Where do I begin? It didn’t start off all that great, but what a change by the end of the day. I was up early, 5:30am and this is getting to be routine. I knew I had a lot of miles to put down today, so I wanted an early go. As I said yesterday, when I filled the motorcycle up, I also filled my reserve 4 gallons this time for me and anyone else that might be desperate for gas. Pulling out of Valleyview it was 50 degrees and overcast and no rain in the forecast. What the hell do they know. It rained off and on for 75-100 miles but not heavy enough for me to cover my tankbag or put my Farkle over gloves on. It was just enough to be irritating. I was pretty determined to lay 300 miles down before lunch so the rest of the day could be on cruise control. What I didn’t count on was that the last 125-150 miles was in the mountains and curvy. Well I can’t do 75 mph in the mountains with all the crap I’m carrying, plus watching for animals, trucks, and cars, more on that later. Plus, I was trying to take pictures while moving. Did I ever mention I hate stopping?
I took my first stop in Dawson Creek for a minute stretch among other things. Yes the same Dawson Creek the show was based on. Small but lot’s of traffic and lot’s of lumber. I mean raw lumber as in trees stack 3 stories high waiting to be processed. I should have stopped and taken a picture, but driving was more on my mind. As I was leaving town, I could swear I just saw snow covered mountains in the background but just couldn’t quite make them out. Up and down the small hills I went trying to peek above the tree tops but nothing. Another hour slipped by before I got a full on view of those mountains and yes, they were snow capped. Beautiful is all I can say.
It was an interesting ride I had looking at those mountains getting closer and closer. I was looking at the GPS and it looked like I was never going to cross them or ride through them. The roads also changed dramatically. I went from 4 lane highways to 2 lane highways. No speed change and that is because in the beginning they were hilly but long and straight. I measured one visually at 7 miles visibility. Hard to explain, but I could see the curve in the distance, so I looked down and waited till I got to the curve and did the math. I really started to worry about my next fuel stop for the first time. Why? Not much in front of me with the search feature of my Garmin. I can force it to scan everything on my route in front of me and it was sparse. I picked one of 3 that was 100 miles in front because it had a name, Husky. The station before it just said Gas Station in my GPS. Really? The one I picked was closed, but when I passed the one 4 miles behind me, it was open. Reversing course now!!! My normal fill up in Virginia on this bike when I’m almost empty is $26 dollars, it cost me $48 dollars to fill-up in no man’s land.So, 28.481 liters is 7.52 gallons and I spent $48.39, that’s $6.43 a gallon. Damn! As my Dad use to always say, “Beggars can’t be choosey!!” Yes I had my 4 gallon reserve, but I do not want to use that until I get in trouble. Right across the road was a decent looking restaurant that actually made a killer sandwich. I could not finish the meal, to much food. Definitely hit the spot. Picture of the inside of the restaurant, will be in the pictures of the day.
I have to back step just a little bit to tell this next story. When I was in Dawson Creek, a man approached me to talk about the motorcycle, where I was from, and where I was heading. He left me with this knowledge. About 40 clicks down the highway, you will see a mandatory brake check area for trucks. When you pass through there the road has a 8% grade, take it easy because I lost my best friend there. I will not give certain details. But he hit a snow heave in the road and lost control. Second the bridge is metal graded and half mile long. Keep you speed at 30 and you’ll be fine. I told him thanks and we parted. Everything he said played out, but because I was following trucks, speed was not an issue. Dirt in my lungs was, gross! The bridge? Well it wiggled the bike but the gyro effect of the tires spinning keeps it going pretty much straight, so I didn’t get that. Now, if one was to brake fast when it was wet, that would have given me a pucker factor 7. Scale 1 to 10, 10 being the worse. Don’t make me explain pucker factor. Gary Mace, I’ll let you have this one if anyone ask. Did I say big oil in Canada? Damn stuff is everywhere. The ratio of Truck washes to car washes is 20 to 1. You’re screwed if you have a car. Did that make you smile?
Finally I got to use the curved side of my tires today. I didn’t forget how to lean but when I saw that first real corner coming at me, I thought for a second it was a mirage. Hey, it has been almost 2000 miles without a serious corner to navigate. I can prove it. I’ll take a picture of my tires and you will see a flat spot on both front and back. Back is normal, but the front? Not so much. I did have to take it somewhat easy though for many factors. One, I’m 3000 miles from home. Two, if I did something dumb in a corner, a 5’2” monster would be in my stuff. Three, animals! Today I got the pleasure of seeing (1) Moose, (2) Black Bears, (2) Rams, and (2)Caribou. I used my camera so much in the earlier part of the day, I had no battery left except for shot of bear 1.
I saw a lot of snow laying on the side of the road and according to some of the locals, it is only a week old. Sorry I missed that snow event. Once again those same locals confirmed for me that most of May and all of June is their driest time of year. I hope that holds true for a couple more weeks. This morning the temperature was 55 but the high for the day was 77 and partly cloudy. It was overall an awesome day that I’m very thankful for.
Today officially ends week 1 of my trip. Today I burned another 554 miles on the Canadian Asphalt. 3386 miles to date and averaging 483 miles a day. Tomorrow’s weather is looking as good if not better than today but it should be a little cooler. Two days away from the border and I’m looking forward to full filling this goal because of all the time I spent planning and all the miles I have laid down to date.
Lastly, in the picture of the day, I have 3 pictures that I hope play in series with the Redhead. First it shows just how nasty my windshield got after just one days worth of travel. I cleaned it before I left this morning. Then we see Redhead trying to clean it. The last we see Redhead at Toad Road, British Columbia with an awesome background of a lake and snow capped mountain. Enjoy the shots.
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