Bandit Alley
REGIONAL FORUMS => PACIFIC NORTHWEST U.S. => Topic started by: Bobcat on June 01, 2007, 11:19:50 AM
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To accomodate schedules, let's try for June 23-25. Through WA into central/eastern BC.
Post up if you can make it.
Accomodations will be hotel for me--others can camp if they want.
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OK, Bobcat, my boss says for Saturday (June 23rd) I'm good to go. Clearance needed from SWMBO but I think I can finesse that....fingers crossed. 06 Greyhound from CowTown looks good too, he says. Itinerary ?? Meeting spots ?? I'll probably be camping unless it's absolutely pi$$sing down. Let's ride the wheels off on those east Kootenay roads. Can we firm this up somewhat, please. Thanks.
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I can do a few days, Saturday to Monday or so.
I will come ready to camp but will opt for a hotel or Motel at the about the time the rain or if like today HAIL starts to fall. If we go on the 23rd the bruising from todays hail should be gone. My gear might even be dry.
Are we meeting in the South along Hwy 3 someplace.
There is a Motorcycle Camp Ground west of Cranbrook.
It a good start for DH1, although My son and I usually come from the north, get off the ferry and wait 10 minutes, and we have the road to ourselves.
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I'm in! :thumb:
Like Bobcat, I prefer the motel, less stuff to pack.
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I'm good with the motel thing as well, my legs are really bruised from yesterday(pea to grape sized hail) and my gear is still wet. So I would think that a motel makes sense, weather depending of course.
(note to self - wear riding pants not just light rain pants :duh: )
I think the town of Yak is in the right sort of location and on some very good roads. If that works as a meeting location.
I'm also wide open to suggestions, I picked Yak of the top of my head.
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I had a second thought and that is that I can make Cranbrook on Friday evening, but that is about as far as I would like to push it after working all day. I think that is in the 4 to 4 1/2 hour range from Cochrane.
I also think that's the solstice or within a day. Should we plan on buring a wicker Harley or something like that?
I'm not a Druid so I'm not sure what the right sort of thing to do is, but then is burning a Harley ever wrong? I mean a wicker Harley of course.
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There's a chance I might be able to manage a ride like this...How far East will ya all be comin? i might even be able to ride up to Calgary and meet up with H2Rick... though I may slow ya all down a little as the newest rider here..
I sort of like the idea of picking up a few tips. The biggest drawback for me is the long ride from Edmonton to Calgary alone...
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There's a chance I might be able to manage a ride like this...How far East will ya all be comin? i might even be able to ride up to Calgary and meet up with H2Rick... though I may slow ya all down a little as the newest rider here..
I sort of like the idea of picking up a few tips. The biggest drawback for me is the long ride from Edmonton to Calgary alone...
If you want to group ride I can hang back and join in on Saturday. Two choices really and the same distance +- 15 km. Banff to Radium and Cranbrook, or straight south on Hwy 22 to Hwy 3 and on to Cranbrook.
There is a one other way but it is a ride on its' own, and that is Hwy 1 to Revelstoke and then South to Nacusp and Kaslo. This is the by far the nicest ride and covers DH 5 and DH 1 on the way to Creston, with two ferry rides included.
This would pretty much use up the weekend though, and we would have a hard time connecting with the US riders.
Maybe Cranbrook to Creston and north on DH1 to the Ferry and then south to Nelson (I think its Nelson) and back. That stays in the south and no one wants to miss DH1.
I'm open to other routes so map time.
The challenge is getting to the start for all of us.
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My travel limit headed east on the first day is probably Cranbrook. That's about 500 miles for me (add about another 100 for Red). Anything west of there is also fine by me, so we just need to pick a meeting spot for Saturday.
I'll probably leave Friday morning to get there in time to ride Saturday morning.
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How about Trail or Salmo? Roughly noon on Saturday.
I understand that its about 3 to 3 1/2 hours west of Cranbrook and puts us in a good spot to run north to New Denver, then over DH5 to Kaslo and south to Crawford Bay and the start of DH 1 down to Creston.
This would have us in finishing in the south on Sunday which makes a better trip home, for me at least. :grin:
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Just some possible routing options. For Red01 and Bobcat heading east, we could look at meeting in Bonners Ferry or Sandpoint ID, to shorten up your day.
For you Alta folks there is a great ride south of Elko around the Libby dam on route to Sandpoint. This would add a couple of hours to the ride, so may not be do-able for Friday after work.
