Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
8/11/04 

Greetings Riders,
 
Well, after 10 days of being in areas of bad cell phone service and no email, I am back to my routine. The last few days have put me right back into reality. The only bad thing about a 3000 miles, 10 day ride around the Country is that it has to end. But if you do it right, you've got a lot of things to recall when those work days get a little long. After going through the first 500 of the 1500 photos I took, to decide which ones get posted on the site, I have had a chance to relive a few of the days.
 
As I mentioned in last week's letter, we started our ride in Washington. We had the bike shipped to Downtown Harley-Davidson in Seattle via Valley Transportation Group here in Phoenix. They did a great job in getting the bike there in perfect condition and exactly on time, I would highly recommend them to ship a bike and I will use them again. Downtown Harley-Davidson was very helpful in coordinating the arrival of the bike, a task which they said they do all the time for Harley owners all over the United States that want to ride in the Northwest. After a short 4 mile ride in a cab from the airport to the dealership, we strapped on the bag and were on our way to Canada by 11:00 am EH!
 
One of the enjoyable things about riding cross country for me is the interaction with people. I love pulling into a gas station or Country Store and talking to the locals. It seems as though everyone is intrigued by the thought of traveling on a motorcycle. But some of the questions they ask are kind of funny. They will walk up to the bike and look at the T-Bag strapped to the back and say: "Are you traveling?" Nope, just taking a few T-shirts out for a ride around the block. Or they will walk up and look at the tank that says Harley-Davidson and say: "Is that a Harley?" Nope, we just painted Harley-Davidson on there to see if anyone would notice. I lost track of how many times we answered those 2 questions. But the interaction is what makes it fun.
 
We crossed the Canadian border at around 3:00 pm and got acclimated to the change in road signs. Everything was in kilometers. I have to admit, when I saw that first speed sign that said 100, I got a little excited, until I realized that really means about 65 miles per hour. Between the currency difference and the distance and speed being quoted in Kilometers, I was pretty tired of doing the math after about 500 miles in this country. We made our way to Whistler by around 6:00 pm. Wow! What a beautiful place this is. The village of Whistler, nestled in between the Whistler/Blackcombe mountains is built to look like a mini Switzerland. They did a great job of master planning this area, and it has just about every outdoor activity you can think of. In fact, one of the outdoor activities particularly caught my eye. I showed the flyer to Mrs. C. and she said: "You are not going to do that are you?" I said yes, I think I am. So we hopped on the bike and headed 8 miles South of Whistler and traveled 2 miles on a dirt road to the 160 foot bridge that was the home of Whistler Bungee.
 
It is kind of interesting how something can look good on paper, but when you actually are standing there, 160 feet above the rapids, contemplating stepping off of a perfectly good bridge, excitement turns to fear. That is pretty much what happens on your first bungee jump. And of course, I unknowingly did it the scariest way the first time, falling off backwards. Here is what it looks like from 160 foot above the rapids watching a guy who is questioning what he just did. Mrs. C. took a great shot. After doing that, I decided to go again, this time experiencing it from the "Swan Dive" position. This way was filled with adrenaline as you could see the water getting closer to you by the millisecond. What a rush that was! Mrs. Cyclerides wasn't sure at first, but decided to join me as well. She stepped right up and jumped off forward. She had no desire to go again, but said it was awesome. I did a cool little 4 minute video with music that I think you will enjoy. Click Here for broadband or cable and Click Here for 56K dialup. To see more bungee pictures click on Day 2 below.
 
Once we got our little adrenaline charge from Whistler Bungee, we were on our way for our 270 mile ride through the Lillooet Mountain range in Southern British Columbia. This is an absolutely beautiful ride as you go through farm land and then right through and around massive mountains and cliffs while paralleling rivers most of the way. But if you are looking to get out of the heat in the Summer, you will be surprised. It was 110 degrees in Lillooet when we were there, and they said that is normal. But, it was a dry heat, so we felt right at home. After getting a late start due to the Bungee jumping, we went through Hell's Canyon and the 7 tunnels between Lyton and Hope and got into Hope, BC. at about 9:00 pm. Along the way I found that a long lost ancestor by the same name had a started a small business in Yale, BC. Here it is. We finally made it back to West Vancouver at 11:30 pm that night.
 
After 2 days of riding 596 miles and tackling more twisties than I could count, at 10 am on Day 3 we were boarding the ferry for the 12 mile, 90 minute cruise to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. This is not a ferry that I was expecting. This is more like a cruise ship than a ferry. It had a full restaurant, gift shop, and just about every convenience you could think of. And the good news was that motorcycles got preferential treatment. You didn't have to wait in the long line of cars to board the ship. We were the first on and the first off. Now that is what I call motorcycle friendly. We disembarked in Nanaimo and made the 60 mile ride to Victoria. Victoria is one of those cities that is filled with history and seems like you have gone back 100 years in time. They have many of their old buildings including the Empress and the Parliament building that was built in the early 1900's. There is plenty to do here, but we decided to take a little ride, a walk around town and just sit on the balcony of the hotel and enjoy the view. I would recommend the Laurel Point Inn in Harbor Bay. It is a little pricey, but the view is worth the extra cost. If you wanted to spend an extra couple of days here, there would be plenty to do, but we came to ride. So the next day we were off again. I will bring that to you next week. 
 
One of the funniest things that we encountered was the dialect of the locals in Canada. We had watched Mike Myers and Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live do their skits on the Great White North, but had never experienced it in person. Canadians really do say EH? after every sentence. It got so comical that we started to join in. I couldn't figure out exactly what it meant, then I saw a T-Shirt in a window that pretty much explained it all. It said that it is a Canadian term for right? okay? please, maybe, thank you, how about it?, don't you?. Used after a statement or question. Said with spirit and pride even to Americans and other visitors. Why do we Canadians say EH? It's better than saying HUH!
 
Next week I will take you through the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, and the coast of Oregon and California. There will be more maps and pictures of the ride. 
Click Here for the Maps and Pictures of the first 3 days. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
Click Here for the Video of the Bungee Jumping. Broadband or Cable, or Dialup.