, just 45 years later. The next day he quit. He didn't want to live that life, and he saw his future in those men, and heard it in their coughs.

He worked different trades from then until now, learning some skill or another, using it, until a new one was required. You could tell he didn't have a lot of money, his clothes were well worn and his discourse was grough. But he was happy.

As the rain had temporarily let up, I had to go and move my tent from the bear path (the previous night, I'd set it up on the path the bear walks nightly to get to the garbage bin) to the church (talk about getting closer to God). We said our goodbyes, and I headed for the door. As I had it pulled open, he called out to me "Hey," and flashed his gap-tooth grin my way, "enjoy your life, it's the only one you've got!"

I thought that was some pretty good advice.

Ta ta Manitoba, Hill-o Ontario

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, but my internet access has been quite limited for the last 10 days or so.

Off the grass, and onto the rock. Usually this would be a bad progression, but in this case, it's quite a blessing. I was sick of the Prairie's. They went on forever. After doing this by bike, I suggest you take a car. So here I am, in northern Hilltario. It was really amazing, within about a 1 km stretch just inside the Manitoba/Ontario, the scenery went from tall Prairie grass as far as the eye can see, to rocks and trees and lakes, and beautiful coloured leaves, and HILLS! I never thought I'd be so happy to see the road rise and fall. The feeling only lasted for the first one or two :)

Wow, so much has happened since my last entry... I'll just recount some of the events quickly:

• given free beer on many occasions
• given free food a few times
• wiped out at about 3 km/hr and cracked a rib (this is not verified)
• camped for free since, basically Alberta, minus a few exceptions
• invited to stay in a couple's bunk house for a night, because they like cyclists
• went to Winnipeg, got a guided tour by a nice local girl of all the touristy areas and was offered a temp job by a guy that runs the Beatnik bookstore
• played lots of free pool

People have been wonderful.

Now I have to get going, because there's a massive storm blowing in that all the locals are buzzing about, and I want to go 100 km today.

I'm probably going to catch up to Katherine's bicycle tour group this week, yesssss... she doesn't know that, I've been very vague in my emails to her about my whereabout, and I'm hoping that she's too busy to check this blog entry before I make it to her. I'd like to surprise her. Any ideas on what I should do? Just leave a comment..

A typical conversation

I get a lot of the same questions everywhere I go, so I'll make up a completely fake and partially ridiculous conversation that I'd have on any typical day.

*Jonathan walks into a diner, flashy his pearly whites around the room, looking for eye contact. It's pretty hard to miss him, what, with his cowboy look, shining eyes, and a-la-mode hairstyle, freshly carved out by his bike helmet.*

Jonathan: "Howdy!"
Stranger, becoming a friend: "Hola amigo.. I see you rode up on a gallant steed, what brings you down this road?"
Jonathan: "Well, friend, my legs of course."
Friend: *chuckling* "You're a funny lad, not to mention good looking, come sit with me, we'll chat about the world awhile."
Jonathan: "Why how kind you are, thank you."
Friend: "So, where you coming from?"

*At this point, a quick assessment of the person must be done. Do they REALLY want to know? Are you going to insult them by saying a place to small, or a place too big?*

Jonathan: "BC, about 120 km west of Nelson."
Friend: *nodding* "Oh ya."

*Obviously they didn't know, but don't really care, they were just being polite.*

Friend: "So where ya heading?"
Jonathan: "East. Depends on when the snow flies. My folks tell me there's a chance of flurries today, and I tell them there's a chance of me catching the bus."
Friend: "Oh ya, she was a cold one last night boy."
Jonathan: "Foooooof, you're telling me! I'm in my tent outside the ! Woke up when my breath that had frozen to the ceiling of my tent started to melt and drip on me with the morning sun."
Friend, inching closer: "Mmmm, you poor thing -- Fran, give this boy a coffee!"
Jonathan: "Oh you don't have t... thank you so much."
Friend: "So how far you going every day?"
Jonathan: "Depends on a few things... #1) the wind -- a headwind literally cuts my distance in half when compared to a tailwind; #2) the weather -- a cold morning, is a sleeping bag morning; #3) the terrain -- hills, not that I've seen any for 800 km, but when they DO sneak up on ya, they slow ya down. But generally speaking, about 100 km a day."
Friend: "Holy smokes, I couldn't do that!"
Jonathan: "You might surprise yourself! I think you could.."
Friend: "Really? Fran, bring this boy some cake; you know he's biking 100 km a day??"
*Turning back to Jonathan* "So how fast do you go?"
Jonathan: "Again, depending on the three factors... with a tailwind, about 25km/hr, with a headwind, about 15 km/hr, no wind and a few hills, about 20 km/hr. Top speed's been about 75 km/hr."
*This is the precise moment where you can see them shit themselves.*
Friend: "SEVENTY-FIVE? Are you joking? My jalopy can barely do 75!"
Jonathan: "Maybe it was you I passed on the way in here?"

*Both people laugh.*

* At this point, Jonathan inserts some relatively amusing story about the trip, even if he has to make one up, that makes the locals feel good about their situation, and can relate to him. Especially valuable if it's open ended and they can add to it. *

*We continue on with such talk for as long as we're both in the place. Generally, we end up talking about a few different things, depending on the sex. With women, it's about the safety of the trip, and calling the folks, and what to eat and wear. With men, it's cost of living, real estate, jobs and economy. Both like to talk about small town living, if you're in a small town, which you almost certainly are. And we all live happily ever after."

If you want any questions answered that weren't here, just ask...

