Here's One For Vicky and Iris....

Motorcycle Tripper is a dual sport Vancouver Island blog that is authored by Sarah Tripper.  She is new to DS motorcycling, and is a good writer.  The combination makes for an interesting story: Island Coast Motorcycle Trip Part 1, 2, 3 and 4.  Give it read: some of the terrain is familiar, and some of it is for future considerations...

Street Tires+Mud =

DL650+Street Tires+Mud=A Good Time...Some nice photography here; I like the edge blur effects and the slow mo water explosions...

Paul

Great Blog Post on Various Online Maps Available....

Rather than plagiarize, I'll send you here to the only other pure dual-sport blog on Vancouver Island; however, a word of warning, the site is no longer up to date, so if you click on the link, you are leaving the only relevant dual-sport blog on Vancouver Island which is not cluttered with amateurish gimmicks and rants. 

Heaven

I'm going to church.  Guzzi LeMans Custom.  In Italy.  Touring.  Me WANT IT!

Yum Yum.

Yes please, Mummy.

New iPhone Tracker Works a Treat!

I bought an iPhone app for $3.99 yesterday: Trails.  I wasn't sure it was going to work, particularly with the iphone off, but it did. 

Here's the trail...

It does the red marker etc... I have waypoints set for every 250 metres, so, of course, it cuts some corners.  It gives me both a GPX and a KML file when I wish.  It also gives me average speed, top speed, entire distance, segment distances, duration, ascent, descent, altitude, trackpoinst, waypoints, time of start and time of finish...  Fabulous!  I have just ordered a 12v plug to iphone connector for my DR.  I am going to fabricate a bracket for the iphone over the winter and wire that sucker in: no battery issues for me!  This will be great with my TOPO maps app too...

Download the gpx file here
Download the KML file here

Paul

Frosty Ferns-so much for my last legal ride...

Jack Frost Leaves Some Paisley Etchings

No riding for me this morning...

Next Year's Plan: Leg 1

Next spring the plan has to be for Ryan, Andy and myself to spend a weekend getting from Nanaimo to Mt Boldluc, Flora Lake and perhaps even a bevvy in Port Renfrew.  It would be a two-three day ride/fish/camp with base camp being at Caycuse or Nixon Creek.  Leg one of that trip would be from Weigles to Youbou for gas.  The trip from Boomerang is 93 km.  The question is can Andy's tank make it?

Click on image for a larger rendition...

Weigles to 4th Lake - which we did two or three weekends ago - looks about 40% of the way.  Andy would need to fill up in Youbou before back tracking around the West End of the lake to the camp site on the south side of the lake.  The first day would be Nanaimo - Youbou - Nixon Creek.  The second day would be Nixon Creek to Boldluc to Renfrew and back to Nixon Creek.  The last day could be Nixon Creek to Flora Lake and Nitnat, then back to Nanaimo via Youbou for gas.

Whattdya Think?

Paul

Another Weigles Work Around???

Found this trail on Google Earth, with a pictures by Ross Collicut...The Trail is in Dark Red.  I think it's the one that cuts left up a step of mud just before the Quad pond...

The pictures found on the red trail are below...not sure how hospitable it looks, but maybe worth a go...

Escape From Weigles!

Andy and I met at the Metral Bux and headed off to do a spot of fishing.  Well it was a good old gumbo-day today, with more mud and "biowaste solids" spread on the roads into Weigles than I've ever smelled before.  I aired the tires down to 22psi front and rear today, and despite the rear TKC-80 looking long in the tooth, the tires were great.  I was considering going to a D606 on the rear, but I don't know if I'll ever encounter slicker mud, deeper puddles or more rutted gumbo than we saw today, and the tires never had a problem.  As I was airing the tires down, Andy met an old sailing acquaintance of mine who let us know that there is an alternative way into the logging roads rather than the Domount-Weigles tank-trap route.  The traps are fine, except as they fill with water, you're never sure if an ATV'er has dropped a log in the bottom of one, and, at the speeds we swoop in and out of those "Squamishes" (as the locals call them), that could be a neck breaker.

