Road Tripping - Part One (On the road)

The motorcycle has not seen a lot of use lately and I was thinking of selling it. One of the reasons is I have not had a lot of time to devote to it. Another is that I have not found anyone to go on a ride with. I have owned it for about seven years and likely would not get much for it as it is a 2006 with over 60,000km on it. In the time that I have had it I definitely feel that I have got my money's worth out of it.

I had last Thursday and Friday off so put some stuff in a bag and headed out on a ride. Day one was from Leduc, Alberta to Creston, British Columbia via Highway 2 to Nanton, then Highway 533 west to Highway 22 south to Highway 3 then west to Creston.

As soon as I started out I had to run into grooved pavement right in my own town. Not fun on a motorcycle. Once I hit the highwas about a few hours in I began to realize that I missed this. The highway is different on a motorcycle. It was good to just get out and do nothing but ride. 

Once I crossed into British Columbia it was getting hot. The temperature was over 30C. It got to be a problem at Jaffray when I was parked for half an hour due to highway construction. When the flagman allowed the line of cars to go I saw that the road was being repaved and I had to drive a short distance through a heavily oiled chunk of road. I drove very slowly over that. Further down the road I pulled over and broke one of my rules. I shed the motorcycle jacket and gloves for the rest of the day. It was too damn hot.

I obeyed the speed limits for the most part. A number of drivers passed me over solid lines with oncoming traffic in the opposing lane. I was cut off a few times. No highway patrol when you want it. Over seven hundred kilometres later in Creston I decided to pack it in for the day. I did not think I would have a problem getting a hotel room on a Thursday. I was wrong (I really should start planning stuff). The guy at the Ramada irritated me when he laughed when I asked if they had a room. I thought it was a reasonable question when I saw the parking lot was less than half full. They were booked solid.

I found a room in a motel that had seen better days. Thankfully the air-conditioning worked. The tv had handwritten instructions taped to the cable box. I did not bother with it. I grabbed some beer and dinner at a pub, the beer felt damn good going down after riding in the heat. Unfortunately the air-conditioning in the room kept loudly kicking-in and out interrupting my sleep.