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Well, we are back from our bike trip. Did about 6850 kilometers of motorcycling. Saw a lot of very beautiful country.

For the most part the riding was great. The only real busy traffic areas were through Spokane, then anywhere within a hundred miles of Denver where the traffic was brutal, then through the Salt Lake City area. After that coming back through the Vancouver Lower Mainland was a breeze. We had some very hot sunny riding and some down right wet riding. On the last day we needed our full leathers, with rain gear over top and heated vests underneath.

But that’s all part of doing a road trip on a bike. You don’t look out through a closed car window from a climate-controlled bubble. You experience each mile of road. You see, feel and smell what the area you are riding through is like at that particular moment in time. Many areas we rode through are not having a ‘normal’ summer and we experienced that. There has been more rain this year than most can remember. The normally dry desert conditions of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah are green and blooming. Almost every afternoon the cumulous clouds would build and turn dark. Then curtains of rain would fall from them bathing the land in heavy downpours. On one afternoon we pulled off and found a motel just in time to avoid getting soaked only to find that the town we just rode through was being evacuated because a flash flood had filled the town with water up to the doorknobs on the houses. Good thing we didn’t get a motel there. Bikes don’t tread water all that well.

We saw a lot of wild life. Mostly deer, and they are a bit scary if you are on a bike. They have a tendency to jump out of the ditch and onto the road right in front of vehicles. That’s bad enough if you are in a car or truck but it can be quite serious if you are on a bike. One big buck jumped out in front of Ryan. He had the presence of mind to swerve in the direction the buck had come from so that when it did its next leap they separated rather than intersected. Both came through the encounter unscathed but Ryan was a bit shook up for a few minutes.

The bikes all ran great and gave us not trouble at all. They came home dirtier than they have ever been because of the rains we rode through but a couple of back-to-back baths takes care of that. Ryan’s Sportster needed a tire when we left and we found a Harley Dealer in Montana, Yellowstone Harley Davidson, who not only installed a new tire at a very reasonable price, but did it on a Sunday afternoon. They also did a service and some brake work on Paul’s bike at the same time

We did our ‘big’ 09 bike trip from June 26 to July 8. Left Squamish on the west coast of BC at about noon and headed for Osoyoos in the BC Interior, just north of the Washington border. The ride took us out through the Lower Mainland and into Manning Park where we climbed over the Allison Pass and then down into Princeton and on to Osyoos. Lots of steep mountain hills, incredibly tight switch-backs and alpine vegetation. We passed more than one vehicle pulled over with smoking brakes. As you come closer to Osyoos you find dry hot desert.

Unloading at the motel in Osyoos

Heading for the US border.

We rode south from Osyoos and crossed into the States, then through the beautiful mountains of the Colville National Forest. By the time we made Spokane it had become very hot but once we were on Interstate 90 and rumbling east at 120 k the heat no longer mattered. Crossed Idaho fairly quickly and then finished the day riding through Montana. Tried to get a motel in a place called Drummond, which claims to be the bullshipping capital of the world. They even have a ‘used cow’ lot. Did find a nice motel a few clicks further east in Deer Lodge. The next morning we rode through Butte and on to Livingston where we turned south and entered Wyoming and Yellowstone Pk at the north entrance. Rode through the east side of the park and popped out at the east entrance on the road toward Cody. The ride from the park to Cody and on to Greybull and Buffalo Montana is through some of the most beautiful country imaginable. It takes you through a place called Ten Sleeps down in the Powder River Canyon, and over the Powder River pass at just under 10,000 ft. At Buffalo we jumped back onto I-90 and scooted into South Dakota and Sturgis where we hooked up with Paul and Sherry who had ridden in from Southern Ontario.

Out on the I-90 in Montana.

South along #191 from Livingston toward Yellowstone.

Yellowstone River below, layers of crystalized lava exposed in the hillside.

Yes, that is snow along the road through a high section of the park.

Buffalo grazing the grasslands.

Ryan and his Nightster at Yellowstone Lake.

Out of the park, heading toward Cody, Wyoming.

Powder River Canyon.

Parked at the motel in Sturgis, SD.

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