We arrived safely back in Boulder Friday afternoon after a wonderful ride across Trail Ridge Road. Very little traffic and the best weather I have ever experienced crossing that road.
Overall, a very great trip. We logged 3,820 miles over 12 days. Logging this blog was a challenge as we spent more time each day riding than in the past. We averaged roughly 8 hours a day on the bikes, 75 hours moving, 22 hours stopped for things like lunch and rest breaks. A great trip.
I wonder where we will adventure to next?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Heading South
On Monday, we entered the USA from Grand Forks, BC. We rode about 200 miles to Couer d'Alene, ID in what we designate as the most beautiful portion of the ride. We were in heavy forest, deserted twisty roads the entire way! It was a real blessing.
Monday night, we realized, upon looking at map distances, we were further away from home than we thought, so it was time to put in some serious mileage. But we will not forgo the scenery to make lots of miles, we will just ride longer for the day. It was sprinkling rain lightly when we took off early Tuesday and we took the twisty forest roads just a few miles east of Couer d'Alene. We worked out way south and spent the night in funky little Crouch, ID - population less than 100. We got a little cabin and walked to the only place to eat in town. Just as our dinner was server, power went out in the whole town - we were the last table served. So we headed back to our dark cabin and hung out on our deck. This place was so remote they had no cell service nor Internet. We hit about 380 miles on the day and arrived at the cabin at close to 6PM - having departed at 7:30AM. We were ready for the rack and shut eye.
Today we rode all the way to Ogden, UT, about 400 miles for the day. Had good weather and the ride out of Crouch over to Stanley Lake and then down to Sun Valley was awesome. The last few miles in the Utah desert dealt us our first serious wind of the entire trip, but t wasn't too bad - tell that to the blown over mobile home transporter. Oops.
Our plan tomorrow is US 40 to Craig, CO. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check the Spot Tracker link in the last entry of June below to see our mapped ride.
Monday night, we realized, upon looking at map distances, we were further away from home than we thought, so it was time to put in some serious mileage. But we will not forgo the scenery to make lots of miles, we will just ride longer for the day. It was sprinkling rain lightly when we took off early Tuesday and we took the twisty forest roads just a few miles east of Couer d'Alene. We worked out way south and spent the night in funky little Crouch, ID - population less than 100. We got a little cabin and walked to the only place to eat in town. Just as our dinner was server, power went out in the whole town - we were the last table served. So we headed back to our dark cabin and hung out on our deck. This place was so remote they had no cell service nor Internet. We hit about 380 miles on the day and arrived at the cabin at close to 6PM - having departed at 7:30AM. We were ready for the rack and shut eye.
Today we rode all the way to Ogden, UT, about 400 miles for the day. Had good weather and the ride out of Crouch over to Stanley Lake and then down to Sun Valley was awesome. The last few miles in the Utah desert dealt us our first serious wind of the entire trip, but t wasn't too bad - tell that to the blown over mobile home transporter. Oops.
Our plan tomorrow is US 40 to Craig, CO. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check the Spot Tracker link in the last entry of June below to see our mapped ride.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
About to leave Canada
So the last check-in was from the area near Radium Hot Springs, BC (Friday morning). We were awaiting the motorcycle shop responses to see if our ride partner could get his bike fixed. The answer was "not any time soon", so he made the right decision to abort the trip and head back home to get his bike repaired. The area we were soon to cover was not a place to ride safely without a rear brake.
John and I headed north and east to hook up with the Ice Fields Parkway. After we climbed over the mountain pass to get there, we ran into light rain and suited up. It gave way to mostly sun for an hour or so until we got to Lake Louise, where we stopped to play tourist and grab some lunch. Upon leaving this beautiful place, we got into continuous light rain and could no longer see the mountains, which is why we came here! Lots of rain that turned to snow on two passes. We pulled into Jasper in the rain. The lowest temp we saw on our bike thermometers was 34 degrees, with the ice road warning lights showing on our bike computers. That was Friday.
Saturday morning, we awoke to a driving rain and temperature of 44 degrees. We still needed to head north and a little west. We rode in rain for more than two hours, a fair amount of wind, and temps staying in the low forties. At the BC town of Tete Laune Cache, we turned south hoping for warm and sunshine. It took awhile, but we found it. We finished the day in Kamloops, BC.