Need a place to stay in Winnipeg

The title says it all. I'm going to be in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon, and want to spend Monday there, exploring the city. So I need 2 nights accommodation. Does anybody know anybody that could put up a kind soul for a few nights? Here's what I'm posting to craigslist in winnipeg... feel free to forward it to anybody who may be of assistance (and include my email address in case they are able to take me in).

----------------- Here's the ad -----------------

I'm biking across the country. I'm in Glenboro, MB, and will be in Winnipeg most likely on Sunday afternoon. I want to stay for a few days in the city to check out the local scene, get to know the city a little more intimately, and meet some great people. So, great people and kind souls of Winnipeg, I call out to you! I need a place to stay for 2 nights (Sunday and Monday)!

I woke up this morning to the sound of my breathe crystalizing against the side of my tent, and decided I needed to post here, in hopes that a wonderful person will read this and want to make a new friend.

Here's my blog address, you can read and see what I'm about: jonathanbeer.blogspot.com

What I like to do when I'm "settled":
- play guitar, sing, dance a funny dance to the grooviest music I can find (or none, if it's not available)
- play a rowdy game of croquet, sun or snow
- ride my bike
- meditate
- read
- sledding!
- skiing
- go out and listen to music over some beer as often as possible
- share food
- try out just about anything, and have fun doing it

Maybe I can trade you a jar of pickles for a place to stay? Don't like pickles? No problem... Perhaps a massage? I can proof your essays? Help you with your computer? Play you a song? Write you a poem? I'd offer to cook, but you probably don't want that ;)

Can't put me up but have a friend who might? Forward them this add! Good karma!
Thanks!

Bye bye, Saskatchewindy, Hello Windtoba!

I can't believe the wind! It never ceases.

One day, into the wind all day. Next day, at the back all day. Of course, my mood changes with the wind *sigh*, still a long way to go in that regard.

Yesterday I set a record for myself so far on the trip. I made it 155 km in about 6h 15m. Boom-shakalaka! Gotta love the wind.

Today, different story. Let me paint you a picture. It was C-C-C-COLD last night! There was a layer of something that could've been mistaken (or not?) for frost on my tent this morning. I went back to bed. I finally got up and took a long, hot shower, and stayed an extra 20 minutes in the bathroom just because it was heated. Finally, I decided to head out, by this time it was after 11.

The locals were wearing toques and gloves. One of them told me not to worry, it's going to go "up to 9" today. WHAT. It's WHAT temperature? 4 degrees? Are you shitting me?

I am also wearing a toque and gloves. About 15 km into the day, it started to rain. And then the highway took a turn for the worse, so the wind that was such an ally quickly became an enemy. So there I am, mitts, toque, sweater, rain coat, rain pants, rain boots, "blasting" down the road, at a near-sound-barrier breaking 14 km/hr. But the speed wasn't the incredible part. The fact that I was leaned about 20-30 degrees into the cross-wind in order to stay in a straight line was what really got me laughing. So there I am, swerving every which way with every gust, rain stinging my face (but not ... my beard!!) as it blows almost horizontal to the road (I think, my perception may have been skewed on that angle), laughing so hard I'm about to pee myself. Must've been quite the scene for the oncoming traffic.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the wind.

The polls are in : Free Hugs Day... success!

Monday morning...




I headed out, fully equipped with a big smile, good humour, and a duct tape Free Hugs sign. Where to go? Well, who needs hugs the most? The business district! So I went an setup shop in downtown Regina, on the windiest day yet, right outside the banks, looking to hug some suits.


Suit-hugging is harder than... well, no, it's about as hard as I'd expect it to be. Although there was the odd person that didn't even flinch (*grumble grumble, free hugs, grumble, hugs won't make the market move, grumble*), most people were fairly receptive. Lots of people weren't into the free hugs, but at least they got a smile and/or a laugh. I even did get to hug a few suits.




Monday afternoon...

More hugs! Celeste came and found me in the afternoon. She was late because she'd been blown off her bike at an intersection. I'm telling you, it was *windy*.




A few girls though it was just so cool, they decided to hang out and give some hugs for a couple hours.



There was even another Free Hugger!



Observations:

• I hugged far more women than men. A lot of men told me, "maybe if I were a blonde." Love has nothing to do with sex. Just ask anybody who's been married long enough.
• The best hug I got was from a man.
• I was offered money for a hug. The sign quite clearly stated they were free. I just smiled and hugged.
• Even though most of the people that were huggers were doing it just for the fun of it, there were definitely a few people that really needed a hug. Hugging them was the most rewarding.

Monday night...

I biked 100 km with Celeste, with an awesome tailwind. These were our last kilometers together. I decided that I needed to get back on my own schedule, and try to push to Winnipeg for Friday. Turns out I'm probably not going to make it, but I gave it a good shot...

Free Hug Day was a blast, and a success! I hope you all got some hugs.

Sept 10, 2007 -- Free Hug Day!

Support your huggers, go and give some hugs!

Visit the link on the side menu for the Free Hugs Campaign.

Huggle!

Friends!

I still can't believe the prairie sky...



It was a pretty groovy feeling when, at 5:30 as the day of cycling was winding down, a car filled with two old friends came a honkin' up behind me on the trans Canada in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan! They were driving across Canada, which I found out about a week before our visit. So we tried to co-ordinate a meeting, but since we were both on loosey-goosey plans it was impossible to pinpoint a meeting time/place -- hence we said "see you on the trans Canada on x day"... and whammo, there they were! We all got a campsite, and introduced the only other camper (a German fella) to a good Canadian night -- beer, laughter, guitar, and roasted marshmallows! They gave us lots of food, as they were almost at their destination... veggie chili "just-add-water", a bunch of trail mix type stuff, and my personal favourite, a new addition to my knowledge base, quinoa!





