Bicycle Mania (I):.... North Vancouver to Roberts Creek

4:00
I feel a bit worn out today..... remnants of riding the loaded bike uphill, too much boozing, or too much sitting at the Pow-Wow ?   Or just the combination of all three ? ;-)

We'll see what I feel like after today's ride.... maybe I will have to conclude that I'm too old for adventures of this kind ?????    One thing is for certain.... THAT day WILL come eventually !

5:30
OMG, I'll have to rush a little if I really want to leave at 8:15, LOL.... or maybe I'll stay until the check-out time?

6:30
The weather looks promising for today's ride 

7:30
I'm ready to roll.... the saddle bags packed with bike essentials (tools, two spare inner tubes, a pump), clothes (2 pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of shorts, 5 shirts), and two bottles of alcohol (1 Moet, one Viognier).

Two weeks in Vancouver have eliminated my chocolate-brown tan.... I'll be WHITE by the time I return to Vietnam ;-)

8:00
on y va!

Pretty in Grey?

Too many rich-people's boats in Eagle Harbour...

I'm in Horseshoe Bay at 9:10 and buy a $95 Experience Card.  That means my bicycle travels for FREE ;-)

I am NOT allowed to SMOKE in the waiting area but I'm being inundated by the Diesel exhaust of a ferry belly full of camper vans, moving vans, pick-up trucks, etc etc......  Even BC Ferries has succumbed to Nitwittery !   

The ferry at the next berth.... The Queen of Cowichan..... It looks like something that would transport people in Indonesia.... but then even Indonesia probably has more modern ferries.

Seelenverka"ufer !

I am sitting at a work station and am charging the battery at 9:40.   An announcement.... NO SMOKING, NO remaining in the vehicles, NO whatever other nanny rules they have come up with in the last few years .....

I am refusing to buy anything in the ship's cafeteria and gift shop.... if they don't allow me to smoke on their boat, I at least can boycott their money-making schemes ;-)

One almost expects icebergs !

The ferry approaches Langdale and I'm shocked at the view:

 WHAT is that HAZE ????

THAT is the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper mill.  I can smell it all the way to the ferry.  What a filthy mess.  Super Natural British Columbia my arse!  

SHAME !

10:45  I've reached Gibsons:
OMG, this place has become a summer tourist destination for the bored and ignant....  The place is packed with mid 30s blondes with cut off shorts that come very close to exposing things that should not be exposed. 

The Chinese restaurant does NOT open at 8 am as TripAdvisor claims, but at 11:00.
I'm happy to wait for the food and they are nice enough to provide me with a glass of wine while I wait ;-)

The last time I was here, my Vancouver cell phone could get roaming data here.  NOT ANYMORE.  NO DATA on my phone.... THIRD WORLD LIVING again !

A last cigarette outside.... two village youths walk by (not that young, about 28) and one wants to "buy, eh bum" a cigarette.....  Cigarettes in Canada now cost at least 70 cents each.... I give him one but have to think that it's a bit much ..... Consumption without Production.....  I miss Vietnam !

Mongolian Chicken.....

..... still as YUMMY as I remember it..... And the portion is big enough to take half of it home for dinner .....

13:00
I'm settled in my room.... once in a while I can hear a car passing by (OK, one every couple of minutes) but it's nowhere near the hellish noise I had to endure in Vancouver.

14:30
A trip to the General Store.  It has a new owner and the wine selection has MUCH improved! So have prices!  Let's see how that Rose is...  alas, it turns out to be the most disgusting Rose EVER !

18:30
I simply CAN NOT stay awake any longer....