Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...

[Lightcycle]

Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/17.html

Banff to Jasper. With terrain like this, how can a motorcyclist not drool?

Pretty stream in Banff National Park

Neda took advantage of the beautiful hiking weather to snap some pictures of Banff National Park in the morning. I took advantage of the beautiful hiking weather to work on the blog...

The trails in Banff are marked for different-sized groups depending on the bear activity in the area. There are trails suitable for solo hiking, and others that require a group of 3 people or more to hike together. The thinking is that if you hike solo in bear country, you are bear-food for sure. But if you are hiking with at least two other people, you just have to be faster than one of them, so the odds are in your favour.

Good thing Neda bought a bear bell while we were in Calgary. Not sure why all the other hikers laughed at her bear-bell, I'm sure I heard one of them call it a "dinner bell"...

Neda's bear bell comes with a built-in silencer so you can turn it off and on. Handy, because I'm sure all the movie theaters in Banff require you to silence your cellphones, pagers and bear bells before the movie begins.

Ink pots at Johnston Canyon

Johnston Canyon was just across the way from our campsite, so Neda took a 3.5 hour hike to visit the famous Ink Pots, which are 6 blue-green pools fed by underground springs. The colour is from glacial sediments suspended in the water.

ATGATT *especially* when hiking in bear country

In the afternoon, we rode the famous Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper to take in the view of the Canadian Rocky Mountains all around us. We pass by a couple of beautiful-looking glaciers along the way.

Cold! Gerbings to the rescue!

R12GS needs some love too

I've noticed Neda's F650GS gets the lions share of attention on this blog. I know it's a newer bike, but now that my 12GS has shed it's ugly Aeroflow windscreen, I think it deserves a bit more screen time as well. I'm proud to say that the only Touratech item I've installed are the handguard spoilers...

Checking out the Athabaska Glacier at Columbia Icefields

Touratech commercial. When do you get the cheque, Neda?

Skies are roiling on the way to Jasper

As we venture into Jasper National Park, the skies darken, so the first thing we do is immediately set up our tent before the rain begins, which is imminent. The park has provided bear lockers where campers can store their food away from their tents. So we raid the other lockers for some free food before we head out to hike around the area.

Just kidding.

Maybe...

Shoutout to Neda's old hometown

Jasper Tramways operates a cable car that takes you up to the top of Whistlers Mountain just outside the town of Jasper. At the bottom, is a pinboard atlas where tourists can pinpoint where they came from. Tons of pins around Toronto, so I don't even try, but Neda notices not a lot of folks from the town where she was born.

That triangle down there is the town of Jasper

We continued to climb at the top of the tram to the summit of Whistler's Mountain. The views of Jasper and the surrounding rivers below were amazing, and even the light drizzle didn't dampen my enthusiasm to climb higher.

Some hike all the way up here to contemplate the meaning of life. Others just hog all the good seats...

Up at the top, we find snow!

Me and my new buddy Inukshuk check out the view together

In the evening, we ride into Jasper to get some Interwebbing and blogging done in a coffee shop. I don't know how these places make money when you can hog a table for hours and only pay a couple of dollars for coffee. We're kicked out at closing into the pouring rain, but when we ride back to the park, we're greeted with a warm and dry tent. Well, a dry tent, at least...

Singin' in the rain - Gene Kelly-stylez in Jasper

 

[rafiki911]

Woooo hoooo, looks like you two are having fun

 

[Lightcycle]

Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/18.html

From Jasper, we rode Hwy 5 through Kamloops with a quick detour through 5A, the Princeton-Kamloops Highway, a very scenic twisty ride past a series of pretty lakes in the valley, to end up in Merritt. We met Veronica, another ADVer outside the Starbucks at Merritt. She was covered head to toe in dust, and with her dirtbike gear and astride her Suzuki DR, she looked completely hardcore. We talked for a while and on her map, she showed us some great dual-sport roads in the area. We hope to visit them in the next few days.