After getting to one of the nearer fishing holes I promptly snapped my rod on a snag, and so went for a walk to find some other bounty while Andy fished.  I stumbled upon some chantrelles which were about a week old, but still in good nick, and so collared them.  I also stumbled on these...



 I hadn't seen any of these since being in New Ayanch in northern BC 20 or so years ago, so, although I'm 99.9% sure I know what they are, I wasn't sure enough to take and eat them.  So I left them - hopefully for their spores to populate the area.  I know they have some in Shawnigan Lake, but they are usually higher than this...And no, I'm not telling...what, where or how...they're too "lucrative", and this information will encourage others to decimate the area to harvest them.

After fishing was a bust, Andy and I decided to try to find an alternative way back to civilization based on what my sailing buddy had intimated earlier.  So with GPS's in hand and fading light we headed east...

 The yellow trail is the usual spot to our fishing areas via Weigles Road and the tank-traps.  The green to red is the connector past Boomerang, and then the red is the new route back to the yellow gate at the end of Weigles/Domount road.  We explored all the main spars off the road in the clear cut, until we got to a road that entered the forest...

Little did I know that I had been here before.  Ryan had taken me this way as an alternative to Weigles a few months ago, albeit the other way.  I was to remember why I didn't like this trail at the time and dismissed it at as comfortable alternative...

Looking back down the dirt climb.  Going up the muddy rutted slope was not bad.  The torquey beast just loped up it.  My rear tire was my concern, but it needn't have been as SuziQ just loped up.  Looking down afterwards, I had a flashback.  Ryan had taken me down this slope when I had first had my bike.  I damn near didn't do it after I watched him skid all the way down with his rear locked up.  Basically, I rolled it down using the clutch and breaks for stoppage...  It's funny how time flies and now, I don't think, even in the mud, I'd worry too much about it.  Stand on the pegs, grip the tank and pump the brakes gently if you need to.  Just keep steerage!  Yeah, right.  Sounds easy!  A 606 is more aggressive, and one of those on the back would certainly hang on better than a TKC if you needed to trail brake a little.  But on the road, the TKC is far superior according to the posts I've been reading.  Ahh well, a decision to ponder over the winter...

All in all, a great day for both of us.  We both really enjoyed navigating our way round the back side of Weigles, sans biowaste...

My Next Gloves?

Caught this on one of the DR650 bulletin boards:

just wanted to share this with you all out there, bought a pair of these at REI for about $40 and they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
http://www.skinnyskis.com/Products/Swix-Mens-Membrane-Split-Lobster-Mitts__765698126.aspx

I kid you not - I love these things like Joanie loves Chachie.

Not only do they keep me warm in the cold and dry in the wet but because the palm side is only one layer I don't lose ANY sensitivity or control on the bars.

all of the cold/wet gloves I have tried that run to less than $150 have either been a poor fit and/or have been horrible to use because of the dual layer causing 'slippage' between my hands and the bars.

finally - my quest to find a decent cold weather glove for a decent price is over!

these are so awesome I'm not sure I'm even going to bother with installing heated grips this winter.

Yeah Baby

Out early, on the bike in the sun with a coffee at last!

Snow On Bolduc

One of my favourite rides this year was up to see the crashed Locheed Ventura on Mt. Bolduc. I was interested to see this - the first visitor to the site since my trip up. There's snow there already!

Log Date: 11/6/2011
I have been talking about coming here for years, so today was finally the day. Made 1 wrong turn thanks to the nuvi, but other wise it was a nice simple drivr to! We hit snow at about 700m and it got to about 2 inches at gz!! Mrs. GK did not like the drive up!! Wow. Awesome spot!! We left a new poppy on the poppy tree and had a little walk about.  Very  quiet. 

P

Sent from Miphone

Out and About...

Must Be Fall

Nearly time for the insurance to lapse...