The Squamidian Report – July 12 / 08
Issue #320
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We are back from the best trip I’ve ever had, motorcycle or otherwise. Viewing the world from the seat of a motorcycle is so much more inclusive that through the window of a car. Sue and I put a whopping 8056 kilometers on the Harley over the two weeks we were on the road. It is going to me a few days to organize my thoughts and all the pictures we took so I’ll fill in the details over the next couple of issues. For now I’ll just give you an overview. For starters, we were gone long enough to loose ourselves in the adventure. By the time we had been on the road for several days I no longer even knew what day it was. It simply didn’t matter.
We had left from Squamish on Friday, June 27 as planned and spent that night in Kamloops where the bike was serviced the next day. After that we just rode and enjoyed the scenery and the environment we rode through. We hooked up with Paul and Sherry in Nipigon Ontario on the north shore of Lake Superior and went from there, two loaded down bikes and four good friends riding along. We headed down into the States the next day.
One thing that became apparent as we rode through time and distance is that there is a very real ‘brotherhood of the road’ out there. Virtually every biker is your best friend or long lost buddy. Every biker is ready to tell you the story of his or her adventures. Every biker is smiles and waves as you ride by or pull up. The bike culture gets stronger as you ride into the US southwest. Down through the Dakota’s the number of bikes on the road increases with each mile. (‘Mile’, for you younger readers, is an American measurement of distance). Once down into the areas where bikes are almost the dominant vehicles on the roads, whole towns are geared up to welcome them. Motels have their best parking spots reserved for bikes. Every store features merchandise aimed at bikers. Motorcycling is a way of life and if you ride one, you are a welcome member of that life style.
We rode through some of the most incredible scenery in the world, on roads and highways that are in immaculate condition and through towns that are clean and spotless. We were stopped on a road as a herd of buffalo surrounded us. We rode through several of the big US National parks and forests. We roasted under an intense brilliant sun. We loved every second of it. In the north end of Yellowstone Park we split up as Paul and Sherry needed to head for the northeast and we needed to head for the northwest.
A few days later we were home. On the last day of riding we had to fight our way through a vicious windstorm that was lashing the west coast and the BC central interior. That was the physically hardest riding I’ve ever done. The gusts and turbulence wanted to lift the bike right off the road. However, there was simply nowhere to pull over that would have provided shelter until we were out into the Fraser Valley and by that time the winds had died off and the sun was out, shining brightly. After two weeks of travel, the bike needs a good bath and we need some rest, but I’d hit the rode again at the drop of a dime if it were up to me.
Incidentally, while I know Paul and Sherry weren’t so lucky, Sue and I didn’t have to use our rain gear even once during the whole trip. We did use our heated vests once, and a whole lot of sun block.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello
everyone!
Just to
let you know that we’ll be away for the next two weeks.
I’m sure Doug will be able to handle things
without me for that short a time. Heck, as Doug said to me before they left on
their bike trip, “Even the best of writers need a sabbatical now and then!” I
guess that means a break from the weekly grind of writing a regular column!
LOL!
I look
forward to returning with a few tales to tell!
Enjoy the
break everyone!
Greg.
****
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.