Princeton-Kamloops Highway

We had made arrangements to meet Kevin and Manon in Vancouver for the long weekend. Yes, Kevin and Manon from Ottawa (from our very first blog entry are now Kevin and Manon from Vancouver! They've moved clear across the country just to provide us with a place to stay for the weekend!

Beating the heatwave in Vancouver with Kevin and Manon

It was so nice having a real bed to sleep in, and a couch, and a wide-screen TV, and a fridge, etc. We caught up with all the MotoGP races we had missed and ate pizza and drank Cherry Pepsi and it was all so decadent! K&M spoiled us to bits and we let them! Vancouver was having a heatwave, so we spent some time in the park next to their new condo to cool down.

Thanks Manon for the picture!

We spent an (extra) long weekend with them, parking the bikes for a few days and doing nothing but watching the Olympics on TV, eating and sleeping. It was amazing to spend time relaxing with good friends after being on the road for only just a few weeks.

Sasha Koop from Funhouse Tattoo

So, to commemorate traveling all the way from the east coast to the west coast of Canada, Neda decides to get inked! Actually, she had been planning this for quite some time, having had to change tattoo artists from Toronto because of timing, and arranging an appointment with a Vancouver artist while we were on the road. Sasha Koop from Funhouse Tattoo came highly recommended and we all came to watch the action and provide support.

A future tattoo artist looks on while Neda gets inked

"Take the road less travelled"

Neda explains the meaning behind the tatto:

"The blue heron feathers are a style mash-up. The inside of the feathers is done in Haida First Nations-style, and the outside is a more realistic feather to soften the design. The beads represent Gene and I. Blue is Gene, red is me, and yellow represents my bike and the sun."

Personally, I'm not into tattoos for myself (more a fan of making new holes in my body), but I think the design is cool and the tattoo turned out awesome. Neda was ecstatic!

Suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon

Because everyone knows how much I *love* hiking (not), Kevin, Manon and Neda drag me out to Lynn Canyon. Since K&M are still new to Vancouver, they had to TripAdvisor where to take us. Right now, they're still "Kevin-and-Manon-*IN*-Vancouver", and they've got a long way to go before they become "Kevin-and-Manon-*FROM*-Vancouver"...

Lynn Canyon

Hikers in Lynn Canyon

So, seeing how I've probably visited Vancouver more often than K&M, I lead "Kevin-in-Vancouver" to the Gastown district downtown to take some touristy shots of the area.

A gaggle of GSes stop traffic in Gastown...

Gastown Steamclock

I was dismayed to find out recently that the Gastown Steamclock does not run entirely on steam! It is actually electrically powered and the only time steam is utilized is every 15 minutes when the clock gives a little show and plays a tune. Felt *so* totally ripped off...

Walking around Gastown

And of course, rain in Vancouver

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

If Veronica had a stock seat on her DR, that is HARD core!

 

[Lightcycle]

Consider her hardcore then!

We've met so many ADVers through that pannier sticker. One guy posted he was going to give us the ADV salute (FYYFF) but didn't know if we knew it or not, so he abstained. I would have got it, I think Neda would have gotten offended and run him off the road! LOL!

 

[vrus]

I have been reluctant to give that salute as well.

I am surprised you guys aren't sponsored or anything!

 

[RockerGuy]

Like to know the plan for winter

 

[Lightcycle]

I am surprised you guys aren't sponsored or anything!

Neda and I talked about that briefly and my feeling was that my life before this trip was one of perpetual obligations. If we were to pursue sponsorship, I think feeling obligated to mention the sponsors and not being able to speak our mind about anything and everything would really put a damper on our Run-Away-From-Everything trip. Right now we answer to nobody, and it feels so right.

 

[Lightcycle]

Like to know the plan for winter

Gerbings?

 

[nfq]

Like to know the plan for winter

Ride south?
That'd be my assumption. West coast USA, lower states (Texas, Florida, etc), then even farther south i.e. Mexico, Belize, Panama, etc.

