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Trip Reports
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Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 21:01:51 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Islandman
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: Catching Moose
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
I'm pleasantly exhausted after chasing moose all weekend with a bunch of
crazy WL riders. For me, the route was the quintessential "mountain
twisties" experience. What a hoot! The Connie really impressed me with
its ability to keep up and not completely fall apart. OK, some parts
DID fly off...
Many many thanks to our many fine Canadian hosts! What a country! My
first time to Western Canada. A special thank you to the Dave McD and
family for opening their house to dirty biker scum and making us feel so
welcome. Those kids were a real joy.
So I get home... pleasantly tired, and Frieda's throwing a BBQ party for
6 guests! More fun... 9pm time to crash :)
-Brian
"I gotta get me a pair of those".
--
| Brian D. Schieber, Vashon Island, WA
| email: brian_schieber@email.com
| chat: brian_schieber (MSN), brianschieber (AIM)
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 10:31:17 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: "Andrea"
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: Chased the Moose! (Long)
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
I can't believe it's nearly 7p.m. pm the Sunday of Chase the Moose weekend,
and no one has yet written a ride report!?@ Well then, let me be the first.
Wait... wait! Let me open my bottle of Chardonnay... ahhhh, much better.
Well now, where to start? Friday, perhaps. I was hoping to leave work by
around 1p.m. to get a reasonable start on the weekend, but my boss had other
plans. Got home at 4:30, packed, gassed up, did the typical bike check and
was on the road by 5:08 (I looked). I anticipated the worst, and was
spot-on as far as traffic. Traffic SUCKED -- no two ways about it.
Somewhere around Everett the driver of a turquoise Honda did a double take
at me, then looked up hopefully until I finally realized she was gawking at
me (as were her 3 passengers) and I looked directly at her. When I finally
understood their's was a car full of womyn who luv wimmin, I gave 'em the
thumbs up, and they all cheered. It was fun. The border was a big
surprise. Completely clear at 7:30p.m., the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.
Huh! Go figure. I arrived at MiG's right around 8 or 8:30, said hey to the
rabble rousers (including Wendy & Steve, who decided to stop in during their
much-needed non-WetLeather weekend getaway), had a couple of beers, and
promptly went to bed.
Saturday was A W E S O M E in every way. The weather rocked! The welcome at
Dave McDonald's place was warm and heartening, the jaunt to the breakfast
point was brisque and beautiful! The BC coastline is breath-taking. I
haven't seen it since 1986 when I went up to Powell River for a choir
competition. But the ride. The RIDE was the best part! Duffy Lake Road is
fantastic! I rode the BMW like it hasn't been ridden in years (well,
months - since coming back from the Gather). The pace, set by MiG (and
others, at times) was perfect. Not too slow, not bat-outta-hell *ucking
crazy - but just right! At one point, at our first gas-stop to load up on
fuel, banter and water, the group I'd been riding with somehow took off
*after* the group that had originally been riding sweep. I'm not one to shy
away from a group ride, but I'm not a fan of riding in the pack. I tend to
like a faster tempo, but don't necessarily enjoy leading (we all know I'm
not the fastest of spinners). If I'm in the back, I get impatient. If I'm
in the lead, I feel rushed and anxious. As MiG was leading most of the
time, I happily attached myself to her hip (yeah, whatever), including when
we realized we'd have to peel our way through the entire pack Dave & Ariane
were leading... all umteen of 'em, or hang back and watch the scenery.
Their's was not a slow pace, either - but I've never really stayed at the
back of a pack for long. Don't know why. Anyway - I have never passed more
bikes (or cars, for that matter) in my life - EVER! The road itself was
tight, twisty, and the group congested and fair. I was happy to wave at
Martin - who REALLY does ride a GS1100, but boy was I glad when I was out of
the mix and had the view of only two or three people. There were a couple
of 'oh shit' moments with gravel and off-camber turns, but for the most
part - an amazingly non-threatening ride, considering the challenging route!
Some of the highlights include:
- A personal top speed (for the day) of 115 - indicated
- Achieving a personal goal of NOT finding a moose, chasing it, or being
chased by it
- * The largest black dildo in BC territory
- * The coolest tree fort in the WORLD built by pirates
- Watching Brian point at Kathy's breasts and say "I gotta get me a pair of
those!"