I'm still traveling with the girl that's headed to Montreal, it's nice to have company. Poor girl probably wasn't counting on the chili though. We've been doing a lot of 'renegade' camping... just putting up our tents wherever we can; people's backyards (with permission of course), open grassy areas, abandoned campgrounds. It's great! Here we are roasting marshmallows via camp-stove on the side of the road at lunch one day...




Now I'm in Regina, staying with an friend from my time at Nortel. Regina's a great city, the little bit I saw of it. I meant to go exploring the city, but got caught up with some people I met who are making their way across Canada in their vegetable-oil fueled car. We played guitar and shared laughter, and I found out about how to vegetablize a car.

But tomorrow; tomorrow I'll be seeing a little more of the people of Regina. Why you ask? Because it's Free Hug Day! I am about to go and make my signs, and then stand in the busiest section of Regina tomorrow morning before heading back out onto the road. Wish me luck, I hope to give a whole sh*tload of hugs, spread some smiles, and give people a good start to Monday!

Ohhhh and notice the new "route map" on the side! It's the best I can do to show where I'm at. The distances aren't EXACT, but they're pretty close to accurate.

Until next time, hug on!

Oilberta and Flatskatchewon

A lot has happened since my last blog entry in Fernie.

Let's see, that afternoon, I got whooped by "the Cheif" as he calls himself (as do, alledgedly, the Nanton RCMP) in a game of pool. He is 81. And he was drunk. We (the bartender, another guy I was hanging out with, and I) all said little prayers every time he got up to dole out candy to the patrons that he wouldn't fall over and need mouth to mouth. He kept mumbling something about prairie oysters and barn dances, but he was a kind old man, even if his eyes were a little cloudy with age.







Ya, so made a few friend on my day off in Fernie. We laughed until we were holding our stomachs at one point. Beauty.


Next thing I knew, I was out of BC and into Alberta. When I hit Alberta, I starated *blowing* down the highway, quite literally. I had a tailwind, and was averaging over 2x what I was averaging in BC. If you ever have a tailwind, just keep riding. Waa waaa my legs hurt... no shit? Keep riding. Waa waaa, my butt hurts. Aww muffin... keep riding. You'll thank yourself for it later. Look closely, those are windmills.




The wind in the prairies doesn't know what way it's blowing half the time. Tailwind, great. Crosswind, ugh. Headwind, might as well just tow an elephant on a unicycle.

Alberta came and went very quickly, but not without incident. I blew a flat in Fort MacLeod. It turned out to be a great place, as some friends were coming down to meet me from Calgary, where they happened to be working for the night. So I hung out there for the afternoon, and by evening they'd picked me up and we were back in a hotel in Calgary. We had a great time, good to see familiar faces. The following are photoes of Mattie casting magic spells of healing and massive muscle building into my body, in Lethbridge. These is not photoshopped, Brandon is an amazing photographer.





They took me to Taber the next day, as Lethbridge didn't have a single camping site available (long weekend, and baseball tournies). That saved me a day of riding, thanks boys.

The next few days, I did 125 km a day, and I am now out of Alberta and into Saskatchewan. Yesterday I met a cyclist going my way for the first time in the 900 km I'd gone up till that point. A single female cycling to Montreal. So we've paired up for a few days anyway. It's nice to have some company, and also somebody to make sure I'm not breaking landspeed records. I'd hate to get carried away .... :)


The prairie sky is never ending, and awe-inspiring. You should see it before you die. Wheat kings, and pretty things indeed.







Okay, enough for now. Much Sasksatchewan love.



Yesssss, notice, revenge of the beard. I tried to stop it, but it's just having its way with me.

The Kooteney's are bear/bare country

I'm taking a day off after 4 days of cycling, giving the body a chance to recouperate and enjoying a day in Fernie. I should be in Alberta tomorrow.


Yep, BC sure is Bear Country, as they say. The other day a black bear ran across the highway about 40m in front of me. Then when it's cub didn't make it across, it dodged some traffic to go back. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture, I was too busy not wetting myself. I was pretty tired at that point, but I decided to bike another 30 km, for no particular reason.




And yes, BC sure is Bare Country, as I say. I hung out in Nelson (see picture below) for a day with a lovely girly I met on the bus to Whitehorse (see picture above). What a great town. Although she was busy, I met one of her friends and she took me to the two places that I needed to go in Nelson - the Gyro Park (a lookout of Nelson) and Red Sands Beach, the nude beach. Mmmm mmm, what a view... from Gyro I mean. The nude beach was me, my new friend, and about 7 old guys sitting around drinking beer and suntanning... *shudder*.





Since Nelson I've been biking for the last four days. Between 60 and 100 km a day. I have squatted two nights, and spent 2 nights in Provincial parks. Below is "trash can beach" where I squatted the first night. Basically, I got tired, and saw this beautiful rock beach so I setup my tent. Another person ended up coming to the beach, and we shared some laughs while she fished and I cooked dinner over a make-shift heated-rock-grill over an open fire on the beach, since my stove had stopped working. She gave me a beer, which tasted particularly delicious.



The view from Trash Can Beach.

The colour/white balance in my camera is messed up. My pictures are going to be bleached for the rest of my life, until I get a new camera. Sorry about that. If you really care, you can forward camera money into my account and I'll buy a new camera. Email me for details ;)


Typical scenery along the highway, highway #3. This pic was taken between Cranbrook and Fernie.

Solo cycling

Heya folks, I'm in Cranbrook now. My body is adjusting and responding really well to the abuse that I'm dolling it. I went over a truck stop today and it said I and my bike weighed 110 kg, but it only goes in 10 kg increments. That's probably a little heavier than usual as I feel like I'm carrying a bucketfull of water in my tent (it rained like mad last night).