From Sandpoint we could head up Hwy 20 from Tiger and up through Trail or Rossland, then up through Castelgar & Slocan to New Denver, Kaslo & then DH 1 to Creston heading south (the better direction for this road in my opinion). I'll try to work up some distances and figure out fuel/overnight stops for suggestions. Is everyone OK with 375 mile/600 km days? Some of the roads are tight, so average speeds are down.
I'm not positve that I can make this trip yet (after my 8 day trip to CA) but I will sure try. At worst, I will make a day or two.
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If you want to group ride I can hang back and join in on Saturday. Two choices really and the same distance +- 15 km. Banff to Radium and Cranbrook, or straight south on Hwy 22 to Hwy 3 and on to Cranbrook.
There is a one other way but it is a ride on its' own, and that is Hwy 1 to Revelstoke and then South to Nacusp and Kaslo. This is the by far the nicest ride and covers DH 5 and DH 1 on the way to Creston, with two ferry rides included.
This would pretty much use up the weekend though, and we would have a hard time connecting with the US riders.
Maybe Cranbrook to Creston and north on DH1 to the Ferry and then south to Nelson (I think its Nelson) and back. That stays in the south and no one wants to miss DH1.
I'm open to other routes so map time.
The challenge is getting to the start for all of us.
I don't want you to change your plans for me. I can't commit to it til the last minute, thanks to a couple of things that I don't get to schedule, but need to be present for.
If I do it, more than likely, for the purposes of meeting up, I would say that I would take the most direct route there, but on the way back I would love to hit Radium, to soak some muscles. :wink:
In the end, I would like to go on at least one ride this summer, I don't care where, but I have a scheduling issue that I need to work around.
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I think I'd rather cross at Osoyoos and ride 3 East, but I'll let Red chime in with his opinion. I'd love to do that hill out of Osoyoos again. If we do this, meeting at Salmo sounds perfect. I'm easy, though. :grin:
Sounds like my buddy might make it on his Triumph, so we'll have another Yank in the group.
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Just some possible routing options. For Red01 and Bobcat heading east, we could look at meeting in Bonners Ferry or Sandpoint ID, to shorten up your day.
For you Alta folks there is a great ride south of Elko around the Libby dam on route to Sandpoint. This would add a couple of hours to the ride, so may not be do-able for Friday after work.
From Sandpoint we could head up Hwy 20 from Tiger and up through Trail or Rossland, then up through Castelgar & Slocan to New Denver, Kaslo & then DH 1 to Creston heading south (the better direction for this road in my opinion). I'll try to work up some distances and figure out fuel/overnight stops for suggestions. Is everyone OK with 375 mile/600 km days? Some of the roads are tight, so average speeds are down.
I'm not positve that I can make this trip yet (after my 8 day trip to CA) but I will sure try. At worst, I will make a day or two.
I agree with the north to south on DH 1. Wait ten minutes after the ferry docks and the road is empty.
I can manage the distance but would like to end up on Hwy 3 at the end of Sunday as I am limited to a couple of days myself. I have to be home Monday night, and will need all day Monday to get home.
I should be able to meet on Saturday before noon in Salmo. I will have to see if my son can make it he rides a SV.
I'm getting anxious to get started.
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Stormi:
It looks like my buddy Bandit Bruce ('05 B12) is going to try to make it down from Leduc on Friday night to go along on the ride....so you might be able to hook up with him for the ride down to Cowtown. I've offered for him to stay at my place over Friday night but I'll have to check with SWMBO to see if she'd let a "strange" woman stay in the house too.....unless you have a place you can bunk at in Cowtown on Friday night.
Let me know and I'll see if I can finesse your staying at my place Friday night if necessary.
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Hey!! I'm not strange!! :stickpoke: Let me see what I can do. I can likely stay with my aunt. Hooking up with Bruce would be a good possibility. I've never ridden more than about 100kms on my own. :roll: So it makes me a little nervous to do such a long trip alone. Like I said though, I won't be able to commit to the ride til the last minute. Which sucks, cos I know I won't prepare for it til the last minute too.
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Well, Stormi, I used the word "strange" in the kindest possible way...... :grin: :lol:
Bruce and I did this very trip last Labour Day weekend with a newbie female rider in her second year of riding and on a '99 Kat 750, to boot. Her riding skills were what I considered "reasonable" and she had no probs staying with us. Even though we got away from Cowtown a little later than I'd have liked (~11AM Saturday), we still managed to get to Toad Rock/Ainsworth with a little daylight left to set up the tents.....but finished up using flashlights. We did NOT burn up the roads and ALSO managed to miss what would have been the "perfect" ferry sailing from Kootenay Bay to Balfour.
