The Great CanyonChasers Fire of '05

Day -1:
The story of this trip actually starts days before we ever left salt lake. As this trip was about 3 times longer than anything i had ever done on a motorcycle before, i was a little frantic trying to take care of every little thing. Specifically, i needed to make sure the valve clearances were ok on my bike, as the trip would put me over. Upon checking them, some were indeed a bit tight, but nothing horrible. I put the bike together and took her for a ride. And when i started riding, something wasn't right.

When i got home i double checked my numbers, and i had managed to get the wrong specs from t595.net for my clearances. Time to take the bike back apart and reset all the valve shims. joy.

Next comes packing. 11 days and drastic temperature changes will require quite a bit of gear. While my neighbors were moving out a few weeks prior, i spotted a hard sided suitcase i deemed to be a perfect tail box. with a little time and effort, some welding wire and a grinder, it became a pretty good box. But with the extra weight that the box allowed my rack to carry, my test ride ended up causing problems which had to be redesigned at the 11th hour. I was not happy. Yet another thing to redo at the last minute.

Day 0:
The day before we left was hectic. I spent most of the day taking the bike apart and putting it back together. again for the new rack. I racked my knuckles and arms quite a bit, swore even more, sweat buckets and managed to get everything done.

Day 1: Day one everyone else calls a half day because we started at 4pm. i'm sorry, but any day where you ride over 400 miles is NOT a half day. So this is day 1. I spent day 1 running around to secure the last few things i hadn't gotten yet, like a thermostat for crystal's new electric vest and an inflatable mattress. When i was checking out with my mattress, i learned that my bank had turned my credit card off when i activated the new one. Great, now i have to find that damn thing in my room somewhere.

When i got back to the house i packed, put everything on the bike, and tore my bedroom apart for 20 minutes looking for my card. Finally secured, we mounted up and headed out to Kris' work to meet. I swear that the next time we're going anyplace i am going to be an hour early, to find out what it feels like to sit and wait for someone.

Once at Kris' work, it took a little while to get eric and dawn, get mounted up and get moving. Dave went for gas, and the rest of us went up Emmigration Canyon to East Canyon. We all waited for dave and talked about how "hippy" my bike was. Not like Grateful Dead stickers and reeking of patchouli, that'd be hippie, but with curvy hips from my new saddle bags. It made Kris think i was REALLY leaning into corners. Turns out the bike's just 3 feet wider.

When Dave joined us, we headed up East, and out to 15. What followed was some of the most miserable hours of my life on a motorcycle. In the extreme heat of an august day in Utah, we droned up I-80 for hours. and hours. In a completely straight line. and into the dark. and the whole time, at break neck speeds on a naked bike. At one point shortly after dark, even my ipod remote couldn't take the droning anymore, and abandoned bike onto the concrete below the handlebars. I didn't even get to witness the suicidal act, i looked down to change tracks to find an empty remote holder. This would be the start to much bigger troubles with my iPod... but i'd put up a pretty good fight for the next couple days before being beaten by everyone's favorite music appliance. Ironically, i have always been a big fan of music on the bike, and most everyone else didn't really enjoy it. For this trip, everybody else had an mp3 player but me... man that pissed me off.

We finally rolled through Boise, and stopped in a little town named Caldwell. We decided that we should all split 1 room (7 ways). Once we had checked in, we rushed over to Perkins to grab dinner before they closed. We were all quite a bit punchy by the time we got to dinner, so everything seemed hilarious. We severely aggravated our waitress, i'm sure. i found much humor in the fact that their mashed potatoes were freeze dried, in the potato capital of the world.

After dinner we all rolled back to the room and rearranged furniture to try and make us all fit. dave and i played paper rock scissors for like 20 minutes trying to figure out who got the bed. he finally won, so i unrolled my new air mattress. hhhhmmm, the dimensions sounded bigger on the box. Crystal and i tried to get comfy, but in the end i gave her the mattress and slept on the floor. New mattress on the menu for tomorrow.

Day 2: on to Oregon


When i woke up, everybody had pretty much finished getting ready. We all packed up and loaded the bikes. My key had been sitting in my bike all night. yeah, i'm brilliant. Once we finished packing we grabbed a bit of breakfast in the hotel and i made a break for WalMart. I needed a bigger mattress if i was to survive, and an ipod remote. When we got there i realized we were in rural Idaho. Needless to say their ipod accessory department was a touch small. I did find a charger for the ipod and a great mattress.