Guess we'll have to wait and see

 

[Lightcycle]

updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/19.html

We left Kevin & Manon's place with a bit of reluctance, not just a warm bed and comfy couch and TV and stocked fridge, etc. but the fun and laughter of good friends, and familiar company. We rode to Tsawwassen just south of Vancouver to take a 90 minute ferry to the island.

Riding around downtown Victoria

Uh oh, Neda spots a market and immediately, I know where I'm going to be for the next few hours...

We came back from walking around downtown and noticed that we got stupid parking tickets after paying for parking on the street. The cause was parking too close to the parking lines. There were no bloody parking lines! We took pictures of our parking spots, but it's going to cost us time and more parking money just to fight this thing. We feel so ripped off, and it took us a while to get out of this foul mood.

Seaplanes taking off and landing in Victoria Harbour

This is the first thing visitors see when they step off the seaplane. How inviting!

Victoria harbour is such a pretty place to spend the evening, you can watch the sun set on the waters and the city has done a really nice job with maintaining all the flowers and gardens in the area. Neda's favorite TV station is The Food Network, and one of the shows she watches is called Eat Street. She saw an episode called "Red Fish, Blue Fish", and she told me, "If we're ever in Victoria, we *HAVE* to go there!". So here we are:

Red Fish, Blue Fish, Orange Sunset

Red Fish, Blue Fish is a food truck right on the harbour by the seaplane terminals. We lined up for over an hour (!) and just squeaked in before they closed for the evening. The food was delicious, as promised and we had a spectacular view of the setting sun over the waters of the bay while we noshed away on great seafood.

Sleepy yachts in Victoria harbour

Neda found some great riding roads just north of Victoria on the east coast of the island. From Campbell River, we rode west on Hwy 28 as it cuts through Strathcona Provincial Park, staying the evening in Buttle Lake. As we pitched our tent, we heard scores of sportbikes ripping it up on 28, so we knew we had a great day of riding ahead of us. In the late morning, we completed Hwy 28 out to Gold River and then back again, eyes glued to the inside line of all the tight curves, trying to ignore the distracting scenery lest we end up as another roadside attraction on this awesome twisty road!

Hwy 28 from Campbell River to Gold River

We headed north through Nanaimo, debated about whether to be cheesy and buy Nanaimo bars for lunch, decided against it, and then took the very scenic and twisty Hwy 4 west through Port Alberni. As most of you know, when the riding is good, the pictures get scarce, so you'll have to trust us when we say, if you're in the area, Vancouver island has amazing riding!

We reached the west coast and stayed in a very expensive and uninspiring camp site in Ucluelet, just south of Tofino. So Neda went off in search of a new campsite while I pretended to blog.

Hero shot on the way to Mussel Beach

Mussel beach is at the end of an 8km gravel road in the wilderness, nothing but trees and a bear that lives about 1 km in. We know this because we've seen him everytime we go to and from our new campsite on the beach!

This is shot 5 of a 10-shot sequence...

During one of our trips on the bumpy gravel road, Neda's sidecase vibrates off the bike and she has to stop and walk back to pick it up. I guess I could have helped her but I was too busy documenting the event. I had to turn the intercom off because the obscenities were getting too vulgar for my delicate eardrums...

"Do you mind giving me a hand?"... so I clap... It's a tough job being the staff photographer...

The rocky beach at our campsite

Mussel beach is one of our favorite campsites so far. The owner has built funky sculptures and treeforts out of the driftwood lying on the shore. The treefort sites are bit too pricey for us, they fit 2 or 3 tents, so we just get a spot by the beach and the scenery is beautiful. The owner, Curtis, is super-friendly as well and we talked bikes with him and our tent-neightbour throughout our 2-night stay. Everyone loves talking motorcycles! They either have one, want one, is curious about ours or knows someone that has one.

Goin' fishing! Not really, I'm not a fan of fishing, but I'll happily eat the end-product...