Keep in mind that that was also in September so we had already lost a lotta sunlight. June at the time of the solstice will give us good light until at least 10:30 local time so no probs.
The big caveat here is, of course, the presence/absence of rain. If it's absolutely pi$$sing down then all bets are off as to times. In my experience you can add about 20% to your trip times if there's lotsa water on the road...... :sad:
Hopefully we'll be blessed with +30C and unlimited sunshine all weekend.... :thumb:
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Well, Stormi, I used the word "strange" in the kindest possible way...... :grin: :lol:
well,.. ok,.. I'll let that one slide then. :wink:
Bruce and I did this very trip last Labour Day weekend with a newbie female rider in her second year of riding and on a '99 Kat 750, to boot. Her riding skills were what I considered "reasonable" and she had no probs staying with us.
I would guess that I would be about the same level. I have been licensed 2 years as of last month.
Even though we got away from Cowtown a little later than I'd have liked (~11AM Saturday), we still managed to get to Toad Rock/Ainsworth with a little daylight left to set up the tents.....but finished up using flashlights.
You know, if I had to set up a tent in something other than lantern or flashlight, I would likely not be able to do it. We never seem to arrive at a campsite early enough to set up in daylight. I'm usually more interested in the reason we're camping than the act of camping. :wink:
We did NOT burn up the roads and ALSO managed to miss what would have been the "perfect" ferry sailing from Kootenay Bay to Balfour.
Keep in mind that that was also in September so we had already lost a lotta sunlight. June at the time of the solstice will give us good light until at least 10:30 local time so no probs.
Also spending a lot of time riding into the setting sun though too,... no?
The big caveat here is, of course, the presence/absence of rain. If it's absolutely pi$$sing down then all bets are off as to times. In my experience you can add about 20% to your trip times if there's lotsa water on the road...... :sad:
Hopefully we'll be blessed with +30C and unlimited sunshine all weekend.... :thumb:
Here here!
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Also spending a lot of time riding into the setting sun though too,... no?
Nope, the last leg of the trip from Creston to Kootenay Landing and then Balfour to Ainsworth is all northwards so no probs there.....although the setting sun shining through the trees on the run north from Creston to Kootenay Landing was a little strange.....stobe-like kinda......so we just slowed down instead of attacking that great riding road at warp 10 like we usually would. It was a different experience riding that road at a "sane" pace.
We also took the Balfour to Toad Rock leg at reduced speed because of the newbie rider and the first part of that leg is VERY tricky if you've never been on it before. Spectacular scenery and it really deserves to be ridden in daylight so it can be truly enjoyed. I like to ride it twice in a day if possible.....once for the view and then once for the riding fun.
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The long range forcast for the weekend is looking very good. On or just above average and dry.
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php?product=fourteenday&placecode=cabc0070
At this point in time I'm thinking that I will be going down on Friday evening to Cranbrook and then on to Salmo on Saturday morning hoping to be there before noon.
From there I will be going north to New Denver and over DH 5 to Kaslo. How far I get depends on the usual stuff.
Afer that I will see about completing the trip back to Cranbrook, or going North to Revelstoke on Sunday.
All subject to change and or suggestions of better routes.
:motorsmile:
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OK, Tony....Bruce and I will try to hook up with you in either Salmo or Ainsworth or Toad Rock on Saturday night. You and the PNW guys can set the place and Bruce and I will try to be there, keeping in mind that we are both camping fanatics. We CAN motel it if necessary but when the weather's nice there's nothing like the stars and a big campfire. It must be the caveman in me or something.... :wink:
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Well...I'm hoping to catch up with you guys for part of the ride. But, I'm tied up Saturday. THe best I can do is get up early Sunday, and come meet you guys somewhere on route. Maybe Crawford Bay for the ride south to Creston?
Once the group figures out a tentative route, I'll figure out where I can meet up.
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OK....Have we got a final meeting point for Saturday night from you US folks yet ?? Hmmm ??? The world wants to know..... :wink:
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Let's meet in Salmo on Saturday night. Now, where in Salmo?
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Salmo it is. I will ride from Cranbrook up to Crawford bay and back to Salmo on Saturday in the evening.
Suggestions for a Sunday ride?
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My suggestion...Salmo to Castlegar, New Denver, Kaslo, Balfour, Creston. Then split East/West/South.
It will be a bit of a push to get all the way back to Calgary for Sunday night.
