Colin and Serena's Motorcycle Trips

Motorcycle Camping

2011-06-22T23:37:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I went camping with my brother and dad to Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park near Lac La Biche, about 4 hours North-East of Edmonton. Packing the bike proved to be an exercise in deciding on exactly what I needed to bring given the relative size of my 4 bags to pack stuff in.

In addition to the normal camping supplies, I also knew that it was going to rain the entire weekend, so I needed to be conscious of that. This meant that all of my bags needed to be kept rain proof and I needed to pack along rain gear for the motorbike, as well as rain gear for the camp site.

Being a 4 hour ride, we made a number of stops along the way to get gas, take breaks and hunt for a few Geocaches.

Once at the site, we had access to a beach, which was pretty much private the entire time we were there...too bad for the rain. Luckily, the rain let up for a few hours here and there and we took advantage of it by walking the entire length of the beach.

I'll be back there later this year with my wife and daughter, so I plan on getting that geocache located at the tip of the park. This might be one of the last motorbike trips of the year, though. We'll see what happens.

Quick Trip to Red Deer

2011-06-14T23:43:00.001-06:00

I had to meet with a client this past weekend to discuss some website development I'm doing for him and I decided to take the motorbike. Its nice to get back on the road for a long period of time again. I haven't been on a long motorbike trip for a couple years now.

Its all in preparation for the upcoming motorcycle camping trip this weekend at Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park. At about 4 hours away from Edmonton, it should make for a nice weekend getaway. Plus, there are many Geocaches along the way that will serve for perfect rest spots and treasure hunting detours.

Motorcycles, camping and geocaching...a perfect weekend coming up.

Day 15 Creston-Calgary

2007-08-25T15:26:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
By Serena Beck

We left the Creston Motel at 8:30 AM and went to a local Cafe for a delicious breakfast (the local places are the best).

We stopped for lunch in Invermere at the Cafe by the Skookum Inn. This is the only restaurant that we frequented twice on the trip. We had salad and sandwiches for lunch.

We arrived in Calgary at 5:30 PM and stayed with Erin and Ferzhin. We had a nice visit and went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow is day 16 and it will be our shorest ride yet Calgary-Edmonton. We used to think of this as a long ride, but not after the 4000 Km that we put on Colin's bike in the 16 days of our trip. Until the next trip, this is the passenger signing off.

Day 14 Munroe-Creston

2007-08-24T21:03:00.000-06:00

Monday, Aug 20, 2007
By Serena Beck

Colin and I enjoyed a nice American continental breakfast of white chunky gravy and biscuits at 7:00 AM at the Best Western. As if, we ate waffles and cereal. We were on the rainy roads at 7:30 AM. It started pouring as soon as we got up. We rode for two hours until the thousands of icicle rain drops prodded into our bones and our stomach's growled.

At 9:30 AM we stopped at Kristall's in Leavenworth for a second breakfast. I had peach pie and ice cream (oh so bad, but I'm on vacation) and Colin had sausage and eggs. When we went back outside, the rain had passed, but it was still cold and I snapped my glass frames when I put them back on inside my helmet, so it was another long day of contacts for me. Leavenworth was a neat town. The buildings are all old and facny looking like in Jasper. Safeway doesn't look like our Safeway. As we were leaving town, I saw some tourists petting a suicidal mountain goat who was walking on the ledge of a bridge on the other side of the guard rail.

We enjoyed Interstate 2 in the U.S. I took tons of pictures of Tumwater Canyon and the neat mountains we wound our way through.

We stopped in the town of Wilbur at Babe's for lunch and enjoyed southwest chicken pannis and chips. I had a gunpowder green tea and I bought a duck magnet. The coffeshop/lunch place/store even had an entire wall of Red Hat Society items for sale. It was the offical Red Hat Xing in town.

We stopped in Davenport to go to the bank in search of the U.S. state quarters. Instead we found the new American loonies (sorry, "American one dollar coin") for my Dad and cousins who collect coins. One thing I noticed in the U.S. is that the smaller the town the more antique stores they have. In these towns it is also legal to hitchhike too.

Spokane had lots of cool old looking churches and we toured Victoria Secret for my favorite undies (pretty much the only thing that I could buy and fit on the bike).

We stopped in Idaho somewhere in some small town and ate dinner at the Boondox Pub. We had good burgers and thick Red Robin fries. It was surprisingly good for a run down bar that allowed smoking. Yes, that right the only restaurant we ate in where you could smoke right at the table. I was scared my motorcycle jacket would smell like smoke for days.

