Misadventures in wrenching and riding

Message
Author
User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#221 Unread post by Skier »

Some more pictures:

Oh shi' son, glacier! A bit outside of Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska

Image

Dale and Dan, on their way up the Cassiar as well:

Image

Rewinding, I had some kick-butt lasagna at a restaurant in Prince George, BC:

Image

I saw this somewhere along the trip and thought it was funny.
Image

After taking a metric "poo"-ton of on the move pictures, this one turned out the best:
Image

Woo, we're on our way north! Wait, how much is that a gallon? :(

Image

Holy "poo poo" the way to Hyder is beautiful even on an empty stomach:
Image

Once you are there and are past the touristy areas it is flat-out awesome:
Image

Image

Hiking down to the glacier, looking up:
Image

JESUS HELL THAT IS BIG
Image

Back on the tourist-free road on the back of Hyder:
Image

And returning to the touristy area. :(

Image

Then run out of town to get fuel and then go back to Alaska! Here is the border crossing to the States:
Image

After Mr. Lens Flare checks your luggage for contraband, the pavement ends and welcome to America!

Got a medical problem? Someone shooting up the town? Don't bother with 9-1-1:
Image

A fun day in Hyder over, sleep, then roll out in the morning. Stewart, BC looked stunning in the morning:
Image

Image

Image

Then hit the road to head north!

Image
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

blues2cruise
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10182
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:28 pm
Sex: Female
Years Riding: 16
My Motorcycle: 2000 Yamaha V-Star 1100
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

#222 Unread post by blues2cruise »

That is sure some awesome scenery.....

Did you get Hyderized? Apparently nobody is allowed to leave Hyder without being Hyderized. :laughing:
Image

User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#223 Unread post by Skier »

blues2cruise wrote:That is sure some awesome scenery.....

Did you get Hyderized? Apparently nobody is allowed to leave Hyder without being Hyderized. :laughing:
I've been showing my card off to all my friends. :) Makes for a great additional piece of the story.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

blues2cruise
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10182
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:28 pm
Sex: Female
Years Riding: 16
My Motorcycle: 2000 Yamaha V-Star 1100
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

#224 Unread post by blues2cruise »

Well...you better get writing then..... :wink: I'll look for another entry after the weekend. :)
Image

User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#225 Unread post by Skier »

Here's a bit I wrote up but didn't post here. I'm afraid I still haven't proofread it so there are bound to be errors.

My time in Hyder, AK.

Stayed at a provincial park – Seele Lake or something. Eventually got a real fire going. Right near the water, view of the mountain, privacy and close to the can. What else could you want?

I rolled out decently early in the morning, past the gas station/restaurant combo at the highway junction. I passed through a small town and gassed up, then made my way to Hyder, Alaska through Stewart, BC. Planning to see what was in Hyder, or more accurately hoping for a gas station, I park next to the first motorcycles I see. This was to set the tone of the rest of the day.

Being greeted with an arm-waving, older guy with a serious Austrian or German accent telling me I couldn’t park there was not what I expected. So I tackled it like most things this trip: do it anyways! After I dismounted the bike, I hear the arm-waver speaking German to a couple next to him and the other obvious motorcycle rider. I hear comments involving “he” and “stupid” and “can’t park here.” I let loose with a quick phrase of “I understand what you are saying” in German to knock the poor guy off balance within seconds of meeting me.

Then he warms up to me a bit while poor Pat, the other rider, is confused by the foreign language. The German couple talk with me a little bit and rapidly exhaust my rusty German skills. On the bright side they know my name and where I came from!

Being extended an offer to throw my schedule away in a crying ball, I accept the arm-waver’s offer of joining them to look at a glacier past where most tourists are. It was so good he went there yesterday and is going back again! Of course I say yes and we embark for supplies at the local grocer.

Keep in mind I usually skip breakfast in the mornings – the first 50 or 100 miles before food are undoubtedly the best of the day. So when I say I am hungry after those 50 or 100 miles, I mean it. Then tack on another 140 to get to Hyder and I was hungry enough to eat anything. ANYTHING.

I get some information out of the KTM rider, Pat. He’s a special ed teacher in California and is currently on summer break. A laid-back guy who can ride well. I’d love to hang out with him if I see him on the road again.

Food acquired, I am convinced to drop my bags and extra crap off my bike at my new digs at Border Bandit. While loading the junk off my bike into my room with Jose, the owner came through the entrance and told us to keep the outside door shut, as bears wandered in at night. Later in the day I had to remind Mr. Santos to keep the door shut because he was “letting all the bears in.”

Bikes lightened and food packed, our motley crew of Jose, Pat, the German couple and I all head off to one of the very few roads out of town. Making decent time, I get some practice in gravel and sucking dust from the people in front. I’m not a fast rider and am even slower on loose gravel on a street bike.

Mr. Santos realizes he has to write some post cards so he says he’ll catch up with us. I relay this info to Pat as we continue down the gravel road, so we don’t stop for another 25 miles. Of course, I stop much sooner, as my bike falls on its face going up a corner. I quickly switch to reserve and the bike wakes back up, then my low fuel idiot light goes on. Seriously Honda, WTF? At our stop we wait for Jose and I drop in the contents of my jerry can. We are all gathered then proceed to the next stop, a tunnel in the side of the mountain.