I helped Luke push Curtis' fishing boat out into the waters. By "help", I mean watched a bit, then pestered him with questions, and then hopped in the boat for a paparazzi shot. He showed me some of his catches on his digital camera, one 50-lb fish half his height!

We asked a guy in Tofino to take a picture of us, his three-legged dog decided to hop over and pose with us. So cute!

We rode out to Tofino for the day to walk around the town and get some wi-fi. Now BC is a pretty bohemian province, but Tofino is the hippy-central capital with a surfer-twist. This picture is kind of special for us, since we've got a shot of us in Cape Speer out on the east coast of Newfoundland, and now we're in Tofino, out in the west coast of Vancouver Island. We've crossed Canada coast-to-coast and seen a lot of the country along the way, and I feel this was a proper way to say goodbye to the place that we've lived in for so long.

Waves and wavy lines in Chesterman Beach

Chesterman Beach

Sarah from Island BMW put us on their Facebook page! Cool!

We both got new shoes in the back at Island BMW. Taylor, the service advisor recommended Hidenau K76s in the rear for better wear than the Tourances. They seem very noisy, but we'll give them a chance once they break in to see how well they handle and then decide if we want to stick a K76 in the front as well next time or go back to Tourances.

 

[djez]

Neda and I talked about that briefly and my feeling was that my life before this trip was one of perpetual obligations. If we were to pursue sponsorship, I think feeling obligated to mention the sponsors and not being able to speak our mind about anything and everything would really put a damper on our Run-Away-From-Everything trip. Right now we answer to nobody, and it feels so right.

I agree, you went out there to be free, why carry a leash. Keep the 2 wheels moving, live free and thank you very much for the inspiration and your stories.

 

[matthew]

I'm not sure if you guys plan to ride on the island, but if you want to go for a nice little loop (and very desolate), consider this route:

http://goo.gl/maps/kzPCG

 

[Lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/20.html

After having spent almost a whole week on Vancouver Island, we took the ferry back to the mainland and decided to ride north into the mountains. Vancouver to Whistler is a route we have driven many, many times on our snowboard trips. We haven't been back since the 2010 Winter Olympics and it was very interesting to see the changes the province made to accommodate such a world-class event.

Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler Highway 99, or at least the part between Horseshoe Bay to Pemberton, is also known as the Sea-To-Sky Highway and is *the* motorcycle destination highway on the Canadian West Coast. Fast sweepers hugging the coastline overlooking Howe Sound used to be a two-lane undivided highway, and I remember there used to be lots of accidents from motorists either not paying attention or trying to pass on blind corners. We were very surprised when we found that most of the Sea-To-Sky was now a divided four-lane highway! Sweet! Trying to keep up with Neda was a full-time left-lane affair as I watched the bottom of her Touratech panniers scoop lower and lower to the pavement on each turn.

Olympic rings at Whistler Village The scenery is astounding in the summertime, it was hard keeping an eye on the turns in the road when just to our left, the sheer drop to the waters below and the mountains on the other side of the sound provided constant distraction. Further up the highway, we started to notice other tiny Olympic changes: all the signs announcing the small towns along the Sea-To-Sky were now on smart, shiny, engraved rocks. Very snazzy! When we arrived at Whistler Village, we noticed a hubbub of activity. Lots of young people milling about, which was strange since it was the off-season. We quickly discovered that we were in the middle of Crankworx 2012, the "Colosseum of freeride mountain biking"". So many events were going on, downhill racing, dirt tracking, trials, etc. But the event that caught the most attention were the tricks and jumps.

Crankworx 2012 We must have spent half the day watching the mountain bikers launch themselves off a platform 50-feet from the ground, perform physics-defying feats of acrobatics and then land on a huge downhill dirt ramp, all against the backdrop of the magnificent Rocky Mountains. I don't know much about mountain biking, so I'll do my best to provide commentary from my point-of-view:

I'm sure this wouldn't be too much harder to pull off on a fully-laden R1200GS...

25,000 people in attendance for Crankworx 2012

This was a popular trick. It must be easy or something...