We all got together and headed west. It was mostly undesirable roads in the morning, but at least they turned occasionally. Still not the "epic adventure" i was promised. and it was still hot. Kris told me i was gonna freeze my ass off this whole trip. i bought an electric vest for god's sake!

At the first gas stop, we pulled into our first Oregon gas station. Pumps with old school analog dials, no digital readouts, no credit card slot. Old school. We all filled up with gas and hung out in the tiny shop with the shopkeeper and her border collie puppy. I put my helmet in the ice freezer in hopes of it cooling off. We got back on the road for about 30 feet, until we spotted a zebra in a pen next to the gas station. VFR Mike stopped to take a pic. Then onward deeper into Oregon.

This section of road wasn't nearly as miserable. There were some twists n turns, and better scenery. At about the 100 mile mark we whizzed by the only services we had seen in a while. "Well dave knows where he's going" i thought. about 20 minutes later, as my gas light started blinking, i started to panic. Then we pulled over. Oh thank god, they've clued in and we're going back for gas. Nope. Kris just found out exactly how far her new z1000 will go before it's bone dry... she was out of gas.

The rest of us mounted up and headed into town to get kris gas. Eric and dawn went back for them while VFR mike, crystal and i hung out in the air conditioned gas station and inquired as to the location of the fabled city of "Sisters, OR". This is where we were to have lunch. The wonderful woman at the gas station said it was only 30 or so miles up the road, so when kris had refueled we continued to Sisters.

Sisters, Oregon is a cool little town. Lots of little mom n pop style shops, which America seems to be missing these days. We all stopped for pizza and then wandered around a bit. The heat had let up a little, but it was still quite warm. Dave was having a problem with his eyes, and it was giving him a headache. He determined the cause to be his new polarized lens sunglasses. we searched for a Spy dealer so we could get him some new ones, but it was not meant to be... so i dug out my set of spares, which he rode happily.

Finishing up in sisters, we rode on for a bit, and then stopped for gas. We all topped off, and headed thru one of the few towns where our riding thru didn't double or triple the population. As we rode, i got on the throttle to pass a minivan. about halfway around him on the left, my bike ran out of talent. It sputtered and wheezed, and lurched. fuck. I pulled into an abandoned driveway to see what the deal is. As everyone circled around to come back, i surveyed the situation. The situation was that my bike was dripping gas all over itself. double fuck. Now at this point i was fairly well into trying to deduce the problem and determine a solution. I was holding everyone up, and i was determined to get back on the road and continue onwards. Somehow, everyone took my (admittedly rare) concentration as being upset, angry or frustrated. For some reason, the canyonchasers seem CONVINCED that i will snap at any moment. wonder why that is?

My model of triumph was known for faulty fuel line connectors made of plastic. To rectify that situation, i replaced them with aftermarket stainless steel fittings a few months back. and now they seemed to be leaking. In an instant i had the bags off the bike, all of the plastics and the tank. Only then did we learn the true problem was not the fitting but the hose that connected it. It had a small hole in it that was leaking gas when the fuel injection system was pressurized. Luckily, out of all the desolate places we'd been on the entire trip, i managed to break down across the street from a WalMart. Unfortunately, they did not have fuel line, so Eric rolled down to an auto parts store to find some. He returned with ample line, and we put the fittings back into the tank and buttoned up the fuel system. I asked dave for his leatherman about 20 times. When we tested it, the bike started right up. No leaks. Perfect.

We were all so impressed with the lack of gas leaking from the bike that it took us all a second to notice that the harness for my tank bag was smoking! it seems that the good people at Held decided that the best fastener for the tank bag's harness was metal buckles... exactly the same width as my battery terminals. when we started the bike, my tank bag buckles shorted against the battery and melted the power cable inside it. Luckily, the tank bag wasn't attached, so my phone/ipod/etc were all safe. Had a good scare tho. Kris seemed a little shaken up, so i told her that at the very least she could now have a story she could tell named 'the great canyonchasers fire of ought five'. All major drama being averted, i buttoned the bike back up and off we went towards our final destination, Waldport, OR.

