8/15/2006 (Tue) - Greyhound bus ride from Edmonton to Jasper, AB; bike around Jasper; bike from Jasper to Wapiti campground, 5.17 miles.

What a hectic day! I knew starting a trip like this is never easy, and today definitely proved it. In the end, all turned out well, but so many little things went wrong that I thought I'd get flabbergasted.

First, the Grehound ride experience started hectic and bad again like my Pacific Coast trip. The agent I met at the counter in the morning was terrible. Upon seeing my bike luggage, he simple said as a matter of fact that I needed to check that through "freight." After I inquired further what that meant and what I needed to do: he rudely gestured me to walk around the building. Upon more questioning, he conceded that they wouldn't be open till 6:30 a.m. Upon even further inquiry, he agreed with me that I probably wouldn't have time to check in through freight and make my bus in time - and just left me standing there.

Eventually, I figured out to see customer service. While the lady was much more friendly, she didn't leave me feeling much better. She gave me two "luggage tags" but warned me that the might not allow the luggage to get on with just these tags. She tried to calm me by saying, "if that happens, we'll think of something else," which didn't really calm me that much... For the next half an hour or so, I waited anxiously. As it turned out, the driver (Greg) was a nice guy, and no questions were asked. Still, this did not make a good beginning - and those half an hour were not my best of the trip - that's for sure.

Other than this initial obstacle, the rest of the Greyhound ride went smoothly. If I am not enjoying the view outside, I'd be taking a nap. The bus was relatively new and comfortable, with two rest stops, but many more passenger stops, along the way. We left a little over half an hour late but arrived only about 20 minutes late in Jasper.

The day would get hectic after I get into Jasper. After finding a good shady spot to assemble my stuffs, things quickly unravelled again. First, the TSA had gone over my bike box and misplaced many of my tools and parts. While I eventually did find everything, I had to endure anxiously unpacking the whole thing, hoping to actually find those parts. The next thing I quickly noticed was that I had too much stuffs (I eventually sent some extra tools and an extra water bottle home). Even with the B.O.B. bag packed, I still had a heavy bag of stuffs to carry. The seat rack, which I thought was optional, was now definitely required. But once I realized that, I also realized another thing which dropped my spirit like a bombshell. The seat rack I had borrowed from sis didn't fit my bike! My seat tube turned out to be much thicker than her's. For some crazy reasons, I never tried her rack on my bike before the trip! Then finally, once I started riding, I also noticed that my front brake was sticky and that both my front and back gears didn't shift properly....

The first thing I did after these realizations was to head straight for the Information office right across from the Greyhound station to get a local map. Then I went to one of the bike stores in town (Free Wheeling) to see if they could help me with the seat rack. When the mechanic explained to me that he could only help me if the rack was designed for a bigger seat tube but not a smaller seat tube, I decided to purchase one that fit my bike there. The mechanic also explained to me how to lubricate my gear and brake cables to make them less sticky. I then headed to mail my extra stuffs home at the local post office. Along the way, I tweeked and adjusted my gears so that at least they were shifting properly, even if not completely smoothly. Afterwards, I went to buy some camp fuel which turned out to be representative of a mistake I made throughout the whole trip - taking too much stuffs. To save money, I bought a big canister of fuel thinking it would prove to be cheaper in the long run. I did think about the weight, but I thought I could get stronger for it and that saving a few cents would be worth it!

After some 3 or so hours, I finally got ready to head to Wapiti Campground. The ride was smooth, and the campground was nice (though a little crowded). I had a nice shower and prepared myself for the ride tomorrow. My neighbor was an old couple from New Zealand by the name of Arnold and Makiana. They are really into biking now and for this trip are biking from Anchorage to San Francisco. They are averaging some 60-70 miles per day. As I'd find out tomorrow, they also plan to do a Beijing to Paris bike ride, over some 6-7 months, next year!