Peter's Voyages

Today was quite tiring. I rode with John, Symon and Gordon – and unfortunately neither Symon or Gordon are good ‘convoy’ riders, so you have to keep stopping and wondering where they’ve got to: But they’re good company. The ride consisted of three definite bits: Firstly we drove through the most gorgeous Cowboy and Indian country in Oregon. It was scrubland mainly through rolling hills until we entered about 20 miles of canyons and gullies through which the road switch backed in a most enjoyable fashion. The second part of the ride was through pretty boring flatland on a main road in the searing heat. We then entered Klamath County and rode through Crater Lake National Park to the Crater – apparently the deepest lake in the World (got to be it’s in America) formed in a non active volcano.

Tomorrow I head for Santa Rosa in California and the end of the trip along with a few others – some are spending the night elsewhere and returning to SR on Saturday. I’m now quite tired and have had enough of the breathtaking American scenery for the moment – over 7000 miles in 28 days is a lot. I guess I had never really thought about the west coast of North America much previously but now realise it’s defined (for me) by some tectonic plates clashing together millions of years ago (indeed they still are I’m told) and forming giant mountains, lakes and rivers etc that form achingly beautiful scenery over vast distances on a gigantic scale. It’s also incredibly sparsely populated. But I’m looking forward to getting home now and planning my next adventure!

Well it’s cooler today – only 37.5c!

I’m at a place called John Day as I type. Very much a Cowboy and Indian town in Oregon: Hicksville. However as I was here first and no motel had been booked I got us into a ‘Best Value’ motel which did a really nice twin double bedded room with AC and all the trimmings plus a swimming pool and the most helpful pleasant middle aged sisters running it: And all for $80 a room!

I rode from Lewiston on my own today and enjoyed the 270 odd mile trip a lot. It’s amazing the differences you see in such a ride – from fairly flat prosperous agricultural Idaho into Oregon that seemed a lot poorer, lots of dilapidated and empty buildings and one horse towns and land that was scrub. Equally though I went through one or two National Parks with the mandatory winding road through the forested valley of a range of hills. I also rode through a couple of larger towns as it’s interesting to see how they lay out their towns and what shops operate in them. However when I say large towns, I guess they were Felixstowe size.

The trip is nearing its end now and I’ve started to reflect on my feelings about it. It’s probably too early to put these down in the blog yet but suffice it to say that I have, in the main, really enjoyed it. The main issue is around the size of America and the distances we’ve traveled – basically we’ve spent too much time chasing from one place to another, crashing out of an evening and then getting back on the bike first thing in the morning. I also much prefer just traveling with one or two other people – it’s far easier to make decisions about what you want to do, the speed at which you want to travel and meal and hotel breaks are a lot easier. Nevertheless all the guys have got on pretty well and there haven’t been any big falling outs – yet. More to come on my thoughts about the trip later. PS I’ve done one or two videos of my ride which are to big to upload – I’ll share them with anybody who wants to see them when I’m back.

Apologies to my legions of fans for not posting yesterday – and I won’t blog a lot today. Unfortunately, as the trip wears on time to blog gets more difficult.

Yesterday we rode from the Canadian/USA border through the Glacier National Park and stopped the night in a camping site (we had log cabins) where we cooked a BBQ with probably the best steaks (bought at a local butcher) you’ve ever tasted. While the ride was only 100 odd miles it was on “the road to the sun” which is over mountains and considered to be one of the great rides in the USA – though it was full of traffic as it’s holiday time.

We then rode this morning past Flathead Lake (I think – I’m getting tired) which is huge and startlingly beautiful then through cowboy country like you saw in ‘50s movies – you kept expecting to see Indians on the brows of the hills – into Idaho where we drove for 150 odd miles through another national park alongside a river on probably the most beautiful biker rode you’ve ever seen i.e. long sleeping bends and twisties with no traffic – plus scenery to die for. Put simply, Montana (a vast and sparely populated state) and Idaho are just beautiful.

Ultimately, with the temperature at 39c, we stopped for the night at a good motel in Lewiston/Clarkston (one of the two) where Symon and John, who I rode with today, and I had an expensive dinner while the others went out on the town. Off to bed now …………… it’s all a bit to much to take in!

