Kootenay Run 2008

Only had time for five day run this year to test out the new bike, so Jane and Mike from Castor plus myself decided to challenge the Kaslo-Nakusp Highway.

Mike and Jane climbing the first hills and challenging some of the first curves out of Kaslo

The weather was great and the traffic light on this great motorcycle road.
Met lots of bikers on the roads, Ferries and campgrounds including a couple of Irishmen who were on a three week riding holiday picking up their rental bikes in Vancouver and then sampling some of Canada's best motorcycle roads.

Simon and Kieran

Also met a Valkyrie rider from Calgary named Peter and his wife who trailered their bike out behind a camper van and then just did the roads of their choice[best of both worlds]. Great talking about bikes with other riders and listening to their experiences and about their travels. Sorry Peter I forgot to take a pic of you guys and your bike.

Mike on his Crotch rocket

We stopped often to enjoy the view and take some snaps of the scenery, Mike and I practised our riding style and tried to get a motorcycle magazine type shot of ourselves on the bike, pictures just don't do this road justice. I don't think you can find a road anywhere in the world that has as many curves and twister's as this one.

The Coffee gang at "Corner Gas"

During a small cloud burst I ducked under this overhang at a small gas station to get out of the rain, Mike and Jane wisely stopped earlier to suit up in their rain gear. This dedicated bunch of friendly guys gathered here every day to drink their coffee and watch the motorcycle squids go by, often yelling out whether it was a Harley or a crotch-rocket. They must of seen a million bikes go by their front door all summer long. They welcomed me into the club and were quite gracious about sharing the overhang with me.

Are these tables for anyone?

No fast food along this route but some nice friendly small cafes and Bistros to tie on the feed bag and take a respite from the road.

Ferry Rides are a highlight of the trip

One of the many highlights of this route are the free ferries along the way crossing two different lakes and if you choose to go west you can even work in a third ferry on the way to Vernon.

This is the route we were on and basically all the fun begins at Revelstoke as you head south on Highway 6 as the traffic thins out and the curves start to bend a little more and the road just gets better and better as you go. When you get to Creston you are back in the tourist zone with all of the traffic.

Motorcycle Touring - Take a Long Trip on Your Motorcycle

The dictionary defines a tour as "a journey for business, pleasure or education often involving a series of stops and ending at the starting point." Thus a tour is a complete circuit.

Motorcycle touring has always been a part of motorcycling. Early riders wanted to jump on their motorcycles and ride to see what was over the next hill. Of course the roads weren't too good in those days and travel could be slow. Bill Stermer in his book, Motorcycle Touring and Travel: A Handbook of Travel by Motorcycle, says:

"The bike on which most people choose to tour tends to be the one they own at the time."

This was certainly true early on before the advent of the heavyweight touring motorcycles of the last twenty-five years. The introduction of the Honda Gold Wing has changed all that. Read more.

Logan Pass-Going to the Sun Highway

[Click on pictures for full size version]

Ian, Darcy and I met up at Grants house in Calgary and started our five day-three-state-two province tour which would include Logans Pass, also known as "The Going To The Sun Highway".

With fresh faces and no lasting hang overs, we assembled the packed and ready bikes and crew for the obligatory line-up and photo op. Seems to be some one missing, never mind he is taking the photo.


We burned a lot of rubber heading south out of Calgary on Highway 2 heading for our lunch stop at Fort MacLeod. I held the big Silverwing back and took up the rear riding position as I expected to have to stop and pick up Yamaha and Harley parts along the way.

Nanton was our first breather stop where we could stretch our legs, scratch our butts and take a picture of an airplane on a stick.

After crossing into Montana, which has some of the best motorcycle roads on earth, we stopped to load the bikes with cheap beer, gas and smokes.

We entered Waterton National Park from the eastern side, stopped and had another photo op, after paying the $12.00 entry fee. I must have intimidated the attendant at the gate as he over charged me outrageously and then had to refund me twice.
The first few miles of the park are rather tame, but a scenic ride none the less.

This stopping point over looking the lake is your first hint of what is to come.

Lots of curves and twister's along the way but the amount of traffic thru the park curtails any canyon carving.

The road that was first blasted thru the mountains in the thirties slowly descends along some sheer cliffs and even the local mountain goats get nervous.

Lots of bike traffic carving its way past the tunnels and waterfalls along the route. Even if you had the road to yourself you would be going slow gawking at the marvelous scenery.

Lots of little pull offs to take a peek over the edge and shoot some pics.

Had a little construction delay that only amounted to about 10 minutes. Had to curtail my nasty smoking habit as there was a fire ban on with a no smoking in the park policy and the cruiser behind us looked ready to enforce the law.

