Monday, July 16th, 2007

Kaslo is a pretty little town. They have an old steamwheeler that the town residents restored after decaded of neglect. Very peaceful and nestled tight within the mountains on the shores of Kootenay Lake. I will visit this place again.

The plan for the day was simple: get to Calgary. I had planned to take the ferry across Kootenay Lake again, stop in Creston for the calamari again, and continue on to Cranbrook. I would then head north through Radium, and then west to Banff and on to Calgary. Perfect.

Or so I thought.

I started the day late. After arriving at the ferry, I discovered that I would have to wait an hour an a half for the ferry to arrive, and then another half hour to cross the lake. It was nearly 2:00 by the time I got across. The ride down the best Destination Highway in BC was less fun than the first time due to the increased traffic, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

In Creston I stopped to get the calamari I enjoyed two weeks ago, but I got it to go because I was in such a hurry. After filling up with gas at a little town called Yahk, I was about an hour southeast of Cranbrook, and ready to push my way through the Kootenays and the Rockies to get back on the Prairie. It was go time.

However, about 20 km east of Yahk there was construction on the road, and I would have to wait…and wait…and wait. I was used to this as in BC they can’t really re-direct traffic or offer detours, but this wait was excessive….30 minutes! And it was 38 degrees out. So I sat in my hot leather in the heat with the heat of the sun above me and the heat of the engine and the asphalt coming from underneath me.

Finally, we were allowed to proceed. I put Silver in gear, but it flooded due to running in the heat for so long. I was on a bit of a decline, so I tried to restart Silver. No luck. I tried again. No luck. Still flooded and no life. I tried again. Dead battery. Being on a decline, I let Silver coast and I tried to kick it into second gear to give the bike life. No luck. Flooded. I tried again. No luck. I tried to stop, and my boot slipped because of the gravel on the road, and Silver laid on his side.

Damn. Here I am on the side of the highway with a flooded engine, a dead battery, and an 800 pound motorcycle on its side. And there is traffic behind me and I’m leaking sweat like mad. Oh great. This would be the test of my resourcefulness and my patience.

I have particular skill, I think, with ONE of those. Guess which one.

Acting quickly, I managed to lift Silver back up and get him standing up straight (no small feat…800 pounds remember!). After a quick inspection, I discovered that there was no damage. Good. Next, I would need to get power to the battery. Traffic was stopped again for construction, so I managed to let the sign holder allow the lead car to come forward toward me for a boost.

We hooked up the booster cables and Silver sprang to life for a brief second, but proceeded to flood considerably. There was gasoline all over the road. I tried again. Still flooding. I tried a third time and gave the throttle a twist to burn fuel. Success. Silver was running again and I left the throttle in position to keep power.

After ANOTHER half hour of waiting and sweating like a pig, I was allowed to go. I put Silver in gear and proceeded down the incline. He chugged and chugged as the engine was still flooded. It was chugging so bad that I had to put the throttle right open, and despite this the engine still died. As I coasted down the hill toward the bottom, my heart sank. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I was nearing the bottom of the hill and coasting at 60 km/ hour. I gave Silver one last try, and kicked him into second gear. Chug. Chug. Chug-g-g-g-g-g-g-g…vroooooom. The engine sprang to life and I was away…..man was I pumped after that.

I got all the way to Cranbrook and needed to stop for gas. After that adventure I was ready for a nice trip the rest of the way. It was 5:30 already, and I knew that Calgary was still about 4-5 hours away. I wasn’t going to make it…so I decided to get as far as Radium and enjoy a soak in the Hot Spring. I felt that I deserved that after what I had just gone through.

After filling with gas and downing about two litres of water, I was ready to go. I went to start Silver and…dead battery. Damn. Damn. Damn. Not again. Luckily, there was another biker nearby and he gave me a push so I could kick Silver into second and get the engine going. Success. Chug. Chug. Vroom… OK….let’s get to Radium.

And, in another episode similar to the night before, there were no rooms in Radium. There was, however, a room in Invermere, about 10 km south of Radium. The only problem was that it was in a nice hotel that was certainly above the standard I had gotten used to paying at the little motels I had been staying at. Screw it. Just get me a room so I can go find a pub.

And that’s exactly what I did. However, apparently in Invermere they roll up the sidewalks at 9:00 and nothing is open. So supper that night was a number of pints of Kokanee in the hotel lounge. I won’t tell you what number.

I went to bed wondering how I was going to get home tomorrow. It was an 11 hour drive. I had a dead battery.

Now THIS is an adventure!