Motorcycle Adventures

It is with some considerable sadness that I write about our 2009 Nelson trip.  With our impending move I will need to sell my Burgman soon. This makes me very sad as a considerable amount of joy comes from my time riding.  My bike also represents a huge amount of personal time invested in creating the perfect bike for me, and it holds so many great memories.  It will be painful to sell it.

Along with the loss of the bike comes the realization that, at best, we will not be back to Nelson for many years.  We also may not have the opportunity to vacation with our friends for years, and Nicole and I will not ride together again for some time.

We will also not be able to ride any more of BC’s wonderful roads for some time to come, if ever, as even when we vacation here, we may not be able to rent bikes.

It is the end of a chapter and I’m feeling the loss.  While there are many great things to come, and I will buy another bike, I can’t help but feel sad as our trip has come to an end.

Nelson 2009 – Day 9

Today we ride back to Vancouver… Our last day on this vacation and this adventure.

The ride was pleasant, if not a little bit colder than we had hoped.  Eryk and Michelle wished they had packed an extra layer or two.  It is in stark contrast to the ride into our vacation where it felt like 30 degrees was the low!

We stopped in Princeton for lunch, and rode on through to Vancouver after that.  We arrived home around 2:30pm.  It was great to be home, and most of all, see on our little munchkins.  We had a wonderful long nap into the evening in our huge bed and savored being home.

Along the ride home I took some video and photographs from my motorcycle-mounted camera.  Here are those photos and the Video.

This video is a short segment I took while following Nicole on our trip back.  It’s a twisty section, though speed and cornering is difficult to see from the camera’s angle.  It is never the less a little window in to what it looks like to ride on my bike The sound is very poor due to wind noise so you may even want to turn it off.
http://www.vimeo.com/6037274

This next video is very short.  We stopped to let a couple of young deer cross the road and I caught it on video.
http://www.vimeo.com/6043178

The ride to Osoyoos was pleasant.  The weather wasn’t as warm, and we made excellent time.  We arrived by 10:30am, and were not able to check into the campsite.  It was too early.

We decided to grab some lunch, and then go to the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre.  The cultural center was quite interesting, though surprisingly small.  There were several presentations – one on frogs, the other on snakes.  The snakes presentation was quite interesting.  After watching two presentations and wandering around a little outside, it was time to run back to the campsite to get our spot in the campsite.

As it turned out, we got the campsite I like most, right on the corner.  We set up camp quickly, and ran out into the water again.  We had great fun playing in the water and had a nice camp dinner.  The evening was relaxing.  I went for a walk, and then we went off to bed.

Nelson 2009 – Day 7

Today was another unplanned day.

Nicole made us her famous finnish style pancakes in the morning.  Yum!

It was getting warm again, so Nicole and I decided we would see if we could find the beach. As we made our way down to the water, we were talking about how to walk to the park when the historic tram that serves the area stopped and asked if we wanted to get on.  It was a wonderful little ride.  The tram is a restored tram that is over 100 years old.  Years ago Nelson was served by several tram lines.  Although this tram didn’t originally come from Nelson, it was great to be on a piece of history.  The tram drivers were two old men.  They were the perfect tram drivers, stopping for everyone they saw trying to convince them to get on the tram for a ride.

The park turned out to be beautiful.  Lakeside Park was full of wonderful old trees, park benches, a little seawall, a concession stand that even carries organic choices, and a wonderful beach.

We cooled off our feet in the water and helped a fellow have his truck towed out of the water (he went in too deep and couldn’t get back out after dropping his boat off).  We played frisbee on the beach, and the in the park.  Nicole even found dairy-free ice cream at the concession stand!  I love Nelson!

We took the tram back and then went for a walk up to Gyro park.

This park overlooks Nelson and has a couple nice viewpoint.  We relaxed and read in the park, before going for a very pleasant dinner at a vegetarian restaurant in town.

After dinner we wanted to see if we could still find a way to go for a swim.  We had forgotten our bathing suites earlier in the day, so off we went back to Lakeside Park. It turned out to be just a little bit too late.  It was too cool by the time we got back to the park.  We enjoyed sitting on the beach anyway and going for another walk.

For me it was another completely barefoot day.  Wonderful.

Nelson 2009 – Day 6

We had a great sleep and woke up without an alarm.  We packed up quickly and then found a breakfast spot called the Hoot Owl Cafe.  This was a great little place, and clearly was the local choice for a good breakfast.