- Watching to odometer pass over 60,000 somewhere near Hope
- Fantastic salmon, grilled veggies and beer at Chez Mather
I left early Sunday morning, following Seth & ShannonM towards Abbottsford
to highway 9. The border crossing at Abbottsford was even quicker! And
what a beautiful route home. I think we did maybe 70 miles of slab -- the
rest were beautiful back-country roads.
Marguerite - thank you for all your hospitality and the hard work you put
into planning and *leading* the ride! Thanks to Dave McDonald, Dave &
Ariane, and Carol. And thanks to Elwyn, for reminding me how much I really
wanted to ride when I was a little girl.
All growed up, and nothing's changed. I luv ridin'!
Andrea :)
'00 Suzuki SV650S
'86 BMW K75c
I forgot to include the footnote on my CTM post.
* = I didn't actually see these, but I heard other riders talking about
seeing these when we were at David & Ariane's. Not AT David & Ariane's, but
during the ride.
Andrea :)
'00 Suzuki SV650S
'86 BMW K75c
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 07:01:00 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Kathy E Gill
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: merci beaucoup
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
X-Sender: keg@mail11.pair.com (Unverified)
Or thanks a bunch!*
Thanks to Dave MacD and family for crash space (and a first-hand look
at the coolness of co-housing) ... DaveM et al for Saturday bar-b-que
... and the lovely MiG for organizing and leading a wonderful weekend
outing.
Report (pix to follow later today):
Friday's get-away around noon was late enough, thank you very much,
as Seattle traffic had already begun to suck. A quick stop in
Arlington at BrianP's favorite breakfast place for lunch, then Mike
and I headed up Route 9, apparently just ahead of Martin/Mark/Roger
and MAD/BrianS/MikeB. The later group reported a run up Mosquito Lake
Road ... I did *glance* at it as we went by. ;-)
I had never taken Route 9 up to the border -- nor had I been east of
Lynden. I knew that central and eastern Whatcom County was dairy
country -- but the visual impact was still awesome. Of course, I kept
looking (in vain) for the containment ponds. Where do they hide them?
And how *did* that valley get created, anyway? Is it a flood plain?
Arrived at Dave MacD's just as he arrived home from work -- we were
parking on the street and he waved us into the garage. He went off to
pick up the kids and we wandered down to North Vancouver waterfront.
Regrouped with MAD/BrainS/Bain later in the evening and was too
boisterous for the rooftop patio. Who woulda guessed? ;-)
It was nice having the group come to us for breakfast, since Dave's
place was the northern-most of the three host families. Dave takes
the host job seriously, and he had quite a spread to welcome the rest
of the gang.
Duffy Lake Road was not as "rough" as I had thought it might be,
after Friday's warning post. And the scenery! Wowza! It was a bit of
a shock to realize that we were on the "dry side' however, once we
stopped for lunch. Need to go back and do photo op at Hell's Gate. ;-)
Did get into a groove late morning and moved "up" the pack as a
result. Experimented with the "new" throttle response (courtesy of
the Termi's) ... didn't do WFO but did hit 120 indicated a few times
(more so after lunch).
After the last gas stop, the group split into (at least) two
sub-groups, one taking Route 1 and the other Route 7. Dave MacD
dislikes 7 so he promised a short cut around the traffic backup that
was predicted because the really long bridge had a lane closed for
resurfacing (two lanes to one lane westbound). The premise was sound,
but Dave wasn't the only local trying to circumvent traffic. He was,
however, a local on a motorcycle ... and even though there were six
of us ... we stretched the letter (and spirit) of the law and managed
to not sit and idle ... heh. ;-)
Twas nice to see Carol (aka andWife) at the bar-b-que ... and I
suspect she was responsible for the most scrumptious pies that topped
the evening's menu.
Sunday, Dave and family took us to a most fabulous restaurant for
breakfast. Bain and Brian headed south (MAD bailed on the return
Saturday) -- we went exploring Jericho Beach (and extensions). There
is much to say for collective ownership of massive amounts of
waterfront ... think Alkai Beach on steroids and married to Marymoor
Park.