Even the construction stopping spots offer up a great view. They were rebuilding some of the retaining walls.

Logans Pass has to be one of the most scenic rides you will find anywhere, with deep gorges and towering mountains.

After the pass and a night in Kalispel, we headed west towards Libby and Bonners Ferry, Idaho where we consulted the map and looked for the most scenic route.

Great stopping spots along the Thompson Lakes region on Highway 2, Montana.

North of Newport Washington where we found a great little road that took us back up to Canada. Highway 41 north is not a very heavily used road but it was a surprise to us as what a great motorcycle road it turned out to be, if you get the chance check it out.

We wimped out when we made it to Fernie B.C. and stayed in a motel for the night rather than taking a camping spot. In the morning a photo op presented itself and we indulged.




After getting back into Canada the ride to Creston B.C. was another great motorcycle road.

Last day heading home we stopped for a break, some were reluctant to come this route through the Crowsnest Pass as the last time we were thru here in September we were stopped two days in a motel with no power because of an early snow storm. Thankfully this year there was no snow and we made it through.

Just short of Longview Alberta we stopped to suit up as it had been threatening to rain and the low dark clouds ahead had lots of rain in them. We ended up riding the last two hundred miles home in a steady down pour.

Motorcycle Route Planning

Another great tool for planning your motorcycle trips is Google maps.
It's a free service and here I am using it to plan out a five day trip down to Kalispel Montana, Coeur D'Alene Idaho and points beyond.
We may or may not follow the route as planned out but gives us a general idea of where we want to go and how to get there. It also has the the benefit of telling you the mileage and time involved in the journey.

The days of pouring over paper maps is over and one doesn't have to go out and buy the latest in GPS technology to find your way around the world.

Motorcycle Touring Getting Started

Like motorcycle virgins my very first motorcycle trip, that extended for more than a day and a night, was fraught with excitement and trepidation.
Back in the mid eighties some friends and I took off on what would be the first of many bike trips that we would take together. Like young rebels we were full of spit and vinegar although our rides did not reflect our earthy attitudes.


The Born To Be Mild gang, Jim, me, Darcy and Grant and taking the picture was Debbie, Darcys wife,who was brave enough to ride with us, but not brave enough to pose with us.
I was riding a 1981 Honda 400T Hawk, my friends were on similar bikes, a Honda CB 450, and a couple of Suzuki 500's, all two cylinder, chain drive, air cooled bikes, not big by any means but certainly adequate for motorcycle touring.



Our trip was not a major undertaking but an adventure for us first timers at the art and joy of motorcycle touring.
Our first ride originated from Edmonton Alberta through the Rocky Mountains to the townsite of Jasper, south to Banff, further south through Radium Hot Springs and then back east to Calgary, Alberta.
As usual we were loaded to the nuts, everything we would need for a week of riding and camping, bungeed to the backs of the bikes.




Grant relaxes while we stop yet again to take pictures and converse about how sore our butts are from those slender banana seats.



One of the perks of riding through a national park is the abundance of wildlife, along with the deer further down the road we saw a black bear and her cubs crossing the road, we stopped to observe but were too nervous to get off the bike to get the camera.



Of course when it comes to deer, I am a fearless bipod, besides at that time I am sure I outweighed the deer by a three-to-one margin.
I don't think the cheap yellow plastic riding gear ever goes out of style.



After a couple of beers (notice the stubby bottles) after a hard days ride some one said they saw elk grazing next to our camping spot, I had my gut sucked in so hard for the picture I couldn't breathe for awhile and missed the elk completely.
It was nice to be able to camp amongst the animals except later in the evening a big black bear ambled by, too close for our comfort and again no picture was taken as we were all ready to flee if the bear so much as noticed us.



Darcy giving Grant a lesson in trick riding, being able to steer my bike with his feet. Grant as usual appears enthralled by the antics.


That Darcy was always sneaking around taking pictures, this time catching the pup tents unaware. Actually Darcy took all the pictures although he may not want to take credit for them.


I miss the daily maintenance of a chain drive bike, adjusting and lubing, adjusting and lubing.



That's Jim on the bike, whenever we needed some gas to start the fire we would send Jim on an errand and drain some gas from his bike for fire starter. Jim could never understand why he never got as good of mileage out of his bike as the rest of us.



That was the first of many bike road trips we took together, it was the second bike I owned and the first one reliable enough to go out of town without worrying about breakdowns.
We never traveled far in a day, often stopping to sightsee and check out the local attractions, but it was a good first trip, one that opened the door to others.