Today, we made the run from Kamloops to Grand Forks, BC, just across the US border. Very beautiful riding, but a lot of crazy Canadian drivers trying to get home on Sunday afternoon. The Canadian highway drivers all seem to be in a real hurry. The scenery was awesome and the twisty factor was way up there.
Pictures? We are lazy, or at least the blog author is for sure! Unlike other years of blog-riding, we are arriving late to our hotel rooms and simply running out of time. We are averaging over 7 hours a day in the saddle and that makes for tired boys that want a quick brewskie and dinner. Then the preparation work on bikes and gear for the next day, well it quickly becomes time for bed.
So for all the pictures, you are just gonna have to wait a few more days and I will upload them all to an album with a link here. The Spot tracker is doing its thing, so keep an eye on that to see where we are at all times.
Tomorrow morning, we re-enter the good 'ol USA! Our goal for tomorrow is some great roads in NE Washington then into Idaho for Coeur d'Alene for the evening.
More later...
John and I headed north and east to hook up with the Ice Fields Parkway. After we climbed over the mountain pass to get there, we ran into light rain and suited up. It gave way to mostly sun for an hour or so until we got to Lake Louise, where we stopped to play tourist and grab some lunch. Upon leaving this beautiful place, we got into continuous light rain and could no longer see the mountains, which is why we came here! Lots of rain that turned to snow on two passes. We pulled into Jasper in the rain. The lowest temp we saw on our bike thermometers was 34 degrees, with the ice road warning lights showing on our bike computers. That was Friday.
Saturday morning, we awoke to a driving rain and temperature of 44 degrees. We still needed to head north and a little west. We rode in rain for more than two hours, a fair amount of wind, and temps staying in the low forties. At the BC town of Tete Laune Cache, we turned south hoping for warm and sunshine. It took awhile, but we found it. We finished the day in Kamloops, BC.
Today, we made the run from Kamloops to Grand Forks, BC, just across the US border. Very beautiful riding, but a lot of crazy Canadian drivers trying to get home on Sunday afternoon. The Canadian highway drivers all seem to be in a real hurry. The scenery was awesome and the twisty factor was way up there.
Pictures? We are lazy, or at least the blog author is for sure! Unlike other years of blog-riding, we are arriving late to our hotel rooms and simply running out of time. We are averaging over 7 hours a day in the saddle and that makes for tired boys that want a quick brewskie and dinner. Then the preparation work on bikes and gear for the next day, well it quickly becomes time for bed.
So for all the pictures, you are just gonna have to wait a few more days and I will upload them all to an album with a link here. The Spot tracker is doing its thing, so keep an eye on that to see where we are at all times.
Tomorrow morning, we re-enter the good 'ol USA! Our goal for tomorrow is some great roads in NE Washington then into Idaho for Coeur d'Alene for the evening.
More later...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Canada
We have been busy since last reporting in. This morning, we are just outside of Radium Hot Springs, in British Columbia. So a quick catch up of how we got here.
Tuesday, we rode from Thermopolis, WY to Livingston, MT. This was an awesome route over Dead Indian pass, followed quickly by Beartooth Pass where the WY / MT border is. That pass took us over 11,000' in elevation and it looked like winter up there. The upper lakes were just starting to thaw and the ground area was mostly white. The lowest temperature I saw on the bike was 54 degrees. Deadhorse is listed in the motorcycle world as one of the top rides in the world and we now know why. Incredible twisty action for many miles.
On Wednesday, we made our way from Livingston to Kalispell, MT, having met up with our third ride partner along the way. The ride going into Kalispell up through the Swan Lake valley is a very beautiful ride.
Crossing both Wyoming and Montana, we had perfect weather and basically no wind!
Our plan had been to ride from Kalispell through Glacier National Park and then head up toward the Calgary area, but Road to the Sun is still closed due to the incredible amount of snow still needing to get glowed out. So we made a last minute change of plans and headed west out of Kalispell before turning north and riding along the west side to Koocanusa Lake in Montana. This was a great ride. And then, at about 1:30, we crossed into Canada. The border crossing was painless and we had awesome weather to our current spot near Radium Hot Springs.
About an hour before we got here, our ride partner has a slight problem when his rear brake caught fire while we were cruising down the road. He now has no back brake but a fully functional front brake. We are sitting in the hotel, sipping some great coffee, waiting for shops to open in the Calgary area to see where he needs to go for repair and how we will reroute from here. Stay tuned and watch the tracker link below to see how our day unfolds. And today looks like a wet ride.