After breakfast, we were on our way back.  We decided to see if we could tour one of the many hydro dams in the area.  On one of our stop-offs Michelle found a great recommendation.  The Boundary Dam, one of the larger ones in the area, supplies 45% of Seattle’s power.  Several other hydro dams in the area make up the remaining power requirements.  The dam was built from 1963 to 1967, and has 5 generators (3 built by GE, and 2 by Toshiba).  Don’t ask me how I remember these things   It was a good tour, though nothing like the Mica Dam that I remember seeing years ago.

After our tour we were back on our way to the boarder.  The security was high at this crossing.  Just outside Nelson they were hosting a huge music festival, no doubt famous for drugs and alcohol.  As a result we had to chat with 3 US boarder guards while leaving the states, and then a nice Canadian boarder guard on the Canadian side.  Most people were being pulled over to be inspected, so it was great when we made it through the line and were allowed to pass right through.  Nicole even make the whole thing easier by talking about us when she spoke to the guard.  She waved both me and Michelle and Eryk through to the window so she could speak to us all together.

The ride to Nelson was uneventful, and a road we had driven several times before.  Weather was getting darker and we were very lucky that we didn’t get rained on.

Nicole and I went for a nice dinner at Jackson’s Hole back in Nelson and then had a quite night before going to bed.

Nelson 2009 – Day 4

Today was our day-trip day.

We left around 9am, and rode to the Balfour Ferry, where we took the longest free ferry ride in BC. The crossing is about 35 minutes, and the views are really pleasant.

On the other side of the lake is where the real treasure lies. About 1 minutes from the ferry rests a wonderful and suprising collection of some of the most incredible artists. Glass blowers, broom makers, metal smiths, and weavers.  All have studios here. You can shop for treasures, or talk to the artists themselves. Many of them let you watch while they work. The quality of the work is profound. The weaving in particular was breathtaking.

We spent quite a while enjoying the art, and the carried on down a fun and fabulous twisty highway.

We stopped at a beach. It was the very same one I found last year, for a great lunch and a dip in the water with our toes. It was very relaxing. The water was cool and clear, and the view of the mountains was magnificent.

We continued on the wonderful twisty road. This road is rated as one of the best motorcycle roads in BC. We had a blast riding it down to the end of the lake. Once at the southern end of the lake however, the twists decrease. The road now climbs up into the clouds reaching an elevation of 5800 feet. Although surrounded by incredible views, the road wasn’t as fun to ride as the twists.

All said it was a wonderful and relaxing way to spend the morning.

After returning to Nelson we went to find the shoe store that was closed the previous day and bought Nicole a new pair of Birkenstocks.

We then found a snack on one of the many patios on the main road in town.

After all that hard work we had a relaxing couple of hours back at the hostel before enjoying a nice dinner with Michelle and Eryk at the Red Fish.

Nelson 2009 – Day 3

Today was a wonderful restful day. We got up at 1030am! I finally felt well-slept and relaxed. It was another great sunny day here.

We had some lunch, as it was too late to have breakfast, and then enjoyed a wonderful walk through town. Nelson has a great collection of shops full of beautiful art, hand-made crafts, and clothing. We spent hours browsing through shops and enjoying the atmosphere. In the middle of our shopping we stopped in a bead store for an hour and made ourselves some bracelets. Nicole’s is very beautiful.

We stopped for a drink and a snack, relaxed in the hammock outside, and then went our for a nice dinner. After dinner we went for a nice walk along the lake.

Best of all, I spent the entire day BAREFOOT! It was such a great feeling to be able to shop barefoot, eat barefoot, and travel everywhere without anyone being concerned about my bare feet. My feet feel great and I feel very free here. It isn’t uncommon for people to walk around town barefoot in Nelson.

Nelson is such a free, relaxed place.

Nelson 2009 – Day 2

We had a stuffy sleep, though temps did drop mid way through the night.

I was up at 522am. Eryk was up when I returned from my shower, followed by Michelle and then Nicole. We were ready to go by 730am.

The ride to Nelson was fantastic. The temperature was much cooler than the day before. We got a great shot of the group at the viewpoint overlooking Osoyoos on the way out.

We arrived in Nelson at 1130am. We were able to check-in at the White House Backpackers Lodge early (check-in time is normally 4pm). Great clean and affordable rooms.

We went to the Red Fish for lunch, then I had a nap while Nicole read. Eryk and Michelle napped and read as well.