I am convinced that the road to Waldport was a fiction of my imagination, or perhaps the result of being happy i did not catch fire. There was simply no way that the road was so perfect. It was one of those roads that made you happy to be a motorcyclist. It was dusk when we really entered the fun part of this road, and without the sun in my eyes or much traffic, we rode through great, twisty sections for miles and miles. When i did occasionally catch another vehicle, it took me quite some time to pass them. it seems that on the west coast people know how to drive. I was chasing down Toyoda Tercels, breaking into the corner and accelerating out, as if they had driven this road twice a day for their entire life... and they probably had. Towards the end of this wonderful road, it did actually get cold. First just cold enough to warrant closing the vents. Then actually cold enough to stop and add layers. On this road i managed to take back every bad thing i had thought about the trip. we WERE going to have fun. it WAS going to be cold. it IS going to be epic.

We finally spit out on the coast of Oregon. We all filled up with gas and i broke out the screwdriver and hooked up the electric vest hookups for Crystal and I. Then i dug through the tank bag and found Crystal's thermostat. Then i dug for mine, unsuccessfully. fuck. Luckily, the battery cord was long enough that when i really got cold i could plug it in directly to the vest, but it was definitely sub optimal compared to a switch or thermostat.

We rode south on the coast for a couple of miles and stopped for dinner in a little bar, as it was well past dark and the only place open according to the gas station attendant. Nothing better after a hard day's riding and a near death experience or 2 than ocean fresh fish n chips, clam chowder and a beer. After dinner we rode down the coast in the dark to our campsite, and set up camp in the dark.

Day 3: Oregon / washington

In the morning, i realized that as much fun as i had on the road to Waldport, i could never live on the coast. Everything was covered in water. The tent, the bikes, the bags. We packed up and dried off the bike, and headed into town for a bite of breakfast a few miles north. We ate at another little mom n pop type place, and had a pretty damn awesome meal. So awesome that it took us like 2 hours to get back on the bikes. I took the time to play with my rear suspension a bit (gee all that luggage is heavier than i am when i ride 1-up) and walk around the docks.

When we finally got on the road, we headed up the coast of Oregon wherever possible. The only problem was, every camper on the road had he same idea. we spent quite a bit of time in traffic, not making very good time, and wasting such great coastal roads. It was awesome scenery tho, and doing 10mph we all had a great chance to check it out. Strangely, my bike seemed to be making more power than usual, but how could that be? i'm 2-up with luggage! Turns out sea-level is a pretty big difference when you're used to riding at 5 to 8 thousand feet.

We stopped for lunch in Astoria, OR. home of The Goonies. We had seafood and quoted that infamous movie, only to find out that eric had never seen it!! We put that on the todo list for after the trip, and made off across the bridge for Port Angeles, Washington. It felt weird to ride thru an entire state in an afternoon, and we were going to ride thru another one before the day was through.

Shortly after we got across the bridge, i watched dave pull his first coastal wheelie. He looked like a stud, fully luggaged up, sport touring and throwing up a wheelie like it was nothing. He would later tell me it was completely accidental. I almost believe him, too

As we wound trough small coastal roads, i also managed to do my first wheelie on the triple. 2-up, with luggage! Making a left hand turn i rolled on the throttle and accelerated towards my friends in front of me, when all of the sudden all i saw was the sky. It was maybe a 2 foot wheelie, but it felt like a stand up, damn near tip over wheelie! Crystal's grip suddenly became a lot tighter, and i rolled of the throttle in a less than subtle way and bounced the front end back to the ground. It was the weirdest thing, i was overjoyed and petrified all at once. And i totally understand that wheelies are more addicting than crack. and just as dangerous and expensive.

We rode up the coast of washington until we hit the most northwest corner of the continental US, and then turned right. We ducked onto a little road barely on the map instead of the interstate road we had originally planned. This road turned out to be absolute nirvana. This road is where i hope to go when i die. It made every other road i've ever ridden feel like I-15. it was perfect switchback banked turns through the dense trees. If it weren't for the sunset for the first half of it, it would have been absolute perfection... but that merely gives me an excuse to get back there sometime and ride it in the daytime. Again, as the sun set it got very cold, and Crystal and I stopped for more layers before catching up with the others. We bought some wine and beer and headed in to town to find food. Nothing was open, so we had a McDinner. I was just happy i got to eat something that didn't come out of my tank bag.