We weren’t sure what the tunnel was for but it was nice and cold inside. A light at the other end was barely visible – Mr. Santos said he walked towards it once for 30 minutes and it didn’t get any bigger. Crazy!

Next stop was a glacier kind of off the beaten path. Down a terrible gravel road over some more rough roads, we get out and start climbing down the hill towards the bottom of the glacier. It took us a while to get there but the view was worth it. You could look up, when halfway down, and see the water coming down into the lake below, then see the glacier and its inexorable path into the water.

We could get right next to the glacier, but it was very cold and windy so we climbed to a sheltered spot with a view and ate lunch there. The German couple told us some stories about getting drunk in the evenings and climbing into the mountains in the summer, then finding a cabin and getting the resident to make the group breakfast.

Jose had some weird horse/cow beef jerky he shared. Not bad, but not great.

The couple, in true German fashion, brought a six pack of beer of which we riders couldn’t partake.

One thing I keep writing about is the scale of things out here. I used to think the midwest had some seriously different scales than the west coast, but both pale in comparison to Alaska. Mountains are bigger and farther away, rivers larger and glaciers mind-bendingly huge.

After the glacier we said our goodbyes to the couple and continued to the end of the road where we road across a bridge that was comprised of two three foot wide planks. Scary to ride across but exhilarating. The bike fit quite easily without the side cases!

More shennanigans ensued, then we returned to the hotel where Jose did his “homework” and we yelled out the window at a rider going by. We got they would be at the bar later and so would we!

Negotiating for how to get to the bar ensued. Pat said we would ride down there – no helmet law in Alaska! I strongly declined and Jose offered a ride on the back of his bike. Again I refused to be a drunk passenger on the back of a bike with a drunk rider. Sticking to my guns, Jose and I ended up walking to the bar while Pat griped about me being a representative of The Man. This was due to citing my dislike of having my ability to teach being taken away by riding without a skid lid.

A short, bear-free walk to the bar later and Hyderization!

I got Hyderized: a shot of a mystery liquor they put in front of you that you can’t smell, touch or taste until you take the shot. Fearing a poor quality Everclear, I work myself up to it and knock it back. It tasted far better than some things I’ve tried in my earlier college years! After completing the “challenge” you get a card showing you were Hyderized.

Hyderizer card acquired, I order their only beer on tap: Alaskan Amber, of course. After I picked up the tab for the Hyderizer, my beer and a beer for my friend Mr. Santos, we find the rider we yelled at earlier and engage him in conversation.

That means Jose bullshitted him like it was going out of style.

Later in my trip, the two other riders, Dale and Doug, were pretty sure Jose didn’t feed them a straight line the entire night. I informed them they were 100% correct.

After the bar we had an uneventful walk back to the hotel and went to sleep. The next morning Jose got up and was packing his bike by 6 AM. While he was packing I took a shower. Instead of using my shampoo I used the hotel-style shampoo dispenser in the shower. I knew I was in Alaska when a dead mosquito came out with my shampoo and I ran it through my hair anyways.

Epilogue:

Jose Santos – really named Josef. Not from South France but Germany! Always bullshitting and high-energy, he doesn’t take much seriously but rides like hell and loves getting off the beaten path like that bridge comprised of a couple 3′ wide segments. Funny guy who has a cool collection of laminated 4”x6” cards that trace his various trips through North America. In one trip he hit the 49 land-accessible states and got a stamp in his journal from a post office in each state. Very impressive. I gave him my mailing address so I expect a zany Christmas card from him.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

User avatar
High_Side
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 4532
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 2:05 pm
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 48
My Motorcycle: Desert-X, CB1100F, CRF300 Rally, Nightha
Location: Calgary AB, Can

#226 Unread post by High_Side »

They weren't kidding when they were talking to you about the bears! Did you get the story on the stuffed Grizzly in the corner of the Sea Alaska bar?

blues2cruise
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 10182
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:28 pm
Sex: Female
Years Riding: 16
My Motorcycle: 2000 Yamaha V-Star 1100
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

#227 Unread post by blues2cruise »

Thanks for sharing your story. :)
Image

User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#228 Unread post by Skier »

Haha, I received my oil analysis report for the oil I used on my trip. It was a tiny bit shy of 8,000 miles on the oil. The report said "don't do that." This makes things easy - 5,000 mile oil change intervals on my Civic and my Hornet.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#229 Unread post by Skier »

Taught my last motorcycle safety class of the season last weekend. The class went very well, another set of noobies off on the right track. :)
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

User avatar
Skier
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 2242
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:44 am
Sex: Male
Location: Pullman, WA, USA

#230 Unread post by Skier »

GAHHH I picked up another nail in my Hornet's rear tire. That's three punctures in less than 30,000 miles. That's crap.

Thank goodness I have my brand new rear tire sitting on top of my tool chest in the garage. Tomorrow I'll be swapping out the busted tire with a nice new Pirelli. :)
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

Post Reply