At least, that was his response when I asked how it can be so lush if it doesn’t rain. I’ve probably jinxed myself, but there has been no precipitation of any kind since I left Edmonton and 8C just 10 days ago.
I’m sitting in the leafy backyard of my latest hosts, Mindy’s cousin Diane and her husband Artie and thinking back on a trip I made five years ago to Ireland with friends John, Darcy and Grant. I remember my Uncle John in Belfast telling me I was mad “to bring people to this country for a motorbike ride. Sure, we haven’t had three dry days since Christmas!” We then had two glorious weeks of sunshine and blue skies; narrow, twisty roads; and 50 pints in pubs!!
Tuesday after breakfast, I took a long stroll along Nanaimo’s bustling waterfront park where seaplanes compete with fishing boats, kayakers, luxury yachts and ferry boats for space in the harbor. You can tell a lot about a community’s civic pride by the way it protects its public spaces and natural areas – like this and Edmonton’s largely unspoiled North Saskatchewan River valley.
Much of the credit in nanaimo goes to Black Frank Ney, former mayor and founder of the city's world famous bathtub races!
But the real pleasure of Nanaimo was meeting Richard, my first city editor in 1976 at the now defunct Brampton Daily Times. I was fresh out of Sheridan College’s J-school and still thinking I was going to be the next Hunter S. or Woodward and Bernstein!
Richard taught me a lot about editing copy, lessons I cleave to to this day. He was patient and kind, nd I thought a bit of a soft touch. But I remember him expertly marshalling his troops day after day during the Mississauga train derailment that sparked (literally) the greatest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history! What a story for a young reporter to cut his breaking-news teeth on! I forgot to bring that up.
After leaving Brampton -- just ahead of me -- Richard was the editor of the Nanaimo paper before taking up teaching duties at Malaspina College, now Vancouver Island University or “the institution” as he calls it! We spent a pleasant hour over some great food at Gina's Mexican Cafe talking about the people we had worked with, what we’d been up to and where we had been the past 34 years, the passing of Richard’s wife Anne, who I remembered as a lovely woman and his plans for the next stage of his life with his new love in Victoria. Good further to you, Richard!
Heading south on BC Hwy. 1, the Trans-Canada Highway through the communities of Ladysmith, Duncan and North Cowichan, I had two decidedly different encounters with other motorcyclists.
The first was a fellow Beemer rider who waved his hand up and down palm flat to say slow down and wagged his finger. Cops! Sure enough, around a rocky bend on the Malahat section of the highway, the RCMP had several bikes and cars pulled over with flatbed tow trucks already loaded with a bike. Thanks for the warning, buddy! (I wasn’t speeding and the Bike-a-Lounger is anything but noisy, but who knows!)
I stopped in a rest area to make a call to my hosts. But something wasn’t right. I put my emergency flashers on but nothing happened. I tried to start the Bike-a-Lounger, but nothing! Aw crap! My first breakdown and I knew right away it was the darned immobilizer screwing with me again.
The security system on the BMW K1200LT is complicated. I’m sure if I had bought the bike new I would have been schooled in its any technological complexities. But they guy I bought it from didn’t mention it and I didn’t know about it to ask. The security manual requires an enegineering degree, preferably from a good German university!
What to do? What to do? I popped up the driver’s seat to access the fuses. I started pulling them all and putting them back in. There are four in each of three locations. It takes time, it’s fiddly and if you drop one (or two!!) good luck fishing them out of the tight little crevices and tangle of wires and hoses hidden under the seat.
As I was doing this, a Mountie on a motorcycle rode by without even looking in my direction. Even if he couldn’t provide technical advice, it would have been nice to know he cared enough to stop and ask if I needed help!
Two other bikers stopped and one said he’d watch for me on his return trip. If I was still there, he’d give me a lift to a nearby bike shop. Now, that’s what I call the Brotherhood of the Bike! That’s why I salute all other riders as we meet. It means, if you ever need a hand, I’ll do what I can! Even if it’s pulling all your fuses for you, which works for me! After about 30 minutes on the side of the highway, I got the Beemer started and the bags back on and secured! Crisis averted.
I’m off to meet Jim, who has ridden his beloved Bucephalus, a venerable Honda TransAlp named for Alexander the Greek’s trusty steed, from Edmonton to Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina’s Tierra Del Fuego; to China, Pakistan and India; and north to Alaska. Even after completing this cross- Canada ride, I'll have barely scratched the total miles Jim has amassed in a lifetime of riding.
I’ve got 2,019 kilometers under my belt so far, for an average of about 225 clicks a day. That’s a pretty fair clip considering all the stops for pix and sightseeing. Only 13,981 or so to go!
Please remember the Ride for Sight! More on that in a post later today.
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