We set up camp at a wonderful KOA location, had a glass of beer or wine and were asleep in no time. it was a big day. At the end of day 3 we had ridden just about 1,500 miles. The whole trip was estimated to take 10 days and 3,000 miles. what the heck were we gonna do with the next 7 days, we were already halfway done only 3 days in!

Day 4: Victoria, Canada

When i awoke i realized how cool our campground really was. We were nestled under big tree canopy, with a cool fence behind us. We packed up quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. Dave managed to leave his towel hanging on that fence i thought was so cool. But we were ready to make trail to Canada via ferry. The ferry rides were to take several hours, and make a couple of stops before it reached our final destination, Victoria Island.

It was a short ride from Port angeles to the ferry. Most everyone was very excited about the ferry ride, but not me. Growing up on Lake Erie in Ohio, i rode a ferry twice a weekend for many summers to a summer house on Put-In-Bay. I wasn't against the idea of a ferry, but all the coolness factor had pretty much worn off for me. Canadian ferries changed all that, and gave me some awe again for 2 reasons. First, this landscape is quite different from Lake Erie. Here the islands seem to just be mountains that jut up out of the water, covered in trees. It was breathtaking. Secondly, and more importantly, they let the motorcyclists on the ferries first. This means we are the first off. Which if you haven't put together, means there's basically no traffic ahead of us to slow us down thru the wonderful roads.

So we all stopped at the gate to get tickets, Dawn and Kris went to talk to them about "pre-boarding" the ferry with the bikes. The gentleman behind the counter was very nice and told us to stay put until he gives us the "all-clear" signal, then we can pull up and board.

Cars and trucks start pouring off the ferry, and then they stop. Dave takes this as his signal and pulls forward. The booth guy was NOT happy. Dawn was supremely not happy, as it was her that had been talking to the booth attendant, and hence her that was being yelled at now. Once we straightened it out as a simple misunderstanding, we got on the boat and all was well.

The boat ride was slightly chilly, since we moved pretty fast, but it was beautiful. There was a gentleman on the boat in the indoor sitting area playing his harp, making the most profound statements. "This song is called Going Home, which i wrote on the last day of my european tour before going home" and "This is the Song of the Orcas, because it sounds like whales." There were even people buying his cd's. i was ashamed of the human race, so i went outside, took some pictures and generally enjoyed the idea of not having to be sitting on a bike with a helmet on. It had been a long, hard 3 days and we needed a break.

When we got off the boat, on a small island, and needed to get to the other end of the island to catch the longer ferry ride. We had time to kill, so we pulled into a small restaurant to eat. Everyone ordered tea and the waitress seemed really overwhelmed and not interested in our requests. I had the most fabulous eggs benedict ever. Crystal ordered the eggs benny, but wasn't feeling well so ordered oatmeal instead.

The waitress then proceeded to give us bad directions to the ferry, so we followed v4 mike around in a circle for a minute before finding road signs and straightening ourselves out. We arrived to the ferry quite early, and nearing the noon day sun. We parked at the very front of a lane to wait an hour for a boat. I took this as an opportunity to try to rectify the electrical situation i experienced in Oregon. I took the bags off the bike, took the seats off, took the front tank cowl off to get to the electrical components. I then proceeded to blow up my cell phone adaptor because i didn't have a multimeter to check power on the lines to see which was hot. doh. I asked dave for his leatherman about 50 times. I put the bike back together and we got on the ferry.

The second ferry ride was quite nice. it was over 3 hours long, and left me with nothing to do but relax. I'm not really sure why, but my vacations are never relaxing. I kill myself the entire time, and go home more exhausted and frazzled then when i left. This trip was no exception. 2-up riding, camping, extreme weather conditions and long days had taken their toll. i was so ready to just sit on a boat and do nothing.

When we finally got to Victoria, we passed thru customs and we were in canada. We rode out of the ferry area and immediately passed a Triumph dealer. Then down some highways and secondary roads, finally arriving in downtown Victoria. On the ride in, i eyeballed a seafood restaurant and pointed to dave. dinner!

