 Milepost 0 - November, 1973 scanned photo |
 Milepost 0 at McDonalds, Dawson Creek Casio QV30 photo |
After checking my e-mail and loading my panniers, I headed over
to McDonalds for lunch. I was surprised to discover another Milepost 0 that
the Cyclevents group should have posed in front of. When my wife and I first
saw Milepost 0 in 1973, it was the white obelisk at the downtown intersection.
Since then, there's the new Milepost 0 by the visitor center and now, everybody
(including McDonalds) seems to be getting into the act.
Milepost 0 - November, 1973 scanned photo |
Milepost 0 at McDonalds, Dawson Creek Casio QV30 photo |
I actually got on my way about Noon. For the first 6 miles or so, I headed
straight east very quickly (20 mph) compliments to a brisk tailwind. Then,
I turned south toward Pouce Coupe and lost my advantage.
I stopped at the Husky station food store in Pouce Coupe and asked the clerk
how to pronounce the name of the town. He responded: "It depends on
who you ask; some people say "poose coo-pee", and other people
say "poose coo-pay" and I just call it "poose." I then
asked him what the words mean and he said: "I have no idea." A
few miles down the road, I found the answer:
I reached the Alberta border at 2:12 PM BC time and moved my
watch ahead.
 Welcome to Alberta |
 Time Change at Alberta Border |
Everywhere I stopped, I was attacked by dozens of black flies. I didn't
want to wait to see if they would bite me, so kept moving pretty fast. For
a while it rained and then became sunny and warm (around 86 degrees). I
stopped for an ice cream bar at a gas station and then took a restroom break
at the Hythe, Alberta campground (very nice) where the restrooms were located
in an old railroad caboose. I talked to some folks in a camper who advised
that there was another nice campground in the next town -- Beaverlodge,
AB, 15 km down the road, so I decided to ride a bit more.
Hythe is a farm town. I was told that one farmer farms over 80,000 acres.
Before departing from Hythe, I decided to visit the Hythe Museum,
a quaint little log cabin that had been built as a "tack shop"
in 1909.
The ladies at the museum were thrilled to have me visit them,
especially Olive Stickney, who gave me a copy of the printed visitor's guide
to Hythe, entitled: Hythe "volunteer capital of Alberta." I was
indeed impressed by the ability of folks in a town smaller than my home
town of Williamston, Michigan, using volunteers only, to build: a hospital,
Pioneer Home (senior citizen home), arena, curling rink, legion hall, golf
course, museum, library, day care center, "golden age" center,
cross country ski chalet, thrift shop and ball diamonds.
From there I rode to Beaverlodge, Alberta, population 2,400.
On the way, I passed a curious road sign:
From the spinning wheel, I gather there was another museum to
see, but it was too late in the day, so I never did find out.
I was riding then with a good tailwind and felt great. I recorded into my
tape recorder: "I'm alive!"
The campground in Beaverlodge was real nice--amazingly well groomed (neatly
planted flowers, trees well cared for and a beautiful lawn). To register
for a campsite ($8 night) I visited the Beaverlodge museum where the ladies
posed for a picture and gave me a Beaverlodge, Alberta flag for my bike:
Note 1/97: I affixed the Beaverlodge flag to my flag pole right then, and left it there until I got to Montana where I came to feel that the flag was aiding the wind, so I removed it. I continued to carry the Beaverlodge flag, a Canadian flag, several blank brightly-colored flags and a North Dakota flag with me all the way to Michigan. When I got near Williamston, I put my collection of flags back on the flag pole for the final leg into town.
I stocked up at an IGA grocery store right next door to the campground
(grapes, apples, bananas, Gatorade, rice, noodles), and then ordered a pizza
from a restaurant in the same small mall. At the campground I visited with
some elderly folks from Fox Lake, Illinois who had been in Alaska helping
a nephew build a house. They said they were glad to speak with somebody
who didn't say "ay" after every sentence.
That reminds me of a joke Bill told:
The history of Canada
As told by Bill Schwartz
There were three "Canucks" sitting around wondering what they would call their vast land. They decided on a 3 letter acronym; each suggested one letter:
"'C' ay"
"'N' ay"
"'D' ay"
56 miles.
  BC | AB |
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997