The NAFO D-Tour

[yamafitter]

Cruising the Cascades

It was days like today that are the reason I own an FJR. What a perfect day. I found Bungie's highly recommended spot at Winthrop...

Hwy 20. Stop in Winthrop at 3 Finger Jacks. Wait for Deanne to show up. She's easy to pick out. Hottest cowgirl ever.

Deanne was going out for a ride...

That Bungie has a eye for the girls.

The ride from Rockport to Winthrop however did not disappoint...

I celebrated this great ride with a Carne Burrito in Winthrop...

While up in the Northern Cascades I had my heated vest plugged in and the hand grips on but by the time I got to Winthrop it was time to ditch all that gear and switch over to summer mode. The next section was hot, gry and twisty as I continued along Washington Hwy 20. At my second stop for hydration I came across a gentleman that was riding a 750 Honda that he bought new when I was still in high school...

He has ridden it every year that he owned it and is slowly doing a full restoration on it. It sounded heathier than his buddies Harley.

Speaking of road kill...

This fella was coming down the hill when the bike started handling funny. Maybe this 4" gash in the front tube was a contributing factor ...

That foam sealer in a can won't be fixing that. His buddy arrived back with a tube from town. The tire on the Harley was a 21". The tube his buddy found was a 24". It was also the tube for a Mountain Bike tire. This was going to be interesting. If this worked the Harley rider was taking about riding the bike all the way back to Seattle that day with a bicycle tube in his front tire. Did I mention he was a Harley Rider??

I made a comment about the differences in volume between the Harley front tire and the average Mountain Bike tire but we decided to see if it could at least work well enough to get him to town...

I thought it bad form to tell them to just put the rest of the Harley in the trash can with the wheel. We started to inflate the tire and it got to about 20 psi...

Then there was a big BANG and then there were no psi. Back to the drawing board. I mentioned that if they had enough contact cement they may be able to cut the new and now not so improved tube to make a patch for the original tube. The local home owner was also helping so there was no need for me to continue to hang out since there was nothing I could do for them.

I crossed back into Canada just south of Rossland and took the shortcut back up to Castlegar where I thought about stopping for the night. I then thought about maybe a nice hot soak might feel very good about now so off to Ainsworth Hot Springs for a indulgent evening of a nice hot soak in the caves followed by a Halibut dinner with a glass of Pinot Noir...

WARNING FOOD PORN...

and a Kailua Chocolate Mouse for desert...

The bike is running great.

I'm happy, I'm content and I'm going to bed.

 

[Niehart]

:thumbsupsmileyanim:

 

[Bungie]

or the heads up about Deanne.

As far as my rain gear goes I have a Rukka jacket that has a Gortex liner that does a great job in keeping me dry but the jacket gets wet and when the water starts to evaporate I would get chilled. Plus the outer jacket is vented since it is a Rukka Air Jacket and wasn't doing much to stop the unseasonable coolness. To stop this from happening I went to Mark's Work Warehouse and got myself a Viking 3X rain jacket. Not only does it provide further repellant properties from the unrepentant dampness of BC, the jacket is also flame retardent should I come across a forest fire and oil resistant for when I travel back across Alberta. It also is a great wind breaker and with my Widder heated vest I'm staying toasty warm & dry.

The added bonus of being that big and that yellow is that if anyone hits me I can claim that the person is legally blind and had no business driving.

Ya, but are you wearing a zeppelin for rain gear?

 

[yamafitter]

Ya, but are you wearing a zeppelin for rain gear?

Call me thick but I don't get it.

My Viking rain jacket won't keep me dry if I end up here however...

This was taken at the middle dam in between Nelson and Castlegar. The river was really high when I left Castlegar last week but now there even more water still coming off the mountains. All this water was still heading towards Castlegar...

I had a close call with the bike in Nelson yesterday. I got cut off by a tourist that I proceeded to go around and as I dropped off a hill and came to a 4-Way stop the same tourist almost ran me over. She ended up in the other lane beside me as she was sliding to a stop. Obviously she missed the 4-way stop warning sign at the brink of the hill. It was a rather scary experience and I was glad I didn't have too much further to go befoe parking for the night.

By the way it is raining again in British Columbia..... who would have thunk it

 

[beemerdons]

Ya, but are you wearing a zeppelin for rain gear?

Call me thick but I don't get it.

My Viking rain jacket won't keep me dry if I end up here however...

Great Ride Report mi Amigo Guillermo, keep it coming Bro'!

By the way Dude, just tell Bungie to get his head fooked eh!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Ya, but are you wearing a zeppelin for rain gear?

Call me thick but I don't get it.

My Viking rain jacket won't keep me dry if I end up here however...

Great Ride Report mi Amigo Guillermo, keep it coming Bro'!

By the way Dude, just tell Bungie to get his head fooked eh!

+1...way!

Great report Billy boy, keep on truckin'. :clapping:

 

[Bungie]

Ya know..

I've said publicly a bunch of times I was going to move my sorry ass out to BC. Preferably Kamloops or Kelowna. After the season they've had this year and last, I'm reconsidering.

Ride safe!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Ya know..

I've said publicly a bunch of times I was going to move my sorry ass out to BC. Preferably Kamloops or Kelowna. After the season they've had this year and last, I'm reconsidering.

Ride safe!

Move to upstate South Carolina Stevie...warm Gulf Current is 3-4 hours away, and the twisty mountain roads are an hour away. :yahoo:

 

[Bungie]

Move to upstate South Carolina Stevie...warm Gulf Current is 3-4 hours away, and the twisty mountain roads are an hour away. :yahoo:

I wish it were that easy. Theirs that whole citizenship/emigration thing for me. Easy to do if your retiring and bringing a wad of cash with you. Not so easy if your still about 78 years away from being able to retire. The US gov takes a pretty dim view of Cdns living in large boxes under the overpass.

