This was such a great summer.  Three tours to BC, moving in to a new house, and I even got to see Paul McCartney in Regina between The Tall Towers and The Return to the Vines.  I was riding pretty high at this point.

Each tour was the perfect length and I felt very satisfied with each chapter of the Trilogy.

The Fellowship of the Road gave me a lot of time in the Lower Mainland and some whirlwind days getting there and back.  I was forced to deal with some extreme conditions through the rain, night riding, and mechanical difficulties.  This simply added to the adventure and it was nicely juxtaposed against my time in downtown Vancouver.  It was also a new experience riding with a friend instead of going solo…which gave Greg and I a lot of chance to reminisce for years to come about the trip.

The Tall Towers was a revelation because I finally treated the Kootenays as a destination instead of just riding through it in a day or two.  Riding down into Montana reminded me of the excitement of discovering a new place for the first time, which would push me to consider new areas to ride to. Ever since the Little Miss Sunshine Tour 2009 I had pretty much ridden every paved highway in southern BC.  The length was perfect…I suffered ver little tour fatigue and went home feeling very relaxed.

It was odd not touring wineries on the motorcycle on The Tall Towers, but I made up for it with a tour devoted exclusively to wine touring with the Return to the Vines.  Taking that final trip in the car afforded me the luxuries I never had on the bike-  I could bring home a lot of wine (I ended up with three cases), and I brought home about fifty pounds of fresh fruit from the orchards for our families.  I also got to share that experience with my girlfriend which added to the experience.  Wine tasting is always better when there’s someone there to enjoy it with.

I ended this summer thinking it would be pretty damn hard to top.  This feeling would fade quickly, however…I already had some big plans brewing for the next year.

Here are my three tour maps: