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The
Squamidian
Report – Aug.
13
/ 22
Online Versions Of This And Past Issues (Choose the year and then the date for the online issue you want) Issue #1055
Hey There,
This has been a rather disappointing summer. Either too wet and cold or too hot with no in-between. Then there was the kidney stones that knocked me on my ass for a couple of weeks, and an impacted tooth that is waiting to be root canalled by a specialist. And now my Sportster seems to have a bad rear wheel bearing. Just no end to frustrations. However, we actually got out on the bike for a day trip over to the Sunshine Coast. It was on the way back the rear wheel started howling. A couple we know has a cabin way up in the hills near Pender Harbour. So, 5 bikes from our group met at the ferry on Monday morning. Monday because thats senior’s day and therefor we only had to pay for the vehicle, not for us old farts. The crossing over to Langdale (Gibson’s) takes about 45 minutes. I thought traffic and tourist congestion was bad here, over there it’s almost unbearable and to make it worse, the roads are narrow, very winding, and bumpy. But, we got there.
We did a nice BBQ and enjoyed the setting, the cabin being up on a hill surrounded by tall trees. Many of the trees are arbutus, a kind of ever green broad leaf tree that looses it’s bark each year, not it’s leaves. They are pretty interesting, can get very big, and never grow more than a click or so from salt water. The inner bark is a bright copper red. Pictures below.
The day was hot, the riding was hot but thats how it goes. Lot of water consumption etc to try to say hydrated.
I was getting a bit antsy by mid afternoon as we had wanted to catch the return ferry that would get us back to the ‘main land’ with lots of time to ride back up the highway before dark. My eyes don’t work well in the dark anymore as I’m waiting for cataract treatment that might not happen for who knows how long. That seems to be the way it is these days. I tend to loose my parifrial vision as well as depth perception in the dark and all oncoming lights create glare so I wanted to be home before dark. That didn’t happen. Our ‘host’ screwed up the departure time, then lead us along some back roads that took more time, and we missed the ferry by about 10 minutes. That meant a 2 hour wait for the next one. It was getting dark as we rode off the ferry at the Horseshoe Bay side and so I had to ride up the highway in the dark. It’s a 50k ride from the Bay to home. Luckily the traffic was light and the ride went ok. I was tired when we got home. But, it was a good day, some adventure, lots of riding.
Oh, and just so you know, phase 3 of our renovations has begun. That being the master bedroom’s bathroom getting totally gutted and the tube removed, a tile and glass shower put in, heated tile flooring etc. It’s all so very over whelming.
doug **** Take
Care |