The Peace Arch was a piece of cake (oh, if you're ever in North
Vancouver, there is a sweet dessert shop by that name) ... but not if
you were driving a white SUV. We watched two agents check out the
SUV, both examined the guy's drivers license ... maybe he was 'random
number x' ...
Time to explore western Whatcom County ... and wonder just how county
government can reconcile the differences in citizenry and "need for
services" between the coastal resort area and the interior farming
country.
A blown tail light (but good brake light) made for no frills ride for
the remainder of the trip south. Two stops for brake/tail light
replacement yielded nada ... so getting off the road before dark
seemed like a good idea.
Kathy
*in the spirit, at least, of Canadian bilingual-ness
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 08:48:31 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: "Davis, Michael"
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: Chase the Moose Thanks
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
<Beer Commercial>
It don't get no better than that.
</Beer Commercial>
Thanks to MiG and Dave Mather for putting together an unforgettable ride. A
thousand thanks to Dave, Alisa, Elwyn and Tristam for putting up with no
less than 5 biker guests on Friday night, and making us all feel welcome.
Since several Professional Ride Reports have already been posted, I'll spare
the gallery my amateur recap. Suffice it to say being a part of a fleet of
bikes carving up roads like that is a sight to behold, and a rush I don't
get near enough of.
Trip Notes/Observations:
-A very large percentage of WL riders have SKILLS. Just when I think I've
got a pretty good handle on pushing a m/c around, I see how it Supposed To
Be Done(tm), and I'm humbled. Great job by the group leaders, and muchos
gracias to everyone in attendance.
-The suspension on the B12 is getting upgraded asap. Either that or I need
to stop riding it hard. What a tough decision.
-Ditto the engine of aforementioned B12. It's 100 stock hp is barely enough
to get out of it's own way with a MAD Load and packed GIVI's. Seems like
I've read somewhere about a 1340 cc upgrade. And doesn't Mr. Turbo make a
kit for these? Hmm.
-My June appointment with Rich's for a new seat can't come a day too soon.
My total mileage for Saturday including the long-way-home trip back to
Seattle was over 500 miles. Stock seat stopped being useful at about 375.
-Between the great food, the Bellini, the hottie waitress in a see-through
skirt and the cute female who kept kissing me, the "Cactus Club" is my new
favorite B.C. restaurant. Next round's on me fellas.
-When you ask a merchant what the current exchange rate is and they say
"Wellllll, it varies.", grab your wallet and run for your life.
MAD
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 10:03:48 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Mark Morrissey
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: moose were chased
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Executive Summary:
Next year, they need to release the moose later. We tried mighty hard but
were unable to catch the little bastard. Enroute, much twistiness of road
and spectacularness of scenary was witnessed. Several fine wetlady butts
went zooming by your intrepid reporter.
Details:
Sigh. One fine weekend. 1075 miles. Killer company, fine relaxing food,
poodles, wonderful friends, etc., etc., etc.
For more details, see the executive summary, above.
Many thanks to MiG, DaveM, Ariane, Dave McD (and family) for a wonderful
and well done event. Just the right amount of sanity mixed in with all the
rest.
Who says WL does ride!
--mark
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 11:55:43 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Michael Bain
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: Chase the Black Dildo^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hMoose
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Aaaahh, Canada. I seem to be having a lot of fun up there lately!
I wussed out on riding the 916 all the way across the state to CtS the
previous weekend, having never taken any long trips on her. Last year
I put the original bars back on; the bar risers that came on Tette
were too wide for my tastes. But I'm getting tired of the local
roads and need to expand my horizons ...
I'll try not to repeat what others have already said, so here are some
of my highlights:
1) Wonderful hosts! We were totally spoiled by the Mathers and the
MacDonalds, and were treated with the World's Best Kids.
2) The route and the pace were perfect! And it is quite a treat to
follow the butts of Andrea, Kathy and MiG. We hit some good
twisties in the morning and had relaxing sweepers in the
afternoon. They knew where the cops would hide and I finally got
to hear my laser detector! FWIW, they use tripods up there
... there was a gaggle of them waiting in ambush and one of them
even waved back!
