Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Silver got his name just after the Easy Rider Tour 2006 because I was asked why I like to ride alone. I responded that while somewhat unsafe, my preference for lone travel comes from selfishness and a desire to use my tours as a way to get my shit together. Being alone in my thoughts while riding thousands of kilometres down beautiful mountain highways gives me ample opportunity to think things out. Damn near every major decision in my lifesince 2006 has been made while on a tour.

Anyway, this person said I was like a Lone Ranger out there…and that’s how Silver got his name. He’s also a Yamaha Road Star Silverado so that helped too. It was a good fit. Ryan & Silver.

One of the decisions I made last year was to return to public life after my resignation from provincial politics in January. I ended up seeking a seat on North Battleford City Council and was successful in my election.  This last winter I was invited to attend the annual convention of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Vancouver. Also invited was my friend, fellow City Councillor, and fellow motorcyclist Greg Lightfoot. I did not take long for us to agree that flying was an unsafe option. We had better ride our bikes out there.

This was the first time I’d be on a bike tour for something work-related, and also the first time that I’d be touring with someone else. This would likely be an altogether different experience than what I was used to.

What was not different was getting a late start. Since we were both trying to cram this trip into an already hectic work schedule, our plan to leave North Battleford by 9:30 was a failure because we both had a bunch of last minute loose ends to tie up. We ended up leaving after 11:00, which was a very late start given that we had to get all the way to Valemount in BC on the first day.

The first leg of the trip was enjoyable. The sun was shining, it was about 22 degrees out, and we roared down the highway together beaming about the new found freedom of the road. This was early by bike tour standards, and I was wary of the weather because early spring weather in the mountains can be unpredictable. Still, it felt damn good to feel the freedom of the road.

By the time we reached Lloydminster we were ready to fuel up, grab some lunch, and continue down the Yellowhead. It seemed the beautiful day was about to take a turn for the worse. There were dark clouds ahead, and it was clear to both of us that we were heading into a storm….

…in more ways than one. It was in Lloyd that the Fellowship of the Road discovered a serious problem. After fueling up, I dismounted Silver to discover than my air cleaner cover and halfof my air cleaner casing mount was missing. The mount was cracked and there was glue all over the cracked edges. It seemed that at some point in Silver’s history somebody had broken the plastic casing, and had attempted to remedy the situation by gluing it back together. In between North Battleford and Lloydminster the glue had gave way and the broken mount piece and my entire chrome cover plate that it was attached to came off.

It was not possible to continue with an exposed air cleaning system because dirt and water and whatever else would be getting into my carb. We were somewhat dumbfounded at the development and for a moment my heart sank as I realized that this tour was over for Silver and I. There was no way we could continue.

Luckily, the air filter that the cover and casing keep in place was still there. This was our only saving grace. Also lucky…but more a case of good planning…was the utility knife and roll of duct tape that was in my saddle bags. We quickly devised a plan to MacGyver a new air cleaning apparatus. I ran over to a nearby dumpster and found a cardboard box. We used the intact filter to cut out a new cover to fit over the filter and wrapped that in ducttape. We then filled the gaping hole inthe air cleaner casing with spare rags I had, and then covered it all up withseveral layers of duct tape. We thenattached the filter to the casing, and then duct taped the cardboard/tape cover to the filter itself. I then ran into a nearby Canadian Tire and bought a bunch of little bungee cords. We attached the cords all around the aircleaning system to keep everything in place in case the duct tape didn’t hold.

In the end, Silver had a serious wound on his side and he looked like shit but he seemed to be in working order. I was nervous but it was worth a try.

The engineering process we undertook delayed us by about an hour or so. During that time, the dark clouds to the west had moved to the north and it looked like we were going to avoid getting rained on for the time being. Perhaps the delay was fortuitous.

We headed back on the road and Silver’s patch job seemed to be holding fine. The skies had clouded over and they were getting darker and darker as we headed west. We ended up stopping in Vegreville and putting on our rain gear because it seemed inevitable that we were going to get wet. We ended up making it to Edmonton before that happened. When we got to the city there was water everywhere. I guess we missed a big flash rain, so we figured we got lucky with the delay in Lloydminster. We stopped in Edmonton for a half hour at a bike shop to find the part number of the air cleaner mount I would need to replace. They didn’t have any in stock, but at least I got the correct part number.

As soon as we got back on our bikes and headed out of Edmonton it began to rain. Hard. So hard that I lost sight of Greg in front of me and had to focus all of my attention on staying in my own lane of traffic on the highway. It rained hard all the way to Entwistle, where we stopped for fuel and to check on how the MacGyver air cleaner was adapting to the rain. No problems just yet.

By this time it was after 6pm and we were getting worried about making it all the way to Valemount. We hurried back onto the highway and continued west. The rain continued but it was not nearly as heavy as it was coming out of Edmonton.

Just after Edson I had a heart-stopping scare. I was riding along when suddenly a deer darted out onto the highway from my right, and then decided to pull a 180 RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. It was scrambling pretty bad as its hooves slipped on the wet asphalt. I could not swerve either because I wouldhave certainly put Silver down on his side. I steered slightly to my left but that deer was having serious trouble getting moved around. I was headed right for it and was bracing for certain impact, when at the last millisecond it gained its footing and was able to get out of my way. I missed it by about a foot. The whole episode lasted maybe 2 or 3 seconds but when the adrenaline kicks in the whole thing goes in slow motion. I had to shake that one off after it happened.

We reached Hinton around 9pm just as the sun was starting to set. We grabbed a few sandwiches at the Tim Horton’s and tried to warm up before heading for the most dangerous part of the day’s journey. We were about to ride through Jasper National Park in the rain, in the dark, and with wildlife all around. I was already spooked by my close encounter near Edson and knew that this last leg was going to be a long one.

For starters, I was bummed about not being able to see the mountains. Few things in life give me as much joy as riding into those massive towers after a year of not seeing them. This time it was far too dark. The rain was pelting me in the face and visibility was piss poor. I had to concentrate on the road, and had to be mindful of any reflections of eyes in the ditch.

The worst part of riding through a National Park at night is that the only traffic is big, heavy trucks that have little regard or respect for motorcycles. This is even worse in the rain…they block lanes and when you are behind them they kick up the rain so bad that it creates a mist of rain and dirt that envelopes you like a soggy blanket that you left outside while camping.

Greg was quite far ahead of me because of my inability to pass trucks who were all to quick to pass me. After several hours of riding through the dark, I finally caught up to Greg at Mount Robson, where we finished the last 20km of our journey to Valemount. We arrived at about 11pm local time.

It was one hell of a long day. We were wet, cold, and tired. I was jittery. Silver had surgery. I hadn’t even seen a mountain yet. We settled in at the Cougar Mountain Lodge where we were staying and cracked open a bottle of rum for some well deserved cocktails. At about 3am we finally went to bed.

All and all, it was an awesome day. 🙂 I live for this stuff.