The
Squamidian Report – Aug. 10 / 13
Issue #585
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Sorry, got a bit long winded this week…..
Ok, as I was saying, I did a nice 3-day ride on the motorcycle into the BC southern Interior. Actually, I was gone for 3 nights but that’s just a technicality. I left home on the Tuesday afternoon in order to attend my chapter’s normal Tuesday evening meet & greet and then headed for Maple Ridge from Horseshoe Bay instead of heading for home. What that accomplished was that by going out to Ryan’s place in the late evening I could get through the normally heavy and hectic Vancouver / Burnaby etc traffic when it was fairly quiet. Ryan met me about half way and we did a nice ride through some of the farm country north of Maple Ridge. That was nice, I was able to smell freshly mown hay along the way, one of those incredibly wonderful smells from times gone by. Also rode past fields of commercial blueberries and so on. We don’t have that kind of thing up here in the mountains. By going to Maple Ridge in the evening I avoided the traffic jams and mad rude drivers that make up the morning rush along the Upper Levels and all the way out to Langley.
I was on the bike by about 7am Wednesday morning and headed east on #7, rode along the Fraser River out to Mission where I crossed over to Abbottsford and jumped onto the TC eastbound toward Hope. I’ve always found it easier to stop just east of Abbottsford at Watcom Rd (about 85 clicks west of Hope) and top up the fuel tank rather than go into Hope for fuel so that’s what I did. Had a coffee and then away I went. The run from there, bypassing Hope, and heading east on #3 through Manning Pk and over the Allison Pass to Princeton is always nice as long as the weather is good, which it was. A bit chilly over the Pass but quite nice. While cruising along over the higher elevations a few lines from one of my songs popped into my head…. “there’s a scent in the air from the spruce and the firs and from the cedars that still remain”…, because the aroma of the high mountain trees filled the air, and was wonderful. That’s just one of the many things that make riding such a pleasure. I very much doubt anyone in a passing car would have noticed the smell of the trees. They would have had their windows up and been totally insulated from the world they were passing though. There is a saying that riding in a car is like watching a movie, assuming they are even paying any attention, riding on a bike is like being IN that movie. Very true. There is the solitude and inner peace that is the reward of anyone solo riding long distances, but you’d have to be a rider to understand what I mean.
The intension was to hook up with an old friend who lives in the Kootenay’s. He was riding west and we’d meet in Princeton at a gas station that is almost exactly half way between his place and mine. We intended to fuel up and then head for Osoyoos for lunch. My cell phone had received a text message about 20 min or so before I got to the station in Princeton, the one at the bottom of the hill as you drop down out of the mountains. After fueling up, I checked, it was him saying he was running late and that we could just keep an eye out for each other as I continued east. As I headed out I did a mental calculation, based on the time of his message and the distance he would have travelled etc and figured we’d meet at about 11am, give or take 5 minutes depending on traffic. We met at exactly 11:01. That was cool. Pulled over and chatted, then rode to Osoyoos. The road from Princeton to Osoyoos is through the Similkameen Valley with the high dry hills on both sides and the river winding its way along. There are ranches and grape vineyards, both requiring the river for irrigation. And it was hot through there but not near as hot as when we pulled in to Osoyoos. That area can be a scorcher, just like all the southern Interior valleys. After lunch we headed on east on #3 and worked our way along through the small villages and over the high areas that separate the valleys. Between the Christina Lakes east of Grand Forks, and Castlegar, is the Pulson pass and it was refreshingly chilly riding over it. My friend lives halfway between Castlegar and Nelson and we were at his place by late afternoon where we enjoyed a good visit and a warm summer evening.
Next morning we saddled up and rode into Nelson for breakfast and then did the scenic loop down #6 through Salmo and then on to Fruitvale and Trail. There is a large motorcycle accessories outlet in Fruitvale that has pretty well everything you’d want from leather goods to chrome to helmets to maintenance items. We spent some time wandering around there on our cruised through. Trail is on the Columbia River just upstream from where it crosses into the States, all that nice Canadian water gone forever over the border. Oh well. Our loop brought us back up to Castlegar where we fuelled up and we headed off in our own directions, he back to his place and I turned west on #3. I followed 3 again until Rock Creek where I turned north up 33. Highway 33 takes you though mountain valleys and over passes and along rivers, basically a rider’s dream. So many of BC’s highways are a rider’s dream. Traffic was almost non-existent making it even better. It brings you out on the east side of Kelowna, and from there up to Vernon is typical fast heavy city traffic. Just north of Vernon is the cut-off to #97, another rider’s dream. High dry rolling hills, sweeping curves and ranch land with a few tight switch-backs thrown in. You end up on the Trans Canada about 25 clicks east of Kamloops where the highway follows the Thompson River. By now it was 4pm and afternoon traffic was building and the air was typical Kamloops hot so I blasted right on through and followed the old highway out to Cache Creek. I’ve written about that section before, how the route follows the river and skirts along Kamloops Lake, twists up the climb out of Deadman’s Creek and so on. Again, a rider’s dream. It was probably about 6pm when I pulled in to Cache Creek and booked a motel room in the same motel we have stayed at several other times. I spent the evening wandering around the town, or village, whatever it is. It’s pretty small and aside from motels there is not really much there. It uses to be a major cross-roads before the highway 5 bypass out of Kamloops was built but that was a while ago.
