November 19, 2005
Apparently I have been derelict in my blogging duties. Thank you to the people who messaged me to inquire about me and tell me they missed me on the forums. After the last entry from the toy run my insurance expired. I was planning on getting occasional day permits to ride, but this weekend has been the first dry weekend in over a month. I was so sick of riding in the rain I had to give the biking a break. Today however………
There was a “Rumble” in the Fraser Valley today
I received an email last week from a member of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club asking me to join them for a ride today. Apparently the weather forecast was for sunshine. I messaged back and told him that if it was a dry day I would purchase a day permit and go with them.
When I woke up this morning and looked out the window I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only was it dry but the sun was shining. It has been so long since we have had any sunny mornings here I had all but given up on going riding until Spring. I put on a pot of coffee to drip while I loosened up my aching muscles in a hot shower. That is another story in itself.
2 days ago at work I had been asked to drive the “Sprinter” van to give an evaluation. I managed to drive it for ½ day and put on a wholloping 36km. At lunch time I drove it back to our lot and parked it. Driving the Sprinter caused me to get a sore shoulder, arm and neck as well as my low back and hips. Talk about bad ergonomics. The unfortunate thing is that the Sprinter has a quality seat in it with lots of adjustments, but the steering wheel is so darn far away that unless you have arms like a gorilla you are in constant strain trying to steer.
Which brings me back to today and why I needed some hot pounding water on my neck and shoulders; after some coffee and breakfast and a bit of Ibuprofren, I went to vote in the civic election and then walked over to the insurance store to buy my day permit.
What the heck? They don’t open until 10am on Saturdays. I went home to get my car and drove to the Vancity nearby. Their insurance office didn’t open until 9:30am. I then walked a couple of blocks away and found an insurance office that opened at 9am. I paid my $32.00 for my insurance coverage for the day and hightailed it home where I left my car in my neighbours parking space. I then left them a message to let her know. We have an arrangement so that if I use her space and someone happens to come over she can use my space while I’m using hers. Today I needed to save some time. My bike is parked parallel against the wall with my car in front of it. This usually means pulling out the car, moving out the bike and then pulling the car back in. I didn’t have the extra time to spare this morning if I was going to get to Langley on time before the club left for the ride.
Getting geared up when it’s cold out takes a little extra effort and time. I opened a pack of “Toe Warmers” and placed one on the bottom of each sock before putting on my boots. They really do work to help keep your feet from feeling frozen. I zipped the lining back into my riding jacket and put it on over my down liner jacket. I then put on a balaclava and topped it off with my helmet. The balaclava feels so-o-o-o good. It keeps your chin and neck warm.
If one dresses for the conditions it is a sublime experience riding on a cold sunny day. I made it to the meeting place in Langley with 5 minutes to spare. Upon arrival, Gary walked over, laughed, and said he thought I had “candy-a$$ed” out on them. After introductions were made to a few people I had not yet met, we mounted and followed our road captain, Ray, through Langley and to the Albion ferry. We must have been quite a sight to see because all along our route people stopped what they were doing to watch us go by. I suppose 15 motorcyclists going by is an impressive sight. It certainly would be a noisy one.
The ferry people halted the line up of cars going on and allowed all 15 of us on the ferry at the same time. The Albion ferry workers are very biker friendly. In comparison the BC Ferry workers are not always. As I looked around me I saw that absolutely everyone had a smile on their face. We were all loving the chance to ride on this fine November day.
After leaving the ferry we rode to Mission to meet up with a couple more riders and to fuel up our bikes….well, most of did…..I’ll get to Ray later…..
Now that our group was complete, we rode towards Harrison via highway #7. Unlike the last few times I rode out this way, I was feeling much more confident and in control today. When we got the steep downhill twisty bit, I didn’t have to lag behind this time. In fact, I had to slow down part way down because the rider in front of me had suddenly slowed down and I found myself approaching him too fast. I don’t remember what I did first, but I remember thinking “this is not a good idea”. I may have eased off the throttle or pulled in the clutch to prepare to downshift but I really don’t remember. I ended up just adding a bit of brake to slow me a bit. I know I am not supposed to brake in a corner so I used it gently to slow just enough to stay away from the fellow in front of me. The last couple of time I rode with this group I had no problems but this fellow today was new and seemed very inconsistent.
Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down, speed up……….
I must remember to ask how to deal with this situation correctly. If anyone reading feels like answering feel free.
At the junction to Harrison and Agassiz we turned right and went through Agassiz and on to Chilliwack. Antonio led us through the back winding country roads to Dukes pub in Chilliwack. All along the route people stopped what they were doing to watch as we rode by. I’m sure they must have heard the rumble of 15 motorcycles from a mile away. I suspect we woke up the sleepy Fraser Valley today.
At Dukes there were already over a dozen bikes parked and with our 15 added it was quite a sight. We were not all able to get seated together because the place was quite busy today. The server got quite overwhelmed by having so many people show up at one time. We were not in a big hurry though so we just table hopped and talked until the food came out. After lunch we all went our separate ways because several people had to get back early for various reasons.
Bob had said to me, “are you going back on the freeway”?
I replied, “Yes, I am “.
I took that to mean he would ride with me back as far as Abbotsford. But when I looked for him he was gone.
I asked Kevin if he saw Bob leave and he told me he saw him leave a bout 5 minutes previous.
Kevin then asked,” Are you going into Burnaby?”
I replied, “Yes, I am.”
I asked him if he knew the way to the freeway. He pointed and said” I’ve been told it’s that way somewhere. Now since I was riding all the way to Burnaby and Kevin had asked if I was heading to Burnaby and the fact that we had left together for the freeway, I thought we would be riding together until we got back to the Burnaby area.
I must remember to clarify things in the future.
As soon as Kevin got onto the freeway, he booted it to get in front of a semi and left me behind. ??? I guess we weren’t riding together after all.
I eventually caught up but he changed lanes with no regard for the fact that we were “riding staggered” together.
Oh well.
He then got stuck behind some slow moving vehicle so I changed lanes and passed him. I figured if he was unconcerned for me I would just carry on as if I was by myself. Now this is where it got interesting. Kevin rode with me. When I changed lanes so did he. He rode staggered behind me until he left the freeway. I surmised that Kevin is just not a leader but a better solo rider or a follower.
As I was crossing the Port Mann Bridge, I noticed an RCMP vehicle coming up behind me in the passing lane. As he got up beside me, he did not pass me. He stayed beside me and then lagged back a bit. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing and then I figured he must have just been taking a close look at my permit taped onto the back of my bike. After that he accelerated rapidly and went on his way.
I fuelled up after I left the freeway and managed to get home before dark. It was such a nice change to ride when it was not raining. I don’t even have to wash my bike or hang up wet gear today. It makes me look forward to some better days ahead when the new season starts again in the Spring.
Strange thing is that everyone here acts like I'm either a traitor or a puzzy. All I got to say is ...... Meow.
but mild. As of writing this post, we have had 20 days of rain. 