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Hey, I could do this. Anyone from Vic., Van., or Seattle want to join me at any point? Motels work fine for me. Let me know.
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That sounds good to me; I don't have to be back home until Monday night so I don't have to push it too hard.
I am really looking forward to the ride to New Denver from the south; if it's half as nice as the ride down from Nakusp it will be great.
I have to admit that New Denver kind of creeped us out on our last trip through. Something about the guy putting cream on the wounds on the head of the Pit Bull guarding the gas pumps.
I was impressed by the Don Quixote Motel however. We didn't stay there, but did stop to admire the architecture.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/NametheMotel.jpg)
We also had a nice time in Sandon. Pretty quiet, but a nice little side trip for a coffee break provided the store is open.
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OK....Salmo it is for Saturday evening. We'll have no problems making it from CowTown to Salmo for that. Now we camping fanatics just have to pick a place to put up the tents for the night.....
It looks like there's a place called the Selkirk Motel and RV Park just west of Salmo on #3 that would fill the bill. I just called them and unfortunately they have no motel rooms available for next weekend....but lots of tent spaces available.
Another place called Pine Springs Motel & Trailer Park also has lots of tenting spaces.
Wow, they even have a park cum campground right in town called the Knights of Pythias Park that loks like it might be the perfect place.
Any suggestions from you other folks ??
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Good news and bad
I managed to get a reservation at the Selkirk Motel and RV park. 250 357 9557
But the bad part is that I got the last room. The RV park has spaces left As of 7:30 MDT.
Don't wait to reserve for Saturday.
The other good bit is that I will be away on Friday after work and will be in Cranbrook for the start of my morning ride on Saturday. and the weather is still looking good.
Where are we going to meet up or should we take a quick once around town and stop at the collection of Bandits.
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Tony:
Great that you got a room at the Selkirk. When I talked to the gal there she said no probs for tenters....but if that doesn't work out, we can always stay at the Pine Springs or in town at the community park. I've found that most of those places can usually find a corner to tuck away 4 or 5 bikes and tents.
As to a meeting spot: Salmo is not THAT big and I'm guessing that a "gaggle" of Bandits won't be too hard to spot. :wink:
We guys that have ridden/tented together before usually spend the evening around the campfire BS'ing and "communing with nature" generally.....but we'll see what the guys from down south have in mind.
I''ve never really been a "pub" kinda guy because at my age hangover effects seem to last longer than they should the next day. :duh: :grin: A couple of beers around the campfire seems to be my limit these days. I'm sure my liver is grateful...:lol:
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I'm planning to get up early and meet you guys on Sunday morning for a day ride.
I'm assuming something like 8:30 AM PACIFIC time (9:30 Mountain) for breakfast somewhere in Salmo? I'll have about a 2 hour burn to get there... but I am planning to come. I have Bobcat's cell number if I get delayed.
Looking forward to it.
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Doesn't look like any Bandits from the Vic/Van area are headed your way so I may just attempt it on my own. Salmo, noon? may find you all there.
Doug
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Doesn't look like any Bandits from the Vic/Van area are headed your way so I may just attempt it on my own. Salmo, noon? may find you all there.
Doug
I will be in Salmo in the late afternoon on Saturday and I would think that H2rick and group would arrive in the early evening.
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I'll probably be there early evening-ish as well.
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Cool - now to spend my coffee breaks reading over the DH guide and waiting. (We don't have a waiting Emoticon.)
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Tony:
Hopefully....the plan is.....etc etc.....
We WILL get away from Cowtown at 10:00 AM Mountain Time Saturday morning REGARDLESS. Some of my riding buddies are rather casual when it comes to departure times and keeping a schedule when we have an actual objective in mind.
However, NONE of them are coming on THIS trip.....thankfully.
Bandit Bruce, his buddy Graham from Fort Mac, my buddy Roman and myself are all road-burners when required and this is one of those times. Barring the unforeseen, we SHOULD be into Salmo about 4:00 - 4:30 MDT (-1 hour for local time, I believe, although I'm not sure of which zone they're in).
Thoeretically, then, that gives us a good time-span to track down a place to camp for the night and get everything set up and then track down the rest of the group. With you staying at the Selkirk, that's one "found" already. :grin:
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I'm gonna wuss out and stay close to home. Didja ever get the gut feeling that maybe you shouldn't do something? For some unexplainable reason, I've got that feeling about me going this weekend. Besides, I've been promising to help my son do some PM on his bike since he got it and this is the first time since he's got it that both he & I are free for the weekend at the same time.
