Day 1
Distance: 516.5 km
Cumulative distance: Duh!
Temperature range: 13.2 - 26.2
Maximum speed: 137 kph
Moving average: 80 kph
My weight at the start: 155 lbs./70.5 kg
That's your intrepid reporter getting ready for departure this morning.
I was on the road about 8:45. I realistically didn't expect to get going at 7:30, which is what I had "planned" in advance. I was up at about 7:00 a.m. and had to have coffee with my trophy bride before I could consider anything else. Finished off the peach cobbler for breakfast and then had a send-off from some gals on my street: Nan, Bojana and Senka. It was a bit teary as there3 was a little bit of sobbing but once I was on the road, they couldn't see my puffy eyes!
I zoomed over the Coquihalla which was good riding today. Pleasant temperature in the low 20s and pretty good traffic until after Hope. Past there is was the usual congestion and the smell of pig farms. I double checked my route at Abbotsford and turned down Hwy 11 around noon to the Sumas border crossing where I quickly bypassed the line by going through the Nexus lane, which did not have one car. The border guard was vaguely disinterested and asked me what I was packin'. Wine I told him. No weapons.
On the US side, I found myself in the Nooksack (do you think they are embarrassed by that name? I blushed!) Valley on a windy, no-shoulder four line road. Not busy as it primarily serviced small berry farms, primarily raspberries, blueberries and a few flower farms but significantly better than the alternative: riding further west and joining Interstate 5. I kept an eye out for a place where I could have a little picnic to eat the sandwich that Nan prepared for me and I saw a sign for Whatcom Lake. I thought "that sounds promising" so I slammed on the brakes, did a sharp turn and rode about 15 km to finally get to the lake. I could see the odd little path the led from the road to the lake but no real place to sit and enjoy the modest view. I ended up just parking on the side of the road with my view of the lake blocked by blackberry brambles. But while on the side of the road shoving a sandwich in my face like it was the day after the apocalypse, a fire chief pulled over and asked me how my ST 1100 was treating me. My bike is old. Older than some of the readers of this blog. However, it is a reliable and noteworthy steed and I am frequently asked about it. We chatted for about ten minutes and traded motorcycle lies. He rides an ST 1300, the successor bike to mine.
I loath riding interstate highways. I love riding twisty, one, two or three line roads in the back country and even though I added 20 km to my journey by avoiding the interstate and likely more than an hour of saddle time, I didn't regret my decision despite being warned by my host for the evening that I HAD to take the interstate. I'll confess though that I had a sore posterior by the time I reached my destination for the day at 4:30 p.m.
By taking the Whatcom..., or What.com.... or Whatnot.com detour, I ended up getting off of Hwy 9, much to my dismay. I ended up going further west and had the indignity of riding ALONGSIDE Interstate 5 in stop and go urban traffic as I watched cars and trucks blast by at 130 kph. This really made me question my wisdom of insisting on no interstate riding. but after about 15 km, I was back on Hwy 8 and rewarded with a tree-enshrouded narrow two lane road.
So I arrived at my high school buddy Rob's place. By the time I rolled in, it was 4:30 pm and 7 3/4 hours of mostly saddle time after departure.
I could go on but I won't. No riding tomorrow because we plan to act like we are still in high school. I will be back on the road Friday morning. But I will post anything that is noteworthy.
