The
Squamidian Report – June 16 / 12
Issue #525
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I was gone on another 2-day ride early this week. It wasn’t ‘my’ ride, I was just tagging along with Ryan and two guys from the Adam’s tour, one being one of the techs and the other being the base player in the band. The ride officially started in Vancouver at the Harley dealer where the tech guy rented a bike. He had just flown out from Hamilton for the next phase of the Adam’s tour which is in Victoria and Vancouver. The base player lives in North Van and has his own bike.
For a change, the first day, Monday, was bright and sunny and almost warm. We are not used to that but managed to put up with not being cold and wet. Our route took us out to Hope and then across Alison Pass on highway 3 to Princeton and the Keremeos where we then followed 97c up to Penticton. From there we rode up toward West Kalowna where we caught the connector over to Merritt. So, we had ridden through some very scenic rugged mountains, some scenic rolling wild west type country and along the Okanogan Lake system. The connector took us right up into the very high country where there is still snow along the sides of the road. This kind of riding simply blew the Hamilton rider’s mind. Somehow the Hamilton ‘Mountain’ didn’t quite compare.
From Merritt we took the fast, high Coquihalla up to Kamloops. When you leave Merritt heading north, you climb steadily for over 20 kilometers before there is any break in the rate of climb, then there is a spot where the highway levels off for a short distance and then you climb again for another 6 clicks, another slight leveling off, and then another climb for several clicks more. On hot summer days there are always over-heated vehicles pulled off to the side. On the down-hill side, there are always vehicles with their brakes on fire. The smell of burned or burning brakes is common. At Kamloops we turned west on the old highway 1 and rode to Cashe Creek where we spent the night. I had called ahead from Merritt to a motel we have used before and reserved our rooms, good thing because we got the last 3 rooms available. The motel in Cashe Creek is the kind where you park right outside your room door, its clean, cheap and friendly which is all you need. Nothing fancy. We had originally intended to over-night in Kamloops but the forecast for Tuesday was rain and so we decided reduce our Tuesday ride by 85 clicks, just in case. Something we noticed, the usually dry brown hills of the Okanagan and the Merritt and South Thompson areas are green. The Okanagan doesn’t seem to qualify as a desert any more.
We parked the bikes under the eaves of the motel where they would stay nice and dry but the night had stayed dry which was good because that meant we didn’t have to start off in the rain. The ride through Marble Canyon and that section of the Fraser Canyon was great, we made it to Lillooet before hitting any rain. We knew our luck would run out as we rode over the Duffy, and we were right. We started running into a few showers by the time we had climbed up into the higher sections where there is still snow along the roadway, just like in the other mountain passes we rode through. The low ceiling blocked some of the views but it was still very nice. Pemberton was dry, but we hit the really enthusiastic rain half way down to Whistler where we stopped at the Wildwood for lunch. The further south we rode, the harder the rain came down. By the time we got to Squamish we were getting pretty wet but we had to escort our Ontario rider back to his hotel in Vancouver, so we escorted both of them down to the city. It was pretty well a downpour by then and everyone was drenched right through their rain gear. However, Ryan and I still had the ride back to Squamish. We probably looked like drowned rats by the time we pulled into the garage but it had been good. We had ridden some spectacular roads, seen some spectacular scenery and had enjoyed the fellowship of the ride and that is what it is all about. It took 2 days to get our gear dried out.
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There was an interesting article in the news this week. We are just half way through the month of June, and this June is in line for becoming the coldest June on record for Vancouver and the south coast and most of southern BC. It has averaged a full 2 degrees colder than ‘normal’, and that is a lot. There is no relief or change in sight in the long-term forecast, just more cold and wet. And to put this in perspective, the coldest June on record to date that we will probably beat was LAST YEAR.
Here’s an example of how cold it has been, Harley’s like the one I ride have a rather useless air temperature gauge in their instrument cluster. Face, who needs an air temperature gauge when riding a bike? You can pretty well tell if its cold out or warm out or hot out or whatever, but anyway, I have only seem my temperature gauge climb above 60 (Harleys are American and therefore the gauge reads in F) twice this year. Both times while riding in the Interior and both times it was during the ‘heat of the day’ and along a valley bottom. But perhaps I should clarify something. I am not complaining, I am simply reporting life and conditions as I experience them. I would not trade our cold for the heat and humidity some parts of the world have had for anything. Our air is clean and pure and wonderful to breath.
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I’ll end on a funny little note…. Several of the young boys on our street ride unicycles. They range in age from about 8 to 10 or 11. Anyway, they are quite good on them and go scooting all over the place, often riding in single file one after the other as they go around in circles or up and down the driveways. What is really cool is to watch 2 or 3 of them go by on their way to school in the mornings as we walk the dog. It looks like a small circus act or some kind of live cartoon. Really cool.
By the way, ‘The Wife’ and I did a ride to Whistler and back on Friday for lunch. On the way back we counted 10 black bears along the side of the highway, 4 adults and 6 cubs. Makes you wonder how many were there that we didn’t see.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
The weather is fine and things are looking good for a great summer this year! I just heard a report that the Frank Heatherington a Kitchener city councilor is asking the city to reconsider allowing an old building in the city core to be demolished. In the Charles St and Joseph St area of the city where the Lang Tanning business was established many years ago but had gone out of business, the city issued a permit to allow a Developer to demolish several of the existing buildings on that site. They went ahead a few years ago and tore down two of the large buildings and used the space for parking lots to accommodate the vehicles of the visitors and employees of the reconditioned main refurbished “Lang Tannery” building. They apparently did a wonderful job of rebuilding the old factory and it now contains amazing architecture that houses offices and other businesses. In that original permit there was mention of a third building that was behind the main factory in the original set up. That particular building has had many uses over the years after being the original “hide” storage house for the tannery.
The most prominent thing that I can remember seeing it used for was a body shop for the 60’s and 70’s Jackson Motors Ltd, a Chrysler dealership! I guess it’s been used for storage of all sorts since the 70’s and is now the subject of discussion at city council once again. Apparently the demolition permit is still in effect for another year but the original holders of the permit have sold the complex of the Tannery buildings to another developer. He apparently is thinking of using the permit to demolish the last “hide” house for further development. Well, Frank Heatherington has taken up the cause and is trying to have the permit revoked so as to save another of Kitchener’s heritage buildings from the Wrecking Ball! He has said that since he’s been a citizen here in Kitchener, the city has allowed the demolition of too many valuable old heritage sites and that it’s time to stop the hammer from falling or Ball from swinging as it were! I think he’s got a good cause here and it’s time for the citizens of Kitchener to back a worthwhile cause for a change! There’s altogether too much destruction been going on over the years and now it’s time to save what’s left of our lovely historical buildings and sites! At least the original developers of the Tannery site did a beautiful job of rebuilding what is now an attractive and useful complex. I hope Frank is able to stop the demolition of the last Tannery building and is able also to successfully plead his case with the new owners to make it into something beautiful once again!
As Frank Heatherington has stated, he has had over his years as a newspaper man and now a city councilor had many many people comment to him how much of a disaster it was that a former Kitchener city council allowed the destruction of the “Old City Hall” at King and Frederick St’s. That truly was a shame to have lost that beautiful building and if Frank has his way, the “Wrecking Ball” will swing a lot less in the future here in Kitchener!
I for one agree with preserving our past historical buildings and look forward to Franks succeeding with his efforts to change the councils habit of issuing demolition permits with such abandon!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
A sign on the lawn of a drug rehab centre read “Keep Off The Grass”.
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.