2021 Day Trips! | Page 18 | GTAMotorcycle.com

2021 Day Trips!

I just joined up and see there is about 100 riders that are on it from Mississauga.
No idea about rides being posted but curious to check it out more in detail. Thanks again for posting that:)

Yeah, you gotta join one of the groups, they're called "clubs" and that's where the rides are usually posted. Club themes are usually focused on the location and ride type (street, off-road, touring, track, sportbike, cruiser, etc)
 
Valley hopping!

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We're currently staying in the Okanagan Valley and the plan for the day is to head north up to Kamloops, and then over to the next valley over, the Nicola Valley. Route planning during the summer of 2021 really means taking inventory of where the forest fires and smoke are and finding a way around both...

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Our cast of characters for this ride includes a bunch of Beemers and one Honda Africa Twin

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Taking the scenic route along Okanagan Lake

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Heading west towards Kamloops, we are in the Thompson plateau, which although covered with lakes, is still considered a desert due to how little annual precipitation it receives. We ride through landscape dotted with sagebrush and tumbleweed, and it feels like we're somewhere in the southern US.

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Enjoying all the twists and turns on these BC roads

After a quick snack break at a Timmies in Kamloops, we head south down the Nicola Valley towards Merritt. HIghway 5A is a very scenic route that is a favorite with motorcycle riders all over the province.

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Watching the waves lap up on the shores of Nicola Lake

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I've spent the entire summer on this bike and I am totally loving it! Hit 11,000 kms on the odometer on this ride and I'm now booked in for my second service. Man, that came fast...
 
Valley hopping!

route-X2.jpg


We're currently staying in the Okanagan Valley and the plan for the day is to head north up to Kamloops, and then over to the next valley over, the Nicola Valley. Route planning during the summer of 2021 really means taking inventory of where the forest fires and smoke are and finding a way around both...

DSCN2287-X2.jpg

Our cast of characters for this ride includes a bunch of Beemers and one Honda Africa Twin

DSCN2243-X2.jpg

Taking the scenic route along Okanagan Lake

DSCN2257-X2.jpg


Heading west towards Kamloops, we are in the Thompson plateau, which although covered with lakes, is still considered a desert due to how little annual precipitation it receives. We ride through landscape dotted with sagebrush and tumbleweed, and it feels like we're somewhere in the southern US.

DSCN2286-X2.jpg

Enjoying all the twists and turns on these BC roads

After a quick snack break at a Timmies in Kamloops, we head south down the Nicola Valley towards Merritt. HIghway 5A is a very scenic route that is a favorite with motorcycle riders all over the province.

DSCN2276-X2.jpg


DSCN2279-X2.jpg

Watching the waves lap up on the shores of Nicola Lake

IMG_8837-X2.jpg


I've spent the entire summer on this bike and I am totally loving it! Hit 11,000 kms on the odometer on this ride and I'm now booked in for my second service. Man, that came fast...
Amazing! Is there no traffic out West, like you have the place to yourself!
 
Amazing! Is there no traffic out West, like you have the place to yourself!

We try to stay off the major highways and main roads. For example 5A runs parallel to Hwy 5, which is the major artery between Kamloops and Merritt. That's where all the traffic is, since everyone is in a rush to get places and they don't want to have to negotiate twists and turns on a 60 km/h scenic road.
 
Had a fun solo ride on Sat. Must have done around 700-750 km in 12 hours. By the end, my butt and wrists were beyond numb. So much that I had to manage with just the rear brakes in the last 10 km or so. Couldn't feel my fingers lol.

Thanks to @shanekingsley for the map tweaks and valuable input. I based my route around his streetcar route that was posted in the Ride Hookups thread. And funny enough, I ran into the group near the 'not so secret' streetcar wreck. I didn't plan on it or didn't know where the streetcar was located. I just got bored of 118 and took a deviation which took me through dirt roads and eventually a photo op with the whole gang.

Below is the route if anyone is interested (it's different from what Shane and the team did - shorter):

To - Henry Farm to Sandal's Sanctuary
Back - Sandal's Sanctuary to Sebright

I was supposed to ride to Essonville and then go up to Wilberforce but got bored of riding on 118.

Morning was foggy and I slowed down considerably due to this. Every 10 secs I was wiping my visor with my gloves but by the time it cleared up I was closer to the nicer roads.

507 - Construction work is done, but still saw pile-ons on the side of the road. Some newly paved sections missing road markings, so maybe for that.

I must mention Harburn Rd and Haliburton Lake Rd was a wonderful loop. I'm glad Shane pointed this out to me. Both these roads are narrow and technical. Comparatively, I felt Haliburton lake rd can be ridden a bit faster than Harburn Rd.

