alberta. wow.

After blogging in Cardston the french girl and i hung out for a few hours. we got some pizza and ice cream and shared stories, i didn't leave until 7 pm. i rode north to standoff when i stopped in a gas station to check the big dark cloud for thunder. a gigantic dark cloud was to my northwest and blowing northeast. there was an intense thunder storm going on directly in my path, and another thunder cloud was blowing north from my south. i sat on the stairs of the gas station and read a book for a while. I found an outdoor arena a few hundred yards away which had good shelter, but it was very dirty due to a recent pow wow. i went back to the gas station and took shelter from the thunder. person after person told me the arena was a good place to sleep. a lot of people asked me for money also. a man and his son drove up in a truck and asked me where i was staying. i told him the arena, he said that's very dangerous, i could stay at his place. in the truck he told me he was a biker and an important figure in the community. i told him i've stayed at native reservations before, people were generally pretty great. he told me the flathead reservation where i stayed in montana was good people, but on this reservation there were a lot of racist assholes and i wasnt safe. he said that just for picking me up some of his neighbors will probably call him an apple. an apple is someone who's red on the outside and white on the inside, apparently. we got to a small house with a whole bunch of cars filled with all sorts of goodies and antiques. there was a trailer, he said i could stay there. he got out first and tied up his three guard dogs, then i loaded my bike into the trailer. i went into the house to meet his family. the family was wonderful. there was tons of clutter, no empty space. he showed me valuable fossils, native garments, and other things which he cherished. for dinner we had indian tacos. i never heard of these before, but they were quite hardy. over dinner i could see how this family was a father- dominated group. the son was a boxer, just like his father used to be. there were two daughters, one fifteen and one ten. the fifteen year old daughter had a one year old son. the mother was very quiet, i never learned much about her. the reservation had just a few hundred people and two juvenile detention facilities, you had to be scrappy to survive. there were cameras posted all around the house, there were six tv screens near the dinner table showing every side of the house, just so they could be prepared for robberies. three guard dogs, six cameras, and someone still stole a bmx bike off the porch last night. i'd say i was glad someone offered me shelter. the father of the family explained to me how he was a dancer. he went all over to perform traditional dances. he showed me his clothing and equipment. he had headdresses, ritualistic tunics, staffs decorated with feathers, lashed with carved rocks. he gave me an air matress and a fleece blanket, he just asked that i pay it forward and wait for him to open the door in the morning so the dogs don't attack me and no one calls the cops. i waited for him, then went in for breakfast. we drove to the standoff colony, a commune similar to amish or menenite, and bought eggs. he told me of the commune's customs, and how young girls sneak out the back of the farm to hook up with native boys. the whole family ate eggs and toast; the father told me about how he dodged a possession charge in america by being extradicted to canada for an overdue parking fine, and then he blessed me and gave me an eagle feather. the spirit of the eagle is guiding me on my journey, protecting me from danger. they gave me a ride to fort mcleod, then i rode the rest of the day to calgary. when i would see a sign saying "calgary 230 km" i would think of it as 230 miles, but then the kilometers would just fly by. it was awesome, i covered that flat ground to calgary by 10 pm. i stopped at boston pizza, got pasta with chicken and shrimp, then the waitress comped my meal because she was impressed by my journey. the hosts i contacted on warmshowers a few hours earlier picked me up at the pizza place and took me to a pretty nice little condo with a million bikes and a stand. they were both physical therapists/ triathletes, so i had to be up and out by 8, which is when the last one had to leave by. comfy bed, shower, it was awesome. i wandered and explored calgary via foot and train. the city was chilly, even in july. i sought out the sun for warmth, but otherwise it was pretty clean and economically vibrant. i got a chiropractic adjustment, my first in many months. i kept wandering. i found a yoga studio, and in 45 minutes there would be a free yoga class! i went to a camera store, where they informed me canadians don't use disposable cameras. this really chill guy printed me a map on how to get ot soundgarden, and he educated me about winnipeg and the province of manitoba. this giant nation of canada is full of surprises. i got some food at a hippie food store, then went back to yoga.

