July 10, 2024
Day V10: Last Round
It ended up being another marathon day on the bike. As usual, the morning was spent strategizing how to accomplish the daily round of social visiting and errands. Although a whirwind, this would be the last round in Vancouver for the trip. I had to prioritize. As mentioned on my social media, if there were friends I wasn't able to see then my sincere apologies. Thankfully the initial potluck and family reunion on July 1st proved to be the most efficient as we could get everyone together in one spot. After that it felt like running around like mad. Still it got done and I'm immensely satisfied.
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One of the biggest eye openers is how spread out the Vancouver area is. When you're using the bike as the primary transport mode, you have to strategize very carefully. Still the bike infrastructure really blew me away. The number of trails and bike lanes makes it entirely possible to ditch the car altogether. Furthermore, there is a whole fitness subculture in the city with people who take this stuff very seriously, even a lot more than me if you can believe it.
On the other hand, all of this runs counter-parallel with the car culture and sedentary lifestyle. What you have, regretably, is a culture war. For the myriad of bike trails, you have no shortage of angry drivers in SUVs who hate cyclists and complain like mad about how the bike trails are encroaching on their roads they pay taxes for. But from what I can tell in Vancouver city proper at least, the system tilts in favor of the bikes. Traffic calming is such that these drivers more or less are forced to stay in their lane. It is against the law to right hook a cyclist, for example. That said, the deeper you get into suburbia, the angrier the drivers get and you really have to watch out.
There were some major disappointments this trip I'll be honest. Two friends I found out are so deep into the car culture and rat race, the whole suburbia thing, sedentary living with the kids etc.. that it has almost become a culture war of its own. The disconnect ruins friendships. We try to find common ground yet our lives are diverging further and further apart. At this point I've learned I have no choice in the matter: I must let go. I mean it's super sad to see them go further and further down this deplorable rat race, then watch how they start suffering mobility injuries and other stuff which is entirely preventable. But if it took them over 20 years to go down this road, the habits are deeply ingrained. Without a willingness on their part to change, I can really do nothing to help.
On the other hand, some are willing to change. Perhaps the biggest success was seeing the couple yesterday who demonstrated they wanted to start over fresh. They also live deep in the suburbs and yet were victims of fraud, had been evicted, their car was repossessed and were now looking to start over. They are now walking from place to place, even relying on food banks and generosity from those in their circle. While their situation may look bleak, it is actually not. They even admitted so. By essentially being forced out of the rat race, they now are in a position to make changes.
The fact that this contrast all took place within the same suburbs was very eye opening. I suppose it's like this: if everything "goes well" and you continue living the rat race, you'll be making a fast track to the hospital. If you're forced out of it, well maybe in the long run you'll outlive the others.
So as for today it was pretty much a lot that got done but I enjoyed checking off the boxes. First stop was to see another aunt and uncle downtown and we had excellent conversation. He happens to be a psychology major and I explained the whole story of how my ex-friend talked shit to me and how it made me feel. My uncle said, "That's an easy one, he used 'you' statements, not 'I statements'". This is entirely true, my ex-friend would use condemning words starting with 'you'. That jackass failed communication skills 101. Good riddance to his ass.
As for my relatives, we resolved to keep up these visits more often. When there's a death in the family, it makes you realize what's important.
Next stop, off to the library to finish scanning all the documents. Then it was off to a fitness class. That done, I met another friend for pizza and we had an interesting conversation about lawyers. Time was ticking away. I then biked back to the storage locker and returned all the materials I had taken out and scanned earlier. Next, biking to a nearby mall to meet a third friend for the day but this time we would both be on the bikes.
We made a gigantic loop all the way out to the university I used to attend, then looped back downtown where I started. Then it was time for another fitness class, with the aim to use off all the credits I had purchased. It was an insanely loud class with a coach who kicked our asses.
Finally, all that done, I had a nice meal then biked back to the casino as usual and then the Airbnb. The load in the backpack was considerably lighter, and it will make for a much easier trip out tomorrow on the buses to the US.
Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 374 km (232 miles)
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