After my nap, Nicole and I went for a walk and I bought a water bottle. We found a great place for dinner and then went back to our room to relax.

Later that evening wert Eryk and Michelle for dinner. It was a great dinner.

Then off to bed!

Nelson 2009 – Day 1

It is with such pleasure that I can write about our trip to Nelson. More than a year ago, as Eryk and I enjoyed a great but short trip to Nelson, and Eryk was dreaming of buying a new Motorcycle, we first started talking about how great it would be for Nicole and Michelle to join us on a trip. Since then I have travelled to Nelson by myself, and to Osoyoos, the mid-way point of the trip. Nelson and the road leading to Nelson have long since become one of my all time favorite places. Filled with so much great scenery, wonderful motorcycling roads, and so many great memories, I love to come here.

So it is with a great smile on my face that I write about our trip from
the road.

We left on Saturday morning. It was a much slower start than we expected and I fear that Eryk and Michelle were probably waiting a long time for us to arrive at their house. We made it to New West by around 730am and set off on our way. The ride was very warm with temps into the high 30’s for most of the day. It was a great feeling to finally be on our way.

We arrived in Osoyoos around 1:30pm, getting the last cabana campsite available. The place was absolutely packed with campers. The Cabana Beach Campsite is our favorite camping destination in Osoyoos. Located right on the lake, each camping site has a small cabana containing a fridge, a sink with cold running water, electrical plug-ins, a light, and shelving and counter space.  There is protection from the elements, and it gives a little privacy when a change of clothes is in order.  They are also a great place to prepare food and to keep drinks and food save and cold in the fridge.

Nicole and I set up camp, an had a swim in the warm water of the lake. It is said that every day in the summer the lake goes up by one degree.  I believe this.  It’s a wonderful warm lake.  After a sweaty ride it was wonderfully refreshing to be in the water. We got dressed again and were on our way by 330pm. We were attending a surprise birthday party for Larry and had to drive to Peachland 100km away.

The ride was very warm – temps now getting into the 40’s. It took us one and a half hours. The party was great fun. We got back to camp by 9pm. We sat on the dock to cool off out feet before going for a short walk and then climbing into bed. Great first day.

Another perfect day for a ride!!  Eryk and Michelle met me at our place at 9am, and off we went for a wonderful ride on the new Sea to Sky highway.

It’s hard to believe it’s the same highway.  The way you get onto it is completly different – in fact, I think  large part of the first 15 km is a new section of the highway all together.  It seems to be a different route.  There are now 2 lanes in each direction for the majority of the trip.

Although the highway is a pleasure to ride, and I wouldn’t take it off my list of places to ride, it lacks the character, and indeed, the real difficult curves that the old highway was so famous for.  It’s not at all a mystery why they did this, but the motorcycling community will cry a collective tear as one of the jewls of highway enjoyment has been changed forever.

None the less, it was a wonderful ride, in perfect weather, with our two perfect friends.

We make it there is about 1.5 hours, including a bunch of slow areas where construction was still taking place.  We had a nice lunch (burgers) and enjoyed the sunshine.  We didn’t stay long after lunch.  The ride back was as good as the one there…

Another enjoyable weekend!

It’s great to have done something more significant with my bike recently

I’ve been riding for more than a month now, rain and shine, since we’ve moved.  It’s been nicer than taking transit on almost all days, and it’s much faster and cheaper as well.  Up until now it’s just been commuting however, so it’s great to be able to write something a little more interesting.

Today Eryk, who recently picked up is brand spanking new BMW GS650, and Michelle rode with me to Golden Ears Park, where we went for a wonderful, if not a little snowey walk along the lower falls trail.  It was a great time, despite being very dissapointed that I couldn’t hike in my Fivefingers… But it was great to hand out with our friends, and go for a mini bike adventure.  Nicole of course joined us as well, taking the car as her bike is still in the shop.

The trail is easy and pleasant, with great views, and a wonderful rocky beach for soaking up the sun and the beautiful surroundings.  I was very pleased that I got some barefoot time into our hike as well – always a plus for me when the shoes can come off

The ride there was a little chilly, with temps around 9 degrees, but the ride back was almost HOT, with my gauge hitting 21!!!  Which is as high as I’ve seen it all year.  Fantastic!  Perfect day.

