I’m in the middle of watching the movie Sideways, which means the eve of my next motorcycle tour has arrived.  I watch this movie every year before a new tour, and while this can be a little repetitive there is something comforting about experiencing something that I know to be both enjoyable and familiar.

The highways of southern BC have also become both enjoyable and familiar.  After ten tours I have ridden on every highway in the southern interior, most of the good ones I’ve ridden several times.  Last year’s Goonie Tour was an attempt to break out into new territory by riding to Oregon, but this year I have been longing for a tour focused on my favourite sites and roads in BC again…the Kootenays…the Fraser Canyon…the Thompson Plateau…the Okanagan…and the Rockies.

Planning for a trip is always part of the fun.  I spend weeks going through maps, trying different options, and thinking about suitable start and end points for each day.  For new places (like Oregon last year) I do a considerable amount of research on Google Maps, TripAdvisor, and YouTube to select my routes.  BC is different because I’ve been there so many times. Choosing routes and locations for this tour simply meant listing all of the usual suspects and figuring out a way to get to them all in the 13 days I have for this tour.

Preparing for my tours has become an efficient process over time.  Today I checked over Midnight to make sure all fluid levels are good and that the air pressure in the tires and the suspension are at the right levels (the latter is really cool…I can use a special pump to add pressure to the front and rear suspension based on my riding preference and the amount of weight being carried).  I also took him to the car wash to make sure he’s sparking clean for the start of a new trip.

I’ve carefully packed my clothes in a small black canvas bag that fits behind me on the passenger seat.  It’s been the same bag for every trip…very sturdy and the perfect size…with the black faded considerably on the top from years of being exposed to the sun on the back of the motorcycle. My computer, cameras, and GoPro are ready to go.  I have playlists ready to listen to.  I even polished my riding jacket to bring back it’s original black colour.  It was also getting faded from the sun.

I bought my motorcycle boots on the first day of my first motorcycle tour in 2006.  They’re a basic black leather work/hiking boot that have served me well.  I’ve worn them on every day of every one of my ten motorcycle tours so far. Unfortunately the years of wear have caused the soles to break down and now there are holes and cracks through them.  If I were to walk through a puddle my feet would be wet, and so I was forced to retire them.  I bought a new pair last week, and these ones are a heavy duty boot that are intended for the police. They are waterproof, lined with thinsulate to keep my feet warm on warm days, and much taller than my old ones to protect my ankle better in case I ever hit the pavement.

There’s not much else to say here.  I’m very excited to get going.  Hopefully I can keep my bcbiketour.com content up to date.  Last year my videos ended after getting back to Canada and my blogs ended in the Kootenays.  There are good reasons for that, and I’ll expand on this thought in later blogs.

Time for bed.  I want to be on the road for 8am tomorrow because I’m heading all the way to Radium.