I mentioned a job offer back in SE Ohio located in the Greenville SC area. I had to decline it, nowhere near enough money even given the huge cost of living difference between here and there.

 

[Fred W]

Damn Billy!! You're (still) in BC, and it's raining (yet again)?

Is this the Canadian version of Groundhog Day or sumpin?

 

[beemerdons]

.....The US gov takes a pretty dim view of Cdns living in large boxes under the overpass.

Come to Phoenix Steve-O, there's a huge contingent of Canucks living under the 7th Avenue bridge!

This is Ian MacIntosh from Chelmsford, Ontario, he still has his Frostback toque! Lost his galoshes!

I just bought a 52" RCA television, I would be glad to save the box for you if you want me to do so!

 

[FastJoyRide]

.....The US gov takes a pretty dim view of Cdns living in large boxes under the overpass.

Come to Phoenix Steve-O, there's a huge contingent of Canucks living under the 7th Avenue bridge!

This is Ian MacIntosh from Chelmsford

Ripley, Ontario, he still has his Frostback toque! Lost his galoshes!

I just bought a 52" RCA television, I would be glad to save the box for you if you want me to do so!

Fixed it for you Papa Chuy - ese is Tom's much wiser younger brudder!

And Steve-o, let me know if you're serious about the Okey-Dokey Valley - I have lots of contacts here...

 

[Dr. Rich]

.....The US gov takes a pretty dim view of Cdns living in large boxes under the overpass.

This didn't stop Old Michael from moving into a refrigerator box in Citrus Heights! I think if your determined you might get him to explain his technique for dodging the border patrol. Maybe you have to be Irish!

 

[wheatonFJR]

...I think if your determined you might get him to explain his technique for dodging the border patrol. Maybe you have to be Irish!

Oh, that's easy to convince them of that, all you have to do is start calling everybody "Mick", and keep complementing yourself in front of everybody else on the size of your "manhood", jes sayin' and enuf sed!

 

[Bungie]

And Steve-o, let me know if you're serious about the Okey-Dokey Valley - I have lots of contacts here...

Very serious. I've been applying to various computer programming jobs since last fall. Soons as they find out your not 'there', your off the list. Frustrating because I'll be out there at a drop of a hat. If you know somebody out there looking for a kick-ass programmer Let me know and we'll work it out.

I swore I wouldn't spend another winter in Sudbury and here I am, the summer half over and I'm still here!

 

[Bungie]

Maybe you have to be Irish!

But I AM Irish!

Hell, I'm the very definition of WASP.

 

[yamafitter]

I'm in Calgary but I'm taking some down time. It was a soggy ride from Fernie to Frank in the Crowsnest Pass and the winds in the Turner Valley were trying to Mary Poppins me off the bike. I'm sitting at a friend's house watching the ball game and kick back tonight.

 

[yamafitter]

Billy & the Blustery Day

I could have gotten up really early and caught the 6:10 ferry. I could have even caught the 8:10 ferry but then I would not have had a chance for another soak in the hot springs and a nice omelette for breakfast before running down to Balfour to caught the 9:50 ferry across the lake. Here we are in the line up...

When we loaded the workers were kind enough to make sure the bikes would be the first ones off...

We also had a little extra ballast on board with us for the trip across...

They also had a anchor on board...

If the photos looks a little dark and wet it was because the unrepentant moisture of British Columbia had once again caught up to us. There was a squall line that was chasing us across the lake ....

All was not lost however, there were signs of sunshine to the south & east ...

The Beemer rider who does this route on a fairly regular basis said this was one of the roughest crossings he had ever witnessed and when we were in the middle of the lake the ferry took on a pretty good roll as it ploughed it's way through the waves. The first little bit down 3A was wet but the road quickly dried out and the fun began as the Beemer rider & I broke free of the pirate parade and went or a 'spirited' ride until it was time to play another round of ...

NAME THAT TIMMY'S

Hint #1 - There was a old retired guy sitting at the table in the corner...

Hint #2 - They serve a Breakfast Sausage Sandwich...

Hint #3 (and this a dead giveaway) - There was a Kawasaki Six Cyclinder KZ1300 in the parking lot...

Now Carver has some photos on how his project should look when complete.

We had been protected by the trees from the winds to this point but as were got into the mountain passes near Fernie the winds rally picked up and was moving the bike around quite a bit. The rains also started getting worse and the temperature started to drop. Near the top of the Crowsnest Pass I was barely able to see but I did see 8oC for an air temp reading in the pouring rain.

Then I crossed over into Alberta. The rain stopped. The winds weren't bad when i stopped for fuel at Frank and went in to celebrate my narrow escape from the unrepentant moisture of BC with an A&W Rootbeer...

I turned north at Hwy 22 for the run up the Turner Valley where the winds were very fierce but we struggled through and arrived safely at a friend's home in the south-eadt end of town.

I have time for breakfast before I have to meet with the folks from Admore Lighting and then I'll be running off to Saskatoon.

 

[yamafitter]

...I think if your determined you might get him to explain his technique for dodging the border patrol. Maybe you have to be Irish!

Oh, that's easy to convince them of that, all you have to do is start calling everybody "Mick", and keep complementing yourself in front of everybody else on the size of your "manhood", jes sayin' and enuf sed!

If you are in Calgary ************ is measured by the size of your belt bucket, your cowboy hat and the size of the wheels on your pickup truck that you go to work in some 5x5 cubicle in some office in downtown Cowtown.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

Bill, did you get that front tire looked after?

Griff

*edit* NM... just read back a few pages... kudos to the PNW crew !