Well those of you who know me know that I love to plan.  This year I have three holidays, in July, August, and September.  At least 2 out of these thee will be motorcycle trips this year, and I have a funny feeling all three will end up being a motorcycle trip.

In January 2009, Eryk is getting his new BMW, and he and Michelle can start to enjoy their new bike.  In August all 4 of us are going to go on a motorcycle trip together – that will be the highlight of the motorcycling year for me.

As those holidays are now the main thing I’m looking forward to, it’s time to start planning. Originally the idea was to take a trip over to Vancouver Island, head as far north as we could go, and then take a ferry further north, into the Queen Charlotts.  From there we would travel back down to the coast.  While I think the trip would be interesting, on further investigation, I’ve discovered that the drive itself is perhaps not the best for our trip.  It’s relatively straight and uninteresting, and for our trip of the year, I’d really like it to be beautiful with lots of wonderful things to see, and as it’s a motorcycle trip by design, it needs to be fun to ride.  It is also a long trip, with a lot of necessary kilometers to get back home.

The more I think about it, the more I think a trip to Nelson might be the best bet.  As you probably know I already love Nelson, and the idea of revisiting my favorite little town hardly needs serious arm twisting to get me on board.

There are several things that sell the Nelson idea for me. Firstly, the roads are beautiful.  I really enjoy the ride and am sure that we would all really enjoy the trip.  It would be nice for Michelle to see Nelson as so far she is the only one who hasn’t seen Nelson ye – at least not by way of the motorcycle.  Because of the beauty of the surrounding area, I also like the idea of using Nelson as a base camp of sorts, from which we make trips to the surrounding areas. There are beautiful roads and areas around Nelson and dipping down into the US that we have not explored.

I suspect that not all of us are going to want to ride all the time every day, and moods will dictate some of what we end up doing.  We may also not always want to ride in our group of 4.  Someone may wish to stay behind, or just a couple of us might go for a trip.  Using Nelson as a base camp, makes it possible for the 4 of us to have maximum flexibility. If someone wants to stay behind, they can. Nelson is the perfect place to hang if someone does want alone time, or if the weather isn’t very good.  What I propose is that we book the White House Backpackers Lodge for the duration of the trip, give us all a place to stay.  A room is only $50/night and includes a double bed and some privacy.  Eryk and Michelle and Nicole and I would each have our own room giving us even better privacy when we, eh-hem… Need it

There are many trips that we can take from the Nelson area – most are day-trips with a round-trip distance of up to 350km.  A few are part of the larger Selkirk Loop, which extends north of Nelson, and South into the US.  The US part of the loop is a longer ride that would probably be best served by an overnight stay or two. See a map of the Selkirk Loop for some ideas about the motorcycle trips from this area. The two grey maps are maps of a couple of the northern loops from the area – easily done in a day including some relaxation time and stopping.

I realize that it will be a little more expensive to do things this way perhaps than camping, but I think it would be worth it.  This way no one would feel that have to go somewhere because the rest of the group wants to, and it gives us all a chance to have time as couples and by ourselves – which I think will be a big plus on a longer trip like this! If bad weather does hit, we have a safe and comfortable place to spend our time. it also might be cheaper than many places we could stay. See a link for The White House here

Here are a couple links to reviews of some of the roads in the area:
Between Kaslo and New Denver
Kootnay Pass between Crawford Bay and Creston

I would also welcome the time to explore a little more.  I would welcome a trip to spend mond time near that wonderful beach in near Boswell, to spend a little more time in Kaslo, and to visit many more of the small communities that dot the area. I would love to drive down south and visit some of the US.  It looks as though there are many more great roads and places to visit there.

I’m open to ideas however, so if my wonderful friends come up with with another great plan, than I’m open to a different adventure.  It will be great to spend a vacation touring through the mountains on our motorcycles this summer.

That’s all for now.

Al

We went to bed last night at midnight, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that we got up a little later than usual. We were up at 7:30am, got ready, packed, and went into town for a great pancake breakfast at The Red Fish. Did I mention I really like the Red Fish? I had oatmeal and poppyseed pancakes… Very good! I think I have a like minded eating buddy in Eryk – it wasn’t hard to make the choice for all three of our meals in Nelson!
After a great breakfast, back to The Alpine Lodge we went to load our bikes, drop off our keys, and we set off back to Osoyoos.

