A buddy of mine and I decided that it was time to get at least one 3 day trip in this year. So we picked Nelson BC as our destination and left from Langley at 6:30am on Friday. Here's a map of day 1:
Our next stop was in Hope for fuel, the sun came out and it looked like it's gonna be a hot one.
Valerie and my buddy's 2013 Road King. He had a crash in May and was in hospital for 5 days. Before he got released from the hospital he had already bought the bike ;-) She's a beauty!
Along the Westside Road in Kelowna we stopped and enjoyed the view and had a cold refreshment.
Then we stopped in Cherryville at the Golf course and RV Park for lunch.
Note to self: keep the lunch small the next time. I was so tired after this huge meal, hehe.
Shortly after lunch my buddy disappeared behind me, so I turned around and just got all the evidence pictures in time. Remember to always ride in front of your Harley buddy! Loose parts can become a hazard on the road
What happened? His heel shifter got loose and fell off. Nothing a good zip tie can't fix.
After a good laugh and some jokes from my side we were riding again in less than 10 minutes.
He was on metric bikes his whole life and was always the one giving the Harley guys a hard time. He's a good sport and can laugh about it now...
At the Needles ferry we had to wait for 20mins and made it on the next ferry, lucky.
We then had a little fuel stop in Nakusp and it was time to get the beer cold again. Easy fix when you ride a bagger...
After that we stopped in Silverton directly at Slocan Lake. What a beautiful spot!
Standing at the lake and watching the sun disappear behind the mountains, it seemed like there was smoke coming in. A couple kilometres later we knew where it was coming from...
The fire seemed to have just started and there were 2 helicopters fighting the fire already.
Then we arrived in Nelson just before darkness and after riding just shy of 800km, checked in to "The Adventure Hotel" and enjoyed the rest of the evening at the restaurant. With the new changes here for BC everything got shut down by 10pm. Which means we got a good rest and then were ready for day 2....
We fuelled up in Salmo and then rode the Crowsnest Highway. First stop for a pic was at Bridal Lake.
Smoke was starting to get really thick now... pic taken on the way to Creston.
Shortly after Creston we stopped at a viewpoint... without a view.
A couple kilometres later we stopped at the "Sirdar Station Pub" for lunch. They make great burgers there!
In the washroom I found a sticker that made me giggle...
After lunch we enjoyed the twisties on the 3a up to Kootenay Bay and just missed the ferry by 2 minutes, you can see it disappear in the smoke...
The gentleman with the big smile in the picture is the owner of the Goldwing that was parked behind me on the ferry. He pulled up behind me and said "you are the guy I need to talk to...."
Him and his wife saw my rear tire and had many questions about it. 2 people on the Goldwing, plus luggage and pulling a trailer... he said he only gets 6000km out of his rear tire. We had a nice chat and I answered all of his questions and he will give the Darkside a try on his next tire change. We forgot to exchange contact details, I would have loved to catch up with him in a couple of weeks when he has the new tire on the bike... in case anybody knows him, please let me know.
After a short day in the saddle with only 260km, we arrived back in Nelson and decided to enjoy a cold one at the "Hume Hotel". And if I had some with me, I could have sold 10 of these shirts to other bikers. Some think it's offensive, I think it's hilarious
We then stopped by at Backroads Brewing for a flight of their beer, had Tacos for dinner and then got some good local beer and had a good chat with fellow riders on the patio.
Map of day 3:
This was the smoke situation when we fuelled up at 8:30am in Nelson.
After realizing that we totally missed one of BC's best roads the days before, we decided to ride up to Kaslo and then enjoy the 31a. Good decision, beautiful road!!!
Along the 31a.
We wanted to do some other roads but soon decided to just take the fastest route home due to all the smoke in the air.
This was taken in Castlegar...
This was at the lookout in Osoyoos... you can normally see the city and the lake.
In some parts the smoke was so thick that we couldn't see oncoming traffic and with so many people not knowing how to turn on their headlights, we couldn't see them until they were 100m from us. The only time we could see blue sky yesterday was in Princeton.
After 11 hours and 800km in the saddle we arrived at home safely and it was time for a long hot shower.
I had a terrible headache and chest pain from being outside all day in these smoky conditions, but the ride was well worth it all. Time for a new front tire and checking over the bike now. Maybe some cleaning even
And maybe we can fit in one more longer ride this season...
Have a great week everyone!
Christian
