The
Squamidian Report – Aug. 17 / 13
Issue #586
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I know, I just did a squid about my solo bike run a week or so ago, but this last ride is different, its a club and chapter ride involving lots of bikes. As mentioned before, last weekend was our ‘over-nighter’ in Cache Creek. There were close to 30 riders from Vancouver Island who came over, as well as 10 from my chapter. The idea is simply to enjoy the ride, which takes you through some of the nicest scenery, and over some of the best riding roads, in the country. There was also another bike club doing the same thing so the whole town was crawling with bikes. Cache Creek has absolutely nothing in it, and that’s what makes it perfect. There are virtually no distractions, a few restaurants and half a dozen motels. That’s about it. Several decades ago, before the Coquhalla highway was put in, Cache Creek was THE major crossroads, where the Trans Canada met #97. It was the gateway to the north, south, east and west. There was truck repair shops, depots, even some industry. Now it’s almost a forgotten town, bypassed by the modern age and modern highway. There is still some truck traffic and tourist traffic but not much else. The surrounding country is ranch land with dry rolling high hills. Its beautiful country to see and ride through.
My CMC chapter met on the Saturday morning at 9am in North Van where we set up our com systems and ran over the riding plan. From there we headed east out ‘the slab’. That’s what bikers call big boring busy highways, bikers prefer small, interesting highways to ride but sometimes ‘the slab’ is needed in order to get somewhere that a more interesting highway doesn’t work for. We rode out to Hope at the east end of the Fraser Valley where we had lunch and then headed up the old, interesting highway #1 through the Fraser Canyon. I had ‘the wife’ on the back, another rider had his wife on the back, and another woman rode her own motorcycle. The rest were men on their machines. We do have other woman riders but they couldn’t make it this time. The day had started off cool with a threat of rain but by the time we reached Hope it was hot and sunny, and I do mean hot. The ride up old highway #1 is a relaxed, winding scenic pleasure. There are half a dozen tunnels as the highway works its way along the Fraser River. Tunnels can be a bit of a challenge on a bike, requiring the riders to look ‘where they are going’, not ‘where they are’. They must use their peripheral vision for monitoring ‘where they are’. The further up the Fraser Canyon we rode, the hotter it became, and that’s normal, the Fraser Canyon and surrounding countryside is noted for being one of the hottest places in Canada, and driest too. At Lytton we pulled off for fuel and water and shade. If our destination had been Lillooet we’d have veered off to the left and taken #12 as it follows the Canyon heading north. Our destination was Cache Creek so we stayed on #1 and rode through some of the most incredible dry rolling hills around. Lytton is where the Thompson River empties into the Fraser, so, obviously, we were now following the Thompson. The Fraser is always a muddy brown, the Thompson an incredible blue green and very refreshing looking. There was one section where there were white water rafters working their way down the river. Along another section there was a very long freight train just above us heading north as we were, and another freight train on the other side of the river heading south.
Just off the highway in a little tiny village called Spence’s Bridge, where in fact the highway crosses over to the west side of the Thompson, is a well know biker bar / restaurant. It was mid afternoon so we didn’t need the restaurant but we did need water and it’s a neat place to stop, so we did. The air conditioning felt good too as the temperature had climbed into the low 40’s, again, common for this area. Several kilometers north of there is where the highway and river diverge. The ride along the river was out-of-this-world. The rest of the way up to Cache Creek is just as nice but slightly different, with high rolling dry hills with rocky outcrops but no river to green up the valley bottoms. We rolled in to Cache Creek about 4:30. Some members from the Island were already there and other groups came rolling in shortly after. Nice seeing old friends and making new ones. The evening was spent chatting and hanging out. Once the bikes were parked, they were left parked. Many members were ready for a cold beer and this club has a very strict ‘zero tolerance’ policy. Drinks are only permitted at the end of the day when the bikes are parked and the keys are put away. No ‘grey’ area, a ZERO policy. The Wife and I settled for ice water, as usual. By the way, the temperature gauge at the motel read 42 degrees. By early evening it had dropped to a comfy 36, by dark it was all the way down to 32. Good thing the motel rooms all have A/C.
