Togetherness...

Spirit

YOU guys know I am a "cat boy"



Einstein doing what he liked to do most!

Since I was a kid, I have had a cat or cats.  There was Smokey in the very beginning, right on up to Einstein, he was with me for almost 20 years.




In his prime...master of the house.

I get a great deal of pleasure having felines around.




Loved to help me when I was working.

They all have such different personalities, very much like people do.




Jungle cat, Lil Phoenix at home in Calgary

Some I was given, others were strays like Lil Phoenix.  A friendly feral kitten, Anna picked up and brought home last year in Phoenix, hence the moniker.




Snoopy, in her latter days.  Up on her perch.

Snoop we thought was a boy pal for Einstein... turned out that was wrong.  She had 6 kittens one Halloween night, and was with me until her premature death in '05.  Like her daughter before her, they both died of kidney failure.




Einstein again, waiting patiently for me to arrive

I have had nearly as many cats as I've had motorcycles.




Spirit was another jungle cat

Some lasted a very long time, like my catboy Einstein.  Others like little Spirit here, orphaned... too short a time, three years in her case.  She disappeared one day.




Why we put the toilet seat down around my place!

They comfort you, soothe you, admonish you when you're late arriving.




Inside or out... jungle kitty

But no matter what, they love you unconditionally.



A very young Jaxie... Lisa's putty cat.

Whether indoor cats like Jaxie here, or wanderers like Spirit was...



My boy Phx

All of them have been extra special to me.




New arrival, Willy.  19 yoa and counting.

Even Willy, part of the family including Brenda and Anna.  The old gal is 19 now and still manages to hold her own with Phx around, still surprises me by running around, jumping onto and from objects, fences and toilet seats.




Loves to snooze.

Like most cats, she spends 21 hours a day snoozing.




Preferably on a soft bed

Always on the lookout for a sunbeam cutting across the carpet, a warm pillow or lap.



Don't they all!

They have to be the most placid, contradictory creatures invented.



I mean, look at that face!  Content or what.




Course... without my glasses, it's an easy mistake to make.

Just today, after the cat nip... I realized I've been giving them dried parsley flakes for quite some time.  Maybe that's got something to do with it.

Cats... gotta love em!



STAR TREK... THE NEXT GENERATION

my two girls!

I was sitting in front of my ACER yesterday, I hear a bong and a bing, and there Holly is, coming alive on my screen.  I am talking and seeing my first born daughter live from Dusseldorf Germany via Skype.

dad and daughter

Brings back memories of Star Trek in the 60's.  There is Captain James T. Kirk, talking via videophone to Mr. Spock about the imminent Klingon arrival...



Holly and the Serow.

Here I am, 2 o'clock in the afternoon at my home in Calgary AB, talking to Holly 5000 miles away.  In the background is Kevin, they are both in Germany furthering their Architecture educations.  The place is Kevin's tiny little, but very cosy accommodations.



Nice to get out with my girls every now and again

My eldest daughter is once again, far from home, doing what she does, gaining experience and learning about the World, and her place in it.




great summer days

She has been from her school, Dalhousie (Halifax), to South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Mozambique these last few months.  A brief visit to Canada which included a couple of days here in Calgary, before heading to Germany and school.




my first born

During her short time with Lisa and I, and the few friends she could get to, father and daughter took a little ride west into the Rockies.  Holly on the 225 Serow and Dad on the big brother 600.  Holly first rode a motorized two wheeler at age five, out back of my shop in Charlottetown PEI.




home for a couple of days

Over the years, during the limited time we have had, we've tried to spend some quality time on two wheelers.  It's not only a bonding experienced, but a chance for Hol to keep her skills relatively fresh.  Never know when you may have an opportunity to ride a big scooter in Napoli.




elbow river

Even thought our latest ride was short, it was a great chance to spend some memorable hours with my girl before she jetted off across the World again.




scooting along

Moral of the story... if you can dream it (aka Gene Roddenberry) you can accomplish it.



Gorge Creek Trail



Gorge creek trail... gorgeous!



Even though the turn off to Gorge Creek was prominently marked with a "road closure" sign... I decided to head up anyway.  This route used to go all the way to Sheep river.   Beautiful country back there, fabulous views, always saw rocky mountain sheep perched on hillsides, great photo ops.  My first Canadian Biker story was in here.



single laner



It took about 20 minutes to get to the gate.  Perhaps barricade is more appropriate.  I parked the bike, got out my apple, and wandered around in the heat of the late day.  There is a hitching post or two and a wide gate for horses to enter.  I thought about riding my bike thru, but on a Saturday... I'm sure I would have found some opposition.  Too bad, this was a fab ride to the eventual pavement at Sheep river falls. 




crystal water

 

I remember several parking spots where hikers headed up into the mountainous back country.  What a shame to have this closed.

pretty serious stuff wot!

Apple finished, I retraced my steps to the MCT, turned right and left Kananaskis country.



foothill country



The foothills receded into farmland and good pavement.  At the junction to 762, I stopped for a few more photos before mounting up and making my way north once again.



in my case... leaving



Bunches of bikes of various descriptions rode by in both directions.

yeah... we know, is verboten!

