Motorcycle Adventures

I spent yesterday after working pleasantly cleaning my bike, and then loading it for my little trip.  All I need to do this AM is get on and go!  And I should be off some time before 7am.  All I need to do is shower and have breakfast.

Well it’s almost time to go on my first overnight adventure of the year…

I have both Thursday and Friday off this week, making for a wonderful extra-long weekend.  I’m going to head off to Osoyoos again for a little camping weekend.  So far weather looks quite good – with Thursday and Friday being fantastic, and Saturday looking like a little rain might be possible.  Sunday looks good again.  Hopefully the weather holds like this.

I packed everything up today so that I can take care of any last-minute items tomorrow night and not need to rush.

Should be a nice relaxing weeend.

We are so very pleased to say that doggie sitting has been arranged for all 3 of our vacations!!  I was going to mount Mandy on top of my helmet, but now I don’t have to!!

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!

A wonderful ride today with our awsome friends Eryk and Michelle.   We started off in New West, and took the number Lougheed Highway to Mission, were Eryk treated us to a wonderul brunch.  Then, on to Harrison.

We had a nice walk around Harrison, took a look at the art exhibit, and then went back.

It was a wonderful warm day, sunny with a few clouds.  Perfect day!!!

Well today was yet another wonderful day with Nicole. After a relaxing sleep in and morning, we rode our motorcycles to Wreck Beach. We spend several hours relaxing, soaking up the sun. We ate a healthy lunch while enjoying sea air. There is no beach quite as relaxing, entertaining, beautiful, and free as Wreck.

Sorry, no photos today

Afterward we went into town, and watched the new Star Trek movie. It was great! It was funny, with great action, a reasonably good storey line, better than average acting, and some great special effects. The best part was how much the movie enjoyed making fun of the old Star Trek. It was a refreshing change… It’s worth seeing, and probably even worth seeing in the theater.

We had a wonderful ride to the West Van sea wall today. The plan was to go to Capers at Marine and 25th street (which we discoverd has vanished) and then go on to White Cliff Park afterwards…

Instead, we bought yummy luch treats including the obligatory box of fresh chocolate chip cookies, and parked ourselves on the beach, enjoying the sun and the sea air… Nicole gave me a message… It was so wonderful… Beyond relaxing.  A wonderful way to spend an afternoon, and a great way for us to connect.

Below a couple shots from today, including our now famous feet shots   It is after all the same view we had through our own toes

Hey Everyone, Nicole’s Bike is Back!!!!

After having spent the winter hibernating, Nicole’s bike is now back from the shop.  It went in late March for major repairs ($7000 worth, more if you include the helmet) from the rear-ending that Nicole got last fall…  John Volk did an excellent job repairing it – it looks absolutely brand new.  There isn’t even any dirt on the engine.  As with all thinks John Volk, they took thier time with the repair, but they did a great job.

Nice to have Nicole back on the road again!!!

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 I’m so pleased for Eryk – he has recently brought home a brand new, long awaited BMW GS650!  I have yet to see it yet because we’ve been so busy. 

I can’t wait to go for rides with him!!!

It’s been so cold I haven’t been able to get on my bike in many weeks – I’ve got the itch and can’t wait to ride on a daily basis again!

Yay! Reinsured the bike today. Wonderful weather, though the mornings are still too cold to ride. Nice to have options however. Can’t wait to go for a rise.

Well a little bit, NO, a LOT of fun was had today with our best friends Eryk and Michelle, as Nicole and I spent our day hopping from bike to bike and scooter to scooter at the 2009 Motorcycle Show.

It was a good show this year, but not a lot was new.  It was the first year where none of us went looking for something specific to buy, though Nicole and I did pick up a map of motorcycle routes in BC that we’ve been looking at for a coulple years…

None the less it was an enjoyable time, and the time spent with our friends was great.

Oh today was nice…  A nice winter ride on a weekend… I’ve been itching to get on my bike again for weeks now.  It takes time to build-up itch to ride, but it’s always buidling slowly in the background for me, until finally it becomes a burning desire…  Something I think about all the time – and recently I’ve been feeling like this.

Today it was finally sunny, minimal snow on the ground and reasonably dry streets, so I thought it was time to take her out for a spin.  It was a nice ride.  I took Loughneed Highway to 160th street, turned around, and came back home.  It wasn’t a beautful route or an amazing ride, but it was wonderful to get back out and to stratch that itch!!!

The only problem with scratching itches… Is that another itch pops up somewhere else… 

Well It’s great news…. Eryk, Michelle, Nicole and I are on all board with the same plan to travel back to Nelson this August for our long awaited best friend motorcycle adventure

I’m thrilled.  I have reserved 2 rooms in the hostel I stayed at before for the length of our stay.  The reservations can be changed if needed, but for now we have all the firm plans we need in place for our vacation!

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