3) That Destination Highways book rocks! Can't wait for the
Washington version. www.destinationhighways.com
MiG set us up with a route map from that book, and directions where
we'll stop to regroup. Now, if I had bothered to *read* it, I
wouldn't have missed them at lunch ... and then spent the next 45km
flogging Tette trying to "catch" up to these fast Harley and BMW
riders. :/ But you know how Fate adds little twists to adventures?
As I sat outside waiting for them to catch up to me, a group of
sport riders pulled up. One of them impressed the others with a
spray of sparks from the embedded titanium screws in his knee
sliders. These guys were from Victoria; Titanium guy also had a
good story to tell about getting his bike impounded for going too
fast (wonder how that will turn out). We started chatting about
comfort and I mentioned how the 916 turned out to be a pretty good
sport tourer, my wrists haven't been a problem since I've learned
to keep the weight off of them. The only problem was that due to
the lower bars the back of my neck was getting sore because of the
extreme angle. He mentioned that a buddy of his makes Helibar
copies and that he might have an extra pair. I didn't have
anything to write with, so I put to use my great powers of
memorization. You know, the web is a wonderful thing. I look up
Yahoo Yellow Pages for a machine shop in Victoria that starts with
a V. (Remembered *that* much.) No hits. Told it to expand to
outside Victoria and got a hit: Vector Machining. Rang them up
this morning and the guy makes Helibar copies (for Duc 916s at
least) for $200 Canadian! That's like half of the original's
price! It'll be exactly the same (he said), and gold anodized!
Woo hoo! They make a few other things for bikes, like preload
adjusters and BMW oil plugs. www.vectormachining.com
Being an ex-bartender, I like to talk up with the locals in bars.
As we talked about motorcycles, guitars, etc. (and after he
flashed this huge black dildo from under his apron), Motorcycle
Goddess MiG, walks in and says "You lost?". *That* impressed
them! (BTW, men are *never* lost.)
So, all in all, a beautiful weekend in a beautiful city, beautiful
country, wonderful twisties and wonderful friends!
--
Michael Bain mbain@duc916.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I stayed up all night playing poker with tarot cards. I got a full
house and four people died."
-- Steven Wright
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 12:08:24 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Martin Golding
To: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Subject: Am I the only one?
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Am I the only one who finds this amusing?
Spoken by an unamed Ducati rider:
"Why'd you ride Quasimodo instead of the Duc? and do you have any
Ibuprofen?"
Nobody I tell it to seems to get it.
Martin
--
Martin Golding | Ducati: Just think of it as
Dod #236 0354 .EC | "decreasing turn insurance".
martin@plaza.ds.adp.com Portland, OR
Delivered-To: keg-dotparagon:com-keg@dotparagon.com
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:30:09 -0700
Reply-To: wetleather@micapeak.com
Originator: wetleather@micapeak.com
Sender: wetleather@micapeak.com
From: Marguerite Storbo "Marguerite_Storbo@spectrumsignal.com"
Subject: Prologue to a Phenomenal Day (part deux, long)
X-Comment: Northwest Bikers Social Mailing List
Friday Dave, Ariane and I had a quick lunch time last minute planning
session at Spectrum, since we all work in close proximity to one another.
Dave went off to buy food for Saturday's feed at their place ,
and I went home early and obsessed, as is the Wetleather party host's
tradition.
Wendy and Steve rolled in at 6 p.m., exactly as planned, already relaxed and
happy from their Vancouver weekend getaway. My frenzy of unpacking the last
3 boxes from my move May 1, rewiring my antique armoire to hook up the TV.
and stereo combo, and a quick clean-up had abated, and the frenzy of trying
to prepare dinner for an unknown quantity of dinner guests began.
Shannon McRae, AndreaW., Steve and eventually Seth rolled in, and my house
guests were all present and accounted for. The Mathers rolled in in the wake
of the poodle invasion, avec house guests, and the evening was in full sway.
I managed not to poison everyone, purchased the right amount of alcohol to
get everyone out of there by 10 p.m., and we all got some sleep.
Oh, and we shanghaied Carol Golding into going to purchase food the next
day, while we were riding, for the barbecue Saturday night. Poor Dave had
been stymied in trying to shop for food, and so we were without anything
except the Alaska King salmon the Mathers' brought back from Alaska and
planned to grill and feed us on Saturday after the ride.
