To Infinity and Beyond!

The call went out on Friday. 'lo that sacred cry of men: ROADTRIP! And it was on. We departed from our place of employment (I can't really call it work that day) headed out to TO to climb towers and eat some spaghetti.

In rainy weather, Nail and myself navigated the mean streets of Ottawa to retrieve RJA before headed down south to pick up the Foran Object. He kindly showed us the work on his almost completed workshed, as well as has moss garden. It contains twenty different kinds of moss. I don't know much about moss beyond Kate Moss, but his moss was varied and certainly not so thin and waifish looking.

The trip to Toronto passed without incident and RJA was able to successfully guide me to the Days Hotel and Conference Center on College, next to Maple Leaf Gardens. We parked and checked in. Fortunately, they were able to give us a room with 3 single beds. This is good. The downside was... well... that's not our razor that was left in the bathroom. A quick call to the front desk got the evening housekeeper into our room to take care of everything that wasn't cleaned up. By that time, we'd decided to head out and stretch our legs.

But really, we just wanted to go and have some beer. So, we wandered out explore a little bit of College Street, and the fine TTC Subway system. It's unfortunate that Ottawa does not have a decent rail option. I could see myself using it quite extensively. But I digress.

Dinner was planned for 19:30 at The Old Spaghetti Factory; a place I'd not visited in... seventeen years. Yikes. As we walked from the subway to the restaurant, one structure loomed over our shoulders. Close behind us was the CN Tower; the very structure we were going to assail the next day. It didn't look so big (*gulp*). I know I was seriously wondering what the hell I'd signed on for.

Impending doom on our minds, we arrived much earlier than our reservation, and despite their willingness to bring us in, we opted to wait in the bar for the rest of the party to arrive. Cold beer was drunk and navels were contemplated in the meantime. Finally, RJA's friends B-Rad and V-Nessa arrived and were introduced. I must say, they're far more normal than RJA makes them out to be and really were charming company. The last to arrive, but certainly not the least, was RJA's sister, Alex who took time out from packing and her graduation hangover to join us. Congrats on your Bachelor of Arts, Alex! You have exquisite taste in blogs!

Dinner was a pleasant affair. The conversation lively and joyful. Alex told us of the beer mile which involves chugging a beer and running 400m. Rinse and repeat four times. If you toss, you get penalized. Foran Object and B-Rad were able to discuss the ubitquitous DJ Shadow, much to the joy of the Foran Object and the chagrin of RJA. Of course, someone who goes to back to back Hanson concerts and bootlegs their upcoming album really shouldn't knock someone elses music choices.

I'm just saying, is all.

The service was blessedly slow, as we got a chance to meet, chat and enjoy ourselves. All thoughts of impending doom vanished among the laughter. As with all things though, we had to call it an evening and head back to the hotel. In a strange twist of fate, it was Nail and myself who counselled against getting trashed, despite others objections. Of course, this didn't stop me from shotgunning a beer which was opened and offered later in the elevator by some complete strangers. Ok, so it was Labatt Blue, but as men know, you can't complain about the brand of a free beer but you can complain about the temperature (it was very cold!). Best. Beer. Ever.

Finally able to access the hotel wireless, we calmed down and got ready for our climb. RJA went home with his sister, which was probably for the best. Nail and Foran didn't sleep very well, and I'm to blame for that. As Nail so eloquently said, "A healthy human body should not make those sounds."

I was rather suprised to find that I'd woken up alive, and was not smothered in my sleep. Probably because I hid the car keys and parking ticket, which just shows the value of planning ahead.

At 06:00, we shook loose and started getting ready for the climb. Upon RJA's arrival at 06:30 we departed for the Tower. Even at 07:00, there were people everywhere and line ups galore. We went through the bag check (I should have listened to the voice in my head) and proceeded to the first of many line ups, registration. After about 20 minutes we finally were found by a couple of roving registrars and proceeded on to next line up; the Skywalk (Why didn't I listen to the voice in my head?). 20 minutes in this line up, and we were approaching 8AM. Out of the Skywalk we finally headed down to the tower (I still wasn't listening to the voice in my head), where we were granted admittance. Headed through security, my voice started laughing at me as I got sent back to the bag check to check my camera. Yep... kilometer round trip, and wade through the lines again. One of these millenia, I'll learn to listen to that little voice in the back of my head.

Unfortunately, this meant that the crew was going to finish their climb without me, and wouldn't really know where I was nor when I was going to get there. I pondered a lot of different things, but in the end decided to just trust them and get to climbing. I'll spare you the details of waiting through all the lines again, except longer since there were now more people.

When I finally did enter the tower at 0853, I was calm and ready to climb. I had my pace set, and was prepared to see it all the way to the top. Floor by floor, the bottom drew away from me and the summit drew nearer. I didn't know if I had it in me when I'd hit 30, but soon enough 30 turned into 40 turned into 72. Hey! That's halfway and I'm feeling fine. Seeing floor 100 was very sexy and I was going strong. 4 flights and rest. 4 flights and rest. High diddle diddle, right up the middle.

Finally, I heard the encouragement of the guy at the top, telling us we were at the finish line. I managed to resist the urge to plow my way to the top, instead keeping my pace and guaranteeing success, though I was cackling madly as I climbed the last few flights. I finished in 51:02; almost 9 minutes under my goal. Then the cruel joke hit me...

I'd just finished climbing 142.5 floors... and now I had to climb 10 more flights to get to the Sky Pod. Bastards.

But I was rewarded with the sight of Nail, Foran and RJA waiting for me, front and center! I really can't say how much that meant to me, but it was very much appreciated. Shortly, I found out that we all destroyed our goals and the CN Tower:

RJA: goal 20:00 min. actual 14:42
Nail: goal 30:00 min. actual 23:20
Foran Object: goal 40:00 min. actual 23:35
Serdic: goal 60:00 min. actual 51:02, and I felt like I could not only climb it again immediately but I'd improve my time.

Here we stand victorious, at the bottom of the tower, waiting to get our shirts. I'm the handsome cat in front.
I also found out that I was completely unable to use a camera after the climb, and had to have Nail explain it to me (aka set it up so I could just hit the button).

Climb done, we parted with RJA so he could help his sister move and frankly, we needed to shower and eat. But mostly it was about the shower. The ride home was fairly quiet, as we reflected on what we'd done.

We did stop off at the Funny Farm to visit with Serdad and Serdmom, as well as glom some free food and beer. I actually hadn't seen my parents since Christmas, due to scheduling and well, just not wanting to drive down on the weekend. It was a nice visit, and as always my parents were great hosts.

It's now been 12 and a half hours since I climbed the CN Tower, but I wasn't alone when I did it. You were all there, supporting me and keeping me going. Thank you for believing in me.

I'll do better next year.