I thought of going to see great grandfather’s home town/grave in Cranbrook – but this would have added about 150 miles to today’s ride which would have made it a very long day. So I didn’t.

I rode on my own today – and it was nice just to focus on your own thoughts, where you want to stop and go and the speed you want to ride at. All in all a very pleasant days riding.

I like Alberta which at 255,290 sq miles (661,190 km²) to England’s (50,346 sq miles (130,395 km²) is five times the size of England – and we’ve ridden the length of it! Today, once out of the bustling tourist Area of Banff and slightly away from the Rockies (which constantly framed my view as I was riding down their east side in a southerly direction)., I rode through miles and miles of beautiful green, lush prairie with a sprinkling of ‘ranches’ and a lot of ‘steers’. To top it all the sky was blue and the temperature slowly rose to 30c.

The motel I’m in is ‘60s style but well kept and it’s in a beautiful spot just touching the Rockies with a massive lake. It’s in a National park which needless to say is very busy with tourists – but I can live with that. The American border is close by and tomorrow we go into Minnesota.

I should add that I’m going off Americans and Canadians – they keep talking to you regardless of what you’re doing or who you’re talking to, “Hi, where you from; where you going” and so on and so on. Constantly!

Yesterday we enjoyed a great ride along the Canadian Rockies, stopping at a glacier and then getting to Banff (a major ski resort in winter) by mid afternoon. As I rode I couldn’t but help compare the ride to those I’ve done in the Alps. Riding the Alps is a far more dramatic experience, the roads go through and over the mountains (often very twisty) which seem crammed quite tightly together. In the Rockies the road just meanders through the mountains’ valleys (usually next to a river) and the mountains seem more spaced out. Indeed I guess that sums Canada up.

The glacier was interesting, but I which I’d done the guided tour which a couple who rode on their own did. My group all walked to the bottom of the glacier and ogled its very dirty ice and the markers that showed how much it had receded since 1845. The other two caught a coach to the top of the glacier and then descended along it in a sort of ski lift before being dropped off to walk on it.

The hotel in Banff is good and I had a very nice evening yesterday eating, drinking and talking with about five others on subjects that weren’t motorbike focussed – which was a very pleasant change.

I might ride by myself today as there’s about 200 miles to go to our next destination, in Waterton National Park, and some will want to go the difficult way but I’ve decided to go the straight forward way as driving on a main road isn’t like driving on an English motorway where the authorities that be have made sure you can’t see any scenery and your part of one giant slow moving traffic chicane. Over here (remote under populated Canada) I have seen few motorways and there aren’t many cars about plus you’re usually directed through stunning countryside.

As I drive along the road of a day I think of things to write about in the blog and then I forget them when I get to the motel and start typing in the evening: So I apologise for the blog missing out on a lot of detail. For instance: today we rode for about 50 miles in fairly populated (for Canada) countryside until reaching Alberta where we drove for miles and miles on nearly empty roads again. The climate in that part of Alberta is quite temperate and the countryside is rolling hills – but imagine rolling hills as you know them but on steroids! Everything is just on a vaster scale in Canada. I can recall cresting the brow of a hill to be met with a vista stretching as far as you could see to the horizon (20 miles?) of densely forested rolling hills with a road weaving through them into the far distance. Just one empty road – the one we were on. The sky was blue with wispy cloud and it was warm. Now this is picture book scenery which rates an exclamation of “Oh wow”. The trouble is though, you then crest another brow and there’s an even more impressive sight – and so it goes on and on.

Journey’s end today was Jasper in the Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies which as you can see from the Wiki entry continues the “Oh wow” theme – as will the Icefields Parkway ride we’re doing tomorrow.

The downside to all this is a) you get blasé about the scenery and b) due to the nature of this trip we never stay anywhere long enough to explore it. So you’re always left thinking about what you missed.

PS Animal watch today was quite poor – just loads of deer and mountain goats.

Tonight we’re staying in an OK motel in Jasper – a real tourist town in the Park. And due to a booking cock up Symon, John and I are all sharing a room: c’est la vie.