I almost got my pic taken with the Stanley Cup today. Buuuut, even though I arrived before it closed, the line was so long that they weren't admitting anybody else. Tomorrow it's in Fernie, 100km from here, but I'm not going to make it there before it's gone again. I must be Canadian, the Stanley Cup is eluding me.

This is my first solo cycling trip. I've done a few group trips before, but this is a completely new experience. There are lots of pros and cons:

Cons:

• You don't have anybody else to share the weight with (stove, cookware, tent, food), which adds about a thousand calories per day of required input, which just makes you have to carry more weight, oh it's a nasty cycle
• You don't have anybody to draft (cycle closely behind and use their suction and wind-cutting) -- this is a biggie, I'd say that it makes at least a 20% difference, although this is just my own completely not based on anything except how much less I am travelling per day (and the effort required to get there)
• In the end, there won't be anybody else who I can turn to and say, "hey, do you remember that time when I was learning how to shit in the woods and you guys kept video camera-ing me and I nearly lost my mind?" (Sorry Drock).. Nope, just me. Sharing a trip like this with somebody or somebodies is really nice, for those special moments.
• You have to do everything yourself -- when you're dog tired and soaked and just want to sleep, you've still gotta pitch tent and cook food, etc etc. And you've gotta fix everything that goes wrong. Nobody to lean on at all.

Pros:

• You don't have anybody else to share the weight with. Your body is made of steel (yet somehow still coated in that really cute layer of belly fat). Also helps drive home the point that the point is the journey, not the destination. Cause sometimes, you're just not going to make it.
• You do what you want, when you want. You don't have to wait for anybody, and don't have to deal with any feelings of anxiety caused by having to wait, or hurry, or do things you don't want to, or not to things you do want to, etc. Eating when you're hungry and sleeping when you're tired is fantastic.
• You meet a tonne of people, more than if you were with somebody. And you can do spontaneous things more easily, often involving these people.
• You have to do everything yourself. Sure this is tough, but it makes you tough.
• Meditation.

Right, so that's that.

Sorry about the lack of pics lately, but I haven't had much internet access. I'm sure there will be some later on... I may add them to these picless posts, so keep your eyes peeled.

Hope all is well!

Critique of my training regime after 2 days on the road

During my previous post, I let you in on my top-secret training regime. After spending the last two days riding, I would like to revisit my previously prevailing wisdom:

1. Riding a bus does not help you prepare for a bike trip, from a physical standpoint. Just because you're sitting on the bus, doesn't mean that you can handle sitting on a bike seat, whilst peddling. For future trips, if you're planning on using the 'bus-bike' translation, I would suggest taking a very small object and sitting on it with the little bit between your butt and your, well, you know. For the entire duration of the trip. This will be better prepration. Oh, and the hair on your chest actually comes in handy when you wake up in sub-zero temperatures at the top of a mountain where you decided to stop for the day.
2. Drinking beer and wine on the dock does not prepare you for a cycling trip. Although it's good to know what a mid-day buzz feels like, so that you're not completely freaked out when you're mentally and physically exhausted and start whigging out half way up the mountain pass.
   
3. Although it seemed like a good idea to not tire out my cycling muscles by waterskiing, it appears this was faulty logic. I should have biked.
4. Staying longer at the cottage, was a good idea.
5. It turns out that fatness does actually directly translate into km/hr. However, I what I failed to previously understand that it's a negative correlation. Carrying extra weight, on your body or elsewhere, just means you have more to drag up the hills.

The first day of my trip was the hardest 55 km I've ever biked. When I said the hill was 20 km, I was misguided, probably because those that told me had never RIDDEN A BIKE. It was 20 km, before the 500m flat stretch, which was directly before the next 12 km climb. Insert a km of flat again, and then climb another 4 km. At about the 30km mark of my trip, all of the ditches and gullies were starting to look like 5 star hotels. I could've slept anywhere. And I did, a few times, pulling over to sleep on the side of the road, in the ditch. By the time I'd reached the top of this climb I was mentally and physically exhausted, and couldn't wait to critique my training regime, for the good of future cyclists that may be reading this.

I had a few good laughs on my trip. The painful irony of watching the "SLOW" signs go by, at 7 km/hr provided me with some comic relief. Also, making my best "oh please just kill me now" faces at the cars going by, and watching their reactions gave me some reprieve also.

Despite my best efforts, I have not set any land speed records. I have not yet given up hope.

Today I'm in Nelson (it was a quick 73 km, with the first 27 km all downhill!). I'll be here for a day of rest (tomorrow) to give my buttocks a chance to recover and stare at all the beautiful hippies that populate this town. I think I'll go to the beach.

Smile on brave soldiers.

Hard to leave paradise

I will now be attempting to catch up to where I am now, leaving out most juicy details and death-defying stories for brevity's sake. I'll probably spell things incorrectly too, out of a newly developed detestation of scrabble. I'd try and use that word too, out of spite, "detestation." Probably get called on it and lose my turn.

Allow me to enlighten you on my current training regimine:

1. Ride a bus for 55 hours from Whitehorse. Make sure to sleep as little as possible just to put some hair on your chest.
2. Drink lots of beer and wine on the dock. This is always good practise for a cycling trip.
   
3. Waterski -- apparently this uses a completely different set of muscles than cycling. This is good because you don't want to tire out your cycling muscles before you start.
   