At the bottom of the landing ramp, the large crowd screams their appreciation for each trick

Most of these athletes were performing while not feeling very well. Many young people commented that they were sick. I felt sorry for them...

This event was like synchronized swimming, but with bikes. And without the water. And not at all very synchronized...

I was told this one is called a Superman, not sure why. Crankworx is a 10-day long event at Whistler mountain, and we stayed to watch the events for two days, commuting back and forth from our campsite less than 30 kms north in Pemberton. Although motorcycle parking was free in Whistler, the food was far from free...

Sea-to-Sky Highway north of Whistler to Pemberton on the way back to our campsite On a sad note, the province's Olympic committee must have ran out of funds for the smart, snazzy stones announcing the towns north of Whistler, where tourists rarely ventured. Our arrival in poor ole Pemberton is heralded by the same old metal sign that's been there since before 2010...

 

[NightShadow]

I thought I recognized your names as I have read your blog back some time ago.
Good luck with your trip - Safe travels

Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper

I did that route about 2 weeks ago . The 93 is an amazing ride.
I came down the 5 and is just as good a ride to Kamloops.
Below Kamloops is just another Hwy ride. Down to Abbotsford
& then south from there .

 

[nite]

Your journeys are really inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/21.html

When we met Veronica in Merritt, BC last week, she pointed us to a spot on her map called the Highline Trail and told us that it was a great dual-sport road with amazing views. So we took her advice and rode up there. The Highline Trail starts at a town called D'Arcy, at the end of Portage Road which runs off the Sea-To-Sky at Mount Currie.

Anderson Lake, D'Arcy, BC

While we were adjusting our tire pressures for the gravel road in D'Arcy, a few residents drove up to us in their trucks and ATVs and recommended that we just ride around the corner to the lake and hang out at the docks. We were glad to take their advice because the lake was beautiful, clear and blue and the waters were just as refreshing as they looked. We ended up putting our swimsuits on and stayed for a couple of hours, sunbathing and swimming. If this was one of our normal "Cant Stop! We're on a Schedule!" trips, we would have totally missed out on the lake and a great rest stop.

Bonsai! (tree?)

This was the neighbourhood dog, Scout, who trained me very well to play fetch with him

The Highline Trail climbs rapidly from D'Arcy, and you soon can see Anderson Lake from a high vantage point. Open only in the summertime, it is only recommended for 4WD vehicles. Or 1wd...

Beautiful, but distracting view of Anderson Lake from Highline Trail

Parking in the Lillooet Fire Zone. Wonder if we'll get tickets here as well...

If you look closely, you can see Neda riding the trail on the left side of the picture

The trail was a great dual-sport road as promised by Veronica. And the views were amazing! Hard-packed gravel and lots of elevation changes had us moving our body weight back and forth on the bike.

Rounding the bend on the Highline Trail

Rounding the bend part II - don't look down, steep drop on the right!

30 kms later, we stopped for a late afternoon lunch at the Highline Pub in Seton. It seemed like the only business in town and we stayed for a couple of hours because they had wi-fi. When I asked the owner what the roads were like back to Lillooet, she replied that it was another 70 kms of the same gravel but worse (worse? cool!), so we decided to head out before the sun robbed us of visibility.

Sun is setting on the Highline Trail

The road to Lillooet had steep switchback climbs where had amazing views of the man-made Carpenter Lake. We saw some great wildlife, I should say Neda saw some great wildlife, since she was in the lead. I just got to hear about it on the intercom, "Oh my god, a bear!"... "Where? Where?"... "Oh, it ran off, I scared it away"...

Neda returns to the BatCave after a long day fighting grime.

The trail follows Bridge River for quite awhile before ending up in Lillooet

We reached Lillooet as the sun disappeared behind the hills and we set up our tent in the dark. What a great day of dual-sport riding!

 

[rich6969]

Love it guys.....

 

[regder]

That pic of Anderson Lake is gorgeous

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

"Fighting grime..."

Lol