We found lodging at a crappy comfort in, where the manager was a bit of an idiot on the number and types of rooms needed, but we got checked in. Kris had the brilliant idea to split the rooms. We put the snoring, early morning risers all in 1 room, and kris/dave, crystal and i took the other. boy it was nice. We got cleaned up and headed out to dinner. On the way we saw many boat excursions promising whale watching, but it was far from prime season. The girls seemed really excited about it, and it was decided that since we were so far ahead of schedule that we should take the following day off, relax, sight see, and go see whales in the early evening. gasp relax on vacation? weird.

the walk to the restaurant was a bit longer than it seemed on the bikes, but it was well worth it. they had signs up that said "Victoria's best seafood: 2005". then 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and pretty much back to the beginning of time. We all ordered drinks, apps and entrees, and they were all fabulous. We had the usual discussions about exhaust companies, the days riding and even political and social views (mostly why marijuana was socially acceptable in BC). Dave had a few drinks more than the rest of us, so we all much enjoyed walking home with him. it was quite amusing.

Day 5: Victoria, BC (again)

The next day we had no real agenda, other than the 5pm excursion. We got up late and were going to go for coffee. We decided that today should be laundry day, since we'd be in the same city all day. we all packed up the dirty clothes and took them to a Laundromat with fluff n fold service. they do the laundry, you pay. what a deal.

We went for coffee, and v4 mike and eric decided that a day without riding was unacceptable. they were going to ride to the other side of the island to see what Victoria was really like. The girls had no intention of riding, and dave and i felt the same way. Dave and i decided to join the girls on a shopping spree instead of going out on the bikes.

As we walked back to the hotel, v4 mike realized he was washing every pair of jeans he brought! no riding clothes meant no ride, so we all wandered into town to do a bit of shopping. Eric knew of a little outdoors shop type place, where i immediately fell in love with a titanium leatherman. turns out it's possible to buy one instead of always bumming them from your friends! and with my luck so far this trip, it seemed like a tool that would come in handy. As i checked out, the rest of the crew wandered down the street to some other shop.

I finally caught up to them several blocks away from the intended meeting place, which i guess didn't exist. We wandered around a bit more without v4 mike, who eventually caught up and informed us he had purchased "mike carr pants." Turns out i have a clothing style named after me. Mike Carr pants are jeans of the baggy, loose, long variety. He took his mike carr pants and went on his ride with eric. The rest of us wandered about, shopped and ate some lunch.

At one point dave and i stopped to check out an old Indian motorcycle, when a guy joined us in the gawking. we soon got to talking about our epic voyage, and he gave us a great little nugget of information as dave pulled out his tank bag "purse" and showed him the route we were planning after Victoria. "what you're going to be tempted to do is grab this ferry in Comox, and cross over here, take this road down and back to here. That would be stupid. What you SHOULD do is take THIS ferry to this peninsula, take this ferry to here, and then ride this stretch instead. it's awesome." Dave and i got a huge kick out of the phrase "...but that would be stupid", so we made a note for later, thanked him, and caught up with the girls for more shopping.

Somehow, our lazy, slow, relaxed day became psychotic. We rushed to pick up our laundry. the boys called to say they'd be running late. we got to the hotel to get on the bikes and head for the boat, when we realized we didn't have enough room for Dawn, and no helmet! she ran off to try and grab the boat by foot. The remaining 4 of us then realized that we didn't have any idea where this boat was supposed to be, that was eric's job. We rode around aimlessly thru town trying to determine the location of the boat by proximity.

We finally got a hold of eric, who gave us directions. Across the river, down a lil road, on the left. we all rushed there. No boat. back across the river. Wrong boat. wrong boat again. ah, right boat finally. almost an hour late. We get into our faded red dry suits and pile into the boats. But wait, not so fast. It seems that the employees of the boat can't count, so they want to break up our group. Having 10 fingers and toes, i try to help. I make an exchange of 4 of our boat passengers for 2 of theirs, as was their request. Turns out this wasn't actually what they needed. A foreign woman questions me, so i explain in colorful mike language that i was only trying to help. She did not look pleased. i guess she didn't understand enough english to know what i was talking about. This makes perfect sense if she didn't know the word "fuck", as it was a primary adverb in the sentence. a lot.

Finally we got in the whale watching, and at this point it had been so hyped and pressured that i was expecting whales to do backflips thru flaming hoops. anything less would simply not be acceptable. What i got, was far more entertaining, and it didn't even involve whales at all. a boatride.