4. Do a quick training run to make sure your bike is in order after shipping it from Whitehorse. Make sure you fall off when your chain gets caught between gears while going up a hill. Make sure you're solidly clipped in when this happens, so that when you fall sideways, you tweak your knee. Hopefully it will swell up so that you can convince your family of your need to stay just a few more days to heal sufficiently.
   
5. Think lots about your impnding departure on cycle, without actually doing it. Instead, eat ridiculously large poritons of food, and convince yourself that the fatness you're gaining now translates directly into km/hr later.
6. Waterproof your stuff. Lesson learned from a 3 day training ride which kicked your ass and water-logged your feet.

So as I said, I'm in southern BC, visiting with family. I've been here for just over a week, and Katherine left for her cycling tour a few days ago. Now I find myself getting some last minute supplies (including a re-psyching up for cycling), and getting ready to hit the road. The climb out of this place is the hardest one on the trip, it starts on a mountain, and the first hill is 20 km long. It's possible I'll expire on the way to the top. Look at the pic below, see the never ending slope going off to the left toward Heaven, disappearing behind the point? That's the hill. Only the first km of it though. *shudder*




Okay, I have to go and eat myself stupid, as per my training regime. It's very strict you know. Then I hope to dream beautiful dreams of anti-gravity pulling me up hills (failing that, sails, or a motor). I will be getting on a bicycle in the next few days. Wish my buttocks luck. Keep me in your prayers, I keep hearing stories of cyclists getting eaten by bears and the like. Although the way I'm rolling, I'd probably eat IT before it ate me.

Stay and play safe, little kittens.

holy sh-Inuvik!

AKA: I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can...
AKA: It never got dark. Period.
AKA: I'd hate to be there in the winter.
AKA: North of the arctic circle.
AKA: ...





As previously indicated, I did actually make it up to the end of the road in Canada (with Katherine) -- Inuvik, NWT (the proper abbreviation is actually NT now, but I'm so old-school it hurts). My cousin lives up there, and absolutely loves it, and I can see why.


The trip to Inuvik happens via the world-famous, 750 km dirt "highway" called The Dempster. It's the most beautiful trip I've ever taken in a car. The majority of the ride is spent gazing out the windows in a dream-like state, looking over the tundra and the seemingly never-ending mountains and hills, with the road lined with a beautiful pink flower known as fireweed. If you ever get a chance, you should ride this road. We hitchhiked both up and back. After we smelled it, we saw the smoldering of a new forest fire on the way back down the Dempster.



This is the famous church in Inuvik. A real crowd pleaser, apparently. I'd never heard of it.

We were in Inuvik for thier annual Northern Arts Festival. It's the big deal for the year, so we were there at just the right time. Artists from all over the territories and BC come to display their art, which ranged from impressionism, to soap-stone and wood carving, to traditional Native art.




One day, my cousin and her friend, Katherine and I headed out after they had finished work for the day to go fishing. We loaded the truck with a couple canoes, boxes of tackle, rods, and all necessary accessories. We paddled around one of the beautiful creeks for what felt like just a few hours, catching a number of pike. When we got back, we cleaned them on the back of the truck, and then headed back into town. The town was still bussling, at least the strip of the streets in front of the bars. When we got back to my cousins house, we found that it was almost 2:00 AM! We didn't get to bed until after 4:00 that night... again... it's just so easy to stay up when it's not dark outside. What a mind-fudge.

Yep, so Inuvik was great. We stayed for 5 days, instead of the 1 we intended to stay. And thank goodness for my cousins generousity -- an excellent host, and she ended up driving us a good way down the Dempster on the way home, because after 6 hours in the sun one day trying to hitch a ride home, she decided that she'd just come for the drive and we'd camp out that night. What a doll. Thank you so much J, you are wonderful.

I'm a naughty blogger, still trying to catch up.. I'm writing this from southern BC...

Going to Guggieville, and the Dawson City Music Festival

Scroll down through the recent posts, I made another post that I thought I'd posted before and it's now out of order ... (look for the pic of the pig) ...


















So as you know I was working on a farm. I left there, a few thursdays ago, to hitchhike with my girlfriend to Dawson city for their music festival, where we were volunteering. It's 575 km or so to Dawson along the Klondike highway. We sat on the highway in the sun for about an hour until a hotdog vendor (among about 100 other trades) came shimmying to a stop in an old Jeep, dragging a trailer full of assorted meats. For the next 6 hours he educated us about local geography and culture, and filled our ride with terrific stories of adventure and bush living. Quite a dude. Then we were in Guggieville (goo-gee-ville), where we camped during the festival, about 30 minutes outside of Dawson City on foot.

We volunteered, security detail. I did my best Jacky Chan impression while IDing all of the ladies that looked well over 30, to give them a morale boost, they loved it. K really wanted to ID David Suzuki as he walked through, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The man just wanted his beer.

While at the festival, I ran into a few people from my past. The very first person that walked through the security gates on my first shift was a guy I went to highschool with. Small world. He and his band were playing at the festival. Along with him, there was another girl that I went to uni with, who I'd planned to meet up with after she told me she'd be there! So we drank and danced and were marry, and shared a good slice of life.

The festival itself was amazing. So many talented acts. Good atmosphere. The highlights for me were the Great Lake Swimmers, Amy Millan (Stars), the Tuvan Throat Singers, and Old Man Leudecke. You should look up the throat singers, they evoked so much emotion that a number of people in the crowd were crying and laughing. At least it seemed that way through my blurry eyes. Not that I'd cry, heck no, I'm a man, more power *grunt*.