There had been some dark thunderstorm clouds building during the evening so I was expecting rain overnight or by morning, but morning dawned clear and comfortable. KSU (kickstands up) was set for 9am. Various groups of riders were heading out after each one did it’s pre-ride meeting. Some had come over the Duffy and were now heading down #1, backtracking the way we had come. We headed for the Duffy. Cache Creek is at the junction of #1 & #97. We headed north on 97 for about 10 clicks to the junction of #99, where 99 terminates, and turned west for our ride to, and then through, the Coastal Range. This top end of 99, down to Lillooet is in my opinion the nicest 90 kilometers of riding road anywhere, period. I’ve mentioned it before, not as spectacular as some highways, not as ‘twisty’ as some, not as challenging as some, but overall, the best because it has it all, along with very little other traffic and a good road surface. The scenery runs from high ranch country to mountain canyons and lakes and the lip of the Fraser Canyon, a couple of thousand feet above the river. Our ride to Lillooet was what riding is all about. There is one section where you pass through a single-lane railway underpass with the drop-off into the canyon right beside you, then immediately negotiate a steep switchback curve that is so tight you need to gear right down into low. We did a photo opp stop at the lookout just before the final drop down to the bridge over the Fraser at Lillooet. That’s the only safe place for a large group of bikes to pull over. We don’t take any chances with loose gravel pull-offs that slope away from the road, don’t want to lose any bikes or bikers.
I wrote about Lillooet a little while ago so need to again now…we don’t go into Lillooet when doing this particular ride, we just skirt by and stop at the gas station just before starting the climb onto the Duffy. One of the earlier groups was there resting and gassing up etc. We did the same while they headed on up the road. It’s highway 99 but ‘road’ is a better term for this section, barely 2 lanes wide, no lines, no shoulders and quite rough, but interesting. Just after we got back on the road we ran into a downpour. There were rainclouds building in the mountains and some directions looked like rain, others looked sunny. The downpour lasted no more than 5 minutes or so, then we were back into sunshine. As we crossed the Duffy we hit sections that had just been rained on and sections that were dry but that was the only and last rain we actually had to ride through. Thanks to our com systems, I was able to guide everyone through the tight curves and switchbacks and over the single lane wooden bridges with no problems at all. We got down through the tar snakes and into the Pemberton Valley just fine. A quick stop for rest and fuel and food and we were on the road again, headed for Whistler, Squamish and back to the city. At Squamish ‘The Wife’ and I dropped out as that’s where we live, and my 3rd officer, the good DrMucker, took over as road captain and lead the group safely back to the city. It was a great weekend with lots of riding and fellowship and camaraderie, and a lot of fun.
A word about our group riding…this was an ‘official’ chapter event and group ride so we obviously rode in an organized group. We train our members for group riding and group safety. Being the senior road captain, I led the way for all but the last leg of the road trip. My 3rd officer, Tommy, rode tail-gun the whole trip. His job, which he does very well, is to control traffic behind us when lane changes are needed and to basically watch over the group from the rear. We ride in a staggered formation generally, but will often switch to single file when conditions require. We try very hard to work with the rest of the traffic and usually, unless there is some impatient jerk on the road, things work out very well. We have been using bike to bike communications this season and that has taken almost all of the stress out of larger group rides. Tommy and I can continually keep each other informed as to what is happening and because most of our riders are ‘on line’ as well, they can listen in when information is being passed back and forth and contribute when necessary. I can warn everyone about various road conditions and potential danger situations including those slippery narrow single lane wooden bridges. We still use the standard hand signals, but we sure like the com system for that added ability to pass information back and forth.