Now, i've been on plenty of boats. I had to get on and off a couple just to get to this canadian island. But, the captain was kinda funny. there was even a protocol of what to do if we turn around and he's no longer on the boat. His schpeil took up most of the time for the no wake zone. Once we were out of the no wake zone, however, the little zodiac boat sprung to life. In almost an instant we were clipping along at a quite reasonable pace. Note the use of the word reasonable, it's a relative term.

Kris didn't seem to think this speed was at ALL reasonable. She was convinced we were going to flip over. It was very scary. There was much screaming, white knuckling and shallow, panicked breathing. There was also quite a bit grinding of teeth. Now i had overheard Kris say that she breaks teeth easily, and not wanting her to get hurt (or ruin tomorrow's riding) i suggested she stop clenching her jaw as to not break a tooth with the jaring of the boat. Her mouth immediately opened full tilt. still whimpering and screaming, still white knuckled. Oh my dear god, it was the second funniest thing i'd ever seen.

After a few minutes of this, she totally adjusted. For a breif, fleeting moment she was even having fun with the boat moving. "This must be what jake feels like" she said, putting her tongue out of the side of her mouth while the wind rushed by our heads. That right there, funniest thing i'd ever seen. Oh and we did eventually see whales, and learn some little details of the "pods" they live in. Pictures simply don't do it justice. But it was pretty cool.

On the ride home, we all got a little cold. And most of us had to pee. badly. The bouncing did NOT help. Dave and i somehow ended up singing tv show themes to keep our mind off the nearly bursting bladders. It pretty much worked.

When we got back to land we rushed for the office, packed into the bathrooms and finally felt better. Everyone was abuzz with talk of whales and boatrides. We decided that the best course of action was to have a bite to eat and then head up the road a bit to get a head start on tomorrow's commute. The ride was kind of chilly, but mostly short. we only rode for an hour or so, and then pulled off at a small motel with an almost vacant parking lot. The hotel lobby was just big enough for all of us to stand in at once, and behind the counter was an Indian man (dots, not feathers). Dave made a comment about how great it was that there was diversity in BC, and that you really don't see that sort of thing in SLC too much. As Dave is saying this, the man looks at dave's ID and says "you're from salt lake? i just moved here from there! i used to work at the Bombay House." Ok there goes dave's theory. We all got our keys, dave declared the next morning's 8am departure time, and we all retired to our rooms. The hot shower sure felt good, and i was asleep in no time.

Day 6: Comox, etc

When 7:30am rolled around the next day, i was determined to not be the last one ready, as it had been a theme of the trip. actually having an alarm clock, i managed to get up on time, packed, dressed, and all of the gear on the bike by 8. But look, no dave. 8:15, no dave. I finally give up on dave ever waking up and crystal and i went next door to the greasy spoon diner to have some breakfast. i think the total came out to $10 CAD, which is like 7 bux american. We returned from breakfast to still not find dave. I broke out a hand towel from v4 mike's room and managed to get my whole bike clean before dave and kris finally graced us with their presence. Turns out dave was joking about the 8am start time. fuck.

Loaded up and ready to roll, we had a very sparse agenda. We had to take a couple of decent length ferry rides, and the first ferry only really ran every 4 hours or so. Dawn mentioned she'd like to stop for a digital camera, and i'd love an opportunity to have yet another stop for electronics. We headed north thru comox, where the real trouble started. Dave was leading, and tho the sign clearly said "comox, straight ahead" he got into a left turn lane. Figuring he had misread it, or simply missed it altogether, i pulled up next to him. I yelled that comox was straight ahead, not left. He yelled back that he knew where he was going. ok, good enough. As we finish this exchange, eric is screaming at me. I turn around and give him the "everything's cool" ok symbol, and he keeps yelling. "TURN YOUR BIKE OFF!!" i flick my kill switch. "WHAT?!" i scream at him, knowing that he thinks we're making a wrong turn, and ready to correct him. instead all i get from eric is "LOOK DOWN!"