Dawson City itself is a step back in time. It's a small town, maybe 3000 full time residents. But with a town that far north, I'm sure the population fluxtuates quite drastically during the summer and winter months. When you are in the downtown core, it would be pretty easy to convince yourself that you actually stepped out of a time warp and arrived back in the days of the old Wild West. The buildings, for the most part, have been preserved immaculately, to reflect the time of roar, at the turn of the century when all of the people flooded in for the great gold rush.


Okay, I'm being pressed to leave. I am currently in southern BC, visiting with family. There are more adventures to tell you about that have come to pass, but I've been too busy having them to write them all down. So soon, between beers on the dock and the mental preperation for my imminent departure on the bike, I will find some time to catch up my blogging. Hope you're all smiling, I'll have a waterski for ya.

Blazing thumbs

AKA: Hitchhiking 101
AKA: How to score a pimp ride
AKA: Hitchhikers guide to the Gala... oh wait, that's already taken.
AKA:...

Okay, so we hitched approximately 2500 km since I last wrote. Whitehorse to Dawson City (where we volunteered at a 3 day music festival), up to Inuvik (north of the Arctic Circle where it never got dark to visit some family), and then back to Whitehorse in reverse. I thought I'd write a little mini how-to for anybody that wants to hitchhike...

1. Don't usurp rides from those that went before you. I don't care how many times you count the rosary, the hitching Gods will come back and run you down with a Mac truck. This is a pointed comment, due to those bloody Europeans that sniped our ride as we sat for 4 hours on the side of the road before they . No, I don't hate all Europeans. I love most of them. And even I love them. They'll need it where the hitching Gods will be sending them.
2. Do it in the Yukon/sparsely populated places where nice people reside. In Ontario you fight with two things: #1, fear, and #2, the 'gotta get there' attitude. In the Yukon or other sparsely populated places with nice people you fight with two different things, #1, no traffic, and #2 full cars, because anybody who's in BF Nowhere, probably has supplies to last them for an eternity (approximately).
3. Go with a girl. The prettier, the better. Make sure she likes to smile, and has clean clothes. The breathe doesn't matter, by that time you're already in the car.
4. Don't look like a dirty hippy. Although if you do, other dirty hippies will take pity on you and pick you up. However, I now sport a fauxhawk, so I wouldn't know.
5. Don't expect RVs to pick you up. They won't. It's like inviting complete strangers into their homes. Just smile and wave. However, if you're lucky enough to score a ride in the tow vehicle and then impress the ride-givers with your humour and charm (thank goodness for travelling with a funny charming woman), take the ride in the RV that they'll inevitably offer. People are nice. I would upload a pic, but I just don't have time. They even gave us some reading material and fed us, gave us hugs, and sent us on our way.
6. Do it from a roadside stop. I don't care if you have thumbs like the green giant (actually I don't know if there's anything special about his thumbs), you'll have better luck if you try and coral a ride from a busy roadside stop, like a gas bar or a common spot where people stop on a given route. It gives people the extra few minutes they need to decide that you're not completely sketchy. Unless you are, then you should stick to plan A (the thumb technique).
7. Nobody in the middle of a line of cars will ever pick you up. Actually, nobody in a line will ever pick you up. The first car isn't going to pull over and slow down the whole line, the middle cars aren't going to pull over and slow down all cars behind them, and the last car, although it could, has been psychologically damaged by the first x cars in the line and is now thinking "well, THEY didn't pick them up." Just smile and wave. Maybe the last guy in the line will eventually pick you up.

Ya okay, I only have 30 minutes total on the net. So I'll have to cut it off there.

I haven't had much net access (read: any), but life is grand. Tomorrow we get on another bus for 55 hours to southern BC to visit more family. I will have access a little more for a little longer at that juncture, and will be sure to make a more reasonable post with pictures and the like. The Dempster Highway that crosses the Arctic Circle and takes you to Inuvik (NWT) is one of the most beautiful drives in the world. 750 km of dirt 'highway' through the end of time.

Anyway, hitching was an awesome experience. Met some wonderful people who we'll probably keep in touch with, had some interesting conversations, and shared some good laughs.

I have to go find a pillow.

Hitchin' to Dawson,etc.

I'll be out of touch for just over a week (most likely)... we're hitching to Dawson City for their music festival (www.dcmf.com)! Then we're "somehow" going to get to Inuvik, NWT to visit with my cousin for a few days before "somehow" getting home. Should be quite an adventure, I hope to have content for an interesting post or two when I return :)

Thank God I'm a Country Boy

------------------------

So I wrote this post a while ago, and didn't realize that I hadn't published it. A lot has changed since I wrote it. Like, I'm not working on the farm...
------------------------


I think that's the only country song that I know (...is Cash country?), but I find myself singing it almost daily as I'm out in the garden weeding or feeding the animals.

So what's a day like on the farm here? Well, I generally get up pretty late, everything's on Yukon summer time here, so sometime around 9 or 9:30 I roll out of bed. There's a set of chores to do every morning and evening, which is basically feeding the animals. We mix up the pig feed with water or weigh and feed the pigs. Man are pigs ever appropriately named.

This farm isn't "certified organic," but it is essentially an organic farm. They use no herbicides or pesticides on the garden. The livestock is not fed organic feed (the grains come from a local farm, about 10 minutes away, but that farm uses minimal *icides in their growing). Feeding the livestock a mixture of grains is less cost effective than feeding them corn and soy, but it keeps the animals happy and gives the meat/eggs a different (and more healthy) chemical makeup. The feed is slightly different for each type of animal. For example, the laying hens have ground oyster shells in their feed because the calcium is good for the eggs.

You are what you eat, quite literally. I'm just starting to learn the importance of the input of the meat that we eat, and how it affects us.

Yep, so we feed the animals.

