The following is a true story :cry:
"The American [HTML_REMOVED] 48 hours"
by Captain Freeride
The dream vacation to Vancouver BC and the North Shore that turned out to be worse than any nightmare I've ever had.
I arrived in Vancouver BC, Canada on an American Airlines flight around 6:30pm on Sunday the 20th of Aug. As we landed I could see the shore from my right side window, knowing that the next day I would be out in it. So I was kind of in a rush to breathe in the Canadian air again, I used the stairs instead of the escalator to pass a few people. I packed well enough that I didn't need a carry on, keeping up a fairly brisk pace through out the passages you have to go thru to get to the first immigration station. I waited for my turn to talk to the officer anxiously, I was now within about 10 minutes from the beginning of what was going to be an epic vacation with lots of filming and riding and picture taking all over the North shore.
I was quite excited when the officer asked me my purpose for coming to Canada, IM going Mtn biking on the North Shore I told him, I'm also doing some filing. Then he asked for my ID and passport, I gave him my ID and my birth certificate, he studied them closely. The next question he asked was, have you ever been convicted of a crime? I said yes I have, he asks what were you charged with? I told him and the next words out of his mouth were…"They want to see you in immigration, I don't know why." So I said OK and went into the Imm. office and talked to an officer there. The officer in there asked me some more about what I had done, so I told him too, I wasn't trying to hide anything, and that I had also spent a week in BC last year going to Whistler. Besides the stupid crimes I had committed were over 16yrs ago so I figured no big deal. I'm not the same person now that I was back then…Well I was wrong…way wrong.
I was told that I was being denied entry into Canada based on my police record from 16yrs ago. I almost passed out right there, after all the preparation and money that I had spent to get ready for this trip. I was being told that I will be detained overnight in a holding cell in the basement of the airport till they could book me a fight out of there on Monday sometime. I was truly floored when he said that, I felt like someone had just ran me over with a cement truck, I got a bit emotional at that time…I was brought to tears. My dreams of riding the North shore smashed to pieces because of something I did 16yrs ago…unbelievable…truly unbelievable. By this time my cell phone was charged up so I called my girlfriend back home, we[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;ll call her K and told her the news, K was shocked and appalled when I gave her the news. I told her I would call her when I have more info.
I then called what was going to be my host for the week, we[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;ll call him S so I called S and told him there[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;s a problem with immigration and they aren[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t going to let me come into Canada and that they were going to hold me overnight in a holding cell, he was also in disbelief at the actions taken by immigration officers. I told S that I was sorry for wasting his time and I appreciate him waiting for three hours outside the airport for a complete stranger from another country. I was looking forward to meeting another trail builder and picking his brain about trail issues and construction technique as he is well versed in both issues.
An immigration officer then took me into an office and relieved me of all my personal items in my pockets, my jewelry and then locked it up in a room, then locked me in a nearby area that had open holding cells for a few hours. I found a blanket and they gave me a sandwich to eat. At one point while a couple officers were letting another detainee come through the area to use the restroom, a female officer asked me with a short tone if I even had a job, to which I replied, [HTML_REMOVED]#8220;of course I do[HTML_REMOVED]#8221;, then she quickly mentioned that I could go online and apply for rehabilitation and if I get it I could probably come back. After a few hours an officer handcuffed me with my hands in the front and escorted me thru the baggage area to the freight elevator in front of other travelers, all of whom were looking at me like I'm some kind of criminal, we took the elevator down to the basement, then walked what seemed like a half a mile to the holding facility.
Inside that area they took the cuffs off, took my picture and asked me a few more questions. Then an officer directed me to the room I would be staying in; it had four concrete slabs with mattresses, sheets, pillows, blankets, towel and a washcloth. There was no TV or phone only a bolted down table four plastic lawn chairs and a bunch of national geographic magazines. There was a bathroom with a door, inside it was a shower, sink, stainless steel mirror and a stainless steel toilet.