Have fun and stay dry.
(Last forecast I saw for the Kootenays was calling for rain on Sunday.)
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The north part has showers forcast for Monday only, that would be New Denver and north to Revelstoke. The south portions Slamo and Cranbrook are just cloudy on Monday.
So it should be good riding.
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Yup...weather looks hot and sunny throughout the Kootenays through Sunday. Maybe some clouds late Sunday evening, and just a possibility of showers on Monday, late in the day.
Looks like a good weekend to ride. Sorry I can only make Sunday, but I'm still looking forward to it.
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Hey Guys! Have a ball this weekend. I'm home for the foreseeable future taking care of a sick cat.
Get a few of those dumb grins in your helmets for me, will ya?
Oh! and make sure you all come home in one piece!
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Doesn't look like any Bandits from the Vic/Van area are headed your way so I may just attempt it on my own. Salmo, noon? may find you all there.
Doug
Doug, I'll be in Osoyoos around noon tomorrow, if you want to hook up. Lemme know.
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Can't make it. Some things have come up. Sorry.
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Ya, sorry once again I couldn't make this one, folks. But at this time I'd like to invite any fellow Banditos to one I'm definately going to and have been planning for quite a while. You'll find it on Sport Touring.Net and it is the Kootenay Borscht, Burn and BBQ set for July 27, 28, and 29. It looks like a hoot! I intend to head out on Thursday so if there's anyone who wants to join me on the way, let me know. I intend to tent it as there's free tenting there. But, who knows.
Doug
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Everybody make it home OK? Just got in around 6 pm Pacific time. The Salmo-Creston Pass was snowed in, so I had to head back to Creston and then come south through Idaho. Made for a long day.
Anyone hear from Rick or Al? Did they make it back?
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No news yet
I will call Al tomorrow and see what happened.
I will post my report on the ride here. This is a long story but I send photos of my trips to my adopted Greyhound in Florida. So this is not intended to be a report for riders,
in which case I would ask that you give me a break. My puppy needs to see where he is going.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/06Greyhound.jpg)
The trip went well for the most part, with one notable exception, but I will leave that for those who where closer, to the incident to describe.
I started with a short ride to Longview and Ian Tyson’s Navajo Mug with my son, who snapped this photo for me and then I was off on my ride
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/TheNavajoMugLongview.jpg)
The first stop was at the town site of Frank This place still gives me the creeps, and as a special note to myself, everything in the Crowsnest Pass shuts up tight at 8 in the evening, Buy gas before 8 !!!! No exception.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/ThetownofFrank.jpg)
I did find some people in the town of Jaffery who opened their station for me, so I was able to make my way on to Cranbrook and finally to Creston the next morning for Breakfast at Granny’s. I was not the only person to think that
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/GrannysinCreston.jpg)
Creston is at mile one on DH 1 I noticed that there actually are reasons beyond the road for people to come here
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Stuffbesidetheroad1.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Stuffbesidetheroad2.jpg)
Who knew?
The end of the road is the Balfor Ferry the dock is in a very nice location.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/BalforFerryDock.jpg)
I had something of a wait, and the line up started to grow within minutes
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/FindtheBandit.jpg)
After a while it became tough to find a bandit in the crowd.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/nowfindthebandit.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/maybeinhere.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Stilllookingforthebandit.jpg)
Just a few too many bikes on this ferry ride
Next was the town of Kaslo and I found a nice place for lunch.
Note to self $10 is too much for a cheese sandwich and a coffee.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/nofreelunch.jpg)
They have an Artist market and some very nicely restored buildings.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Kasloartistmarket.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Kaslostreet.jpg)
From Kaslo I went over DH 5 to New Denver and then south to Crescent Valley the site of some awesome white water
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/CrescentValley.jpg)
I took the cross road to the Town of Nelson, which I have to get back to and spend some time there. I did find a nice water fall
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Nelsonwaterfall.jpg)
I made it to Salmo for Saturday evening where I had made a reservation, and met with Bobcat who rode up from Washington for the ride and managed to find a room out the back of the motel. This is what Bobcat describes as the perfect Motorcycle Motel, clean and cheap.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/SalmoSaturdaynight.jpg)
We did look around for the other that were supposed to be meeting us.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/meetingofthebandits.jpg)
But didn’t find each other the next morning at a coffee shop, and then after much chatting and re-fueling we got going
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/readytoroll.jpg)
Now the bad part, H2rick, lost it on one of the curves about 20 km south of New Denver.
