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No, the title has no significance to the content of the posting.

Last Friday on my way home from work I had a bit of an adventure. My 8 hrs was up @ 4pm, although the stuff I do now on Fridays doesn't have a precise time like the dispatch schedule, but I got held up by a last minute item that cropped-up. So by the time I change my clothes and headed out the door it was 4:45, got to the bus stop just a few mins after 5pm (I didn't ride quite as fast because my bike felt wierd. Something wasn't right, but I put it out of my mind for the time being). I just missed a bus, but being Rush Hour I knew another would be along shortly. I hopped on the 354, but not too far along after Hwy 17 I could see a lot of traffic. We were only going about 80km/h because it was starting to back-up. Not a good sign. By the time we got to the Hwy10 overpass I could see the 99 was a parking lot just ahead, and the bus was pulling off the freeway (but was in a long line to do so). I wondered what was up as the 354 does not pull off @ "Matthews" like the 351. After the bus got to within a couple lengths of the traffic lights he told us that the 99 was closed up ahead and that all the busses were being diverted.

We got over the overpass and I could see that traffifc was heavy, but moving. But VERY Shortly afterwards slowed down to 20 km/h, and then became stop & go. Darn! I could have got off the bus and ridden, but now there was no place for the bus to pull over "safely" to let people off it. After crawling along averaging 10 km/h, we got to Scott Rd, and he let a bunch of us off there. I misplaced one of my gloves, so it took me quite a while to find it in my gear, and then hook-up my lights and pannier. As the traffic on this part of #10 was a bit better, by the time I caught up with the bus I had been on it was at 132nd St. A few few 10's of metres later traffic slowed down to a jogging pace at best. I passed several busses, of particular note were the two 351's. the 2nd one would have been the one for mee if I had left work on time. And with the mess he still had to crawl along in, he would have made it to my stop about an hour after I arrived by bike! Hah! It was really fun passing all those miles of almost stationary cars. And to top it off, some idiot cabbie tried to by-pass the King George "parking-lot" by leaving it at the southbound foot of Woodward Hill to get to Colebrook Rd. His ill-advised, through the remaining snow, Cross-Counrty adventure ended about 30metres from KGH and about 10metres short of the gravel access road (the old KGH before the Colebrook overpass was built) that leads to Colebrook. Hah Hah!!

Catching up

Well, it does seem rather silly blogging about something 4.5 days after the fact, but here it goes (abridged, not expurgated). Thurs Sept 21st, shortly before midnight, Grandview Park. Chit-chatting with the various people I met last week, encountering new people this week. Finding out a little of what the Portlanders (and what a "ZooBomb" is) are like, meet a Sprockette (mmmmm, chili mango from Agent Lapis) and their various rides. Saying hi to some of the people I recognised from other Critical Mass rides, but who were not at last week's M.M. Eventually we hit the road (Midnight is not a time, but a state of mind, appearently, as departure was around 00:30) heading downtown to showcase the core to our visitors, and give the night-lifers a side show. First down Commercial to Adanac/Union, onto Main to Waterfront Rd via the overpass, under Canada Place, through a parkade (fun to hoot and holler in the dead of night in places that echo)and to the Coal Harbour seawall path. Stop for a bit of socialising, ride down the ramp to a floating walkway (like marinas hve for boat moorage, but no mooring here. About 2.5 ft wide, no railings, and the harbour to either side) and back up the other ramp. Ride up Broughton to Robson,over to Granville, wave at all the crowds OUTSIDE the nightclubs (gee, it must be fun to go clubbing, just think of all that wild time spent lined up outside, sheep lined up to be fleeced), down to Drake, up Hornby, along Davie to English Bay for a long stop. Refreshment time. Considerable quantities consumed of various domestic and recently imported types, plus homegrown. I hope we didn't disturb too badly the guy trying to sleep under the small tarp. The numbers had thinned a little by the time we left for food (after the discussion of where to get what, and some whiners about least elevation gain as possible). I didn't hear where we were going, but it didn't matter to me. We went along Pacific and across the Burrard Bridge, onto Cornwall to Cypress...Siegels Bagels. It was pretty funny, some 30 or so of us descending upon the shop, only 1 guy working there, but eventually everyone had some eats. Some bike games in the parking lot and eventually head east. Cypress, 2nd, lamey's Mill and under Cambie Bridge to 1st, through a parking lot south of Science World, and at Science World I called out my good-byes to those carrying on back to "The Drive", as it was now 03:17, and the last NightBus to Whalley would be coming soon down Main (schedulled to leave Broadway & Kingsway @ 03:30). So I wait for the bus. It arrives. An articulated one, lots and lots of capacity, about 8 passengers on board, but 2 bmx's filling the bike-rack and an unsympathetique driver. So now you know how I know how long it takes to ride to White Rock from downtown Vancouver. And incidentally, before I left I checked the bus' ETA for Surrey Central. When the bus got to Whalley, I was on the Alex Fraser Bridge. So had I been able to board it, I might have arrived home 10 mins earlier than I did.