21) LOST ON A BICYCLE IN VANCOUVER

The bus trek through the Rockies from Canmore to Vancouver was no less exciting than any other of the previous legs of my journey westward. For fifteen hours, I sat huddled against the window beside Eliz, an Iranian from Little Tehran in Los Angeles who had just returned from six months in Nepal and had acquired all manner of strange illnesses which necessitated him rushing to the bathroom frequently and groaning with misery in the intervals between dashes. There is little to tell about the B.C.

interior, besides the correlation between the immens

e natural beauty of a community and the extreme dismal nature of the coffee served at their 24-hour gas stations.

By 3pm I was finally in Vancouver and skillfully navigated my way to the downtown core to see my host Matt (from my high school days). That night, we ate at a restaurant on Kitsilano beach and watched the sunset as a stage show of hula dancers entertained the throngs. We played frisbee on the beach and I darted in and out of the waves with abandon.

The next day, Matt lent me a bicycle and I began a solo cycling sight-seeing tour of the Greater Vancouver Area. Starting every morning from the UBC point, I headed along the beach trails to Granville Island for non-stop munchies, and then to other parts of the city depending on my stamina. Although I believe myself to be of a fit-persuasion, nothing prepared me for some of the hills I was required to surmount, and by the end of the day I shamelessly pushed my bicycle up the steepest parts.

Vancouver is known as a celebrity-watching city, so I was thrilled for my very own run-in with a television star. On Granville Island, I whacked Eric
McCormack (of the now defunct television show Will & Grace) with my bicycle helmet. As he was bending over a baby-carriage at the time, he was rather startled by the jolt and spun around. I apologized profusely. He accepted my apology. For a moment, I thought I might whip out my camera and take a paparazzi style shot and then dash for the exit, but decided it was better to leave the man alone.

As the years pass by, more and more friends are leaving the East Coast and heading to the Pacific. This final part of my trip is not only about sight-seeing but about catching up with Montreal friends like Del and Kija.