In June 2004 I set off across Canada on my bicycle. Or at least I'd planned to cross Canada. It didn't work out, mostly because of the weather, but I did have a great ride.

These pages are an account of that trip, as told through travelogs I sent to friends. I hope you enjoy the ride!

        Just want you all to know that I've finally got myelf back to the place where all my stuff is at. I'd call it home, but it just isn't. It's familiar, it's lovely, but it ain't home. My home, methinks, is on the road.

        Anyway, haven't heard from most of you in quite a while. Not sure if you just don't know what to say, if you're waiting for the end of the road, or if you're a little weary of all my long diatribes.
        Must admit, I felt more than a little foolish after I freaked out and started begging near the end of the trip. Well, rest assured, a couple of old friends came to my rescue and I was able to get off the island and over the hills, a little more in debt. It was early childhood education really: Freak out and help will come! It did. Perhaps the method was a little bit autistic, but that's to be expected, here anyway.
        But I do want to take a moment to thank those of you who responded and helped out. Thanks, you know who you are!

        My last days out there were quite pleasant. I dropped into Vancouver and shacked up at the incredibly fixed-up C&N hostel on Main Street in Vancouver, where I had a very nice time visiting Wolf, the manager, and his new Aussie assistant. They've done a great job on the place. Gone are the rough clientele, the dilapitated rooms, and faulty water closets. In their place is a sweet international group of travellers, steel beds, painted walls, replaced doors and windows, sanded and buffed hardwood floors and sparkling new bathrooms. For the part of town its in, it really is something, although it should not be confused with its sister hostel in the old Ivanhoe Hotel adjacent to the bus depot. This one is a block further down Main, towards China Town, on the other side of the street near the Georgia viaduct. It is also the cheapest hostel in Van, that is not a total flea bag.
       While in Van I wandered the beaches and Stanley Park. The weather was great and the city pollution made the sunsets spectacular. I walked, rested, got my stuff a little more together, then got on a bus and came back here. Well, not here exactly, I first had to spend some days adjustment in Nelson before heading off to do a few days work in Riondel, on a friend's farm.
        In Nelson, where I arrived, I met up with a young woman from Burma who had been deposited, along with me, on the chilly 5am streets. We talked a bit, then I offered to accompany her downtown, to show her around, and keep her company until the cafes opened. She enjoyed this, and when the cafes finally opened, bought me a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs. It was delightful, and a nice way to arrive.
     That was all over a week ago. Today, at noon precisely, I finally arrived with all my gear in Kaslo. Well, not all my gear, Blu, BoB and all my camping equipment are still on Vancouver Island, but for all intent and purpose I am back here, lock stock and barrel, for the next two months at least. From there, who knows!
     It was a helluba ride, wasn't it?
    Can't believe the condition I'm in. People are looking at me twice when they see me, then making comments about my, er, thinness! Indeed, I'm down only about 2K but all those other K have repositioned themselves, mostly to my thighs. There is also some sort of posture thing going on. I feel a couple centimeters taller, although it may just be a confidence thing that is sure to get wiped out once I'm back into the drudgery of making it by day to day. And I'm sure my posture will go straight to H as soon as I start spending five and six hours a day turning all these adventures into some sort of novel.
       So, don't worry, I won't let my new physique go to my head because I won't have it long, probably. (If any of you girls out there have been thinking of jumping this mad rollers bones, this would be the time because, like I just said, I won't have it long)!

      Here, there is a big bear scat in the yard and the first frost came last night. Right at this moment, there are some coyotes howling and last night's spectacular moon, all red and glowing during the eclipse, has become a tiny dull orb shrouded in what appears to be snow clouds.
    All around the mountains have a layer of white on them, and it is only a matter of time before the folds of that blanket tumble down into the valley bottom. The good news is, or isn't, depending on how much you like cold, the leaves are still clinging to the trees, a certain sign of a mild winter.
     My trip seems long ago already. Without Blu here to remind me, I can scarce recall much of it. I know there was a lot of rain, a lot of hills, some more rain, some more hills and a beach, a beach that was lovely until it was swamped by rain. There were also some cities, and some
country, and a lot of wind, and some more rain. And finally there were some sweet people, particularly a couple Dutch couples, a lively and very funny techie girl in Victoria, yous, and some more rain. Then there was the rain!
    Whoa, maybe the K I'm missing was just dirt the rain washed off!
    All in all, I'm glad I did it, and if the truth should pass my fingertips, I'm already thinking about what to do next, or more correctly, where to go next. I may be freed up as early as Janurary, but I doubt I'll have the resources to go very far, and besides, there is the winter, which ain't exactly bicycle-friendly. We'll see!
     For now I plan to settle in a bit, re-house train myself, and see what my pen has to say about it all. Somewhere in my pile there are a few poems and writing I did on the trip. I've attached some of it to the bottom of this letter.
      Oddly, I feel a little like I wasn't really out there doing all that peddling. It's almost like the bike did it on its own, and I just popped in once in a while to check how things were going. I was somewhere else through most of the summer. Which I must confess, I'm a little disturbed
about. Feel a little like I missed my own adventure. Weird eh? My "head" was almost more active than my body in some respects. Spent an awful amount of time in it, while my bones were out there doing all the work.
    One of these days I'll get that all sorted out and if its appropriate, tell you all about it.
    Anyway, for now, I thought it would be good to let you all know I pulled it off, got back to the hideout in good shape, and all appears well. I can now turn my attentions back to all the things that everyone else has been busy with, like Bush! Got a creepy feeling we're in for more of that league in the coming years. Hope not but, you know how it is when you're the size of a mouse and there's a bloody elephant sleeping beside you!
     Please America, roll that baby right off the mattress, let it fall to the floor with a thud so we can all get back to our dreams. Don't just stick a paciifer in its mouth and hope its going to behave. Let it fall, crash, bang.
    So kids, thanks again for coming along. I hope you all found a way to enjoy these diatribes of mine, and no, this is not the end, it's just the end of this particular stretch of road.
    Take care and, write me sometime, all I got here to keep me company is that furry cat, who
incidently, seems very happy to see me.
    Meanwhile, here's some poems from the trip. Rough as they are!
 

