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I'm not sure where all of the hate for Alberta comes from and there is mostly boring roads in Alberta, no doubt. But WTF I'll bite

There is decent enough stuff for me to ride though within a short ride from my house and I can get to it faster than the average Vancouverite can fight their way out of the city. It's not B.C. quality, but it's not all dust and gravel....

1/2 hr from my house in Calgary:

Kananaskis:

dr_bar wrote:

Custom Ear Protect makes a custom molded ear plug that will take a hi-fi transducer...

Those look alright, similar to what they will get for our operators at work for their 2-way radios. How do you manage to keep something like that clean on the road Bar?

High_Side wrote:I'm not sure where all of the hate for Alberta comes from and there is mostly boring roads in Alberta, no doubt. But WTF I'll bite

There is decent enough stuff for me to ride though within a short ride from my house and I can get to it faster than the average Vancouverite can fight their way out of the city. It's not B.C. quality, but it's not all dust and gravel....

1/2 hr from my house in Calgary:

I wish I had places that pretty to ride around too here in Jersey. The only thing 1/2 hour away from me is more city / suburbs.

High_Side wrote:I'm not sure where all of the hate for Alberta comes from and there is mostly boring roads in Alberta, no doubt. But WTF I'll bite

There is decent enough stuff for me to ride though within a short ride from my house and I can get to it faster than the average Vancouverite can fight their way out of the city. It's not B.C. quality, but it's not all dust and gravel....

1/2 hr from my house in Calgary:

I take it you never lived in Lacombe. That alone would pretty much sour anyone on Alberta.

As for traffic, man I will take Vancouver traffic nightmares over the hell that is Calgary's Trail Hell any day of the week. I could do the run from Lacombe to Calgary Airport in just over an hour, almost 200 K's if I recall correctly, and then spend another 45 minutes getting from the Airport to the Calf Robe Bridge.....shudder.

But you are correct, there are some nice rides in Alberta, if you headed west. Canmore and Camrose come to mind. However, living in the Lower Mainland of BC, I am spoiled for chooses, sometimes I think we here are too spoiled.

You sold a firehawk? WHYYYYYY? It'll be okay, there's other gir... er bikes out there for you to play with.

BuzZz wrote:Sev, you ought to come down to the Calgary show this year. Especially on the opening Friday. It's empty, all the owners are there and eager to get things going, so they are very friendly. I met some interesting people in the Canadian bike world last year and had some good, long discussions with some cool old dudes.... who now own the biggest bike dealerships in the province.... Mr. bike tech... coff, coff, contacts, coff.....

I REALLY want too. But something tells me that I'll be working that weekend. I could probably make it down there for the Sunday though. Being the only service writer (does that make me service manager?) is kinda good because I'm more valuable then gold. But it sucks balls for trying to get time off.

I've got a friend working at the Ducati shop over by Universal though... so I've got an in there if I ever need to move to Hicktown Alberta. I mean... "poo poo"! Byes.

Sev wrote:You sold a firehawk? WHYYYYYY? It'll be okay, there's other gir... er bikes out there for you to play with.

Speaking of which, you don't see any 10-5-OHs out front of the counter that they are blowin' out cheap do you??? You are my source for bikes after all......

There are some nice roads in the Northern part of the province. Too bad they are where they are. You either love the North or you hate it. After spending a decade and a half working up there, guess which category I fall into....

Com'on Sev, if you are they Golden Boy at your shop, tell them you're going to the Calgary show all bloody weekend, whether they like it or not. Else you'll pack up your toys and go home. What'er they gonna do?

That's what I did. I got the weekend off and they bought me a jacket.

ceemes wrote:
I take it you never lived in Lacombe. That alone would pretty much sour anyone on Alberta.

As for traffic, man I will take Vancouver traffic nightmares over the hell that is Calgary's Trail Hell any day of the week. I could do the run from Lacombe to Calgary Airport in just over an hour, almost 200 K's if I recall correctly, and then spend another 45 minutes getting from the Airport to the Calf Robe Bridge.....shudder.

And I assumed that the two hours it takes to break through Vancouver on the TransCanada to get to Horseshoe Bay would prepare anyone for crappy traffic. The same two lanes that were plugged heading in to the endless 'burbs that were plugged twenty years ago are surprisingly still plugged. The only way I caught the ferry last year was by using the west-coast motorcycle express lane (aka the park lane) when I managed to shave it down to 1:45 and damned near missed the boat. Calgary's traffic sucks but Vancouver has it beat big time.

ceemes wrote:
But you are correct, there are some nice rides in Alberta, if you headed west. Canmore and Camrose come to mind. However, living in the Lower Mainland of BC, I am spoiled for chooses, sometimes I think we here are too spoiled.

I'll agree about B.C.; I love that place and have spent years exploring every nick and cranny in the southern half of it on two wheels. Camrose on the other hand.... Did you mean Cochrane?

BuzZz wrote: What'er they gonna do?

That's what I did. I got the weekend off and they bought me a jacket.

It was great to meet you and I'm looking forward to riding with you but I'm sure as hell glad that I am not your boss (it wasn't a straight jacket was it????)

Nope, the straight jacket is from my own collection.



I got matching pants and shoes to go with it, but I can't get them on with the jacket on.

High_Side wrote:

ceemes wrote:
I take it you never lived in Lacombe. That alone would pretty much sour anyone on Alberta.

As for traffic, man I will take Vancouver traffic nightmares over the hell that is Calgary's Trail Hell any day of the week. I could do the run from Lacombe to Calgary Airport in just over an hour, almost 200 K's if I recall correctly, and then spend another 45 minutes getting from the Airport to the Calf Robe Bridge.....shudder.

And I assumed that the two hours it takes to break through Vancouver on the TransCanada to get to Horseshoe Bay would prepare anyone for crappy traffic. The same two lanes that were plugged heading in to the endless 'burbs that were plugged twenty years ago are surprisingly still plugged. The only way I caught the ferry last year was by using the west-coast motorcycle express lane (aka the park lane) when I managed to shave it down to 1:45 and damned near missed the boat. Calgary's traffic sucks but Vancouver has it beat big time.

You are trying to tell me it took you two hours to drive from Downtown Vancouver to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, a trip of some 21 K's? Damn, you really must of hit it a bad time. I once lived in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast and often had to ferry/boat over to Vancouver for business. Never took me two hours to do that run. Of course I did have some local knowledge about how to avoid the worst of the traffic jams.

Mind you I agree, the Trans-Canada aka the Worlds Longest Parking Lot can be a right bear, especially between the 2nd Narrows Bridge all the way to Langley, but even so, it never took me more then an hour during rush hour to get out of the Vancouver core and into Surrey or Langley.

And man, did I ever bytch and complain about the Lower Mainland traffic, still do at times, but it is nothing compared to that of the Blackfoot Trail in Calgary.

High_Side wrote:

ceemes wrote:
But you are correct, there are some nice rides in Alberta, if you headed west. Canmore and Camrose come to mind. However, living in the Lower Mainland of BC, I am spoiled for chooses, sometimes I think we here are too spoiled.

I'll agree about B.C.; I love that place and have spent years exploring every nick and cranny in the southern half of it on two wheels. Camrose on the other hand.... Did you mean Cochrane?

That's it, Cochrane, I knew it started with a "C", thanks. That is some pretty country. Anyways, next time you head down this way for a tour, give me a shout. We can explore more of my area and slag each others Province/Traffic of a cold one.