Those of you who have been following my misadventures know that I joined 2 riding clubs. They have had a very positive influence in my outlook to riding.
I have met many great new people.
Through the clubs forums we plan rides and get togethers...and just like here ar TMW, we also share jokes and information.
A few weeks ago, a new member joined and it turned out he actually lives close by. We messaged a few times through the forums and finally set up a ride for yesterday. The purpose of the ride was twofold.
1/ The ride
2/ Gently break in his brand new bike.
He was a bit concerned about having to go slow because he was worried he would "pee" off too many people. I told him not to wory, because I was an expert at pissing people off. I routinely ride and drive close to the speed limit.
So,after much debate as to where to meet for coffee before we rode, we finally settled on a Tim Hortons over by Lougheed mall.
Although I had never met him, he was the only person other than me to ride into the parking lot. I was expecting him at any moment so I had secured a place in the lineup for coffee. As he came in the door, I smiled and said, Hi, -------. just as though I'd known him for years. I think it took him by surprise, but one did not have to be a detective to figure it out.
As we were sitting having our coffee, he said to me, "Do you have a sister?"
I said, "Yes, I do."
"Your sister work for the city of Burnaby?" "Her name Sue?"
That must have been the look on my face. He also works for the city and a bit over a year ago, my sister was trying to set us up. Although we emailed a few times, we had never met. He had seen a picture of me courtesy of my sister and then when he saw a picture in the forum he thought he recognized me. And then when he heard my name.....
Well, he became a little apologetic because at the time when we had been emailing, and it became apparent to me that he really was not interested, he became almost rude. I have a good life and good friends so I stopped answering his mail and deleted his email address. When he asked why, I told him, it was obvious he was not interested, so I was not going to waste any more of my time.
Anyway, that is why it was so funny to have met him quite by accident. OK, enough of that.....on with the ride....
After our discussion of the route and finishing our coffee, we headed outside where I was given a quick tour of his new bike. It had only about a hundred km on it. He got himself an 1100V-Star with a winidshield, back rest, bags, etc., and an alarm system.
He decided to let me lead the way because he was not very familiar with any of the roads for where he wanted to go. So, I led him down the garden path....hahaha...just kidding.
We went along North Road to Lougheed and then onto King Edward to United Blvd/ Mary Hill Bypass, Pitt River Bridge, and through some backroads of Maple Ridge ( I learned them from honda599
). The destination was Harrison Hot Springs. We carried on through Mission and the Fraser Valley where it must be fertilizing season. peeeeeewwwww
On a side note....I have a club ride planned for next Saturday and it's not going anywhere near the Fraser Valley.
At one point along the trip, a vista opened up to reveal some rugged snow covered mountains. My riding companion for the day had his camera, so I figured this was a good place for a photo op. I think he was relieved for the break. Getting used to riding after a long time away from it and on a new bike you're not conditioned for....( numb bum syndrome ) can be fatiguing. Although I was not tired, my shoulders were hurting.
After a few minutes of cavorting in the sunshine with the camera, we set off again for Harrison. Some day I will master that big winding hill....There are still a couple of turns on it that cause me angst...although it's getting better. This would be the same hill that in a previous entry I had commented about the fact that there was a slow moving tow truck in front of me and I was glad. This time I was in front and although most of it was good, the one that gets really tight and steep downhill in the same brief space of time still makes me anxious.
On the bright side.....now that I am more comfortable with riding....and now that I am more familiar with the roads out there....I can actually look around me once in a while.
"Holy Crap",
what was that?" Some guy on a very noisy Harley passed me too close. The noise scared the heck out of me. I must have jumped a few inches off my saddle. I watched him as he rode away...weaving in and out and in and out....deafening everyone as rode past them...all too close.He must have turned off somewhere, because when we had stopped on the side of the highway to snap a few pics, he pulled along side and stopped. He was checking to make sure we were ok.
What a nice thing to do. (If by chance you read in here..... thank you )By the time we got to Harrison we were ready for a bathroom break. Dang...the public washrooms were closed...probably because it is still winter. There was a sign telling the public where the other ones are, but I had no idea where that was.
So, I suggested we go to the hotel. If you walk in like you own the joint, it's not likely you will get stopped. While we were there, we decided to get a bowl of soup and take it to the lounge area overlooking the lake. You could not have asked for a better day. The sun shone all day. Although it was still cold outside, my hands were not frozen and in pain. I had inserted toe warmer heat pack things inside my boots so my feet were comfy. It's days like this when a full face helmet is great. It keeps your head and ears warm and with the visor down, your face is protected from the cold wind.
My riding companion did not want to go straight home, so I suggested we fuel up before we left so that we would not have to stop somewhere along the way. He already had 240km on his tank of gas so he was probably getting close to reserve. Given that his bike was new, he didn''t know yet what the mileage would be like. I knew, because someone I know has the same bike.
We headed back the way we came, but when we got to Maple Ridge, we veered left and went to the Albion Ferry. It is a 5 minute crossing to get to Fort Langley. When we got to the other side, the wood deck was getting frosty. I'm not sure, but I think I heard a wobbly sounding "whoa" behind me. I think he may have tried to accelerate on the frosty wood.
I led him through some back roads that have some beautiful country scenes and some fun twisty bits. When we got to a main thoroughfare, I pulled over. I suggested it might be a good time to start heading back because as the sun went down. the roads could potentially get frosty and the sun would get so low in the sky it would be difficult to see. It's a good thing one of had some sense, becasue he wanted to ride and ride and ride......
We started heading west into Langley, but had to make a detour. DARN. I know my way around there on the main roads, but if I need to detour....who knows where we will end up. As luck would have it, I recognized a main road that we came to and so made a turn and was back on track before long. We were heading west on #10 when he started complaining about the sun in his eyes. He said if we were on the freeway, he wouldn't have to put up with it. (insert rolling eyes here). If we had stayed on #10, it wouldn't have taken long to get back, but since he wanted to get to the freeway, I told him to make a right turn then. We headed north along 176th to get to Hwy #1. It's actually quite a distance to the freeway from there, but at least he was happy the sun wasn't in his eyes. I neglected to tell him that the Port Mann Bridge was going to be bumper to bumper at a snail's pace
. Once over the bridge he followed me back to near where I live and we went for a tea at Timmie's.Through our conversations we found out he lived fairly close by so Timmies was a handy location.
When we pulled up and parked, we saw a big Harley (road king or ultra glide or some such thing), and a fan club.
The whole while we were inside having tea, there was an eclectic bunch of folks hanging around like a bunch of groupies. It made me wonder if there was a halfway house nearby and a house of ill repute next door to it. We said our goodbyes in the parking lot and he headed west...into the sun....(snickers for effect) and I went around the block to head east.
He thanked me profusely for the day and hoped we could go again. I told him there was a ride planned for next week so I would email him.
It's funny really, last summer, I was still such a rookie and feeling nervous and almost ready to give up biking.... I never knew half those back roads existed.....and here I was playing tour guide to another motorcyclist.