Underneath me is a puddle. Funny, it's not raining. Do i smell gas? FUCK! my tank was spraying gas all over my hot engine and exhaust, and pooling underneath the bike. I instructed crystal to get off the bike, left it off, and pushed it uphill to a parking lot. Time to rip apart the Triumph again. Off come the bags, the tail, the tank, the airbox. It proved to be much easier with my new fancy leatherman, tho We examine the fuel lines we had so recently fitted to the bike for loose clamps. everything seems tight. when i begin to flex the hose, however, it begins to degrade in my hands. It was falling apart. Man of all the dumb luck: the fuel line we got must have been bunk. well i won't be shopping that autozone anytime soon

As we're trying to figure out wtf do to, a kindly older man on a cruiser rolls up and tells us he knows of an autoparts store he can lead eric to. I instruct eric to get a fucking ton of hose, of this same size. Eric mounts up and follows the cruiser away. He's gone a really, really long time. others take off for wall-mart and sears to see about entertainment, digital cameras, more fuel line hose.

Eric eventually returns with massive amounts of fuel line and clamps. I try to put the fuel line into the fittings, and it's way too big to seal. He took it upon himself to buy one size bigger to fit the fuel fittings on the tank size, but the fuel rail size will no longer fit. Shit. Guess we'll need to go back. As i stare at the line to try to find a size, i see something else of interest: "Not for use in fuel injected systems" written over and over again along the length of the hose. Lightbulbs everywhere go off as we realize it must have been carburetor fuel line we affixed to the Triumph three days ago, hence the failure. We send eric back out to find fuel injected line.

While we wait, i got to see one of the coolest random things ever performed at parking lot speeds. V4 mike decided the crew needed lunch, so he took off for a pizza place on his VFR. He returned 20 minutes later with 2 pizzas stacked on his tank, riding with his left hand on the pizzas, the right hand on the throttle. Then, out of nowhere, he performed a 3mph full U-Turn, 1 handed. it was awesome! He later professed his love for practicing "the box of love" at the Murray high school parking lot. With results like that, i'm going to start hanging out there, too

Shortly after the snack, Eric returned with a brilliant little invention. Convinced that one size hose couldn't possibly accommodate both the fuel rail side and the fitting size, he had the man at the auto parts store put a brass coupler with 2 different size male fittings into it, and purchased 2 different sizes of hose. we assembled a set of inline converters that allowed a smaller fuel line to become a larger fuel line towards the tank. They worked great, and are still inside the bike as i write this, some 6 months later. I may take them out and slightly reposition them to keep them off the engine, but they were truly brilliant. Eric has also been known to machine fuel fittings using air hose pieces and a dremel, so this really should have come as no shock to me, but it was still awesome. and yes, we made sure to use fuel injection specific fuel line.

After assembling the bike (again), we got on the road for the ferry north of Comox. We could have taken the ferry in comox, but that would be stupid, right? we got to the ferry just as it was boarding, and got situated. I was very excited about a ferry ride after the hassle of roadside fuel line repairs for the second time in 3 days. i had this creeping feeling that i was bumming my ride mates out with the problems the triumph was having, and my last wish was to hold anybody up on what should be a fun, carefree ride. All of that melted away as we took a ferry ride.

Dave and i hit up the cafe on the boat for a snack. In the cooler i saw a strange looking ice cream bar, granola bar thing that i couldn't wrap my brain around. "hey dave, what the heck is this?" i ask him, knowing his worldly knowledge far exceeds mine. "beats me" he says. Crap. what the hell good is he, why did we even bring him?! "it's a 'Naimo bar" comes a tiny voice behind me. "a whah?" i stammer. The 7 year old boy behind me got supremely self concious and literally hid behind his mother's skirt. "No, really. what is this thing?" i ask again, trying to get some info from him. "a Nanaimo bar" he says, shyly. OOOOOOOHHH. a Nanaimo bar.

His mother explained it's a local treat, named after the city we just rode thru, Nanaimo. Local color? psh, gotta try one of those. I pick up a 'naimo bar (hey, gotta talk the talk to blend in, right?) and a coke, and check out. I headed upstairs and hung out on the decks with everyone, absorbing the beautiful view, but mostly enjoying my 'naimo bar. If there were any room and any way to get a case of those things home, i would have done it. they were damn good. Note to self: find recipe.

With the ferry ride over, we mounted up yet again and rode to the next ferry. This short jaunt was just about the best short ride i've ever done. It seems as if this route was divinely designed. You take a boat thru the boring parts, deboard on your bike, and ride thru some of the most awesome small town, twisty roads. These wonderful roads let you out at another ferry to transport you thru the boring pieces, where you get to rest, take in the scenery and hang out with your friends. Brilliance!