American Quirks (warning this section contains opinionated content)

We rode through Idaho and I witnessed bad grammar on the road construction signs "Motorcycles use extreme caution." I think they meant "motorcyclist" you know the person in control of the motorcycle unless of course motorcycles are transformers that drive themselves.
I also saw road signs that said "If you litter it will hurt." I think what they meant was that you will be fined. However, with all the litter I saw it seems that people made this rule and no one follows it. This is also why they have the adopt a highway program. Jesus Christ or perhaps they meant the Church of Jesus Christ has adopted a lot of these interstates (oops they are not highways in the U.S.). I think a more effective approach would be that if people are caught littering a herd of game (the signs say Game on the road instead of Wildlife) comes and beats them in their car.
Numerous people also told us "Y'all be careful out there now." I know motorcycles can be dangerous, but I wondered if they were getting at something else. Why should we be so careful, do Americans mistake motorcyclists for Game or terrorists? Are we at risk of being shot?

Well that's enough ranting. Today was our longest leg at 700 KMs and 12 hours of riding. It was scary crossing the border at dusk because there were many "game" on the road. A deer darted in front of us by a few feet. Thankfully there was no line up to come back into Canada's arms. We stayed at the Crestion, B.C. motel and enjoyed blizzards and watched the Disney Pixar movie Cars for free.

Motorbike Trip Videos

2007-08-24T12:35:00.000-06:00

Over the course of the trip we took a lot of pictures. Since we were on the road, I uploaded all the good shots we had and you've been seeing them here. But, we took some interesting videos too. At different internet cafes and at our friends houses we did all the uploading, but it would have taken too long to upload the videos too.

Now that I'm back in town, I've had the time to put them up. A lot of them are from Serena's point of view on the back of the bike, but there's some others too.

So, if you want to see a little more of the trip, here's the link to a Picasa album with all the videos. I recommend that you turn the sound down for a few of them because the wind is loud on the back of the bike.

Enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/jcolinbeck/MotorbikeTripMovies

Day 13 Nanoose Bay-Seattle

2007-08-23T23:39:00.000-06:00

Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
By Serena Beck

I have rain pants! I bought rain pants yesterday and they protected me from our little bit of rain today.

Colin and I left Susan and Brian's beautiful ocean view home at 9:00 AM this morning. We retuned at 9:30 AM to retrieve Colin's camera. Today was the only day I didn't ask "Do you have your camera?" before we left. We still made our 10:15 AM DukePoint-Tsawwassen ferry. A two hour ferry ride in the rain. We just barely made the ferry and we weren't by the other bikes because we were the last on, but we parked under cover so the bike stayed dry.

The border was lined up for miles through traffic lights. Colin budded hundreds of cars and we got through in one hour. If we hadn't have budded, we probably could have tripled that.

We got to Pike's market as it was closing at 5:00 PM, so I was rather disappointed. Damn border. At leaset, we still got to see the fish throwing, a few vendors, and experience the atmosphere.

After our hour tour, we drove to Munroe and got a room at a Best Western. There was an outdoor pool that I swam in and it was cold. We ate dinner at Canyons and on the wall in the restaurant was a sign that said guns are not permitted in the restaurant. This surprised me. The small town of Munroe not only sells guns, but also has their own gun club too. I wonder if the gun club is for hunting...or target practice for other species...

Day 10 Surrey to Nanoose Bay

2007-08-18T18:32:00.000-06:00

By Serena Beck

We left Derek and Jennie's at 11:00 AM and tried to say hi to people at Telus but everyone was on vacation. We took the Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay for 90 minutes. We arrived at 12:20 PM and thankfully because we were on a bike were able to skip the line even though the ferry was full for cars. We got through the line immediately and then loaded 5 minutes later at the front of the line with all the bikes.

We got off the ferry and met Colin's mom at Thrity's and then went to Rudy's for lunch. We stopped by the house to visit Brian and then we went to the ocean view B'Sheret Guest House.

I could stare at the ocean ripples forever. A cruise ship passes in the distance past the large island and then past the tiny island. It's stark white against the black mountains and navy glassy ocean. It disappears into the gray horizon. The rainy looking clouds are hanging around, but it's still warm and beautiful. The window view from the bed and couch is a post card, except for the ocean's lullaby and the wave movenment you'd swear you were staring at a post card.

We took pictures of the beautiful guest house and sat outside to listen to the birds and the ocean. We drank complimentary red wine and ate decadent chocolates while we flipped through a National Geographic coffee table book. Susan came over for a hot tub and we viewed a sunset of pink clouds from behind the storm. We had a great visit and great time looking up at the stars.

We're about to take Susan and Brian out for dinner (we are here using their Internet). Tomorrow we are off to Seattle. You probably won't here form us again until we're home.

Motorbike Trip Pics 6

2007-08-18T17:58:00.001-06:00

Day 9 of the Motorcycle Trip

2007-08-15T22:48:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, Aug 14, 2007
By Serena Beck

Colin and I left Ang, Reg, and Emily's in Kelowna at 10:00 AM this morning. I managed to take a video of two fighter jets flying over the Kelowna bridge while we rode over it.