It was a little later in the morning this time, and so the temperature had already started to climb. It wasn’t long before the temp rose to the 30’s. The ride was a great ride, but quite warm. We started off on a section of the 3a that wound its way through wonderful countryside. We seemed to be the only ones on the road, and in fact, it was only because my GPS had sent us along this lesser used highway that we were on it in the first place.

After about 40km, we connected back to the main highway, quicky found the nearest gas station as we were running out of gas, and continued on our way.

the temp continued to rise as we rode, eventually hitting 38 degrees. It was getting a little too hot for comfort. The wind hitting us was no longer cooling very much (Ok, who am I kidding, the wind was not cooling at all). We were very happy to get into Osoyoos and get our of our riding clothes…

We had reserved our campsite a couple nights ago, so we drove right up to it and set us camp as quickly as we could, and then, then it was time for a nice swim in the lake!

We had a great swim, a little snack, and then watched a thunderstorm come in. I think I even got video of some lightening! The sun shining through the clouds was beautiful. We spent a long time sitting on a dock, feel in the water, just watching. There was lightening and thunder, but it was all in the distance, just behind the town of Osoyoos, but close enough that we saw the lightening strikes, and we could smell the rain.

It never did rain on us very much. There was only a few drops, and with the heat, those evaporated very quickly.

After our light show we relaxed in the tent – Eryk reading, Al listening to the Vinyl Cafe on his Ipod.

Closer to 9:30 I went for another barefoot walk, which I have come to love so much… The pavement is so wonderfully warm and comfortable to walk on, and the sidewalk winds its way along the lake for quite a while. It’s the perfect place to go for a walk.

After I got back I tried to sleep, but the temp would not go down… The hot sun was gone, but the clouds that came in with the thunder storm had trapped in all the heat, and all the rock and sand and concrete must have been radiating it back into the atmosphere… It acctually felt as though it got hotter than 38 degrees.

It wasn’t until some time around 3am when it finally started to cool down, and we finally had a chance to sleep.

We had an early star today! It will be getting a warm for sure! We were up at 5am, after quite a good sleep on my part, and an OK sleep on Eryk’s.

The air is much cooler this morning, but it will warm up quite quickly I’m sure.

Its just about 7am and we are 95 percent packed and ready to go.

Off to Nelson we go!

—

Later:

We had a wonderful ride to Nelson. The weather was perfect because we left so early, and the highway almost completely empty… Fantastic! The section of the highway between Osoyoos and Nelson is just fantastic!

We arrived in Nelson at 11am, checked into the Alpine Motel, showered, unloaded our bikes, and went to have lunch at the Red Fish restaurant.

We had a great stroll around town looking in as many shops as we could (many were closed because of it being Sunday). We then went back to our room, and relaxed for the afternoon. I took a nap, while Eryk surfed the Internet…

After our relax, Eryk put his charged battery back into his bike, and I washed our bikes a bit to clean off all those dead bugs. Afterwards it was back to town for Dinner (Red Fish again – great food again) and then for a bit of a walk down to the water. Now it’s 10:30pm and we are back and ready for bed…

Tomorrow back to Osoyoos….

I’m so very pleased that Eryk and I have gone on this adventure together. Its been a great day.

We left New West around 7am. It was already almost 20 degrees by 9am on our way to Hope. Not a cloud in the sky.

The traffic was quite a bit heavier than when Nicole and I took the route a couple weeks earlier. We came across a massive traffic lineup on the highway, and as Eryk’s bike was starting to over heat, we decided to take the shoulder for a while. We must have saved ourselves almost an hour of waiting in line! It was great. We were not the only motorcycles taking advantage of our small size – there must have been 25 of us taking the shoulder.

We filled up with gas in Agassiz, and passed hope all together. Our first real stop was Princeton, where we stopped for a subway. It was getting quite a bit warmer and we were really started to feel the heat.

The day turned out to be very hot. On our last trip we were cold riding through Manning Park, with temps as low as 5 degrees. Today we were sweating though 25 degrees. As we neared Osoyoos, the temp climbed to 37 and has stayed there for the rest of the day.

We set up camp, had dinner, and had some great conversation while sitting around the picnic table. Later, we drove into town to pick up a few bytes to eat, and then had a swim in the lake.

A great day. So nice to connect with Eryk, to ride this route again, and to have such wonderful weather.

Before bed I’m enjoying a wonderful barefoot walk along the sea wall on wonderful warm pavement. Its still probably 25 degrees, and its 10pm!!! I’ve been walking for just under and hour.

Tomorrow on to Nelson!