He will be alright in a few weeks, dislocated shoulder and very hard knock on the head.
His bike will need a little repair and new mirror but was in good enough shape to be ridden to New Denver for him.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Rickscorner1.jpg)
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Ricksride2.jpg)
After getting H2rick to hospital and sorting out his belongings we continued the ride into a rain storm and a more subdued return trip over DH5 and back to Kaslo.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/TuneupinKaslo.jpg)
From there back to the Balfor Ferry
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Ferryridebackhome.jpg)
After a night in Creston and a Breakfast at Granny’s (recommended, along with the motel next door) I headed off for home and made my way back through the Crowsnest.
This area is called The Whale Back, There are no roads here and no road signs, and is one of the last unbroken natural areas on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/TheWhaleBack1.jpg)
Note the sky in this second photo.
It contains hail, lots of hail, an inch thick on the road for a stretch of a couple of miles.
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/Whaleback2.jpg)
Yes to end my trip I was treated to a 150 km ride in rain and hail. At one point I had to ride the rumble strip on the shoulder to keep traction.
It sounds like I was not the only one to have a rough ride home.
I hope every one else made it home safe and dry.
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Just talked to Al and he got H2rick home at around midnight last night. Rick will not be riding for a few weeks but he will be fine.
Al said that Rick really has only two problems at the moment, He can't light his pipe or wipe his butt.
I stated in the strongest terms that Rick will have to deal with those problems on his own.
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Sorry to hear of Rick's little incident! :sad:
Get well soon!
And what's this? Looks like Bobcat working on his bike?
Well, I guess someone had to take my place. :lol:
(http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/hounddad/TuneupinKaslo.jpg)
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Hey guys...
The Salmo-Creston Pass was snowed in
What, you didn't ride it anyway... :stickpoke: (been there, done that-riding not recommended).
I got home from my day ride no issues on Sunday night. Sorry I couldn't make more of the trip.
And what's this? Looks like Bobcat working on his bike?
Naa...his little can of chain lube had just given up the ghost, and he need some of the "good" stuff from my big can.
Anyone game for a run down over the Mount St. Helens pass area, SW of Yakima. Maybe July 21/22/23rd?
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Hey guys...
The Salmo-Creston Pass was snowed in
What, you didn't ride it anyway... :stickpoke: (been there, done that-riding not recommended).
I got home from my day ride no issues on Sunday night. Sorry I couldn't make more of the trip.
And what's this? Looks like Bobcat working on his bike?
Naa...his little can of chain lube had just given up the ghost, and he need some of the "good" stuff from my big can.
Anyone game for a run down over the Mount St. Helens pass area, SW of Yakima. Maybe July 21/22/23rd?
I'm glad you made it home in one piece and without problems.
I bet that ride would be a lot of fun, but I will be out on Vancouver Island in my truck, with the wife and my dogs in tow.
How about something in late August or early September?
I'm looking forward to getting out on the road again, and the weather is usually pretty good, just shorter days.
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Sorry to hear about H2Rick, but otherwise sounds like a great trip. Wish it were a little more do-able from where I live, but maybe next time. Thanks for the pix and trip report.
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What REALLY Happened On The PNW June '07 Bandit Ride......at least from my perspective..... :grin:
Yes, it’s true....after ~45 years of street riding, I finally had my first reportable bike accident. No, there was no other vehicle involved. I rode off the road into a shallow ditch because I was trying to adjust my load while underway. Yes, that’s a very dumb thing to do and I have no excuses, except for the famous one: It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Oh, and, yes Matt, you WERE right....the road ISN'T straight like I thought....so I feel a little better, having run off a curve rather than having ridden off a straight road. :grin:
I survived with a cracked rib, a dislocated left shoulder and had my bell rung. The whole thing happened at low speed (~20-25km/hr) so was almost like dropping the bike in a parking lot.
The fairing on poor, mistreated “#17" is history, along with the front fender, left mirror and turn signal. All other damage is limited to scratches and can be fixed fairly easily by my buddy Nigel who is a fantastic painter, so no probs there. Yes, I’ve learned that you should pull over and stop to make ANY adjustments to ANY part of the bike. Simple stuff, really, but sometimes it takes a wake-up call like this for it to sink in. Please feel free to profit from my dumbness.
Now for the good stuff.
Paul (pmackie) tracked us down Sunday morning in the municipal park in Salmo where the Cowtown guys had camped overnight. We eventually met up with Matt and Tony and we all got together for nice leisurely breakfast in bustling downtown Salmo.