We rode to Meritt B.C. where we stopped for lunch at Tim Hortons. It was a sunny, clear, cloudless day and we enjoyed an excellent view of the mountains. The mountain wind was quite strong and unpredictable. It tossed us back and forth and pushed our shoulders left, right, then left and right again in a Tae Bo jabbing frenzy.

We went through one tunnel, but I wasn't fast enough to capture a video of the experience. However, I did take a picture of the tunnel. We rode the Coquihalla toll highway ($5.00 for a motorcycle) and Colin cruised at an unmentionaly fast speed, but managed to avoid the police ghost cars that were waiting to catch people.

We arrived in Surrey at 3:45 PM to visit Kathy, Peter, Jennie, Derek, and Gavin. We're going to head to Crescent Beach tomorrow for a nice non-riding (and bum resting) day of visiting.

Motorbike Pics Part 5...blog to come soon...

2007-08-15T18:50:00.000-06:00

Motorbike Pics Part 4

2007-08-13T22:24:00.000-06:00

Day 6 of the Bike Trip Sunday Aug 12, 2007

2007-08-12T23:53:00.000-06:00

We packed up our campsite today and said our goodbyes to our new friends. We headed to Daisy's wildflower Cafe for omelette wraps and bagels and we were on the road by 10:30 AM. We took our second free ferry across part of Arrow Lake (near Fauquier). We stopped half way to Vernon for a greasy lunch complete with milkshakes at the Gold Pan Cafe. I fell asleep once after lunch, but no I didn't fall off the bike. I leaned slightly to the left and then woke up when my helmet collided with Colin's helmet.

It was a long slightly cool but precipitation free day of riding. We arrived in Vernon at 4:00 PM and arrived at Ang, Reg and Emily's at 5:00 PM. We went out for a lovely Greek meal with them and enjoyed a sunny Kelowna evening in good company. We're also going to enjoy a comfy soft sleep in a bed with real pillows (we slept with blow up pillows while we were camping). Well I'm going back to visit now and we're off to the beach tomorrow.

Pics Part 3

2007-08-12T23:37:00.000-06:00

Day 3 of the Bike Trip - Thursday Aug 09, 2007

2007-08-12T22:55:00.000-06:00

Colin and I ate breakfast at the restaurant by the Skookum Inn this morning. We were on the road by 10:30 AM and we took a picture as we passed the hoodoos.

Our first stop was Kimberly which is a really nice town. We enjoyed some B.C. cherries and used the Internet in the library to type up our blog from day 2. We had lunch in Creston at Della's Place. It was a local restaurant with delicious food. We finally changed our clocks to B.C. time and gained an hour.

Next, we rode the DH1 (Highway 3A but it's rated the nicest highway in B.C.) It was rated 30/30 for turns, twists and curves. It was very windy and was a long ride of leaning left then right then immediately left then immediately right and repeat. Since it was right after lunch, I wondered if I was going to be seeing my lunch again, but I was fine. My favorite part of the highway was the glimpses of Kootenay Lake that I saw through the trees. We enjoyed ice cream while we waited for the next Kootenay Lake ferry.

We took the bike on its first ferry ride. We met two other bikers (from Rocky Mountain House) on the ferry who were also coming to Toad Rock Campground. They were our parents' age as we expected most people to be at the Horizon's Unlimited meeting.

We rode to Toad Rock Campsite by Balfour B.C. and set up camp. Today was our first hot and rain free riding day and it was gorgeous. We enjoyed Day 4 and 5 by going to the Ainsworth hot springs twice, talking to various other bikers (another couple in their 30's), attending seminars and workshops and learning how to bike around the world.

Day 2 of the Motorbike Trip

2007-08-09T12:53:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was one of the coldest rides I've ever done...

Leaving Jasper, it was only 5 minutes until we decided to suit up for the rain. The came the downpours....I swear that nature was mocking us because it was a back and forth between the freezing cold wind blowing me across the road and the bright sunny sky. The only thing that remained as a constant reminder that it was going to suck riding was the rain. The rain pretty much never let up until we were in B.C.

I remember thinking about a word, any word really just some word, over and over again as I rode. It was quite odd. I would repeat the word over and over again in my head. Sometimes it was a phrase and on a couple of cases it actually was a whole sentence. But for some reason, I was just so cold that I just repeated it over again. And that's how I passed most of the time yesterday.

I was actually not too cold at times. I had on a long sleeved shirt, my motorbike coat, some water proof (riiiight) rain pants and then a big bright yellow rain coat that I stole from my mom's wedding in Tofino a few years ago. Except for one part of my body, I was relativly dry and warm. I didn't really think it would rain...so, I didn't bother to bring my big rain gloves. So, my sporty little gloves - with all the ventilation holes - kept my hands at a brisk 3 degrees, I'm sure. At one point I remember gearing down from 5th to 2nd and my hands hurt so much while doing it.

