Last week my transmission blew.

Yeah, it sucked.

Not only did it go on me, it went on me in British Columbia, en route to Kinney Lake.

But a sympathy story is not what I’m trying to write – more so, how I am finding this community very welcoming.

See, my plan was to rent a bike, since I still don’t own one, drive down to Mount Robson Provincial Park, and get to Kinney Lake early in the morning to get photos when the light was good. After that, I would pop over to Rearguard Falls and try my luck with some jumping salmon photos. 

All seemed to go as planned as I was heading down Highway 16 at 5:30 am. Then the smoke started coming out from under the hood. After an hour drive back to town at 40 kilometres per hour, I made it to town, still too early for anything to be open.

Deciding that taking my car to Hinton would be the best bet, the combination of my AMA card and the luck of having the friendly tow truck driver (and softball league president), who I only know as ‘Terry’, made the second part of my day better than it could have been.

I guess there’s something about getting a helping hand from a familiar face rather than a stranger when you are already having a crappy day that makes you feel that maybe, just maybe, it won’t be as bad as you think.

Once at Canadian Tire, I was pleased to realize that the mechanic who was working on my car and telling me the news that I need to get a new transmission, used to work with me in a bar in a town of 1000 people back in Ontario.

But, the small-world coincidence and my friendly tow aside, I still had a big problem – I was in Hinton, my car was staying there. And I had my rented bike with me, and needed to find a way back to Jasper.

A call to editor Justin Brisbane wasn’t any help as he was camping, so, equipped with my backpack full of water and some food and very little biking experience, I started my way on the bike back to Jasper around 12:30.

After about 45 minutes of biking, I past a sign saying ‘Jasper – 80 km’. I thought to myself, Cory Wallace does 80 kilometres a day in the Trans Rockies race, and he trained for that.

Granted, Wallace bikes on much tougher terrain than the highway, I knew I was in for a long day.

Heading down the road on the bike, I had one more call-a-friend idea – a friend of a friend from Canmore who I ran into doing a recent story for the Fitzhugh, and was staying a few kilometres outside of Hinton.

Luckily for me, he was around, and I was able to borrow his vehicle, take it back to Jasper, bike in the trunk.

Of course it wouldn’t be a good story if I didn’t need to head back to Hinton to get gas and, driving an unfamiliar vehicle, get stuck at the pump without knowing the ‘trick’ to starting it back up again, for 20 minutes.

Finally, I got back to Jasper around 4:30 and hit my bed fast for a power nap – knowing I still had to return the rental bike, and the borrowed car.

Upon returning the bike, I was again pleased to get a local discount on the bike from Freewheel – the savings on that can go to my new transmission – and I convinced Justin, now back from camping, to drive me back to return the borrowed car.

Finally I could relax, I thought, as I drove back out of Jasper to return the borrowed vehicle. Justin, following behind me, would give me a ride back, and my day would finally be over.

And that’s when the police car flashed his lights at us. But that is a story for another day.