Saturday I'm sure my neighbour's appreciated the sound of Shannon's Monster
with the booming new pipes and my raucous Hawk at 7:15 a.m., as we set off
for Dave Macdonald's place in North Vancouver. We met up with MAD,
Islandman, Kathy and Michael and the rest of the crew there, where the
Macdonald's had laid out a feast of pastries, bagels, juice and coffee for
everyone.
A nice one hour blast up Highway 99, and we descended on the Ninety-niner
restaurant in Britannia Beach, an old mining town on the shores of Howe
Sound halfway to Squamish. The meagre staff dealt with the hungry hordes in
yeoman fashion, and we had bacon and egged and were back on the road in
under an hour, having collected a few extra riders. I started chatting away
to a guy on a red bike with a black jacket, who I took to be Mike Bain on
his 916, who took off his helmet and earplugs to hear what I was nattering
to him about. At this point I realize it's a total stranger on a Firestorm,
who'd stopped to see who we were and where we were headed!
We met up with Victoria and her friend Scott, and two chef Andys. Andy
Lambis the chef works in the cafeteria at Spectrum and rides a Suzuki
Intruder 1400. Andy Bosch works in the cafe at PMC Sierra (Dave Mather's'
workplace) and rides a TRansalp. A couple more local riders and co-workers
of Dave or ARiane were there: Dave Kell on the Concours and Gary Wong on the
BMW K75 (?).
I lead the entire contingent out of there-roaring en masse; 20 bikes strong.
I had warned everyone that traffic and enforcement would be high Vancouver
to Whistler, but we saw nary a LEO and not too heavy traffic. After
Whistler, the road opens up (no more traffic) and starts getting fun.
Just as we finished some nice sweepers and head into an open passing lane
area, I got lights flashed at me by a southbound van. I slowed to right on
the limit, 80 kmh, and cruise through the next few kilometres. Hiding on
the left at the top of a long hill, behind a laser gun on a tripod, was a
guy in a yellow vest. Sneaky buggers had never been there before, and they
had a hapless biker on a Bandit 1200 pulled over as we sailed through nice
and slow.
After that, we resumed a brisk pace, as I knew there would be no other cops:
every RCMP from Whistler to Pemberton (3 cars) was at that trap. I had
warned everyone about the left hander by the rail bridge-every ride I've
been on up there (except last years' CtM) has collected a sport bike
lowsiding through there, so we all slowed for that, probably too much. The
guy on the Bandit came through at warp speed, passing some of us on the
inside in the gravel on a 90-degree right. The ticket had obviously taught
_him_ a lesson!
We saw him briefly at the gas stop in Pemberton, where the heat was already
alerting us to the desert temperatures ahead. We would see him once again,
headed back down about halfway up the road to Lillooet. Everyone peeled off
their extra layers and we started up Mount Currie.
******************************************************************
M.A. Storbo Spectrum Signal Processing Inc.
General Counsel 200-2700 Production Way
Burnaby, B.C. V5A 4X1
ph. 604-421-5422 fax. 604-421-1764
Delivered-To: keg-motogrrl:com-kathy@motogrrl.com
From: Marguerite Storbo
To: "Wetleather (E-mail)"
Subject: Peak Performance (part three)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:29:22 -0700
All week I've been nervous as hell about the ride; I haven't even been on
the Hawk except for two rides to work, a 15 minute freeway blast from home.
My skills are rusty, my confidence is low. Dave and I discussed how neither
of us wanted to lead the ride, worried about what to do with the fast
riders. So somehow I end up in front out of Vancouver and pull out of the
restaurant first. When we got to Pemberton, I deliberately waited until the
pack had left before pulling out.
But now we're through the reserve, and snaking up into the dry heartland
over the Coast range.
This is the heart of the ride, the reason we all came: 99 up Howe Sound from
Vancouver is spectacular, with views of ocean vistas and the snow-tipped
peaks of the Coast mountain range, beautiful high-speed sweepers, and the
Pemberton Valley is bucolic and pastoral, but once you turn off at Mt.
Currie and head up through the reservation, the road turns wicked. I start
to get into the ride, really trying to feel that magic of the right turn
entry speed, throttle out at the perfect moment and transition for the next
turn effortlessly.