My ride to that point had been hot and sunny but there were storm clouds building in from the north west. The motel has a wide overhang and from past experience I knew the bike could be kept dry and comfortable by simply parking it sideways in the parking spot by the room door, under the overhang. A couple other bikers watched with interest and when I explained what and why, they did the same. There were a few showers during the night and the bikes stayed dry. Morning dawned refreshingly cool but dry, and the dark clouds were still there so I knew I’d probably hit rain on the Duffy or closer to the coast. I had intended to have a lazy morning and take my time and not bother heading out until 8:30 or so but by 7:30 I was itching to go so I did. Just north of Cache Creek is the where the top end of #99 junctions with 97 North. From the moment you turn onto 99, you are riding one of the nicest, most enjoyable sections of highway in all of North America. There are highways that are perhaps more spectacular, or more twisty etc but for shear riding enjoyment nothing can compare to the ride from the 99/97 junction on down to Lillooet which is at the north end of the Duffy. There are sections where you are cruising though ranch land, sections through mountain valleys, sections where you hang a couple of thousand feet above the Fraser River with almost nothing between you and nothing. You pass through Marble Canyon and you cross the CN tracks several times as the line works its way along. There is a single lane underpass that can catch drivers by surprise followed by a switchback that is so tight and steep that you need to drag your clutch in first gear. That road is a rider’s dream.
You drop down to the bridge that crosses the Fraser over to Lillooet and from there climb up onto the Duffy. Riders come from all over just to ride the Duffy. It is steep, narrow, twisty and unforgiving. It is high mountain and the weather can change in an instant. I put my rain gear on in Lillooet. The overcast was low, well, lower than the mountain tops around me. At times the road was wet but I didn’t hit any rain until I was pretty well across. Its 100 kilometers from Lillooet to Pemberton. Right where you start the decent down, there is a sign warning drivers that the next 13k are steep and windy. Many drivers ignore this info and start down way too fast, ending up out-of-control with burned out brakes long before they get to the bottom. Just as I started down I ran into the cloud bank that was hugging the west side of the range. Visibility dropped to less that 200 ft and at times was less than 100. I was a bit worried as I picked my way down that some jerk would come speeding down behind me, no brakes and out of control but thankfully no one did. A lone bike in heavy fog is quite vulnerable. By the time I was down to where the slippery new tar snakes are, I was no longer concerned because anyone out of control would have never made it that far. Just before the bottom I ran out of the fog. The road along the Pemberton Valley is narrow and very windy as well but flat, an easy rest as you ride on into Pemberton were I stopped for a coffee. I was glad for my rain gear in the thick fog as it was very wet. I was glad I had put on my full-face helmet as my windshield had immediately fogged up when I entered the cloud bank. My riding goggles would have fogged up like the windshield had I been wearing them. The visor on the helmet can be cracked open a bit so the rushing air keeps it clear.
I’ve documented the ride on down from Pemberton through Whistler several times already so no need for much detail. It was easy and enjoyable. There were several spots where the road was wet and on-coming vehicles had their wipers going, but I didn’t hit any rain until about Brohm Lake. I rode the last 12k into Squamish in a light rain. Not a problem. In fact, after a month of no rain, any rain was welcome. I was home by early afternoon and had put 1750 k on the bike, had enjoyed a fantastic 3 days of riding, and wished I could have just kept on going. Oh well, hopefully next time won’t be too far away. The bike ran smooth as silk and purred like a kitten, but needed a bath. She got her wash and shine the next day.
I didn’t take any pictures. I’ve taken pictures along many parts of the area in the past. I had intended to take some video, but whenever I was riding though the open dry sections where I wanted to video, the sun was always a bit in my eyes which meant it would be effecting the video quality, washing it out. So, I’ll have to do that next time, which might be this weekend because my chapter along with several other chapters, is doing an over-nighter to Cache Creek.