Cafe racers, or sports bikes as they are now known, plenty of V Twin cruisers, a few touring types and one single other DP bike... a KTM 950 Adventure.



common AB sight.  gas plant, wide gravel to pavement  prairies



It was late afternoon when I reached Bragg Creek, having passed the same intersection many hours previous.  The P/U was gone from it's collision with that power pole, but the pole and wires were still down, crews working on getting electricity restored to the area.



be a great place for a home to hang your helmet eh:)



Alberta truly does offer a tremendous variety of riding opportunities.  There's room for the cruiser crowd, the adventure crowd and even the hard core dirt bikers, despite the obvious closures even in a confined space such as MacLean Creek.



prairie to foothills to mountains, yup that's Alberta



There is no doubt that I will miss riding here as the years go forward.  Maybe I'll leave a bike at my niece, Elizabeth's place in Leduc, and there is always my friend Ron or Dan in BC that have several bikes at their disposal, if I venture west again.

THE best thing to do on a summer's day!!!

Remember after all... as Holly so eloquently stated many years ago...

Home is where you hang your helmet!



SIGN SIGN... EVERYWHERE A SIGN...

AFTER navigating the length of the upper MacLean Creek Trail OHV area, I reached the T junction at Fisher creek.

GIVEN that the North Fork was now CLOSED to traffic for safety and vandalism reasons?!  I took the only choice available to me and headed south. 

THIS was the third public road I'd passed today, that was now closed to access.

FOR a very brief moment I thought of dialing 297-8800... but thought  "what's the point, those guys would be playing golf on a nice Saturday like this."

NOW how many golf courses have sprung up in and around Calgary over the last decade... lemme see?

THE old road sign was riddled with bullets and shot gun pellets, maybe they have a legitmate complaint those forestry guys...

COUPLE miles further south, as I crested the dusty hill, I left the OHV area and was immediately greeted by signs proclaiming that motorized off road travel was no longer permitted.  I was now in Horse country.

THE Mesa Butte equestrian campground had brand new looking horse stables, well kept grounds with real grass, corrals and nice facilities.






IT also had a large contingent of campers with stock trailers in attendance. 

NOT hard to see where the money was being spent.

RIDING a dual purpose/enduro/dual sport, trail bike made me completely legal in travelling here. As legal as if I were driving my Ford pick up.





I have been stopped in the past by Forestry dudes to check my paperwork, ensuring that "all was in order Mr. Simon."

EVEN today, as I passed riders on horseback, as far to the left/right as possible, in a higher gear than normal, barely whispering through the massive stock 30 pound exhaust system of the Yamaha... I received many an unwelcoming look.








WHAT a shame I thought.

No matter where you go, there will be someone out there that doesn't like or want you...

RACE, religion, hobby you choose, your age or bank account status... it's just a fact of life.

THE terrain was now flattening out as the bulk of the majestic Rockies was 20km to my west.




HERE I was in foothill country and shortly, I would leave even this behind.

AT Gorge Creek trail entrance I came upon this sign, yet another road closure ahead.

THIS was sure getting old...
I took the right fork, rode over the old bridge, horse campers on either side of the trail, feeling like a million eyeballs were upon me.



THIS used to be such a wonderful day loop ride. 

NOW I felt plagued by suspicion and unwanted.

"SIGN SIGN everywhere a sign"... as the song goes...

On the TRAIL again...

OUR World keeps shrinking!

Anyone that has ever flown any distance... knows this to be true.  I'm not talking about an endo on a MX bike, I mean travel anywhere.

Holly, my older daughter was here this past week.  One minute she was in South East Africa... and 24 hours later, she was back in Canada.

 (More on that later...)

The day I was riding MacLean Creek Trail, it  was obvious to me that we are being squeezed.

Years ago, when I first moved to Calgary to run the front end of a large MC dealership, I would ride places like the Spray Lakes Trail, Powderface, and MCT.

In anticipation of a move eastward in Canada, I have been making a point of re-doing many of these rides while still having the time.

One of my first published articles was a ride on this very  road way back in the late 90's.

In those days, there was far less use of the area, less traffic of all types and less pressures on the terrain.

Today, it was very warm and dry.  This was a Saturday and a perfect reminder why I preferred to ride these places during the week.

The dust!

Although there were pockets of vehicles, trucks, dirt bikes and ATV's... the occasional camper and plenty of BBQ's, I had plenty of room and time.

I did a little single track, but truthfully, the 600 is not great at these tiny trails.  Lots of bottom end torque, yes... but high in the saddle when many times you need to paddle with your feet, and at over 300 pounds, a bit of a handful!

The Serow would do much better out here.

It only takes about 20minutes to traverse the entire width of MacLean Creek OHV zone, a surprise for me after all these years.

I did play in my favorite creek crossing, splashing about several times, but was turned back by a gate with heavy locks and warning signs on a road I used to travel. 

Vandalism it stated... what a shame... are we really this stupid?