In the afternoon we usually weed the garden for a while, take a nap, catch up on emails, and stay out of the direct sun. There's a lot of daylight here, so you're not constantly racing against the clock. I really enjoy the laid back life on the farm here. It's not like you're not doing anything.

Before and After...

Tonight we harvest the garden for the market tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be here tomorrow, because I'm hitchhiking to Dawson City for a music festival, and then on up to Inuvik, NWT, to visit my cousin. I'll be out of touch for a while, but the post-return blog entry should be pretty interesting :)

Using RSS: Get automatic blog updates!

As much as I'm sure you love the distraction from whatever it is you're doing to see if I've posted some new content on the blog, there IS an easier way! RSS! Don't be scared, it's really simple, and I'll explain in detail what RSS is and how to use it. If you don't understand it, it's probably my oversight: please comment and I'll do my best to clarify (or google for somebody who already has :) ).

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It even has simple in the definition. RSS allows you to get updates from whatever sites you choose (that have RSS 'feeds'), in one central location, which is updated automatically whenever new content is posted to those sites. The Google Reader (more to come on this) tour calls it an "inbox for the web." This makes it ideal for getting blog updates, among other things.

Why would I want this? Well, for one, it will save you time, and what's more important than your time? Let's pretend that the post office didn't exist. To check if you had mail, you'd have to go to everybody's houses that you could possibly get mail from. Not possible. Instead, there's a central place where you go to send and receive mail, the post office. I suppose I could've used a less antiquitous example, like email and your inbox, but it's the same thing. A centralized place where you get information. In the case of RSS, that information is content from the web, that you've asked for.

Now, you can't just have every page on the internet sending information to a central server that you go to and check. You'd spend years just doing through a day's worth of content. Enter RSS. RSS uses what are called "feeds" (or "web feeds") to allow people to get automatic content updates from whatever sites offer them on the web.; for example, this blog (*hint hint*). All you have to do is subscribe to the 'feed' from a particular site, using an RSS client.

RSS clients come in many shapes and sizes. Explaining them in detail is beyond the scope of this blog entry, and has been done countless times (just search for RSS client in google if you want to know about them). I've only ever used one, because I only use it to get updates from a few blogs, and it does exactly what I need it to do. Google reader. It's free, fast, simple to use, and it's google, so it's not going anywhere. I didn't even need to "sign up" to use it, because I already have a google account (which you do too if you use gmail, and tsk tsk if you don't). I just simply went to the site (http://reader.google.com/) and started adding feeds from the sites I wanted to get updates from (ie/ http://jonathanbeer.blogspot.com/). It took me less than 30 seconds to get started. You can do it!

Now, I just go to that site, and I see all of the new content from all of the sites that I'm interested in. Brilliant. Of course, you could go one step further, and use a web portal (customizable home page displaying exactly what I want), so that you can have google.com (where most of us have our homepage set to :)) and the weather, and wikipedia, and google feeder, and your great aunts weaving webpage, or whatever you want, all displayed on the one page. But that's a whole other topic :)

After you start using RSS, you'll never go back.

Hope this helps.

Start today! Sign up for the RSS feed from my blog, so you can always get the latest updated content.

Step by step instructions on getting started with RSS using Google Reader

This 'tutorial' assumes you have a google account (most likely because you use gmail). If not, either sign up for one, or use another client.

1. Go to http://reader.google.com/
2. Sign in.
3. Click "Add subscription"
4. Enter "jonathanbeer.blogspot.com" in the popup window.

That's it. Using RSS for only a single blog isn't that useful, you could just go to the blog whenever you wanted to see if there was new content. RSS starts to save you time when you are checking multiple sources. So, to make this useful, you might want to enter another blog or website that you frequent to check for new information. I entered my sister's blog, http://angebeer.blogspot.com/ to check for new updates there too, as she's always got some crazy new story about her adventure in Indonesia (shameless plug, sure ;)) I simply go to http://reader.google.com/ (which of course I have bookmarked and placed on my google toolbar in Firefox and *shudder* Internet Explorer) and it shows me any new content (and old too!).

Now that you are 'in the know' about RSS, you'll start seeing the RSS feeds and seeing RSS icon on webpages; welcome to a new age of information syndication!

Hope this helps.

How'd I Get Here?

A number of people have asked how I've arrived where I am today.

It all starts with horny parents. Errr, sorry mom & dad.
It all starts with a girl (that's not my mom). Heck ya! Now that's better. Kickin' back PG-13 styles.

There's this girl, a real cutie, who went to the Yukon. Originally my summer plans were to fly to Vancouver and cycle my way home, leisurely, over the course of the summer. Well, as life would have it, a wrench was thrown into the plans when said cutie and I started spending lots of time together. She was going to the Yukon. "The Yukon, eh?" I thought during the 10-day Vipassana mediation retreat I did last month (I'll post a link). "I've never been there. Sounds groovy."

So when I got home, I started looking into volunteer opportunities in and around the Whitehorse area. I wasn't having much luck, so I started to narrow my focus. If I was going to work or volunteer, I wanted to work outside, and close to the earth, close to my food. Farming was the natural choice.

Enter my good friend serendipity! Luck would have it that I stumbled upon an Organic Foods Yukon website, while looking for WWOOFing opportunities in the Yukon (I am not sure where I originally heard of this concept, probably one of my hippy friends). On the site, they had listed a number of farms that participate in the organic farming initiative in the Yukon, but only three had websites listed. So I checked them out. Where I write you from now, based on my very crude estimates using google maps, looked to be at least in the same general direction as the place where said cutie was working. I wrote them an email.