The Bandit guys were: Matt (Bobcat) on his 1200S, Paul (pmackie) on his 600S, Tony (06 Greyhound) on his 1200S and my buddy, Bandit Bruce, on his 1200S, as well as myself, of course, on my 1200S. There were a bunch of my and Bruce’s buddies from Cowtown on various Beemers, so I guess you could call this the “Ride of The Killer B’s”, if you wanted to.
After breakfast we took a few pics (see pics below) and then set off to ride over to Castlegar for a back road ride on the twisties that Paul said we’d really enjoy. This suburban-country style road was a laff-riot and Paul rides that 600 like he stole it. If Bruce and I weren’t riding 1200's we would never have caught and passed him...finally. The rest of the guys followed along and watched the 3 of us playing Joe Racer up front. This part of the day was great and what BC roads are all about.
Then off up #3A towards New Denver for my “rendezvous with destiny” which is NOT what was supposed to happen. We intended to ride the #31A from New Denver over to Kaslo....but instead, I ended up in the New Denver hospital getting poked and prodded by the doc.
Sorry that I messed up the ride guys.....but you DID get to ride the #31A eventually and I would have loved to been there to enjoy it too. Instead, I was asleep in a motel in New Denver because these small rural hospitals in the interior don’t have any beds for overnighters.
My buddy, Big Al, rode back to Cowtown, had a quick sleep at home and then drove his pickup all the way back to New Denver to rescue me and #17 before my motel bill went through the roof.
It’s taken me this long to post my account of the whole affair because my shoulder has finally loosened up to the point where I can actually use more than one or two fingers on one hand to type with.
Again, my apologies to all involved for making such a dumb mistake and wrecking all the plans we had for such a great weekend. Hopefully the NEXT ride will be a lot better and far more “uneventful”.....for everyone. Thanks to everyone for their concerns about my condition. My shoulder needs all the good karma it can get.....so I can start riding again.
This summer's weather looks 'wayyyyy too good to miss just sitting around home. Hopefully we can all get together again for one more ride before the "s" word happens.
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_guysatsalmo.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/guysatsalmo.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1268.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1268.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1267.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1267.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1266.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1266.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1263.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1263.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1260.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1260.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1258.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1258.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_DSCF1257.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/DSCF1257.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_accident3.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/accident3.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_accident2.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/accident2.jpg)
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/th_accident1.jpg) (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i234/H2RICK/June07PNWII-BCRide/accident1.jpg)
Note that the pics with the white borders were taken by my buddy Big Al. For some inexplicable reason he can't seem to get the year set right on his camera so I added the tag with the correct date.
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Good to hear from you! Get well soon!
So, did the Mounties and to the dent in your wallet?
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Good to hear from you! Get well soon!
So, did the Mounties and to the dent in your wallet?
Rick can confirm, but my guess is no. Cary, the mountie that showed up, was the absolute coolest cop I've ever had the pleasure to meet. We were on a first name basis within 5 minutes, and he offered to store Rick's gear and bike for as long as needed.
I told the guys afterwards that if Rick had the misfortune to wreck in Washington, the WSP woulda written him a nice ticket and certainly wouldn't have offered to store anything (unless it was in the impound lot).
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Glad to hear you're doing well Rick! It's good to hear that there were no other mishaps.
I'm probably out for any trips this year, unless ya'll hit Alberta. Unless I can find a way for the cat to ride on the back of the bike, but I haven't found a helmet small enough for her yet. :roll: :wink:
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Nope, folks, no tickets, no fines and no impound fees. A low speed single vehicle accident like mine is just that....an accident.....so.....no violation --- no charges. The bike was stored outside the fence of the impound area but still on RCMP property, so no charge for the service. In a place like New Denver NOBODY even THINKS of stealing stuff left on police property. The town is just too small for that kind of thing to happen.
The worrying aspect to the whole thing is if my insurance company were to get hold of the accident report from the RCMP.....but there's no reciprocity between Alberta and BC....yet.
BC is really pushing for this because they have socialist government vehicle insurance and, of course, want to know what their BC licenced drivers are up to in other jurisdictions. Free-enterprise Alberta, quite naturally, says "Fuggedaboudit!!!". If BC drivers violate the law in Alberta, we'll take their money and that's the end of the whole thing.
A small victory in the fight against "big brotherism".
Of course the vehicle insurance industry in Alberta would love to have access to BC's tickets database.....but without reciprocity, that ain't happening either.