I shared the room with three other detainees a man in his sixties from Fiji, a man in his fifties from Japan and an 18-year-old Mexican boy. I went to sleep as soon as they placed me in the room, not because I was tired at all, how could I be, I had slept on the plane rides so that I would be wide awake when I got to van, I went to sleep to pass time so this nightmare would end sooner. I didn't meet my cellmates till I awoke in the morning at 6:00am to the sound of the guard bringing in breakfast, toothbrushes and toothpaste. I opened the food container and saw what they were serving and asked the officer where the meat was? He just laughed and walked out of the room. Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, two pieces of toast, jelly, coffee, and an apple juice box. Conversing with such a diverse group of people at the breakfast table can be quite the challenge, but we managed to work it out.
After breakfast I was still very sad about this whole thing so I went back to sleep for a few more hours, till around 10:00am an officer came in and said that the Japanese guy, the Mexican and me were heading home. I got my stuff together, piled my blankets and linens on the mattress and waited, about a half an hour later he came back and told us to follow him, we went to the room where they took my picture, he had me sign the papers about my belongings being released back to me. I was then taken into another small room where there were other detainees also being sent home. I was handcuffed again this time I was cuffed to the Japanese guy and he was cuffed to the Mexican from our cell, there were six more detainees cuffed in groups of three also, were escorted back down the long underground hallway to the freight elevator, up to the baggage area and thru it again, at this time of day there were way more people staring at us, it is a very humiliating experience to be cuffed and walked thru there like that.
We were taken back to the immigration office into the holding cells area. I was placed in a private cell, the Japanese guy also had his own cell, but the Mexicans were placed in one larger cell all together. More waiting took place, more sleeping in my case. Around 12:30 the officers got me out of the room, did a metal detector wand sweep over my entire body. Then they had me identify my bags, I was finally able to have my personal items back, the cell phone being number one on the list.
Back into the holding cell for a little while longer, this time I had my phone, I called K but I had a very weak signal, being that I was in the airport then in a concrete room didn't help at all, finally I was able to get thru enough to leave her a message that I would be flying out soon, but I didn't know where to yet. More waiting for the officers to take me to my flight, I had the book from my property now so I read that for a while, getting eager to get away from Canada so that I can try to make some kind of sense out of this horrible trip.
An officer comes to my cell unlocks the door and tells me to follow him, he took me to a desk where I was given back my money, watch, credit card and jewelry, and then had me sign a paper that stated that I will not be allowed to enter Canada and will leave the country immediately, I signed it and was then taken back to the cell. Kind of makes it tough to leave immediately if they have you locked up.
A short while later another officer came and unlocked my cell and said it was time to go and that my flight was leaving in about an hour, he escorted me to the ticket counter where I finally found out my flight itinerary, which included a one day layover in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas. I was then escorted to the baggage area then to the security checkpoint then to US customs, finally arriving near gate for my flight around 1:00pm I asked the officer if I could have a smoke before the flight he said sure and pointed me to the smoking room…wow they have a smoking room that was pretty cool, although you feel kind of like a fish in a bowl, it was a big glass room that was near a restaurant finally a cigarette, I was puffing on that cig like there was no tomorrow, and the next two went just as quick.
The officer peaked his head in the room and said that my flight was boarding, so I got up and headed for the gate, a few feet from the gate I was given back my driver[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;s license and my birth certificate. I boarded the plane, got to my seat in the back row, and found out they don't make all the seats in an airplane the same size. The seats in the back were narrower and the legroom was about four inches shorter. The flight to Dallas/fort worth was OK, not withstanding the legroom issue.
Due to my lack of vehicle I stayed that night at the closest hotel, which just happened to be in the airport, the Grand Hyatt. It was quite the nice establishment but fairly expensive for someone on my budget especially since my original flight itinerary didn[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;t include an overnight layover. I got a $12.00 burger basket from the hotel restaurant and a two-dollar Pepsi and headed back to my room for a night of cable and some good rest on a comfortable bed. After half of one day upstairs in the immigration office, a full night of sleeping in the basement of the airport and then another holding cell later that day, the hotel room with a pullout bed was quite plush and relaxing.