When we get time, I will start posting some pictures. We are arriving late in the day at each stop and just haven't found the time to get to the pictures yet.
Tuesday, we rode from Thermopolis, WY to Livingston, MT. This was an awesome route over Dead Indian pass, followed quickly by Beartooth Pass where the WY / MT border is. That pass took us over 11,000' in elevation and it looked like winter up there. The upper lakes were just starting to thaw and the ground area was mostly white. The lowest temperature I saw on the bike was 54 degrees. Deadhorse is listed in the motorcycle world as one of the top rides in the world and we now know why. Incredible twisty action for many miles.
On Wednesday, we made our way from Livingston to Kalispell, MT, having met up with our third ride partner along the way. The ride going into Kalispell up through the Swan Lake valley is a very beautiful ride.
Crossing both Wyoming and Montana, we had perfect weather and basically no wind!
Our plan had been to ride from Kalispell through Glacier National Park and then head up toward the Calgary area, but Road to the Sun is still closed due to the incredible amount of snow still needing to get glowed out. So we made a last minute change of plans and headed west out of Kalispell before turning north and riding along the west side to Koocanusa Lake in Montana. This was a great ride. And then, at about 1:30, we crossed into Canada. The border crossing was painless and we had awesome weather to our current spot near Radium Hot Springs.
About an hour before we got here, our ride partner has a slight problem when his rear brake caught fire while we were cruising down the road. He now has no back brake but a fully functional front brake. We are sitting in the hotel, sipping some great coffee, waiting for shops to open in the Calgary area to see where he needs to go for repair and how we will reroute from here. Stay tuned and watch the tracker link below to see how our day unfolds. And today looks like a wet ride.
When we get time, I will start posting some pictures. We are arriving late in the day at each stop and just haven't found the time to get to the pictures yet.
Monday, July 4, 2011
The 2011 Adventure Begins!
We are on the road, have completed our 2nd day after having no Internet access at our first stop. John came to my house Saturday, bike in the back of his truck. Got all his gear unloaded and enjoyed a great evening of catching up. Slept in Sunday, got the bikes packed and decided to start with a short ride. We left Boulder and headed for Steamboat Springs for our first evening.
The next day, today July 4th, we rode from Steamboat to Thermopolis, WY. There were big storms all around us as we left Colorado and headed into Wyoming. We were blessed with (1) cloudy, cool weather and (2) no rain. The drive up from Craig, Colorado into Wyoming was scenic in a few places, but mostly flat and straight - blue sage as far as the eye could see.
We stopped for lunch in Rawlins, then headed north moving between thunderstorms. We stayed dry and relatively windless for Wyoming! Another blessing, for sure.
Making our way further north, we came to Sweetwater and decided to check out the rattlesnakes (oops, we are not in Texas where the annual snake hunt occurs, nope, we are way up in Wyoming.)
And now we are comfortable in Thermopolis, WY, home of famous hot springs. We are actually staying in the state park for the swimming area, getting ready to go eat soon, then settle in for the volunteer fire department fireworks show, launched from the small mountain just above out hotel. Ought to be fun.
Tomorrow, we are set for two awesome twisty passes (Dead Indian and Beartooth) as we get up into Montana. In a couple of days, we hook up with out 3rd ride partner coming up from Boise.
Thanks for reading. Based on where we are headed up into remote areas of the Canadian Rockies, daily updates to the blog may not be consistent. But you can always see where we are by watching the Spot Tracker link on the first entry.
The next day, today July 4th, we rode from Steamboat to Thermopolis, WY. There were big storms all around us as we left Colorado and headed into Wyoming. We were blessed with (1) cloudy, cool weather and (2) no rain. The drive up from Craig, Colorado into Wyoming was scenic in a few places, but mostly flat and straight - blue sage as far as the eye could see.
Making our way further north, we came to Sweetwater and decided to check out the rattlesnakes (oops, we are not in Texas where the annual snake hunt occurs, nope, we are way up in Wyoming.)
Tomorrow, we are set for two awesome twisty passes (Dead Indian and Beartooth) as we get up into Montana. In a couple of days, we hook up with out 3rd ride partner coming up from Boise.
Thanks for reading. Based on where we are headed up into remote areas of the Canadian Rockies, daily updates to the blog may not be consistent. But you can always see where we are by watching the Spot Tracker link on the first entry.
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