Did I say I made it?

My stripper’s maiden voyage : Part 2

Did I say I made it?

In words any millennial car enthusiasts live by: too soon junior.

Woke up from a butt clenching night drive through a storm in the rockies to my M3 trying to run for moving snow bank of the year award.

Took a sight seeing break in Lake Louise & Banff and headed for the long Prairie run passing through Calgary on warp speed.

We give meanings to events and things in life.

Purchasing this M3 was the culmination of my 20s - a roller coaster decade of successes, failures, painful teachings and grin inducing stupidity I’ll probably never be dumb enough to do again.

Yet, nothing prepares you for life’s transitions, deserts of self doubt where introspection is no longer a luxury, it’s necessary for survival, to set yourself up for what’s come.

Welcome to the Prairies; its physical embodiment.

3,000 km of straight, deserted roads - where overpasses are non existent and intersections are built straight on the highway, without stops, yet the billboards about Salvation are abound.

There’s irony here, somewhat.

I wanted to zoom through the desert, yet the desert always wins.

I hopped with Driver X (!) and had cruise control on 180kph.

Until a front right tire blew out and a police barrage was waiting outside of a Tim Hortons, from scare crows calling about a orange blur.

Ever had to change wheel and tires at -40C? A strangely Canadian experience.

I ended up doing the trip with 3 winters and a 255 front Continental DW, an intriguing handling package.

Speed and pleasure over anything.

Yet the Prairies weren’t done with me. This was November, Winter doesn’t usually set in that early - not this year.

In Canada, we use salts to de-ice roads, but even that has limitations. Flying through at night at 100mph approaching Manitoba, I see freight trucks on hazards. They knew.

Ice, black ice - impenetrable by salt.

GPS indicated time to Winnipeg’s hotel went from 1 hour to 5. Crawling speeds.
You don’t get to choose when the transition ends.

I foolishly tried running for the border.

This story in part 3.