Waiting for the next ferry, we had some snacks and hung out. I managed to stand still for more than 10 minutes without taking my bike apart. that was nice. We spotted a very "utilitarian" bmx bike and decided it should be the next contestant on "Pimp My Ride". As we got ready to board, we even got a little light show and a dance from the traffic manager, who was just then issued a new light wand... Complete with blink, pulse and solid settings, all of which he demonstrated.

The last ferry ride of the nite was a bit cold, but refreshing. I mostly sat with Sax, Dave and Eric talking about nothing important. Those are the best kind of conversations on roadtrips. I can't recall a single detail of what we talked about, but it made me very happy at the time, which was its purpose.

A local mentioned to us that there was a restaurant just outside the boatdock that would be perfect for dinner. We all decided that should be the plan. We got on the bikes and headed over there. I followed Sax and we got there in about 45 seconds. We parked on the left side of the street just in time to realize that we were pointed the wrong way down a one way street, and that the restaurant was closed. sigh but where were Dave and Kris? They had been caught in a left-only lane and forced onto the highway towards Squamish. It took them about 20 minutes to find their way back. They did NOT enjoy their detour.

While we waited for Dave n Kris, i decided that i should move my bike to point in the correct direction, and get it out of the flow of traffic. Being that the trip was basically just a u-turn, i decided to leave my helmet clipped to my saddle bags. As i tipped into that 180 degree left hander, i heard a thud. uh oh. Low speed u-turn + saddle bags + swinging helmet = mangled face shield. I managed to run a huge set of scratches down the left side of my visor, missing my helmet's paint entirely. I also managed to miss the "visible" part of the visor... so even tho it looked like i had been in a gnarly wreck from the outside, i could see everything just fine from inside. What luck. Note to self: maybe sport touring in some "off manufacturer" helmet isn't the greatest idea with regards to trying to find replacement parts. in the entire 3500 miles we rode i didn't see one other Scorpion helmet or dealer. Could it be time to start packing a spare?

When we find Dave n Kris, we also found a pub directly next door that served food so we could all get a bite before we headed out to find a camp ground. We all ate and then decided that the best thing would be to go to Squamish and try to find a campground. It was already well dark, but we mounted up and began to ride the highway and secondary roads to Squamish. All i saw was black asphalt, yellow lines and my friends in front of me. At one point we passed a sign announcing our arrival to Squamish, painted with a vivid landscape of mountains and lakes. Wow, that's what Squamish looks like in the daytime, huh?

We found a park with camping and pulled in to find a spot. All booked up. Unfortunately, my bike decided to start sputtering, so i had to rev the snot out of it to get it out of it's stopped position. I am quite sure this did not make the sleeping campers happy, and i really wish there was another way to go about it. We rode into Squamish to find that basically every hotel was booked to capacity. At that point all i knew was i needed more gas to balance out my fuel sputtering, so i pulled over to pump a tank. Eric and Dawn and Sax whizzed back and forth looking for rooms or campgrounds. Crystal and i went into a local hotel to see if they had some last minute cancellations, and were told there was a campground about 2 miles up the road on the right. We got on the bike to check it out, and managed to find a couple of camp spots available.

While we waited for everyone else, i hear people were not being their usual happy, sociable selves. I cannot vouch for this, because as usual i had my head firmly in the sand when it comes to other people's feelings We set up camp in about 3 minutes, and everyone went to bed without so much as a "goodnite".

Day 7: Squamish/Whistler/BFE

When i finally got to see it with some daylight, the campground we stayed at was quite beautiful. There was a little stream running down the middle of it, with a small bridge to access the other half of the campground. It was surrounded in trees, with wonderfully groomed grass to camp on. Eric went to fill up with gas and was told there was a great little breakfast place right in downtown Squamish, so we all headed over there. This place had, by far, the best breakfast food ever. They brought pancakes the size of my head. Road trip tip: never trust food at a gas station, but always trust gas station recommendations for food.

Once breakfast was over, we rolled into Whistler. Being a snowboarder, i have often wondered what Whistler was really like. I have seen pictures, heard stories and imagined this place many times, but not once did i ever expect i'd be there in the summer! Shockingly, Whistler and its surrounding areas were quite hot!