By Larry Weiss The First Hostel Trip (part 1)
By Larry Weiss
There were thirty people in our group -- twenty females and ten males. I was the youngest by at least six years. Most were adults in their twenties and thirties, and many were school teachers off for the summer. There were also a few somewhat older people.
Our tour leader, who worked for AYH, gave us instructions on what to expect before we left. We were to each wash our own mess gear and clothes and repair our own clothes, as needed. We were to all take turns, in pairs, to cook and clean up the pots and pans and such.
We were told we would ride an average of 60-65 miles a day. As it turned out, there were some days we rode less, just touring areas, and there were days we rode as much as a 100 miles or more. We were given turns taking up the rear, as it was important that we stay together. If anyone did get behind, the rest waited from them.
We would be going the long distances between areas of interest or over the plains in a Pullman train car that we had to ourselves across Canada. We went by train from Northfield to Montreal. There we toured and then cycled up to Quebec City. None of us had ever been in French Canada before, including the leader. On leaving Quebec City, we ran into a problem.
Our group had packed shorts, called "peddle pushers". We all had a pair of long pants, if needed, but none of use thought they were needed on that hot day. Although the girls' shorts were a little longer, a very uptight Frenchman saw our girls in these shorts and started to swear at them and tell them how wicked they were to have their legs bare. I got off my bike and told him to shut up and leave the girls alone. He took a swing at me; I lunged and knocked him down. He reached in his pocket and opened a pocket knife. I knocked him back down, grabbed his knife, and put it through his hand. I had never been in fight where someone went to use a knife. This all happened in seconds, and I had not even thought about what I was doing. I was just red with anger when he pulled the knife, and the rest just happened.
A local cop quickly appeared at the scene. When he found out what happened, he asked us to please be on our way and that we not press any charges. He would take care of the man. We did leave, but I have to tell you, that when it was over, I was somewhat shook up. That incident was one of those things that later catches up to you, even though, when it happened, you were just fine. I was twelve, a big twelve, but he was a man, and later thinking back, I realized that I should have been afraid to do what I did.
We got back to our train car. When we stayed elsewhere, it was put on a siding and then hooked back up to another train when we were ready to travel again. This was a great rolling hostel for us, as we could leave everything of ours in it when we were just out for the day. That meant we could ride with no extra weight on our bikes. We would leave it and take all our gear and travel for a few days and then later meet it further across the country. This was really great as it gave us the opportunity to actually travel by bike between areas, stop at hostels, camp out, and really be traveling. When there were long distances between points of interest, we went back in our train.
We took the train to Toronto, where we were met by two Motorcycle Mounties, who were assigned to escort us through the city to see the sights. That was really neat, but it was strange, too. It seems every time people saw the Mounties, they came running to watch. There seemed to be an awful lot of people on the streets. We couldn't believe the attraction we made. We felt like some kind of celebrities. We all waved to the people watching. Wow, what a reception that was; we were thrilled and almost distracted from seeing the sights. It wasn't until later that day that we found out President DeGaul from France was in town to address the Canadian Parliament. Everyone, who saw the Mounties, though it was DeGaul. Boy did we disappoint a lot of people!
Either during or before we arrived in Toronto, we got to see the Dionne quintuplets, who were then maybe four or five years old. You
walked through a hallway that had one way glass and watched them playing in their yard. This was supposed to be one the big attractions in Canada. I thought it a little bizarre -- they were such a public spectacle. However, they were the first and only surviving quints.
While in Toronto, we went over to Queens Island. This was kind of an amusement park and a scenic park. We had some fun over there that day. The people were very friendly, unlike in Quebec, where they were mostly French and generally unfriendly.
We went on to other major cities while crossing Canada. We cycled around touring the cities and between cities that weren't too far away. Our train would be brought up to meet us. Again, we found the welcome very friendly, and people glad to meet and talk to us.
Our stop at Jasper, Alberta, as to be the first time we would be away from our train for almost two weeks. While there, a very nice young girl, my age, volunteered to show us the sights. Her name was Mary Driver. She had her bike, and we had left all our packs on the train. We would return to get them later that night, since it would be awhile before we saw our train car again.
She showed us around town, and we later rode to the garbage dump to watch the bears. Up in the Canadian Rockies, the garbage dumps were a real tourist attraction because there were plenty of bears to watch.
 Elk grasing in front of the Bow River, |
We left and headed for a beautiful lake, Lake Edith. On the way, her bike broke down, and I offered to ride her on the bar of the bike, which I did the rest of the day. We saw the lake, Jasper Lodge, and many beautiful sights. The lake water was very clear and green, and you could see quite a ways down into them. The mountains were gorgeous, and no matter which way you turned to look, it was always beautiful.
At this point, I need to go back a few weeks. It was soon discovered that I knew more about fixing bikes and basic first aid than anyone else on the trip. So despite being the youngest, I was the trip mechanic, the first-aid man, and the trip doctor. In turn for this, I never had to wash or sew my clothes. I never had cooking or cleaning duties. Everyone chipped in and did my chores since I took care of their bikes -- and their bruises.
The next day, I fixed Mary's bike. I could have done this the day before, but she was pretty and my age, and I just wanted to ride her around. I took her name and address, and we did end up writing each other for four years, until we met again.
The Jasper-Banff highway, as it was known then, was a dirt road straight through the heart of the Rockies. Now, it's a beautifully paved highway. With all our gear on our bikes, we peddled up tall mountains and coasted back down the other side. We stopped and spent some time at the Icefields, which were right by the edge of the road. I returned back to those ice fields years later and they had receded quite a ways back. We walked up on the glacier and had a snow ball fight. We spent the better part of that day exploring the area. It was beautiful.
We rode through the mountains, and at times, we were actually riding through clouds. We rode onto Lake Louise. It was a magnificent sight, and the hotel there was beautiful, with walks and gardens. We all took canoes out on the lake. We had a good time there and then moved on.
(continued in Part 2 - May issue)
Written about his 1942 AYH cycle tour trip, this article was taken from Larry Weiss' upcoming autobiography, Such a Life You Wouldn't Believe It (But It's True). Parts 2 and 3 of this article will appear in the May and June issues of Columbus Outdoors.