My Newest Love

MacQueen's Bike Shop, Charlottetown PEI

I lived on PEI for just shy of 5 years without owning a car but was fortunate enough to have amazing friends who would lend me their cars when I needed to make a large purchase or travel somewhere that look longer than a couple of hours on foot. My bike was my freedom and I loved it dearly (it's name was Roy). I walked into MacQueen’s bike shop one afternoon and browsed around the shiny new bikes and felt no love towards them. I asked the man working the desk if there were any trade-ins that needed a home. He pointed out one to me, a KHS Town & Country 150 which I could tell was well used in its former life. After a quick ride around the block, I bought the bike and a shiny new helmet without a regret in the world.

Bikes are like dogs. The used ones need homes too and should never be overlooked because of a little rust.

When I left the island I sold my beloved bike knowing that the cost to ship it across the country would be about 3x what the bike was worth, plus if someone was willing to buy it and enjoy it as much as I did, then I was fine with that.

After 9 months of being bikeless, I finally bought myself a new bike on the weekend! I went to a handful of bike shops around town and inquired about the second-hand ones that they had, but none of them jumped out at me saying “Take me home!”

If they had then I should probably lay off the caffeine a bit eh?

I ended up at P.M. Bikes in Langford and talked for a while with a lovely woman who is the owner of the store. After testing out a couple second hand bikes, a shiny new LHS Alite 150 caught my eye. The last time I owned a new bike was when I was 11 years old and they idea of owning something so pretty was getting more and more appealing by the minute. After riding it around a bit, playing with the shocks and getting trigger happy with the snappy gears, I knew it had to be mine.

It’s nothing really fancy and it basically the base model of these bikes, but I certainly do not need fancy so this is why I opted for something not hugely expensive. But it gets me from point A to point B with enthusiasm and I’ve been enjoying my bike’s company the past week. It doesn’t have a name yet though. Is it normal to name a bike?

I’ve been exploring The Galloping Goose mostly which is a 60 km trail running along the southern end of the island, and luckily I can meet up on it less than a kilometer from the house. Nothing more awesome than conveniently located trails! But the Goose is awesome, especially with you go up island rather than down since going down means you are mostly on paved trail which sucks.  I want dirt and mud and trees and lakes on my rides! Plus going up the trail means that you get to ride past gorgeous country side with sheep and free-range chicken farms to gaze upon and you get to snoop into some pretty awesome pieces of property.

Now I just need some nice weather to get out there again! 

Hiking Around Goldstream

I have a very strange sense of curiosity. In some ways, I am the most incurious person and will accept what I am told, no questions asked.

Them - “Adrienne, the world is round.”

Me – “Cool.”

Chris thought this was a very odd trait to have because he is such an inquisitive person who cannot rest until he has researched every fact and idea that comes his way, whereas I just accept these things and move on.  There are billions and billions of questions in this world and I do not have the longevity to research everything, so I have to pick my battles when it comes to finding answers to my questions.

On the flip side of this, my personality will do a complete 180 and be incredibly curious when it comes to the outdoors. I have written posts about this problem in the past, but when I am outside hiking on an unfamiliar trail, my inquiring mind cannot rest as to where I am going. I have to know what goes where, and what will that trail lead to or if I branch off in that direction, what will I find? As soon as I am ready to turn around and head back, I will see a trail heading off in another direction and my curiosity becomes slightly overwhelmed and I just have to see where it leads to. Today is another perfect example of this.

I live very close to Goldstream Provincial Park which has a lot of hiking trails winding and twisting all throughout the mountain and area. Since the weather finally got beautiful, I decided to head out there this morning and see what it had to offer. Before I ventured up the mountain, I had a plan in mind of which trail(s) I wanted to take and I planned at least a good hour of hiking……

Three hours later I returned to my car.

I couldn’t help it! You should see it up there. The trails just keep meandering in and out of the forest and it’s just so gorgeous and peaceful and majestic! How can one simply just turn around and go home when there are miles and miles of mysterious trails to investigate? At one point I was walking along the old rail bed when I thought, “Ok, if I don’t see anything interesting after this upcoming bend, I will turn around.” But once I got around the bend, I saw a trail heading into the bush which was just the beginning of my plans getting disrupted. Then I heard water falling, which just perked my interest even more. Then about 10 minutes later I found the waterfall and my heart leapt into my throat because it was so stunning that it took my breath away.

The east coast is a gorgeous area to see and I am thankful that I got to experience its beauty. The smell of the ocean, bright green pastures, endless beaches and amazing red sand is definitely something that should be experienced by anyone who has the opportunity. But when I am in the mountains in BC, I am always completely overwhelmed with the beauty around me. The smell of moist earth, moss, cedar trees, fresh water and just the whole alpine wilderness around me, is easily one of my favourite things in the entire world. Yes, even the skunk cabbage brings a smile to my face because it is just another part of the whole experience.

But the absolute best part of the hike was when I was climbing into this one area on the Arbutus Ridge, and I began to hear frogs croaking. As I climbed higher and higher into the area, the sound of them became louder and louder and it soon became all that I could hear. As the trail leveled out, I found a swampy area just packed full of chirping frogs and I wish I could have recorded the noise they produced because it was just remarkable. I crouched down to watch them and as I did this, it was as though someone had hit mute because they all became dead silent when they realized my presence. I laughed and walked away from the area, only to hear them slowly begin again as I got further and further from the area. How can one not smile like a fool in a moment like that?