Another small victory.....as long as Alberta keeps resisting the whole reciprocity blandishments of BC. Here's hoping...:grin:
Again, thanks to all for your concern and wishes for a speedy recovery. It'll be interesting to see what the physio guy has to say next Thursday.
Insult to injury: Big Al and a bunch of the guys are going riding/camping this weekend for an overnighter on Sat/Sun and will probably be able to sleep under the stars sans tents. This is a VERY rare occurence in Alberta.....and I'm missing it. I could probably drive my truck out to the campsite but that, of course, misses the whole point. :sad:
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I could probably drive my truck out to the campsite but that, of course, misses the whole point. :sad:
Not really... you can carry a lot more beer in your truck. :beers:
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And you have to think of it a different way. You're the chase vehicle. Ready to render supplies and aid if needed. :wink:
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Oh, c'mon....you guys are just trying to cheer me up. :wink:
I refuse to be happy about being sidelined by my own stupidity
when everyone else is enjoying the best riding weather we've had since 1996.....and I'm just a spectator instead of a grinning participant. :sad:
Well, hopefully the physio guy will have some good news for me, come Thursday. :motorsmile:
Seriously....thanks for the efforts to buck me up somewhat. Hopefully I'll be back in the saddle for Big Al's Annual BC Ride the second weekend of August. Well, we'll see.....
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Oh, c'mon....you guys are just trying to cheer me up. :wink:
I refuse to be happy about being sidelined by my own stupidity
when everyone else is enjoying the best riding weather we've had since 1996.....and I'm just a spectator instead of a grinning participant. :sad:
Well, hopefully the physio guy will have some good news for me, come Thursday. :motorsmile:
Seriously....thanks for the efforts to buck me up somewhat. Hopefully I'll be back in the saddle for Big Al's Annual BC Ride the second weekend of August. Well, we'll see.....
Glad you are feeling better.
Now about Al's ride in August. I would like some details.
I should be able to make that for a few days at least. Maybe we can out number the beemers again.
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Glad to hear that your home safe and healing Rick. You gave us all a big scare at the time...
I was really pleased to meet up with you guys, and hope the pace of the and Paul rides that 600 like he stole it
didn't contribute to your incident. We were just getting into the good stuff.
Anyway, heal quickly and I hope we can complete another trip once you are well.
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Now about Al's ride in August. I would like some details. I should be able to make that for a few days at least. Maybe we can out number the beemers again.
It's an easy ride, Tony. The ride is set to leave Calgary on Friday morning Aug 10th and most guys plan on being back in town for Sunday night. Most guys that go on this ride are camping fanatics. First night usually ends up somewhere between Cranbrook and Creston since the getaway from Calgary is usually between 10 and 11 AM what with the usual gasoline follies, etc. The pace on the road is quite leisurely since the crowd is quite eclectic. Heck one year there were 2 Wings with trailers as well as 4 different Hogs !!!
Second day is usually spent riding #3A, #31A, etc etc with the night's campground wherever we happen to be.
Third day is usually a long one either back up through Revelstoke and home on the TCH or, for some, back through the CrowsNest on #3, depending on your particular tastes.
I usually make a 4 day trip out of it myself so I'm not rushed on Sunday. Me and 2 or 3 other guys usually end up camping at Radium or in Yoho NP somewhere on Sunday night. That gives us a nice short ride home on Monday.
You're welcome to show up at Al's garage on Wednesday nights for the weekly bench-racing and trip-planning sessions. This particular Wed night is a Stampede BBQ night. I'll PM you my home number if you need to call me on any of this.
We were just getting into the good stuff.
Yep, Paul, thanks for showing us that road. That was great.
I could ride that road twice a week and NEVER get bored.
Nope, your riding definitely didn't contribute to my dumb mistake. I can do stuff like that all on my own without ANY help at all. :lol: :lol:
I certainly missed not being able to ride #31A over to Kaslo
and then #6 down to Balfour as well as the #3A down to Creston. Maybe I'll be healed in time to go riding on Big Al's Annual Ride leaving on August 10th. Well, we'll see....
and, yes, we'll definitely have to plan something Bandit- oriented for later in August or September. Maybe some of the PNW guys will show up again too.
Now, I just have to get the bits ordered to put #17 back into "cosmic cosmetic beautifulness" again. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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I stand a chance of making the August 10 ride and have a day or two left over for a ride in September. My son and I usually go for a couple days rigth after the long weekend.
I can't make a meeting at Al's but I can call him a work and get an update. I'm off to Vancouver Island on Sunday - driving not riding- but a nice break anyway.