I also remember seeing about 7 signs stating that we have left the "avalanche danger zones". Funny, because it seems that they'll tell you right away once you're out of danger, but I don't once remember seeing a sign saying that we were entering one of those zones. For the better, I guess - that would have made Serena nice and comfortable.

Ok, now we're in Kimberly taking a rest and we'll be off to Creston, then up north a bit to a ferry to take us across some lake to Nelson. We'll be camping there with a bunch of people from horizonsunlimited.com for 4 days. If there's access in Nelson, we'll do another post. Otherwise, next one will be when we're at Kelowna after camping.

Day 2 Pics

2007-08-09T12:53:00.000-06:00

Day 2 of the Motorbike Trip

2007-08-09T12:51:00.000-06:00

by Serena Beck

Today's Highlights

1. The bathrooms in the Columbia Icefield Tourist Center had hand dryers.

2. When we arrived in B.C. and the sun came out.

We got up and packed the bike and then checked out of the Whistler Inn. We ate breakfast at Smitty's and got gas. We were on the road again by 1:00 PM. We rode for about 5 minutes and then Colin had to stop to put his rain pants on. I continued to wear my jeans since I don't have rain pants. We stopped at Horseshoe Lake, but not to see the sites. We had to put our yellow rubber duck looking Tofino rain jackets. We got a mom to take a picture of us and then we were on the road again in the down pour. The sun would tease us for a few seconds at a time, but the rain never let up. We went through storm after storm with each one getting harder.

We took a break at the Columbia Icefields. My jeans were soaked everywhere and to top it off mother nature wasn't the only one bitchin' because I had my period too. I would have bought rain pants if the gift shop sold them. I was tempted to buy some off a tourist, but most them were asian so they would never fit me. We stood under the hand dryers in the bathroom for a long time to warm up. We paid $6.00 for hot chocolate and coffee, but it tasted so good. It stopped raining so we got back on the bike.

Of course though, five minutes down the road it started to rain again. It was scary at some points with the windy road, the rain and our high speed with the water spraying up onto the roadway. I thought back to when I was a little girl and I relied on my Dad to keep us safe on the windy mountain roads and now that I am married I rely on Colin to keep me safe on the windy rainy mountain roads.

Our next stop in the absolute down pour was a gas station where there was a guy filling up his show bike with gas. The guy insisted on talking to me "Well, hi there. Nice day for riding." I couldn't help but think yes if you were actually riding since he was filling up his bike and then was putting it back in his truck. Why have a motorcycle if you're not going to ride it? The gas attendant said to Colin "Well there is someone who does not care about the weather."

I admit the only okay thing about the rain was that we saw three unbelievingly gorgeous rainbows that stretched across the mountains. I took a picture of two of them. We rode right under them and you could see the colors disperse into the tree tops on the mountain. Thankfully as we crossed into B.C. and by the time we stopped in Golden for a snack the frostbite in my toes and fingers had gone away and my clothes were dry because the sun came out. The difference between riding today is that we had all the vents on our jackets closed and we wore long sleeves. Yesterday, we had all the vents on our jackets open to let the wind in.

We also stopped at Bow Glacier and I thought we were back in the Domincian for a minute. The water was that clear aqua blue green. We took a few frameable pictures.

After Golden we got on the nice not as busy highway that went to Radium and Windvermere (where Diane lives Sandy :-] we saw her showhome) and Invemere. Colin's GPS died, so we stopped at the Petro in Invermere to ask how to get to our Skookum hotel. An RCMP officer was passing us and we didn't have our signal light on and he was a real prick about us not signaling (you know small town cops who have to think they own the town), but we didn't want to drive in front of him or he probably would have arrested us or something for having an upside down license plate.

We checked into room 4 to a muggy smelling motel room (mom we couldn't have paid you to stay there). The beds were comfy and for only $60.00 a night we had a fridge and microwave. The only thing that wasn't pretty was the shower. I had to shower with my sandals on. The restaruant closed at 8 so no skookumberry pie for us, (it was 9:00 PM). We rode back to Invermere and to a mexican bar (Bud's bar) where we had quesadilla and enchiladas and listened to the locals talk about supposed bear attacks, shark attacks and various other tales. Our Australian bartender/waitress was being hit on by every guy in the town.

Colin and I both were not feeling too well this morning (Thursday now), but we're in Kimberly and it's sunny and must be at least 20 by now. We're in the library writing our journal entries for free. We are going to go enjoy some delicious B.C. cherries and then we're back on the road for a long trip to Nelson and then camping. Yeah, three days rest from the bike. It's 12:30 but really 11:30 if we ever hit the time change to gain an hour. I still don't think we're far enough in B.C. yet.