I woke up around 8:00am on Tuesday, took a shower and then headed into the airport, getting my boarding passes, checking my bags, then headed into the terminal to find my gate then to get some food, after a few smoke breaks outside it was 11:00am time to fly to Chicago. I arrived at Chicago and then had to wait four more hours till my flight home, so I found some more food, took a couple more smoke breaks till it was time, finally I boarded the last plane on this horrible thing I called a vacation, the flight was so short that I stayed awake for it.
K was waiting for me when I arrived at 5:00pm on Tuesday at the Moline airport, we got my bags in the car, drove to my place, unloaded the car, and we went inside and she listened to my ranting about this whole fubar trip for a few hours. K and I got online and checked out some very interesting information on the Canadian Immigration website http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/conviction.html that stated the following;
[HTML_REMOVED]#8221; Depending on the nature of the offence, the time elapsed and your behaviour since it was committed or since you were sentenced, you may no longer be considered inadmissible to Canada. You may be permitted to come to Canada if you are able to satisfy an immigration officer that you meet the legal requirement to be deemed rehabilitated;
You may be deemed rehabilitated if you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Depending on the nature of your offence, at least five years and as many as 10 years must have passed since you completed the sentence imposed for your crime. Deemed rehabilitation also depends on whether you have committed one or more offences. In all cases, you may only be deemed rehabilitated if the offence committed would be punishable in Canada by a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 10 years.[HTML_REMOVED]#8221;
All of the crimes which I had committed, met these guidelines, as I found out by looking at my police record that Canadian immigration provided me with, as their reason for me not being able to enter Canada at this time. What it comes down to is, their own paper showed them that I could have entered. Also if any immigration official would have checked into my life a little, they would have found out that I have been dedicating my whole existence to giving back to my local community: doing police bicycle rodeos in three different cities, fundraising and trail building for FORC our local Mtn bike club, constantly trying to get new people into the sport of cycling, film making for cycling advocacy, and many other charity events throughout the year, all while working six days a week, nine hours a day at the bike shop.
I then called a friend we[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;ll call him KB, and told him about what had happened, he suggested that I go for a ride, I told him that I wasn't going to ride today because I was too angry, but possibly tomorrow. A short while later I was sitting at my house with the GF still ranting and needing some kind of mental release to help me get my head straight, so I called KB back and said, lets ride, we[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;ll meet at the HyVee parking lot. He also said that a friend of ours was going to ride too, we[HTML_REMOVED]#8217;ll call him C.
I met KB at the HyVee on eastern in the parking lot around 7:30pm, we did a little warm up ride practicing bunnyhops manuals and wheelies till C showed, as soon as C arrived we went to the Taco Johns it has a curbhop to a 3 foot drop that drops onto a grass hill and into the HyVee lot. C did it first, cleaned it by far, then it was my turn so I was headed for the curb was waived off by KB due to traffic in the lower lot, I got the go ahead wave and pedaled toward the curd pulled up and forward, cleared the curb, but I got a little crooked in the air, my right foot slipped off the pedal and slammed into the hill putting all of my landing force directly into my leg as I landed, I felt a big rush of something go straight to my head, I had to wait a while for it to go away till I could function again. My right knee was hurting quite a bit and some throbbing; I thought maybe I sprained my knee or something like it.
We kept riding for about another hour, the whole time my knee is starting to feel worse by the minute, we ride back to the vehicles, I get off the bike and I can barely stand on my right leg. I had to get home still so I said good-bye to the guys and got in my van hoping that I could use my left foot, but my right was in so much pain that I couldn't move it out of the way, so I used a hiking stick to press on the gas and brake pedals as I slowly made my way home.
I went upstairs and called K and asked her to make an appointment at her chiropractor for me in the morning, so said she would be at my place at 9:00am to pick me up, I then attempted to sleep with no luck at all, way too much pain going on with my knee to sleep. In the morning I called K and asked her to cancel the appointment and just to take me to the hospital.
At the hospital the X-rays were taken and diagnosed…the diagnosis was a broken leg bone just below the knee…what a wonderful way to cap off what I had just gone through with the whole failed vacation to Canada. So now I am in a full leg cast and will be for 4-6 weeks. :hurt:
Sincerely,
Captain Freeride