Day 23 – Saturday August 28, 2010
Kilometres: 38.6
Time: Not much
Weather:
Edmonton: Overcast, windy, 8 C at 9:30 AM
The weather had not improved overnight, and after looking at the forecast, I knew I’d have a few cold and rainy days ahead of me. My first job today was to get an oil change. I’d looked on the Yamaha website prior to leaving Toronto, so I knew where all the rapid service centres were located. The closest one was 15 km away, which. After riding all this way, seemed to be pretty close.
I was in and out in about 45 minutes. I’ve learnt something very important from visiting a number of dealerships on this trip: most of them sell all the same stuff and most of it is crap. The only place that sold a good variety was Blackfoot in Calgary. If someone were really smart, and had the money, they would open up a store that stocked quality motorcycle accessories with a large variety. Yes, the items would cost more, but I really believe that people will pay for quality goods, with a solid warranty, and backed up with exceptional service.
After the oil change, the service manager paid me a very nice compliment. He called me a real rider because I’d put black electrical tape all over the fake chrome parts on the front of my bike. He said that that was an old trick that riders in the Prairies had been doing for a long time. He said that I had caught on quickly and was using my head. I didn’t tell him that I’d taped up some of it while riding in Toronto, and then the remainder of it at the Central Time Zone change turnout, also in Ontario. It was waaaay before I’d arrived in Prairies.
After the oil change I rode over to West Edmonton Mall. I arrived around 11 AM and had to park nearly in the furthest parking spot. Fortunately, I’d removed most of items from my saddlebags so I rolled up all my rain gear and tucked them away. I had the cloth bag for my helmet, so I put the helmet in the bag and slung that over my shoulder. At least I wouldn’t boil while walking through the mall and I knew my helmet was safe.
I really don’t know how to describe WEMl. I guess the closest I could come is to take Yorkdale, Scarborough Town Centre and Sherway Gardens and combine them. Then add in a giant wave pool, a hockey rink, mini putt, and sea lion show. I know that I’m missing a few things, but I’m sure you get the general idea.
When I say take the three malls and combine them, I’m also including the stores. For instance, I saw two Payless shoe stores, three La Senza stores, and three Lids stores (I thought of you Anthony). There are also the departments stores, such as HBC, Zellars, and Sears. But I didn’t go to WEM to go shopping; I wanted to see the different “streets” or areas. For instance, did Bourbon Street make me feel as if I were in New Orleans? Umm, no, not at all. I was greeted by a Boston Pizza, a Tony Rona (ribs) and Moxies (restaurant chain). This is not my idea of New Orleans. The lights were dim to give it ambiance, and the store facades were attempting to look like New Orleans. It may have worked, except for the stores themselves. They are merely dressed up versions of what I could find in most malls. It was nothing special.
Next, I visited “Chinatown.” It had the exact same problem that Bourbon Street had. All the store signs were in English and Chinese, but I really can’t buy into being in Asia when I have a Roger’s store facing me. At the end of the “street” was a Chine-inspired food market. I didn’t bother going on, but I did overhear some one say that the inside looked just like Asia only cleaner.
I stopped by to look at the wave pool. I can see why this would be such an attraction, especially during the Edmonton winters. I walked back through the mall and came across only one store that I was interested in. It is called Millennium and it sells goth clothes. Unfortunately, it sells the cheap stuff (see my mini-rant on quality motorcycle accessories), which I’d first seen in Vaudeville and Trash in New York City. This stuff will fade and fall apart in no time. I really have to take extra care with my lower end goth clothes, such as the Tripp brand, because the material is too thin and the stitching isn’t of good quality. Hence my improved hand sewing over the last couple of years. I’ll stick to Living Dead Souls, but it’s so unfortunate that it’s not available in North America.
I was back on my bike by 12:30 and cars were circling me for my parking spot. I had a lot of gear to put on so many people just gave up waiting for me to leave.
After such miserable riding weather the day before, I knew that I needed something to cheer me up while riding. I needed music. My old headphone speakers don’t fit into my new helmet so ever since Calgary, I’ve been tuneless.
Canadian Tire solved the problem for me. I bought the second cheapest set of earbuds. Back at the hotel, I figured out how the make the new sound system work and then made sure it was comfortable by wearing helmet with the sound system for about 20 minutes. Hopefully, it will work on the road just as well as it worked in the hotel room.