Part1 from Colin's Perspective

2007-08-08T12:08:00.000-06:00

Ohhhh.....my back is killing me!!

We left Edmonton and took off down the Yellowhead. For some reason, time seems to come to a stand still on a motorbike - what would take you an hour to drive in a car, seems to take 3 on a bike.

We shot off to Edson for our first stop. It took us two hours to get there...some of the longest hours my back has seen. You're in this odd position where you're partly crouched forward...but not enough to lean on anything, and not far enough back to sit up straight. I'm sure Notredame never saw anything like me going down the road.

It gets very monotonous, too. For hours (minutes actually) at a time, I would just listen to the sound of the motor. Look in the left mirror....look in the right mirror...sound of the motor....that's it...nothing else to do. I would know the exact pitch that the motor made when I went up a hill and had to give it a little more gas...and then it would sound almost silent when I let off the gas....you really start to go into a trance when you're that bored. And any mistake I made means Serena and I crash...but anyway, back to the motor...

I think the first 200 kms is the furthest I can go without resting. The legs from Edson - Hinton and Hinton-Jasper where only 100kms and the hour on the road was fine. I think that's what we'll shoot for - 1 hour at a time and then we'll pull over to lie down and straighten my back out. You see...not all of us have these luxury back rests behind us. Of course, Serena does.

Ok, we're off for breakfast in Jasper and then we're headed to Skookum Inn, or something like that. I guess the skookumberry pie is something to try. No doubt they will not have internet, so it may be a while for the next posting.

Look for more pics on the next post, too.

Motorbike Trip Part1

2007-08-08T12:06:00.000-06:00

Day 1 of the Bike Trip

2007-08-08T12:01:00.000-06:00

by Serena Beck

Colin and I left Edmonton at 12:30 PM and stopped for gas ($10.00) by West Ed at the Mac's store by Rachel's house. We drove a long two hours to Edson. I experienced the bike's vibrations on my feet at the full highway speed. My left foot fell asleeps a few times and the saddlebag was so overloaded it was pressing into my left ankle. Colin and I both took a few rocks to the knees (darn gravel trucks that passed us). Our butts fell asleep and we constantly shifted our backs and arms to stretch. We drove through two tiny rain showers even though the sun was still out most of the time and there were no rain clouds when we left. However, a first day isn't a first day without a little rain.

We arrived at Tim Hortons in Edson straving and cramped. Colin spotted Reto and Lynette in the parking lot. They were on there way back from Jasper with their friends from Switzerland. Talk about incredible timing. We enjoyed a Wendy's-Tim Hortons lunch with them and caught up on our travels. They took a picture of us on the bike, but I wasn't thinking and should have got a picture of us with them (Colin is going to revoke my camera priviledges). We got gas at shell ($10.91) and hit the road.

Now, I know I sound like I complained about our first leg, but as we suspected the second leg went much faster. We drove to Hinton in what felt like an instance. We saw a fawn at the side of the road. We saw lots of other bikers who we both waved too. It reminded me of when I was little girl on family vacations in B.C. and I would wave to other boaters in uncle Terry's boat. It's such a cool thing because no matter who we are we share that common thread of driving a bike. It's like we're in this little secret club with these other people driving bikes. In Hinton, we stopped at Petro and drank juiceboxes and ate granola bars for about 15 minutes.

Next, we headed to Jasper and payed our hefty daily park pass of $17.80. We saw a moose on the side of the road (thank God he wasn't crossing). We drove thorugh an insanely gusty valley and I learned that things that are strapped onto the top of the saddlebag do not stay there in 100 km/h wind gusts. I looked down to see my purse had slipped through one strap and the other strap was letting go just as I reached down to grab it. Colin felt the weight shift in the bike as my arm flew bag holding onto my purse. He thought I had fallen asleep (I am proud to report no sleeping on the first day).

We stopped at the Jasper airway to pose for pictures with a few planes in the field. We spoke to some Swedish grandparents and their grandaughter who were also admiring the planes. Due to the high winds, Colin's license plate had ripped off both the screws at the top and we had to turn it upside down to prevent it from falling off (good luck to us explaining this one if we're pulled over by the cops).

We finished our ride to Jasper and checked into the Whistler Inn at 7:00 PM. We enjoyed a well deserved hot tub on the roof, slurpees and then went for an Italian dinner. It was an adventurous and fun first day.

From Glam to Biker Chick

2007-08-06T19:43:00.000-06:00

By Serena Beck

So, I admit, I have never been much of a light packer. I thought 20 Kg (40 lbs) was going to be an impossible weight limit for our 2-week weddingmoon, yet I managed to do it. For three weeks on the Colin’s motorcycle, I found out that my bag, the tank bag, allows for a maximum of 5 Kg! Wow, this is a one sunscreen, powder, mascara, lipstick, and eyeliner (zero eye shadow) trip.