One more thing for anyone still reading, but not about biking. I’ve had the absolute pleasure of watching Venus set on several evenings this past week. The elliptic line is so shallow this time of year that it is still half light when Venus slips below the horizon, and my western horizon here is pretty high due to the mountains across the valley from us. So there is just a very small window between when it is dark enough for Venus to be visible and when she dips out of sight. Someone up on a high ridge or on the outer coast would have a longer viewing time, but I’ll take what I can get, and it has been nice. The ‘apparent’ speed of movement is amazingly fast when watched through a small scope. Heck, you can even see the apparent movement with the naked eye. Of course, its not Venus that is doing the moving you observe, it’s the Earth rotating, we are the ones doing all the visible moving.
Saturn is still visible in the late evening sky and into the early night but she’s getting pretty low in the south west now too. Jupiter can be seen just before dawn in the east, and just as it starts to get light, illusive Mercury is available to all her admirers. Enjoy.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, if you’ve been
whining about the weather lately here in KW, you should be cheering your little
head of for the next two weeks at least! After checking the long-range forecast
on the net, we’re supposed to be in for 14 days of straight sunshine and +24c
temps in our region. So, please don’t let me hear any complaints about no
summer weather from the cheap seats any time soon! If you think about it, we
need rain every once in a while to keep the crops growing and the grass green.
What would you have to mow if all the lawns turned brown and shriveled up? Then
you’d be complaining that you had nothing to do around the yard and heaven
forbid, that would never do! Hang in there folks, summer is here for a good
while yet I’m sure!
*
Speaking of great
vehicles, my cousin is retired and also a single guy who decided to treat
himself to a nice new Corvette. He bought himself a beautiful bright red
Corvette with a black leather interior. What a beauty of a vehicle. I’ve had a
few rides over the past couple of weeks in it and it is amazing. I remember
buying myself a new 1972 Corvette and thought I had the world by the tail. Mind
you back in the day, it was a pretty spectacular vehicle but if it were sitting
side by side with today’s Corvette it would seem like a joke! The new ones are
so sophisticated and flawless that they put the previous 40 years of Vettes to shame. This new model my cousin has is not only
amazing looking but it amazingly fast! It’s not the supercharged $135,000.00
model but it still puts out 425 hp and is driven with a 6-speed standard shift
transmission. Back in the day when I had my 72 and a little later my 74
Corvette, I could count on attaining approximately 15 MPG city and if I was
lucky, maybe 18 MPG highway for fuel economy. Wait, did I say “economy”? What I
should have said was fuel consumption! They were not known to be economical
fuel wise at all over the years. However, my cousin is amazed at the fuel
economy of his new machine. He has tested and kept track of how many MPG’s he’s getting on the highway as well as the city and
he’s shocked at both figures. The 6 speed tranny
makes all the difference when it comes to better mileage, not to mention the
fact that the new fuel injection systems have come a long way over the old
carbureted ones. Even with such monstrous power under the hood, his new Vette gives him phenomenal economy of 25 mpg/city and 38
mpg/highway! Of course if you drive like a lead-footed fool, you can drop both
of those figures significantly so there is a point to consider when paying
today’s fuel prices! Now, you can’t own a vehicle of this nature without
wanting to punch it to the floor once in a while but for the most part, he says
that just knowing all that power is there when needed is almost enough, almost
that is! LOL!
After driving his
new beauty for a month or more, he has almost no complaints about the
performance or design. I say almost no complaints because there is one annoying
design flaw that bugs him just a tad. The new Corvette is a very low riding car
and with a front lower spoiler that’s akin to a snow plow blade he said he has
to be very aware of it’s tendency to scrape the road when passing over large
speed bumps and entering or exiting even moderately sloped driveway ramps. It’s
too bad that Chevy didn’t make the spoiler out of a flexible material rather
than fiberglass. At least then it would only cause cosmetic damage rather than
structural breakage if one should happen to hit one of these road bumps with
any force at all. So far, he’s not hit anything with his front spoiler hard
enough to damage it but it seams like it’ll only be a matter of time! Hopefully
he’ll be ever mindful of his low front end and it won’t happen. Anyway,
thinking of this situation makes me kind of glad we drive a Jeep! LOL! Unless I
drive over a FIAT there isn’t much chance of my bottom scraping bottom! Hahahaha….
Unless the Lotto
group that Doug and I belong to picks up a big win soon, there won’t be any
Corvette in my near future! LOL! We’ve been trying to win this lotto for many
years now but we’re not giving up any time soon! I’ve had a good feeling about
winning a big one all along so I’m not going to let a few dozen years of losses
get me down, right Doug? We don’t want much, just a million or two for each of
the 10 members of our lotto group will do! THEN, I’ll go shopping for a new car
and the new Jaguar F Type looks like a good bet. I think a nice British Racing
Green one would look great sitting in our driveway! Oh well, I can dream can’t
I?
That’s about 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>
In high school we went on a class trip to the local Coca-Cola plant. The most difficult part of the whole experience came afterwards when we were given a “Pop Quiz”!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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