Planning a Ride

I plan rides in my head every day.

I am planning one right now, but it is pretty vague because I am trying to concentrate on typing. Product Management didn't require 50+ wpm.

Lately I have been riding to work every day. During the crappier times of the year, I park the Beluga 4 blocks away on a residential street where there is about 1.5 blocks of no limit parking. But now that the Hammerhead, a.k.a the Silver Jet, is back on the road, I am splitting an alley stall with our IT Manager; she pays 75% and I pay 25%. Not bad for parking on the Red Mile, other than the proximity of the Flames fans...but that is another Blog.

Tonight I am taking H.H. to Blackfoot Motorsports for her 1st service; I have been doing the oil/filter/chain work myself, but she was slated for a valve check at 800 km and I am now at 2400. Also a bit of a mixture problem seems evident as 1 of 4 header pipes is "blue-ing"...as the french would say, "Tabernaque!"

Looking to the near future, I am planning a ride.

Sorry to be redundant, but sometimes it is helpful to put things in perspective. Especially after a day of having panicky Doctors calling and asking why we are "not on the list". More coming tomorrow...and all over a minor technical error during a file transfer. We will be on the list tomorrow, but the email from the powers that be has already been sent. Damage control time for the Client Relations Manager; I may yet long for the heady days of Product Management when it was a different breed of health care professional I dealt with. Marty knows...

The ride.

I want to do a ride of approximately 450 km from Calgary west to Cochrane, then down through Bragg Creek & Turner Valley to Longview. From there a short jaunt west along 541 until it becomes 40 north. Up to 1A then east through the old country. Used to go there as a kid, before my 30 year stint on the coast. On paper (actually, Mapquest) it looks really good. Especially the north 40 part which appears to curve through the shadows on the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

Kananaskis.

Rumour has it that HWY 40 is not open until May. I can probably wait that long. Bragg Creek is still accessible and there are countless roads to explore, albeit relatively straight, in the plains.

One day, the Road to the Sun in Montana...but that will be an overnighter. Maybe Marty will fly out from the Big Sty to see some Big Sky; he'll rent a Beamer tho.

I still owe him a book; I may buy it or I may write it. He is over 40 so I need a milestone.