111 kilometres of tight, twisty turns, wooden bridges with 90-degree turns
at each end. Imposing ridges rising away to peaks, giant snow slides right
up to the side of the road. No towns, no intersections, no nothing. Swoop,
swoop, left-right-left; I look in the mirror and see a perfect string of
bikes behind me, like many 500 GP races into turns 3-10 or so. I wait on the
straights, looking back to see if anyone wants to pick up the pace and go
by, but no-one does.
Soon enough, we catch up the back of some bikes: I pass Martin on Quasimodo,
a whole pack including Ariane on the 750SS Duc, and finally Mark and Roger
aboard the land yach^H^H^ brand new Gold Wing. Off we go, and end up behind
Gary on the purple BMW. He sees us approaching, and off he goes at exactly
the right pace! I'm ecstatic: someone to follow, finally! He sets a good
pace, and we coast through the rest of the pass, through Warren's
Concours-eating corner from last year, decreasing-radius right and
left-handers posted at 15 kmh, along ice cold glacier-fed Seton Lake, and
down into Lillooet. OB wildlife: one little squirrel came tear-assing out
onto the road and right at Gary's wheel. He does a high-speed 180 at about
death minus 3 inches, and darts back the way he came, as I narrowly miss his
furry ass with my front wheel.
Now it's stinking hot: we all fuel up the riders at A&W and Subway, and head
back across the bridge to Hwy. 12 to Lytton. These two towns (Lytton and
Lillooet) vie for the hottest spot in Canada-it is probably only 28 or 85
today, but is often +100 Fahrenheit all summer long. Later when I mention
this, Kathy Gill and Martin had both noticed the terrain; "oh, yeah; I
looked up at the hills and now realize that what I was looking at up there
was actual sagebrush." It is, and there's rattlesnakes too.
MiG
Delivered-To: keg-motogrrl:com-kathy@motogrrl.com
From: Marguerite Storbo
To: "Wetleather (E-mail)"
Subject: Denouement (part 4 and end)
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:48:26 -0700
Lillooet to Lytton is on a little piece of road called Highway 12. "Highway"
is a distinct misnomer. Most of you live on streets that are wider and
better paved. 12 snakes along beside the river canyon en route to the
confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers at Lytton, the two biggest
rivers in B.C. next to the Columbia.
And it is a canyon: mostly unmarked corners and no guardrails, the drop on
the right is upwards of 600 feet in places, and the canyon wall rises
steeply on the east of the road. In places, the canyon wall falls down onto
the road, and so you have to dodge rocks whilst picking your way through one
lane and watching for oncoming traffic. Nobody else wanted to lead here
either, funny that.
Because of the heat, I'd already decided that we wouldn't stop until we saw
a shady place: I had a fruit stand/gas station in mind after we turn west
onto Highway 1. As we roll through Lytton, I spot a 916 with Washington
plates in front of the Lytton Hotel, one of those shabby small-town watering
holes you wouldn't normally be caught dead in. Hmm, who's that? I pull over,
and MAD says it's Mike Bain. We drag him away from the 10 inch black dildo,
and I tell him we're stopping in Boston Bar, which I then totally phase
because it's not the place I'm looking for. We finally stop in Yale, which
is better anyway because it's cooler here. Still can't figure out how we
managed to lose Bain at the last gas stop prior to lunch, but the Lillooet
turn for lunch is easy to miss if you're not following or don't know the
way.
Every year, this ride always turns out to be just about an hour and a half
too long: it's the last 90-100 miles back into Vancouver that there's just
no good way to get through. The freeway promises to be faster, but we knew
the Port Mann bridge was one lane each way, which means a huge bottleneck,
so we took 7 the back way, which sails along beautifully with no traffic
until Mission, when it all goes to suburban hell.
We got back home before 6, showered, and went to the Mathers' for relaxing
bbq and pie that had us dozing on the couch by 9 p.m.
That's pretty much it for my Pirellis; too much highway riding has the
centre worn down. That silly Hawk is the best canyon strafer though; I was
comfortable on the Corbin all day long. And my back felt fine the next day,
as sign that the whiplash from being rear-ended in August '99 has finally
abated.
MiG
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