Another road I need to mention is Burleigh Rd 15. What an awesome road!!! I think this road might just be better than Southwood Rd as it's freshly paved and it's insane. Again, thanks to Shane - for the heads up on what lay ahead. This is an insane road with a lot of elevation changes, blind turns, and narrow width. The next time I would definitely add the entire section in my route and maybe include Elephant rd and Peterson rd as well (never been on those roads).

I stopped at Skyline Park near Haliburton. By the time I was leaving, it was getting kind of crowded. Glad I reached ahead of them and had the lookout point all to myself. I also sat there for a short while. It was great to check out a destination on this trip. Usually, I'm riding throughout without stopping. I kind of liked this, might do this for all future trips.

Nothing to write about the return trip - boring. 503 and 45 were filled with cars and by then I was exhausted so just rode home at a decent pace.

Some pics that I took along the way:


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Near Fort Irwin Marina at the end of Harburn Rd
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Parked at Skyline
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Will have to definitely pay a visit in the Fall season
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Had a fun solo ride on Sat. Must have done around 700-750 km in 12 hours. By the end, my butt and wrists were beyond numb. So much that I had to manage with just the rear brakes in the last 10 km or so. Couldn't feel my fingers lol.
now you know why everyone on this forum has an adventure bike?
 
Just want to hang on to a sports bike as long as my body can. 😁
Then look into an aftermarket seat and a throttle lock for your current bike - those two will increase your comfort level greatly for full day rides.
Bar risers if applicable might also reduce weight on the wrists.
 
Another trail ride to kick off the long weekend!

This time instead of organizing a group ride, we were invited to one. We're starting to build up a network of riders, and now it's nice to be able to call on somebody anytime to go for a ride.

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Our group for the day. A bit of range anxiety for the CRF MX bike since he had such a small tank, but he made it through the day without a siphon.

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Was a great relaxed ride through mainly FSRs with the odd detour on some side trails to tackle some "features".

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One such feature was a gnarly uphill climb over a sketchy wooden bridge with some broken slats. It was a good idea to walk the route and find the best path through the rocks and roots. That hill looked steep!

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I hate how the camera makes everything looks less steep than it really is!

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Easy peasy!

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I like trail riding because it's so social. We stop often to check the trail map, the GPS and to help each other over "features" - large fallen logs, water crossings, hill climbs. Plenty of time to gab and brag about how high we wheelied over that last log.

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At this point we got lost, so the ride leaders were consulting the maps while we were snapping pictures.

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I love this bike! So much torque. It's like a tractor, it just keeps pulling in any gear it's in.

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BRAAAAP!
 
Just want to hang on to a sports bike as long as my body can. 😁
if you want a sport bike with good ergos, you can always also go naked, not quite as comfortable as an adventure bike, but close
 
We try to stay off the major highways and main roads. For example 5A runs parallel to Hwy 5, which is the major artery between Kamloops and Merritt. That's where all the traffic is, since everyone is in a rush to get places and they don't want to have to negotiate twists and turns on a 60 km/h scenic road.
Nice, very nice. How do you take those photos while riding?
 
Who took that photo?
:)

Our new friend that we met that evening:

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We were wandering around one of the smaller towns on the Adriatic coast of Croatia when this guy approaches us and asks, "Are you Gene and Neda? I'm following you on your blog!"

LOL! We chatted for a while and when we rode off, he snapped a shot of us leaving. I also happened to be taking a picture of us riding, like I always do, and he managed to capture that right at the moment.

Neda has quite a big following in Croatia. Apparently there's a thread on some Croatian biker forum: "Croatian Girl Rides Around the World". I guess I'm her sidekick or something...

Had many many such encounters in the strangest places. We were flying back to Toronto from Guatemala City Airport and while we were waiting for our flight in the lounge, a guy recognizes us and starts talking to us.

We stopped to hike the slot canyons in Utah and when we got back to our bikes, there was a note slipped into my tankbag, "Following you guys online!" They recognized our bikes!

One of our regular riding buddies here actually initially contacted us through the blog. He sent an email asking, "Hey, were you at the Save-On Foods grocery store earlier today? What are you doing in BC?" We've been riding bikes together ever since then!

I'm so glad we decided to open our blog up on the Internet, we've met so many people who've opened up their homes and lives to us. So great to be able to get a local's insight on all these places we've visited instead of just being on the outside like the rest of the tourists.

Because of all the hospitality and goodwill we've received, we always try to invite as many travelers into our home, just to keep that circle of good karma going.
 

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