Day 8: Clearwater to Edmonton

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We got a nice early start. Feeling a little tired and a little refreshed in one, we headed out, hoping to make it home for the night. I was much worse for the ear after all that riding, with pain shooting in my arms and legs from so much time on the bike.

It was a great day for riding and we were a bit too tired and determined to put miles on the rubber to really enjoy it fully. Almost completely sunny, beautiful roads, and so much to see. I found myself being less pleased with the scenery as time went on and more concerned with wildlife or traffic backing up from tourists gawking at something or another.

We gassed up here and there, and only stopped to eat very briefly in Hinton (L&W has great burgers, what can I say?) in the entire long stretch that day. We made it in to Edmonton by 7:30 that evening, stripped down the bikes, and finally got to relax. It was the best time we'd made on any stretch in the trip and it was exhausting.

It was an amazing trip. I encountered roads I'd never seen anything like, got to visit a bunch of new places, talked with many new people, and also got a better appreciation for being at home. The one big thing I would have liked to change would be to take more time for such a big trip. It was quite the effort to do what we did, and a lot of the really neat things we came across couldn't be properly appreciated with tight time constraints. All in all, still a great experience.

Total travel: ~660km

Final Odometer reading: 3327km

Day 7: Victoria to Clearwater

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It was the start of the return leg. We left early in the morning and made it to the ferry without any issue. It was Canada Day morning, and there was quite a gathering of people on board to go to the mainland for the festivities. On first and off first, it's nice to be on a bike for the ferry.

We were separated again in Vancouver. I can't emphasize how lousy it is to be lacking good headsets for group riding in an unknown city, especially after becoming accustomed to headset use for regular rides. We did manage to get back together and continue on.

The first big stop was Chilliwack. I had the lovely opportunity to meet up with a friend of mine who had moved out west. Initially we weren't going to go on the 1, but it seemed like a rare opportunity (and a shorter way back) so we went for it.

The riding was generally favorable, nice and sunny and warmer than most of the trip had been. Getting closer to Kamloops and the desert area brought more heat that kept us going further and further. We made it to Clearwater for the night--a place so small there were no real Canada Day festivities still going on when we arrived around 8PM. The locals were thankfully all nice, and we found a decent place to eat and rest which is all you can ask for some days.

Total riding: ~600km

Days 5 & 6: Vancouver Island

Not much can be said in terms of riding for these days. We were safely on Vancouver Island, checking out the sights in Victoria, and just enjoying some relaxation.



One of the few bits of riding done was up to the top of Mount Douglas. You can see all of Victoria from up there.



The ocean was nice as well.

If you would like to, you can view the photo set for the trip here: Motorcycle Trip Pictures

Day 3: Castlegar to Kelowna

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This was the only day of the trip where a destination was set. Castlegar to Kelowna isn't a particularly long trip: 346 km, or thereabouts. But the kind of highway it's on isn't meant to be tackled quickly. Those 346 kilometres get tacked in closer to 6 hours than 3.

The riding was gorgeous. Sunny, warm enough to be comfortable, and a relatively traffic-free roadway. This is a perfect stretch of curvy BC highway. Particularly Castlegar to Osoyoos. Osoyoos takes you out of forested mountains and into a desert valley filled with orchards and vineyards--real BC wine country. Whenever I make it back near that part of the province I want to spend a lot more time somewhere between Osoyoos and Kelowna.

The crazy part about the highways near Osoyoos weren't just the turns--180-degree turn-arounds, spiraling downhill curves asking you to slow to 20kph, or just the insane inclines. No, it was how perfectly paved some of the roads were. In Alberta, you really never see anything like that. Any road remotely pristine gets pitted and scraggly over winter.

We made it to Kelowna in a little more than 6 hours. We then got a little lost finding our accommodation wince Westbank and West Kelowna are not the same thing. It was an early, relaxing night that was well-earned after 3 hard days of riding.

Total riding: ~400km

Day 2: Lake Louise to Castlegar

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The first day went on with aggravating amounts of rain, and the second day started the same. It was cloudy and drizzly waking up and walking around the town. After breakfast it was time for getting the bikes set up again, and rain gear.



Went from Lake Louise to Banff, filled up, and started out towards Radium Hot Springs. Shortly after leaving the town limits, something terrible happened. Justin lowsided the Duke 690! You can see him separated from the bike in the below picture:

After the previous day's crappy weather and poor rest, and now the lowside, I was feeling very nervous about the prospect of another nearly 3,000km that this trip would require. It was only the start of the second day, and already there was wrecked gear and a dinged up bike. The headsets had also shown they were completely not working.


We both agreed we should go on. The day only got better, thankfully. The riding from there on out got warmer and sunny.



And further into BC, it got so much greener.



In Fort Steele, we stopped to have a bit of a break and contemplate where we'd end up that night. I didn't want to get caught at 10 in a strange town that may be having a room shortage and nowhere to eat. But the nearest major city was Cranbrook, which was maybe 20 minutes away. It seemed much too early that day to stop, and with barely any distance covered.

A friendly Edmontonian biker started chatting us up, offering suggestions for biker-friendly lodging on our way. Unfortunately the only place he had to suggest on our route was in Cranbrook! If you are motorcycling and do want to stay in Cranbrook, the Lazy Bear Lodge is apparently very bike-friendly. It was still nice to talk with him.

Immediately after, another biker came to chat us up. What was going to be a 15-minute break to have a snack ended up being nearly an hour after all the people left us to get back.

We pushed on for quite a ways. The ride through was amazing in scenery, and was getting a bit more technically challenging. A few short stops to refuel the bikes and ourselves, and we made it to Castlegar for the night.

A supper of beer, sushi, and samosas was a nice finish.

Total riding: ~595km
Total gear loss: Rain pants, rain jacket, laptop (damaged by lowsiding), headsets
Gear damage: Tailbag, riding jacket

Day 1: Edmonton to Lake Louise

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Day one started a bit later than expected. Initially I was anticipating leaving in the morning, and making it as far as Canmore. We left shortly after noon.The ride started out cloudy and immediately turned to rain. Thankfully we had purchased rain gear, and it did help a lot to cut down on the cold and wind. We stopped for lunch in Edson, and continued on to Jasper.

The headsets we use are Scala Q2s.They started to act up pretty badly and after Edson were just generally not working.



The rain kept up on and off into Jasper, and even past it. We continued on south towards the Columbia Icefields. it was very gorgeous there, but after many hours of riding and feeling damp and tired, it just felt like a meat freezer.



When we stopped at the Icefields Parkway, I managed to trip on some raised concrete and lowside myself (more or less) into a vending machine and onto the ground. When I came back to the area a short time later, someone helpfully put up pylons and signs warning about the uneven surface. Thanks!

With such bad weather and a big distance already down, by the time we passed into Lake Louise it was time to stop for the night. It was already 10:00pm and getting quite dark when we reached the town. It was a bit of an ordeal to find food and a place to stay; we finished the first day by getting all of our stuff in before midnight, gorging on bad microwaved food, and sleeping as hard as we could.

Out of all the days, this was the most generally uncomfortable.

Total riding: ~610km.
Gear damage: Headsets, rain pants