I’ve been looking for a hobby to try and continue fitness training and I think this will do quite nicely. I’ve also purchased a bike computer – Sigma. Apparently in about a month there will be a dock available and I can upload all my riding data to keep track of my times, cadence, distances, avg. speeds., etc.

I haven’t had a road bike since 1993, nor have I ridden one. This first few rides will definitely be interesting. One item that looks especially interesting and potentially fraught with danger is the pedals, which lock my feet into my special new riding shoes. I’m totally excited to give it a go. Just have to pick up some riding clothing and away I go.

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I’m so glad to get the bike out again. The temp. is still hovering around 0 Celcius which is acceptable for short riding but still a bit to brisk to venture into the mountains too far. I usually predict my distance for the year, so…

I’m guessing that I’ll cover in excess of 15,000 kilometres this summer. It’s my first with some real pocket money so we’ll see where the roads lead me this year. My goal is to visit some new places that I haven’t ventured to yet. California? It keeps eluding me year after year – perhaps this year.

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I’ve been running more and more over the past few years. I’ve finally reached a point where I could challenge a few races and have some fun.

So I ran the Nike Human Race in November – 10K and finished in the top 20% in Canada. I was feeling pretty good about that so I’ve had an idea bouncing around in my head for a few years – “Enter the Kananaskis K100 Relay….”

We’ve assembled a team, so now all that’s left is to train for the race. Each runner runs roughly 10 miles and some are less challenging than others but it’s pretty much like running up mountain highways – hills, hills and well, more hills.

So the training begins. The race is roughly 6 months away so I’ll be building distance over those months until I can basically run a hilly half-marathon.

It’s going to be gruelling, but it’s also going to be a lot of fun. Stay tuned….

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It’s was a really great riding year. A couple trips across western Canada, down into southern Oregon and many point in between. After spending time on the roads in the southwestern US, it’s pretty hard to get motivated to ride through the areas this side of the Rockies – so not a lot of Alberta trips this year. Lack of money didn’t seem to slow me down much this year as I put on as many kilometres as most riding years.

My final odometer reading for 2009 was 55,810 kilometres. I rode 14,244 kilometres this summer, even with a late start and dismal weather this spring.

As always it’s a sad day when I have to cover my l’il red Honda up and tuck it in for the winter. I must say, with 55,000+ kilometres on my bike in just three years, I’m glad to see just how reliable Honda bikes really are. This bike should easily make it to 100,000 kilometres with little or no physical cost for parts. Next year I’ll have to bite the bullet and have the valves checked – a $1200 hit.

I’m hoping to save enough money to buy a professional tire changing machine. This will save money on my own tire changes (at least once a year) and pay for itself in about 3 years. I’ve also toyed with the idea of opening a small shop to do motorcycle tire changes. There appears to be a gap in the Calgary market for this type of simple maintenance. We’ll see what winter brings….

5 more months to plan next year’s marathon journey. With a bit more money and some free time next summer I’ll have to venture to new points unknown.

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I’ve also noticed that ‘time in seat’ has made me a much better rider. Each year I become more confident, safer and still get to enjoy the best part of the sport of motorcycle riding – testing your, and your machine’s, limits. I think these riding experiences, including this one, have helped me reach a part of myself, deep inside, that is somewhat unconscious and untapped. Sometimes being alone, or lonely, can help put things back into perspective. You can evaluate what is really important in life – loved ones, friends and certainly personal mental health.

These personal journeys, along with time spent with my riding companions, really do become quite a ‘zen-like’ experience. Being alone in nature, the smells, the sights, the feelings of being ‘in’ the surroundings really is tough to explain to someone who hasn’t done it. There is only the now when riding, even over a long journey such as this for 19 days. You’re not thinking about the past, the future, only what is happening before you – it’s really quite freeing and helps recharge your inner spirit.

Friends/Acquaintances/Hosts: When I signed up for the VFRdiscussion.com online forum so many years ago I had no idea how profoundly it would impact my life. I’ve met some of the nicest, smartest and generally caring people. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several of them year after year at meets all over the west. This year I had the pleasure of staying with two of these friends – Tim and Cassie Smith. Their warmth and generosity during my stay in Vancouver, Washington was unexpected and greatly appreciated. It’s great to meet such kindered spirits and folks with similar views and outlooks on life. I think one of the most profound things I heard on this trip was during my goodbye with Tim, loosely paraphrased, “you gotta look after your friends, what else is their…” How true! Words can’t express how grateful I am for their hospitality and friendship over the past couple years and during my stay.

I also had a chance to chat with previous meet buddies Bjorn, Christian, Tony (the boys from Vancouver) and Keith (Newport). All of whom are excellent guys in general and a wealth of information about where to go for rides. It’s with their help that I was able to explore some really neat places that I wouldn’t have normally have thought of based solely on reading a map. So much of the journey, and in life, is indeed ‘off the map.’ That’s why these special folks deserve such respect and thanx – they help us find new places that make our journeys worthwhile. From conversations over the years I’ve taken mental notes of things they’ve talked about and many of which I went and checked out on this trip. Thanx fellers!