Before I knew what I was going to be doing when I arrived, I'd booked my bus ticket. There's a significant discount ($171 vs $411) if you book 7-days in advance, and a slightly bigger discount if you book 14-days in advance. A few days before I was scheduled to leave, I received an email back from the one and only place that I'd contacted, saying that they'd happily open their home to me for the time that I was in/around Whitehorse.

Since then, I've learned that they were thinking, at about the same time as I was, that they could really use some help. When they came home that night, there was an email, from me, offering help. It's a beautiful life. Manifest what you want.

Of course, there are much more traditional routes also. There's a book that you can buy for approximately $45 (depending on your location) that lists all of the farms that have registered with WWOOF Canada as accepting WOOFers (I'll post a link). I simply didn't have time to go that route, as it takes a few weeks to ship the booklet, or you need to be in a location that you can pick it up (and surprisingly, there wasn't a distribution centre in Madoc). If I had, I wouldn't be here, because this place isn't listed in the book.

Okay, I've spent enough time on the computer for one day. Take care, be happy :)

WWOOFing around Whitehorse

WWOOF = Willing Workers on Organic Farms
WWOOFer = one who WWOOFs.
WWOOFing = Being a WOOFer.


I'm currently WWOOFing about 40 km outside Whitehorse, on a small organic farm owned and operated by a really nice ~40 year old couple. They've opened their home to me for as long as I'm in the Whitehorse area. They have some livestock (6 pigs, 200 meat chickens, 60 laying hens and a rooster, and about 30 turkeys) which I'm helping to tend to, and a large vegetable garden which I'm helping weed and most likely harvest at market time. The farm is beautiful; the backyard is a mountain which I can climb to watch the sunset over the surrounding mountains. There's a lake at the top of the mountain, but I have yet to climb to the very top.

It's timeless here at this time of year. The sun is setting around 11:30 pm, but it depends on where you are in relation to the mountains. The days are so long, I absolutely love it. It's 1:00 AM before you even realize it, becuase it's still not quite dark.

~~ First Impressions ~~

When I got off the bus in Whitehorse, my friend Katherine surprised me and was there waiting for me at 5:00 AM! Tired, we walked along the Yukon river to Robert Service Campground where we pitched a tent and slept for the majority of the day. We headed back into town around 6, to find that the bus station, where I had left my bags in a locker so that I didn't have to carry them on the hike to the campground, was closed. Whoops. Ah well, off to the market to meet my hosts, and then to the Salvation Army to get some farm clothes. That night I came back here, to the farm, got the tour, and got to know my hosts a little. They're really wonderful people, I feel fortunate that this is all working out so well. I enjoy the company, and I'm enjoying the physical nature of the farm life. Not to mention how good and real the food tastes! Eat local!

4 Days On A Bus

I boarded the bus in Toronto. 4 days later (3d, 19h actually = 91 hours), I'm in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

Notes on Canada:

1. Ontario is big. Huge actually. In fact, I went to sleep and woke up in Ontario. Twice. Okay, I went to sleep in Ontario twice, and only woke up once, but just barely. The play by play of northern Ontario goes something like this: "Rocks and trees and trees and trees and rocks and trees and *gasp* a lake! and trees and..." (continue, for 20 hours)
2. The prairies are flat. Really flat. Like, "damn, this shit is flat" type of flat. However, seeing the sunset over the prairies was really awe-inspiring, and it left me feeling emotional. Not that I'm emotional. Hell no, I'm a man. More power. Must've been the lack of sleep. Ya, that's it.
3. Saskatchewan and Manitoba are boring ass boring. Like, "damn, this shit is boring" type of boring. No no, I'm sure they're lovely. Just not much happening, a calm, peaceful, easy feeling.
4. Northern BC and the Yukon are stunning. Mountains, lakes, valleys, wildlife... an unmatched display of natural wonders.

Some hints, if you ever find yourself spending 4 days on a bus:

1. Take lots of food . Nuts and berries, bread, peanut butter & jam, fruits, apple sauce, puddings. I wouldn't suggest carrots, mine decomposed.
2. Take a pillow, or a makeshift pillow -- I didn't.
3. Don't worry about changing (maybe your gitch). Nobody does it.
4. Do your neighbours a favour: take deodorant and a toothbrush. Then again, sleeping with an empty seat beside you is more comfortable.
5. Talk to people. You'll wig out if you don't.
6. Take books. The 's' is important, depending on your personal preferences.
7. Take a journal or a notepad.
8. Stretch, walk, run, brench press your neighbour, whatever... do something, anything, at every rest opportunity. Vericose veins, as much as I loved my grandparents, are not sexy.
9. Never turn your back on a 3 year old. You might get soaked with a hose.
10. In relation to #9, take an extra shirt and pants.

Overall assessment: 5/5

• met some great people
• got/gave some awesome massages
• listened to some good music
• read an interesting book on mythology
• saw amazing landsapes and wildlife (some caribou, a moose, a black bear, a herd of bison, a herd of mountain sheep, some deer)
• watched a breathtaking lightning show
• spent quality time with other generations (75+, and a 3 year old)
• put on a concert (there was a guitar, and a captive audience... what else did they have to do?)
• etc
• arrived at my destination

I'd like to share one final observation. Along the way, there were many opportunities to get upset and/or frustrated. Catching the wrong bus and having the wrong tickets until Winnipeg, many delays due to weather and mechanical problems, crying babies, lack of sleep, etc. I saw a number of people reacting to these things, and being miserable. I felt badly for these people: reacting didn't change the situation, and they just made themselves miserable. I would suggest that when you find yourself in this situation, just accept whatever is happening and be aware that it's going to pass, and deal with it, smilingly.

4 days on a bus. Wicked.