March 25th 2012

The morning started off heading out to Chilliwack at 0700.  About 1 degree Celsius but look at what I see all the way out to the staging area for the Annual Dual Sport BC Newbie Ride.  SUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It has been so wet and miserable here when I saw the sunrise it was meant to be a good day.  Cheryl did not come with me because she has not been sleeping well and I am glad she did not come.  This ride was not for sleepy riders.  There are a few short videos in this post…hope you watch them to get a flavor of the day and all pics are click-able!

Heading East through Mission, BC to get to Highway 1 for the fast way out to Chilliwack.  About an hour from where we live.

Had to use a little heat on the way out but it didn’t take too long for the temps to rise especially after we got out on the trail.

In the morning when going through the Ruskin area you can really smell the cedar from the mills.  I LOVE that smell especially when there are hardly any other cars on the road and it is so clear out.  the cedar odor was perfect!

Just gorgeous out and the mountains all have fresh snow.  I would find out later that we were going to be riding through a little snow on the trail.  Not a ton but enough to get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up especially since I have always avoid riding in snow like the plague. 

Good morning BC! 

I arrived at the staging area around 0830 after missing the turn off like I do every time I attend this event.  I am useless when it comes to directions and besides Cheryl has the GPS mount on her bike.  Yeah nice excuse but seriously even with a GPS I get lost.  My bike is the Beemer in the middle.  Only one Triumph Tiger XC made a debut.  I thought surely there would be more Tigers around but I was wrong.  Where were all you Tiger owners this day?

Not too long after I arrived more bikes of all kinds showed up maybe 100? There was a HOT breakfast consisting of eggs, pancakes, sausage, juice, fruit etc….for a $5 donation. Great way to carb up for the 4 or 5 hour ride.

Quite a few BIG bikes on the trails but I hung out with about a group of 6 guys the entire day.  Dave from MOTOOVERLAND aka MOD led the way for our group.  He was a good leader and gave good advise and input when it came to getting all of us through the snow in one piece.

Breakfast for all and it was good.  At this point it was all ready about 5 Celsius.  Got up to about 13 from what I could tell.

We all are getting the safety chat and instructions how not to get lost.  The smaller or shall I say lighter bikes got to head out first and most of them took the B route which I heard had very deep snow sections. Sometimes I really wish we had lighter bikes for this stuff they seem so nimble and really would I care if I dumped a smaller less expensive bike?  Probably but at least repairs might not be so costly.  Maybe we could get one of our local dealers to loan us dirt bikes?  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…that’s an idea! 

The guy to the right is my fearless leader for the day Dave (MOD).  He is not only an entrepreneur but one hell of a rider!

A little taste of the trail from my perspective!

The above and below pictures have some sentimental meaning to me.  About 2 weeks after I bought and got my bike, March 5th 2010, the sales guy who sold me my bike Sheldon took me on this route for my very first heavy bike off-road experience.  Sheldon was on a KTM 250 I think.  I had stock tires and no clue how to ride this bike off the pavement.  When we got to this bridge Sheldon escorted me up the trail a bit to show me the log that ran across the trail. 

Sheldon said throttle through this, keep the momentum up and you will do fine.  Momentum is your friend and I remember that everyday.  I tried to do what he said and got stuck on the log.  This year totally different story.  Log still there but you could choose to go around now but I wanted to hit it straight on and get over without stalling.  Guess what?  Piece of cake.  I am way better with my off-roads skills then 2010 and made it up that hill with no reservations.  That’s my little story of growth! 

Taking a break after having to go around a gate with a very tight narrow trail.

She was clean when I started!

Dave’s bike with many of his accessories on it.

if anyone is reading this and knows the names of all the guys I was riding with please tell me in the comments.  I am soooooooooo bad with names and quite a few knew of Cheryl & myself from our triumph trip and this blog.

I’ll take BC mud any day over a wet Dempster Highway but as far as snow, slush and ice?  I do not like that mix at all without studs.  Despite having myself a little crash in one section, I made it through with little concerns after that.  Dave told me to use my clutch more, get into the friction zone and keep the bike steady.  It worked after I fell.  Better late then never.

She looks so sad on her side.  Nothing got hurt on the bike or me…except maybe a little ego.

I love crash guards and they make a good holder for slushy ice just in case anyone was looking to cool their drinks.

The culprit section.  Looks so innocent eh?

We are all talking about the snow and if we should carry on as well as checking for damage.  We decided to carry on.

Glad we did because this was the view of Vedder Mountain.  Not much snow after got to the top.  So in the end well worth the sweat!

Had a quick lunch at the staging area and headed home.  I was tired and wanted to get home to see Cheryl and chill.

My bike after the ride…looks good dirty eh?  My Harley friends would die if their bikes looked like this ever! 

Fork seal protectors are awesome…priceless and my new rad cover did it’s job. Last year my radiator got so clogged my fan got jammed and my bike was over heating. No issues this year!

Cheryl and I are tired of telling people our F650GS is not a single or a 650 so we relabeled it!

Awesome weather, awesome day, great food and folks to ride with all day long.  One thing would have made it perfect would have been if Cheryl came out as well.  There is always next year and tons of time in between the Dual Sport rides.  Cheryl and I are going to try and get out this season for a great adventure but time will tell if I can get away from work.  For now…this will hold me over until we can figure something out.  Thanks to all the organizers of this event.  Safety first and nothing but fun!