The ‘Deets’
Here are some of the details of my/our trip:

Distance: 7799 Kilometres (4847 miles) – more distance in less days than I’ve ever ridden (almost 460 kilometres/day)
Riding Days: 17 days (2 off the bike)
Fuel Economy: Averaging about 40 mpg over the entire trip
Territory: Two Provinces, Two States (Three if you include a few minutes inside Idaho)
Temperature: Low 8 celcius (the day we left Calgary), High 39 celcius (The Dalles, Or)

Repairs/Mechanical Costs: nada, zilch, zero, $0 – pray to the holy god of Honda and my bullet proof bike

Most expensive accommodation: Tofino ($165/night) – worth every penny – one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited, ever…
Least expensive accommodation: Bend, Or ($49/night) – cheap like borscht! – Motel 6/Super 8 are so cheap in the US
Special Mention – Worst Accomodation: Rodmay Heritage Hotel – My heart goes out to the owners who are restoring this place, but $75.00/night felt like about $50.00 too much. This place is old in the worst way – no plumbing, no ventilation and creepy inner furnishings. What an experience. I guess the bad helps us define what is good – this was especially bad.

Best Road: Suislaw River Road (Oregon) – If you get the chance to take this route (and the connecting Smith River Road) – it’s the best road I’ve ever ridden.
Second Best Road: Siletz to Monroe (Oregon) – This is the second best road I’ve ridden to date – beautiful, technical and completely vacant – the quality of a very good road

Things that come in handy on a trip for 19 days: iPod (tunes are an absolute must), raingear/rain booties (bring it and you’ll likely never have to use it, don’t and you are sure to get wet), ziplock bags (keeps things dry, compartmentalized and the stinky clothes away from those that are clean – great tip, Bjorn), a riding companion (Fiona and Tim made the trip far more enjoyable).

Biggest Surprise: Mary’s Peak, Or – I’d heard it was beautiful, but man, it really was. I’ll have to go back with hiking boots next time.
Biggest Letdown: See aforementioned ‘heritage hotel.’ – I remember Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols last words from their last gig – “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated…?”

Fave Riding Tunes for this journey: Sleeping Sickness – City and Colour, Norah Jones – Broken, Eddie Vedder – Rise, Lady GaGa – Poker Face, My Rights vs Yours – New Pornographers, Midnight Regulations – AlexisOnFire

See you on the roads next summer.

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I got up early thinking I’d catch the first ferry across Kootenay Lake and get one last run down the 3A to Creston. When I checked out and loaded my bike I changed my mind. Not sure why, but I had a ‘little voice’ in my mind suggest that I’d already had enough of the twisty stuff and that I best just make my way home – so, I did. I left Nelson and headed out through Salmo and the Kootenay Pass.

The weather was pretty bleak to start the day. It actually felt more like coastal weather – very humid, damp and cool. The entire valley was cloaked in a thick damp fog which is unusual. Usually as you climb the Kootenay Pass the temperature drops but today it was actually warmer at the summit than in the valley below, must have been some type of temperature inversion.

I stopped in Creston for a little 7-eleven breakfast – read: pop and a donut or two Had a really good chat with a local. It’s odd, if I had been driving a car people are far less likely to approach and say hi. With the bike pretty much everywhere I stopped in Canada or the US someone would come up and ask questions about it, the rider/passenger, and then tell me/us something interesting about the area. It’s basically an excuse to start a conversation.

Quick stop for fuel in Cranbrook – didn’t even take my gear off and jetted back out to the Highway to take the Crowsnest Pass through the mountains. Normally I’d go through Invermere but I tried a little of the George Costanza logic – “do the opposite of what you’d normally do (video).” There is no telling what can happen because of this – well, actually nothing. It’s takes exactly the same amount of time. Although I did have a great breakfast/lunch at Smitty’s (or as I like to call it – Shitty’s).

I got to test my rain gear again for the rest of the ride home. A storm of biblical proportion from Blairmore almost all the way back to Longview. Before the trip, on a whim, I bought some rain ‘booties’ for my rain gear. They are basically like gators for hiking, except the toe piece has a ‘cup’ that wraps over the front of your boots. They worked swimmingly! I was completely dry from head to foot when I arrived back home.

I’d avoided mishap for the entire journey until returning to Alberta. I still uphold the theory that Albertans are the worst drivers in the developed world. I had a driver move into my lane as I was passing on the highway, one driving 40 kilometres below the speed limit (in a 100 zone), and a tool driving with no hands (yes, no hands) and texting on the phone while ‘driving’.

To avoid as much traffic as possible I snuck in through Bragg Creek on highway 22 and then highway 8 home. And so ends nineteen days on the road. What a trip!

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