By SomewayOuttaHere

Source: photo by somewayouttahere 2010

“Great! I’ll meet you at 6 am tomorrow. Then we’ll blast down the highway to catch the 7 am ferry off the island. This is gonna be fun! I can’t wait! One more sleep and we’re gone. See ya later!” I said this to my riding partner, Patti. We were off on an adventure together this summer. We planned to travel together for about eleven days. I wanted to go for a longer ride, but Patti couldn’t swing it. Next summer, maybe.

I love road trips with a passion. It feels so good to pack my bags and just go where ever the wind blows and the sun shines. The only plan we had was to meet up with some other folks for dinner in five days in Edmonton, Alberta. The rest of the schedule depended on whatever the other days offered up to us. We figured we’d travel around British Columbia and Alberta. If we felt like it, we thought we’d hop over the border into the US and see what was happening there too! I’m sure they wouldn’t mind letting a couple of chicks on bikes in!

On day eleven, Patti and I planned to part company and I was going to meet a woman (and her husband) I met through a writers' group I belong to. I’d be passing by their neighbourhood on the way to catch the ferry on my return trip back home. We intended to say hello in person and I guess talk about our lives. We have a lot in common. And, she likes bikes too! I’m sure she’s pretty cool!

Back to the trip! “Yes!” “Let’s go!” These are words I find I say to myself a lot these days. And then, “Where? Does it matter? No! Just, someway outta here!”

The weather was beautiful the entire time we travelled throughout British Columbia. We rode on one of the bigger highways over the Rocky Mountains. It sure is nice being able to move in unison through the curves, climbing up to mountain passes, descending and then doing it all over again. There was not much traffic on most of the routes we travelled. There are no large city centres with millions of people around. Sometimes the odd 1-800-Rent-Me RV would slow us down, but as soon as we had our chance, we’d pass that big piece of metal chuggin’ through the mountains, with big smiles on our faces as we flew on by! Yahoo! Get out of our way! Women on bikes rule! Can you hear me laugh? I’m laughin’ right now!

We ran into one wicked storm while travelling through Alberta. We were heading to Calgary from Edmonton when the sky started to turn black. Summer storms in Alberta can turn into twisters very quickly. We pulled over to the side of the highway, because I needed to put on some rain gear. I don’t like putting it on, until the rain actually starts. I am one of those people that doesn’t plan for the worst weather until it is right on top of me. I was finally ready to merge back onto the highway, when the rain really started coming down heavy. I was riding for a couple of minutes and then all of a sudden the wind was blowing so hard it was pushing me and my bike around. I had to lean really hard into the wind just to be able to ride to a place that I could safely pull over again. I was screaming at the top of my lungs “OH MY GOD! WHAT’S HAPPENING?” as I rode down the highway. The vehicles were travelling at 140 km and they were not slowing down even though the storm had picked up really fast.

We managed to pull over under an overpass to wait it out. The weather and our situation felt absolutely crazy! While we waited for a break, I could see in the distance something that just didn’t look right. I was worried about a twister and we were not in a good spot to be able to withstand one. Then the hail came! We waited for about 20 minutes until there was a bit of a break in the weather and then we got back in the saddle and onto the highway. We had nowhere to go, so we had to take the chance. The traffic finally eased up and vehicles started to drive much slower because of what was happening with the crazy weather.

We rode through a few inches of hail on the road for about 20 km. Now remember, this is summertime. We finally made into Calgary. It seemed to take forever, but we made it safely. When you see bikes on the road and the weather turns bad, maybe you’ll remember me out there next time and slow down or drive behind me and keep some of the crazy drivers away from me.

The weather was so fine for riding, descending into some of the arid areas of British Columbia. Patti and I and one vehicle were travelling together for about an hour, one day. We were taking turns leading, because we were all speeding and flying down the highway with no one else around. I can still hear the hum of my tires and rumble of my motor, with the sun on my face, the wind in my hair and the heat of the summer building as we descended into a small arid town from a much cooler mountain pass. We went from thick forest all around to wide open spaces dotted with sage brush – some would call it the high desert.

The 10th day of our trip, Patti woke up with a bad cold. I told her to go back to bed and that we’d stay another day and night in a place called Revelstoke. I paid for both of our rooms for another night. She was sick and I didn’t want her to worry about anything; Patti, just sleep and get better. I wanted her to go back into her room and climb into bed. I found my way to a pharmacy and bought some good cold medication for her. I picked up some juice, fruit and other food I figured she’d eat. I decided to take off on a ride by myself while she caught up on some sleep, fight her cold and then we’d be able to leave for home the next day. It’s not a good idea to ride a motorcycle if you are sick. You really have to have your wits about you.

I said goodbye to Patti and told her I’d check in with her late in the afternoon when I got back from where ever I was going.

I looked at my map and noticed a secondary road that abruptly ended after 160 km. I figured I wanted to see what was at the end of that road. “Why not?” I said to myself. I pulled into a gas station at the beginning of that road and filled up. I was riding for about 20 km when I came across a sign that said there was no place to fuel up along that stretch. Hmmm....well my gas tank holds enough fuel for 275 km but, I need enough for 320 km of travelling. A logging truck had passed by me heading in the opposite way. “There had to be a place to fuel up somewhere” I thought.

I continued on and came across some road construction and was stopped by a flagman. I pulled my bike over to the side of the road. He headed over to speak with me since no other vehicles or bikes were around. We were the only ones on the road, so why not say ‘hi!’. I asked him what was at the end of the road and whether or not there was a place to fuel up. Well, I continued on my way. The flagman told me to nicely ask for gas at the end of the road and to tell them that ‘Dave sent me’. There was a ‘work camp’ just before the hydro dam that was there. He said they had fuel tanks for the vehicles and trucks they used for the work they were doing in that area. So, off I went to the end of the road.

It was a nice ride with lots of twists and turns. The odd logging truck passed me heading towards Revelstoke. I stopped along the way taking pictures and to just listen to the silence. I listenened to the quiet of the forest framing the road I was on. It was nice. Listen with me now. Hear the wind whistling gently through the trees and the sound of the Raven’s wings as it flies by.

I passed by the work camp and continued on for a few more kilometres to the end of the road. It was great! The road stopped at a lake. A huge hydro dam had been built there years ago. Finally, I decided to head back to town, but first had to ask for some gas.

I pulled into the work camp and rode up to about 20 people, mainly men, sitting around outside in the sun and having something to eat.

“Hey! I’ve ridden from Revelstoke and now realize I don’t have enough gas to get back. Can someone help me out?” I asked. They were a nice group of people. A couple of folks came over to where I parked my bike and of course the ‘bike talk’ took off from there. They were both riders themselves. So, I answered the usual questions, like ‘what are you doin’ way out here all by yourself?’ and ‘where are you from?’ and ‘where are you goin’ and ‘where have you been?’ Of course, they filled my tank up with gas and sent me on my way. But first, I was forewarned about all the deer and elk crossing that road without fear of vehicles because the wildlife weren’t used to much movement and noise along it. I was careful riding back, taking notice of their warning.

The next morning I woke up with a cold too. So Patti and I decided to get out of Revelstoke and ride back home before we both started to feel really, really bad.

Unfortunately, I had to call my writing friend to say I couldn’t make it; rather I would be passing through without stopping in to say hi. I’ll look up her and her family the next time I am travelling through. Patti and I decided to head straight to the ferry. We made it home safely and we were both sick with an awful cold for about another week after.

It was a great trip. Women only, with the sun on our faces, the wind in our hair and our bikes singin’ our tune. Wanna come next time?