All poems © 2004 by Will Webster
Permission is required prior to reproduction.
 

cool

not much going on here but insecure people trying to act cool
a whole section of the city trying to be cool
trouble is, they have no role models
there hasn't been cool here since 1971
and it was just passing through on its way to the coast
but it left there too
got lost on some island
and hasn't been heard from
since the night John Lennon was murdered

real truth
cool likely died of boredom
after Ronald Reagan became president of the USA

cool got laid then left town
and all the real cool folks followed
the whole bloody city's been looking for it ever since
out in their stetsons driving SUVs up and down and around desperately looking for cool
but if cool was here it would get un-cool real quick
because cool, real cool, doesn't hang around
and cool don't leave a note on the kitchen table
telling you where its gone
cool just goes

there's a lot of peope looking for cool
not just in Calgary, but everywhere
but they don't really want to be cool
cool's too difficult to be
mostly, they just want to seem cool
look cool
be thought of as cool
but cool, actual cool
well, they're basically afraid of that
that would be too cool
and being that cool would make them too cool
for this town
anyone that cool would have to leave
'cause you know what happens to anyone who's too cool
you know,
cool like Ghandi,
cool like King,
cool like Kennedy
cool like Lennon

like i said
cool is dead
and until this town stops chasing cool
it ain't ever going to become cool
'cause cool don't chase
although it often gets chased

anyway
rain is falling a bit
the wind is coming up
and cool as i personally am
i'm not cool enough to hang around

so,
like i said,
cool left
and i'm leaving too
 
 

how many children George

he tells you
it's safer now
you can calm down
vote for him again
he'll continue to make the world safer for you

3000 dead in New York
how many lives ruined

100,000 dead in Iraq
how many children
how many children George

in the streets of your cities
there's panic and fear
all over the world you are hated and mistrusted
i wonder why that is George
i wonder why that is
could it be the children
how many children George

up here in Canada we're nervous too
our federal election almost went left
mostly because of you
you've made a big splash in our psyche George
but with every big splash there's a backlash
are you ready for what's coming George
and by the way
how many children
how many children George
 
 
 

anything but rain

the day winds down
darkness fills what little light the clouds let in
the sky is constantly changing
the only certainty is rain

and everywhere you go tonight
in the bars and along the streets
every one is thirsty for anything
anything but rain

we'd trade our trinkets
our extra tarps
we'll give you our camp stoves
and our sleeping bags
we'll give you our Swiss Army knives
if you'll give us anything
anything but rain
 
 
 
 

security chased me

security chased me
i was already through two doors

i showed the beef cake my ticket
and gave him a stern cold glare

caught up to him later
and told him;
"if i was sneaking in,
i'd be wearing a suit!"
 
 

the difference between cyclists

some wannabe in expensive cycling clothes
poses with his cell phone
calling for a ride
his glasses are worth more then my bicycle
but he can't ride like me

i'm a long distance live by your wits grinder
he's a poser
while the mountains roll beneath me
his gold platinum credit card paves the way

i don't talk to him
although he smiles at me
we're in different leagues
worlds apart
he rides for fashion
i ride 'cause i'm free

and the road rises up before me
it falls then climbs again
he's talkin' bicycle technology
i'm riding with the breeze

so i leave him on the sidewalk
in his first class phlorescant spandex
and ride off in my second hand shorts
on my second hand wheels
while he heads towards the cash machine
i withdraw to the wind
 

dulled stars

the loons call
a haunting sound amid the urban sprawl

Albertans come in big motorhomes
to this place they call the bush

and sometimes at night
their tvs and radios drown out the loons

and their electric lights
and make the stars dull
 
 

the hitchhiker

she only talked to me to get the ride
when we got where she was going
she got out of the car
didn't even wave goodbye as I pulled away

watching her a while in the rear view mirror
i wondered how someone who seemed so genuine and warm
could bear to act so cold
 
 

grow up

i'm giving in now
have it your way
there's nothing left to do
or say
have it your way

if by growing up
you mean disappearing
then that's just what i'll do
i've vanish into thin air
or perhaps a mountainside