I am wearing jeans, a T-Shirt, a bra, underwear, socks, boots, my gloves jacket, and helmet. Colin said on top of this, I was allowed one change of clothes. Yeah right! We’re camping so I had to bring a sweatshirt and sweatpants. I also packed a few pairs of socks, few pairs of underwear, two-week supply of tanks tops (this number was already cut in half from my original desired amount), 1 dress, two shorts and 2 bras. I also am bringing mini shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor etc. I zip-lock-bagged everything as Colin said I must assume the entire contents of my bag can withstand being fully submerged under water (this is in case it rains, not in case we fall into a river or ocean).

I told Colin I was ready with my 6 zip lock bags:

Underwear and swimsuits
Warm clothes
Tank tops and shorts
Diary, notebook, and novel
Cosmetics
Shoes (flip-flops and walking sandals). This is three pairs of shoes including my boots. I wanted to bring runners, but I’ll be swimming for exercise).

Colin laid face down across each one of my bags to press all the air out of each one. I took the six bags and no matter how I arranged them in the tank bag I could not zip it shut. I nixed a few more items and now have about a week’s worth of clothing (if I don’t wear the same thing twice, except my jeans). Thankfully my brother was up in July and took a change of clothes for each of us to his house. I know we can do laundry, but this is coming from a girl who can travel for 3 weeks solid and can bring enough clothes to not have to do laundry even once.

Colin weighed the bag at 8 Kg and we packed up the motorcycle with our gear (sleeping bags, tire pump, rain jackets etc.) in the saddlebags, Colin’s clothes in the tank bag and mine in the back rack bag. We went to OPM for lunch and lots of people asked us where we’re headed so we said to B.C. (instead of back home again because this is just a trial run).

Colin said the weight was fine, but it will take a bit to get used to. He also said that if my overweight bag falls off and takes me down with it, well at least it’s not his stuff. Thanks. People already fear I am going to fall asleep (which I’ve done twice) and fall off (which has never happened), but imagine if my one extra pair of sandals killed me.

Therefore, we rode home and I unpacked and repacked my bag, switching heavier clothing for lighter, but still warm clothes for camping. I’m at about 6 Kg now. It’s the best I could do.

We are going to leave our camping gear in B.C. at our friends’ house, so this will leave me room to possibly buy something on the way home. I mean rubber ducks don’t really weigh much.

I’m also bringing a purse, but it straps neatly to the top of the saddlebag.

Well, I did it, it’s my vacation with the least amount of clothes yet. I think Colin is surprised that I managed to do it. We’re on the road tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM.

I can fall asleep on a Motorcycle!

2007-07-26T14:53:00.001-06:00

By Serena Beck

I can fall asleep on a motorcycle. A simple statement and yet a surprising and rather dangerous one. There are the obvious facts such as I could fall off I could pull the driver down with me since I am only a passenger.

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 14, 2007 after enjoying a hot afternoon at Ma-me-o beach in the 30 ºC weather, I enjoyed a hot 45 minute motorcycle ride back to Edmonton.

We started out on the black asphalt and you could see the heat lines rising off the pavement and slithering like a snake through the hot air. When the bike’s cooler (the radiator) kicked in to try and cool the bike’s engine, Colin and I both received a hot steamy blast up the cuffs of our jeans.
After about 20 minutes, my eyes began to droop. When on the bike, the wind is a lullaby. Its sweet tune droning on slowly puts me to sleep. I really did fall sound asleep and I dreamt I was falling as I heard a rhythmic tapping like a drum; it was my helmet smacking into Colin’s helmet. I was also startled wide awake when the bike swerved to avoid a pot hole and my butt slid an inch off the side of the seat. I stayed awake the rest of the way home, but I can’t guarantee I won’t fall asleep again the next time.

Why does it always rain near Red Deer?

2007-06-25T21:32:00.001-06:00

By Serena Beck

My husband and I took today off for an adventurous motorcycling day trip to Sylvan Lake. It was cloudy and slightly cool with +14 C weather (which is cold for a few days after the first day of summer, but not unusual for June).

With newly installed saddlebags, a tanks bag, a cooler on the back rack and my comfy sissy bar to lean against (I’m the passenger along for the ride), we were set to cruise.

We headed onto the QE2 and it was almost tornado windy (which is normal for Highway 2) and enjoyed the long non-stop ride. We arrived in time to see the sun for 5 minutes before it clouded over and became quite cold. Instead of using our beach towels to dry ourselves from a nice swim, we used them for warmth even though we were already dressed in our warm motorcycle clothes. We took shelter from the cold inside “The Big Moo” (Sylvan
Lake’s ice cream, fast food eatery and store). Outside the restaurant there is a porcelain cow decked out in Canada day décor.

