(Please note: The above image - while an inaccurate physical depiction of Regina's Ring Road - is an EXACT image of the feelings about that road portrayed in the following story).
A week ago, I went to Bethune (a little town northwest of Regina) for a funeral. As no one else was going with me, I decided to take my motorcycle.
The funeral was at 2 in the afternoon and after visiting and coffee and whatever, it was almost 5 o'clock as I rolled back into Regina.
Coming down north Albert I thought, "Ya know, I should take the Ring Road and avoid the 5 o'clock rush hour" (such as it is in Regina), so I hung a right and sped off..... and that is when it all started.
First, I got stopped by a train. A TRAIN!!!! On the Ring Road. Wa???? I thought waiting 30 minutes for a train while sitting stopped dead on the busiest road in town only happened in Estevan.
By the time the train was gone, we had a pile of cars in every lane..... some going fast.... others barely moving..... some wanting to merge in.... some out. In order to get going (and not get run over), I had to weave in and out of traffic like some sort of weaving thing (I tried to come up with a good simile there.... but I couldn't.... so you supply one).
As I crossed Victoria Avenue I thought "I will keep going to Arcola Avenue, get off there, cross back over Ring Road and then get gas at the Shell on the other side" (I was starting to get low on fuel).
Just then, 86743896789678936464 people came up off of Victoria and merged onto the Ring. In fact there was so many of them that there was no way I could force my way across from the far left lane to get to the Arcola off ramp.
"No problem" I thought. "I will just go down to the Wascana Parkway, get off, swing around and get back to Arcola." However, when I got there a bunch of people were coming out of the university, so I decided to just keep riding north.
Eventually (after weaving in and out of traffic again) I came to College Avenue and thought, "Why don't I go down there, get on Arcola, cross the Ring and then get gas" (by now the fuel was getting really low). So I did that.... but when I got to Arcola I discovered that there are NO LIGHTS AT COLLEGE AND ARCOLA!!!! NO LIGHTS!!!! And there was a line of 867894367894578967894567 cars both on College and Arcola.
So I waited and waited and then I closed my eyes and forced myself into a lane. Finally on Arcola, I crossed the Ring and took a left on University Park Drive..... then I realized that the gas station was on Prince of Wales not University Park!!!
Now you may be wondering..... "Why did you HAVE to go to THAT gas station when there are like 67487849 gas stations in Regina?"
Truth be told: I drove by tons of gas stations along the way to that specific Shell. Why? Well, I had decided that I was going to THAT station and I was not going to let a bunch of pinheads driving like morons deter me from doing what I said I was going to do.
So - the long and the short of it...... by trying to avoid the "Regina Rush Hour" I ended up spending and entire hour (literally) trying to get out of Regina. Not to mention the number of times that I almost kicked people's car doors as they cut me off, etc.
So - what I am trying to say is...... that was the best part of the trip!!!! It was like a combination cannonball run/death race! :)
I may plan every motorcycle trip to Regina for 5:05 pm.
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