my body was incredibly stiff, but i expected that. i didnt expect to sweat through my mat in ten minutes, sweat through the other side of the mat in five, then toss the mat and create two more sweat slip and slides by the time class was over. warriors and downward dogs are way tougher when you do them on a slip and slide. no exaggeration, my body made the yoga studio a lake. after the class the instructor and i were talking, and he offered to have me crash. we hung out at his place for a bit, partied with some of his friends for a bit. this was a chill group of people, fa sho. aeron, one of yoga instuctor danny's friends,  walked me to the saddledome. i ate a medium pizza pie to myself. then i picked up my tickets and found my seats. meat puppets opened. i had heard of the meat puppets, but only vaguely. at the start of the show i was drained from partying, after meat puppets got into the flow i was sucked in. i wanted to go down to the standing room only section so bad, but i didnt wanna get kicked out of soundgarden. the meat puppets were awesome. they had some pop rock hits from the nineties, i recognized it when they played them. they also played lake of fire. i got some food at intermission, then soundgarden came on. chris cornell started off by telling us meat puppets were a great band that were very influential to soundgarden, then they started playing. soundgarden was so tight, it was like they never stopped playing. especially the drummer and singer, those two guys even looked like they were still 25. god, soundgarden was incredible. three straight hours, hit after hit. people were passing around some fire, this helped us all get into the music even more. as if we needed help, chris cornell's stage presence was magnetic. ben sheperd and kim thayil, the bassist and guitarist, had gotten fat, but were still sharp and energetic. these guys were firing on all cylinders the whole time, they just played their classics, only one new song. three hours of epic song after epic song, these were incredible musicians. they didn't perform, they just flowed with it and pushed each other to play better. they were so good, they were so tight, it was unbelievable. chris cornell sang, but he was also an excellent guitarist. both guitarists played great solos, it was never clear which was lead and which was rhythm. i wanted to be in the standing area so bad. that mosh pit was crazy, the fans went nuts. surprisingly, the crowd surfers all survived.

the show ended and i found my way home on the train pretty easily. at times it pays to be a city kid. i almost never get lost and i never show anyone else fear. it's worked since i was a vulnerable miniscule teenager wandering alone through jamaica, queens, and so as a grown man i don't think anyone will fuck with me after their little initial confrontations.

i texted the triathletes, went back to bed, woke up, tuned my bike up, then headed out. the triathletes were awesome, in our limited time talking the girl taught me a lot about the canadian athletic scene. she had all these jerseys for winning stage races. she won a really awesome jersey in this one bike tour race by winning the hill climb stage. whoa! i fly when i climb, i can totally win some jerseys! i need jerseys, those things are expensive, i should race and get free stuff. i rode off, texted my yoga instructor friend, and he just said come over and party. between the 28th and now the 31st of july i crashed on his couch and partied. the funnest way to rest my legs. i've met some amazing people, learned a huge amount about alberta and saskatchewon, and learned even more about canada's micro brews and marijuana laws. these last few days have been awesome. mind expansion in its sincerest form, no dull moment. soundgarden was my two month anniversary of my trip, and this whole time ive never stopped riding for more than one day at a time. for the first time my legs feel great, well rested, ready to go. its only 80 miles to banff, one of canada's most beautiful national forests. riding canadian highway 1 it's under 700 miles to vancouver, then its american highway 1 as far down cali as i can go. im super excited.

danny, the yoga instructor, has been the kindest host i've ever met. he is a gay guy who lives with two girls, and he loves that im here because he's sick of girly small talk. lane, a visitor from saskatoon, saskatchewon, is also an incredibly cool guy. and the friends who come over to party are all also unique and cool. i said to this one girl aeron "im so glad i met you. you dress like the eighties, you talk like you're on broadway, and you sound like judy garland." then she went off to lake glennifer, a transgendered body of water for the children of oil barons. there are many more funny stories, but i wanna leave this computer and get on the road.

my legs feel fresh for the first time in months, i recovered while going on a bender, its been awesome. i cannot find the fleece blanket and eagle feather i was given on the reservation. someone may have taken it, but i probably misplaced it. if anyone in calgary is reading this, such as jenna or aeron or jill or danny or lane, and you come across a clear plastic bag with a blanket, a signed family photo, and a feather in it, please text me. my number is 347 831 5129. thanks guys, have a good one.