Tuesday, July 13, 2010

You just can’t beat the Kootenays for good motorcycle roads. Low traffic, great scenery, twisties, curves, marvellous engineering, and every community has loads of character. This is pretty close to as good as it gets.

Of course, I could have done without the cold and the rain…but that couldn’t be helped.

I had a slower start than usual in the morning, mostly because I was so exhausted when I woke up from two very long days of riding. I forced myself out of bed and assembled my gear on Silver and hit the road. Within 2 minutes it started to pour. I knew this was going to be another long day on the road.

I hit all of the high points the Kootenays had to offer that I missed yesterday…Kaslo to New Denver, south to Castlegar (these two legs were definitely the high point), a southern detour through Trail and Rossland, then back north to the Crowsnest to head west to Rock Creek. It was cloudy and rainy the entire way.

At Rock Creek I headed north on a road I had never taken before: Hwy 33 to Kelowna. While the rain subsided on this leg the temperature got very cold. At one point I could even see my breath! I also saw 9 deer on the road toward the end of the trip, which made me slightly nervous because after riding for 9 hours fatigue was setting in which would affect my reaction time. I actually had to stop again and nap just to stop from falling asleep on Silver.

I reached Kelowna at 9pm just as the sun was starting to set. I was met with a surprise as I descended from the mountains into the Okanagan valley: the clouds were parting! I checked the forecast before I went to bed at my new motel: clear skies and hot temperatures for the rest of the week.

It seems that I have paid my dues with the cold and the rain and would now be treated with sunshine and heat.