And one last thing, I had my helmet cam running for a good part of the journey and ended up with over 5 hours of really great video. That’s a problem, I have no idea how to edit all of that down into a few short films that catch the true wonder of the country and the ride, there is just way too much good stuff. The light was right, the scenery was right. Now I have way more video than I know what to do with. Oh well, I’ve managed to boil the Hope to Cache Creed section down to a 6:30 min vid from the recording I did as we headed north from Hope. It catches some of the tunnels on the east side of the Fraser , then skips to north of Lytton, along the Thompson river. And I’ve edited as best I can, the 90 kilometer section from the top end of #99 down to Lillooet into a 6 min vid, this is the nicest road to ride anywhere on this continent.
And don’t worry, I don’t have any more ‘major’ rides planned for the near future, that I know of, yet.
Vid #1 – north of Hope along Fraser and Thompson Rivers.
http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/cmcvancouver/media/OldHighway1_zps214efc27.mp4.html
Vid #2 – from junction of 99 & 97 down to Lillooet.
http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/cmcvancouver/media/CacheCr2Lillooet_zpsb5543625.mp4.html
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Have you ever
stopped to look at the amount of “stuff” you’ve collected over the years you’ve
been on this earth? I was out running a few errands the other day and happened
to take notice how many garage doors were open for my viewing as I passed by.
I’d venture to say the 90% of the garages were not used to house the family
vehicle. Most of them were jammed to the rafters with “stuff” and most of them
only had a narrow path through which the owners could pass. When I got home, I
took a good look at my own garage and was relieved to note that I at least had
enough room in mine to house two cars and a motorcycle with space enough to
still walk around them! I must be honest though, I still have way too much
“stuff” hanging, sitting and jammed in the rafters and on the floor and walls
to be able to call it organized. It would be more honest of me to say that my
way of storing my “stuff” is organized confusion at least! I have a workbench
at the back end of the garage with a set of cupboards above the bench. There is
also a set of cupboards on the left wall that are filled with “Stuff” and
another cupboard and shelf on the right wall also filled with “Stuff”. We tend
to accumulate items throughout our lives that we use intermittently with the
thought in mind that we will one day soon need that particular item again so
it’s important to have it within arms reach. When we look around with thoughts
of thinning out our collection of “stuff” we also tend to say as we view each
item “Nope, I’ll need that as soon as I get rid of it, so I’d better hang on to
that!” It’s said that if you haven’t used something in a years time, it’s time
to get rid of it but darn it all anyway, its hard to part with such cool stuff
isn’t it? You wind up saying to yourself that you purchased that item for a
good reason and you really should hang onto it! Then you’ve just talked yourself
into keeping it for another year. I know that we have “stuff” around our house
that hasn’t been used in years let alone recently! We have a walk in closet in
the basement filled with games, pots and pans, boxes of old Fire Department
uniforms, clothing, mostly coats not to mention coolers, picnic stuff and Lord
knows what all else. I know if we were honest about it, most of that “stuff”
could be sold in our next garage sale or donated to a worthy organization or
cause. Over the years I’ve built two more sizeable closets in one of the
basement rooms to hold even more “stuff” that we stopped using a few years ago
and have basically forgotten about. Maybe it’s time to dig out a pile of these
items and have another “Garage Sale”. When you’ve collected for 40 years and
very rarely sold or discarded anything from your collection of “stuff” the
house tends to seem smaller and smaller inside with each passing year! So,
instead of commenting on how stuffed 90% of my neighbour’s garages are, maybe
it’s time to divest myself of half of my own “Stuff” and see how it feels to
make more space in our house rather than trying to find a spot to put our
latest acquisitions! I’ll have to take inventory over the next few months and
see if there isn’t something that might be of use to someone else. That is, IF
there is such an item among my “Stuff”!
It’s all pretty much
necessary “Stuff” to hang on to if I recall correctly!
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>
Check your wallets
and purses for that lottery ticket you bought on a whim 364 days ago before it
expires! It just might be a WINNER!
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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.