The Weekend was ok, I attended Calgary's Pride. On Sunday I was a little gayed out and decided to be with my people (bikers). So I went for a ride on Old Faithful, Highway 1A to Canmore.
I left after the parade, I had parked at the Eagle, which was having it's closing party that day. After parade I went back there and it was busy, but not exciting.
I was warned if I took off I may not get back in later. I decided to take a chance.
I only had a short helmet and it was really windy. Not the best circumstances, but what the fuck!.
After Cochrane I got on 1A. It is a twisty winding road, the best one in Alberta I have encountered. It is about 70 kms from Cochrane to Canmore.
It was a good ride, they paved the highway since the last time I was on i
it.
I arrived back at the Eagle around 5, I guess a lot of people went home to change. I got in.
I had a good time, there were lots of people there that I knew. It was semi-sweet in that I would probably never see them again. There being no venue to allow for us to meet up. I left around 9, I knew my time in Calgary was up. I wanted to get a good rest.
I left Calgary around 10, took 1A West to Banff. This was not the route I had intended to take to Nelson, but it looked good. The ipad suggested three routes, Routes 2 & 3 involved Banff. I had decided to take the longest route.
It was not as warm as it should have been, at Lake Louise I had to put on fire gloves, they have more insulation. West of Lake Louise it started raining. Not pouring, but enough to make visibility harder and the roads slicker.
Making it worse was the construction, Rogers Pass entry from the East was being widened. There was nothing remarkable all the way to Golden, except the traffic going East, to Calgary. It made any thoughts of passing (its a two lane) not even worth thinking about.
At Golden, I needed to stop for gas. I used a lot less than I thought I had. There is something to this driving 90-100 kms per hour. Good thing I got good gas mileage, the price was really high for gas. 25-30 cents a litre more.
I ate at Golden, the food and service was crap. something I would not expect at a Husky Restaurant. Truckers usually stop there, so it is usually a safe bet.
The RCMP were using laser after the last exit for Golden, they were pulling over a lot going East. About 10 kms outside of Golden - West, they had a Checkstop set up to catch drunks...at 15:00. This may have been all well and good, but they were stopping everyone. The checkstop itself had a 10 kilometer line up. But only due to slow moving vehicles (SMV) going up the hills there was probably another 20 kilometers of traffic, which would stop just before Golden. I am for enforcement of laws, but...this inconvenienced how many? I'd love to see the stats for the charges/arrests. But they were headed to Calgary and everyone knows it sucks there, so the RCMP were giving them a chance at further sanity.
Golden to Revelstoke was a hoot, I was using the speed of the motorbike to pass SMVs on the passing lanes.There were some great curves, although one was kind of bumpy and i was nervous bent over to the right hopping around a corner...at 120 kph.
I got to Revelsoke and almost died, literally. There was no warning for the Town centre sign and the exit was a lft turn on the highway. I had to go from 120 to 0 in about 30 feet. Almost didnt make it, and there was a semi coming in the Eastbound lane and a Nissan doing about 110 behind me.
I stopped and had a coffee at a cool
burger place. I think it was owned by lesbians, in fact I had noticed a lot of female / female couples around. Even in Golden.
I left Revy and headed South on 23. No Traffic! I passed one car on the ride from Revy to the ferry at Shelter Bay. I was third in line for the Ferry, it was free!. I was supposed to wait 45 minutes, but as it was the last day of the holiday weekend, they increased the number of crossings. It was a 20 minute trip. Great relaxation from riding. This was actually the reason I took Route No. 3.
The Ferryman let me off first, sweet!. I was gone, the guy next to me on the ferry tried to keep up, but I lost him. Galena Bay to Nakusp was one long twisty ride. I had the highway to myself again, it was great.
I decided to stop overnight in Nakups as it was getting near dusk. It is 150 kms to Nelson from here and I would have encountered bambi's and moose. I decided one near death occasion a day was good. It is getting on 10 here, no clouds and I can wear less riding to Nelson.
Vacation plans have changed, not going to USA. I am going to head North through Icefields Parkway on way home. This means Route No 2 back to Lake Louise.
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