It started to sprinkle and we left for our long ride home. We just got out of Sylvan Lake and were heading back onto the highway when we saw a huge flash of lightning. Great, we’re riding in the open and holding onto medal- nope we’re not a target for lightning.

Okay, I think, just don’t rain and we’ll be fine. Next, thing you know we’re doing a 100 and rain is streaming down my helmet. My knees poke out past the driver and the windshield so the rain impales my kneecaps like shards of glass. It also feels like my helmet, with my head in it, is going to be sucked from my body to bounce down the highway like a dodge ball.

I can feel snot dripping down my face, but I don’t dare pull my arm away from Colin’s waist to wipe it because I could fall off the bike; and then I might end up like the deer I saw crows eating on our ride down.

However, this is just my passenger perspective. Colin is using every single one of his arm muscles to keep our 900 pounds on the road. His Suzuki Boulevard M50 weighs 600 pounds alone. Colin slows to 70 Km/h as a semi passes us and showers us like an aircraft carrier speeding past a two-person canoe.

I wish an empty truck would pass us so we could ride in the back and stay dry. Next thing I know, an empty cattle semi passes us. We could ride the bike up the ramp and herd ourselves back to Edmonton. However, I don’t think there is a hand symbol for asking if we can ride in the back of a truck like cattle.

We stopped at Fay’s diner for burgers and fries and to seek shelter from the rain. After we left, there was no rain the rest of the way to Edmonton. It was just in that usual rainy/snowy spot of precipitation that everyone hits on the way to or from Calgary. So, why does it always rain near Red Deer?

P.S. We’re doing a 3 week B.C. to the U.S. and back motorcycle trip this August and we will be passing this spot again.

Memphis Shades Windshield

2007-06-14T15:13:00.000-06:00

I'm running out of things to do after work in the Philippines (3am in the morning, that is), so here's another quick post on another addition to my bike.

I bought a windshield for the bike. The M50 comes from the dealer without anything - one of the reasons I liked it. I hate saddlebags, windshields, anything that makes it look like an old man's bike. Just my opinion. But, I've taken it to Calgary before; on the highway, having no windshield sucks the big one. I've got an f'ed up shoulder to begin with, but after hours on the road getting blown back by 130km wind I was in some serious pain. So, if I'm doing this big bike trip this summer going to the Island to visit my mom, I'm going to need a windshield. Either that, or I'm resting every 30 minutes. This is what I ended up buying:

I figure, if I'm getting one, it better have some semblance to a young person's style. I figured that I'd match up the color and got a two toned windshield. It's not a huge one, but it takes all the wind off my chest and directs it nicely over my head, too. I also find that it's nice in the rain. Usually, I end up getting a puddle in my crotch when I ride in the raid because it all runs down my jacket. But with the windshield, I'm perfectly dry. I should take some pics of my rain proof pants too...next post.

I've posted the pdf instructions that I received with the windshield here.

Once you get it set up, the clamps around the forks just stay there all the time and blend in pretty well. I never take those off. Then, the windshield just quickly tightens onto them and it's installed. To estimate, I would say it takes me about 30 seconds to get it off or on. It comes with an Allen key and you just tighten or loosen 4 bolts.

I had it quite low on the forks when I first put in on, but after riding for a bit, I can feel the wind "chop" at my head. So, now I've got the windshield raised all the way to the top of the forks and it's a lot better.

You’ve got to buy the windshield and the mounting kit separately. But it wasn’t too expensive; I paid $150 US for both together. Phatperformanceparts.com is a great site – lots of cool stuff. I’m thinking about buying some pipes from there, too, but damn they are expensive (and I don’t even want to think of the shipping and duty costs).

Motorbikes in the Philippines

2007-05-31T13:31:00.001-06:00

Want to see what the most popular bikes in Manila are? Take a look:

5 Weeks in the Philippines

2007-05-17T11:32:00.000-06:00

Nothing new is coming for the next 5 weeks. I'll be in the Philippines for work related stuff. I'll try to post some pics of the motorbikes over there, when I get the chance.

Billet Rack and Mounting Bracket

2007-05-17T11:22:00.000-06:00

Still more preparations for my big summer trip, and I need more places to hold crap. Behind the sissy bar (not installed yet) will be the billet rack. And to install the rack, I needed to pick up the mounting bracket, too.

I got these from Oneida Suzuki, as usual, and they installed great. There was one little thing, though. You can't have just the rack installed without having the sissy bar installed. The reason is that the sissy bar has threads for the bolts to screw in to. I just picked up some nuts from Home Depot and that solved that. Here's the instructions for the Billet Rack and the Mounting Bracket, in case you're interested. They're just the OEM instructions, but nice to have in case I loose mine.

What the heck is a Hypercharger??

2007-05-17T10:40:00.000-06:00

Sometime last year, I picked up a Hypercharger for my bike. Sounds pretty crazy, right? Well, it's actually just a replacement air filter cover and comes with a K&N air filter.

The exact name of this one is the Thunder Air Kit - I got it from Oneida Suzuki, where I get most of my stuff from. To be blunt, this is what it does:

allows more air into the engine;
K&N air filters are some of the best;
allows more air in depending on how much throttle is given;
supposidly increases horsepower by as much as 5%;
it just looks cool, that's about the gist of it.

I had a hell of a time finding instructions on how to install the thing. How does one piece of paper, double sided, and with no pictures sound to you? Yeah, that's what it came with. Turns out the interweb offered some better instructions. And I give those to you here. If you ever get one, you'll need to remember that you need to get the hypercharger and some conversion kit, too. This kit allows you to install the hypercharger because some fittings are a little different.

To tell you the truth, it does feel like I have a little more horses, but it could be because I want to think that.

If you've got any questions about this, let me know.

Laptop Bag

2007-05-17T10:32:00.000-06:00

I'll start with something pretty simple - a laptop bag. I ride to work every day, rain or shine, and I've got to take my work home some times. And by work, I mean my whole laptop, cords, mouse and papers. I didn’t want a backpack because you really shouldn’t ride a bike with anything that restricts your arms. So, I picked up a bag from Argyll Motorsports. It’s made by Oxford Sports and it does exactly what I need it to do.

It hooks up to the strap between the main seat and the back seat, then wraps around the whole back seat and stays pretty firm. It comes with a cargo net strap to go over top and a built in water proof cover. I can store the laptop in the main cargo area, along with the power cord and mouse, but there’s plenty of other storage areas too. It also funtions as a backpack, so when I take it off I can just throw it over my shoulder and go. The only down side of it is that I don’t think it’s strong enough to stay on the bike without the cargo net strap that comes with it - no big deal.

I don’t know how may people actually ride their motorbikes to work with their laptops, but if you do, check out Oxford Sports’ site for some of their products. By the way, I paid about $150 for it.

As you'll see later, I've now bought a whole motorcycle luggage set from Oxford and I highly recomend them, whether you ride a cruiser or crotch rocket. I picked up a tank bag, saddle bags and a bag that hooks up to the sissy bar. I'll show you them later.

Here's the deal...

2007-03-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Here's my bike. This is how spend most of my spare time - riding my bike, or playing video games. It's a 2005 Suzuki Boulevard M50. I didn't want a crotch rocket and this was the "youngest" looking cruiser I found. I have not been disapointed.

I've done a little to the bike since I bought it, but I'll start off with an older pic of it with nothing done. The reason is that I've bought a few things that I'll be installing in time and I'll upload those when they're done. I've had this thing for a couple years now and, trust me, I ride it rain or shine...just not in the sub zero temperatures (it's just a bitch to ride in the freezing cold).

This is how I'll be getting around on all my motorcycle trips this summer. It's funny, because I've never really been anywhere on it. I went to Calgary for business one time - with no windshield...never doing that again. This summer, things are going to change. I've got a few trips planned.

The biggest trip will be a 3 week ordeal from Edmonton to Vancouver Island. On the way, we'll be hitting Nelson, BC. In Nelson, I'm attending a Horizons Unlimited meeting with people that like to ride around the world on their bikes. These guys are the coolest, they just hop on their bike and ride all around the world. Cool stuff.

Next on the road is Kelowna. Serena has some family living there and we'll be hooking up with them for a day or two. They've got a boat and Serena can't wait to so a little waterskiing. I love snowboarding, so I wouldn't mind trying to wakeboard.

After that, we'll shoot over to Vancouver to visit Serena's brother. We work at the same company and he just moved there a few months ago, so it'll be nice to catch up with him. He'll play host for about 2 days.

Next up is a ferry ride over to the island. My mom lives just north of Naniamo and she's rented us a beach house for two days. It's complete with breakfast in bed and a hottub on the beach...ahh, the beach.

After that, we're heading down to Seattle. I'm getting in touch with the Horizons Unlimited Community in Seattle and hopefully I'll get their help to find some cheap accommodations...maybe one of them will even let us stay at their house for a day or two. We're going to see Mount St Hellens and take in lots of Seattle's Best coffee.

We'll then shoot over to Spokane for a night and then head up to Calgary. We've lost a few good friends to that city over the years, so this will give us a good chance to catch up with them.

That does it for the big trip. We're planning a quick jump down to Calgary for the next long weekend to go camping and it'll give me a good chance to pack the bike to the nuts and see if I can handle all the weight. Plus, the camping will give me an idea of what to expect when I camp out near Nelson for the Horizons Unlimited get together.

I'll post some pics of my modded bike once I get some time to put the parts on...in other words, when the weather picks up a little more so I don't freeze when I work on the bike. Here's how the bike last looked: