elevation
05-19-2008, 09:13 AM
I lay in bed early Sunday morning and am getting constant text messages "encouraging" me to come out for a one nighter ride to Big White and back. Eventually I caved in and put my stuff together and headed out. I would catch up to the group either in Pemberton or Lilloet. I filled up at the Westridge/Westmount Chevron. I would have enough gas to make it to Lilloet on one tank. The S2S was not as bad as last year. Now the traffic is the worst thing about it and not the condition of the road. Squamish to Whistler was heavily congested as well. I only saw a few police cruisers from Squish to Whistler. Once I passed the Whistler city limits thought it would be smooth sailing up until Duffey. Nope. Five Police cruisers were making sure to keep things "safe". I don't think my speedo read over 100up until I reached Duffey. As I approached Duffey Lake Road I prepared myself for the assualt on my bike and myself. Despite the rough pavement I was still able to average a good rate of speed. I sure you have all read the various posts about the conditions of Duffey Lake Road so I will spare you my similar opinion. One thing I completely forgot about the road was just how beautiful it was. The scenery is spectacular and I did find myself slowing down to enjoy it. Nearing Lilloet I know I am only about 20min behind my buddies so it will be good to catch up to them.
This is the point where it literally goes downhill from here... :surrender
I am about 13kms from Lilloet when I notice my ABS light flashing and my tachometer is acting odd. At this time I am coming down the first of many ultra steep declines with 180 degree corners. Just for added fun the pavement is now replaced by dirt and my bike has the equivilent of a seizure. All the lights on my dash are flashing and my bike is losing power. Trying to focus on the road and the bike, I realise that I am going to have a seizure if I can't focus. I shut the bike down, pull the clutch in and coast around the corner (still managing a wave at the cruisers going through!). I put it into neutral and continue my descent down into Lilloet. After 10 kilometers of coasting I start to feel like I am just going to coast into Lilloet! How cool would that be! Keeping my speed up I am reaching the 3km marker to Lilloet when the road decides to go flat. For fun I get to deal with a 1-3% incline so it a pain in the ass to try and 'Fred Flinstone' it. I pull over and start checking on my fuses and none of have blown. Shit. I quickly realise that this is not an easy fix and I am stuck here. By the time I figure this out a truck comes by and offers his help. I asked him if he could just go into town and track down my buddies. He gives me a can of Coke and off he goes. Not two minutes later a guy on a cruiser comes by and offers to give me a ride into town. As I am coming into town I see my buddies heading out to meet me. I give them the details and I wait it out at some place called Lou's. There are several other familiar riders there, so it that was good. Evan (BELDAR), Mark (fjr-eh), and a few others stay with me until we figure out a solution. My buddies come back (coincidently, one of them is my mechanic!) and they tell me that I am completely 100% SOL'ed. Well it looks like I get to use my BCAA membership. My bike is now at the lightfoot gas station and I send the tow truck there. Evan, and the others move on now that I am taken care of but Mark stays back as I may need to be two up'ed from Whistler to home. With my BCAA membership I get 160kms of free towing. If I was to use up the entire 160kms it would get me to somewhere between Whistler and Squamish. Mark has a friend in Whistler where my bike can stay the night. So we stick with that plan for now.
After about 40mins two tow trucks show up from TNT automotive, a flat deck and regular tow truck. We load the bike up onto the flat deck and secure it. Looking at the truck, it seems like overkill having my bike loaded up full size truck with a 20 ft flat deck. Mark goes on ahead and will meet me in Whistler. I get into the truck and off we go back down the Duffey :banghead. Now, we all thought we had it rough going through the Duffey... It is TEN TIMES WORSE in a full sized truck with dualies. The entire time it felt like I was riding in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. Meanwhile every fifteen minutes or so, the rear tire of my bike starts slipping back and forth. The driver is kind enough to stop and tighten down every time is starts to move. Nearing Pemberton we make a deal to take my bike right to the Westport\Westridge Chevron in West Van. This will save me a trip to Whistler tommorow. I call Mark and tell him to push on ahead. Once we reach better pavement the trip is alot smoother and we are making good time. I have a greater understanding for all large truck drivers. What is a simple twist of the wrist up a hill for me is a complex guage of momentum, downshifting, and braking them.
The next slow down we have is a R1 rider doing exactly the speedlimit on the S2S. I laugh and explain why to the driver and he understands. Then I quickly start to depise the R1 rider. Upon every passing zone the rider lets all the cars pass then at the last second when there is only 100M left of the passing lane, R1 idiot zips ahead and gets in front of everyone. The R1 idiot does this all the way up to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. We pass the R1 F'ing idiot later on the upper levels. He/She was riding a dark red R1 with a red and white skull helmet, what a tool! :2guns :gun
Upon reaching the gas station, we unload the bike, I pay the guy, and off he goes. Took us about 3.5 hours but Robin of TNT automotive did a great job securing the bike and getting me close to home. About 15 minutes later, my girlfriend came by and took me and my broken ass bike home. What a day!
A huge thanks to Mark for helping me out. Finding a place to park my bike for the night and offering to two up me home from Whistler was extremely generous. The biggest hero of the day was my BCAA card. If I did not have it and I had my bike towed to Vancouver, it would have been a $900+ bill. With my BCAA Plus membership it only cost me about $200. My $120 membership has paid for itself for the next five years of renewals. If I had the Premium membership it would have been FREE! Those of you that don't have BCAA might want to reconsider. Another bonus of having a BCAA memebership is the $7 to $10 off hotel/motel stays. It adds up! Needless to say my BCAA membership has paid off very well.
66517
This is the point where it literally goes downhill from here... :surrender
I am about 13kms from Lilloet when I notice my ABS light flashing and my tachometer is acting odd. At this time I am coming down the first of many ultra steep declines with 180 degree corners. Just for added fun the pavement is now replaced by dirt and my bike has the equivilent of a seizure. All the lights on my dash are flashing and my bike is losing power. Trying to focus on the road and the bike, I realise that I am going to have a seizure if I can't focus. I shut the bike down, pull the clutch in and coast around the corner (still managing a wave at the cruisers going through!). I put it into neutral and continue my descent down into Lilloet. After 10 kilometers of coasting I start to feel like I am just going to coast into Lilloet! How cool would that be! Keeping my speed up I am reaching the 3km marker to Lilloet when the road decides to go flat. For fun I get to deal with a 1-3% incline so it a pain in the ass to try and 'Fred Flinstone' it. I pull over and start checking on my fuses and none of have blown. Shit. I quickly realise that this is not an easy fix and I am stuck here. By the time I figure this out a truck comes by and offers his help. I asked him if he could just go into town and track down my buddies. He gives me a can of Coke and off he goes. Not two minutes later a guy on a cruiser comes by and offers to give me a ride into town. As I am coming into town I see my buddies heading out to meet me. I give them the details and I wait it out at some place called Lou's. There are several other familiar riders there, so it that was good. Evan (BELDAR), Mark (fjr-eh), and a few others stay with me until we figure out a solution. My buddies come back (coincidently, one of them is my mechanic!) and they tell me that I am completely 100% SOL'ed. Well it looks like I get to use my BCAA membership. My bike is now at the lightfoot gas station and I send the tow truck there. Evan, and the others move on now that I am taken care of but Mark stays back as I may need to be two up'ed from Whistler to home. With my BCAA membership I get 160kms of free towing. If I was to use up the entire 160kms it would get me to somewhere between Whistler and Squamish. Mark has a friend in Whistler where my bike can stay the night. So we stick with that plan for now.
After about 40mins two tow trucks show up from TNT automotive, a flat deck and regular tow truck. We load the bike up onto the flat deck and secure it. Looking at the truck, it seems like overkill having my bike loaded up full size truck with a 20 ft flat deck. Mark goes on ahead and will meet me in Whistler. I get into the truck and off we go back down the Duffey :banghead. Now, we all thought we had it rough going through the Duffey... It is TEN TIMES WORSE in a full sized truck with dualies. The entire time it felt like I was riding in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. Meanwhile every fifteen minutes or so, the rear tire of my bike starts slipping back and forth. The driver is kind enough to stop and tighten down every time is starts to move. Nearing Pemberton we make a deal to take my bike right to the Westport\Westridge Chevron in West Van. This will save me a trip to Whistler tommorow. I call Mark and tell him to push on ahead. Once we reach better pavement the trip is alot smoother and we are making good time. I have a greater understanding for all large truck drivers. What is a simple twist of the wrist up a hill for me is a complex guage of momentum, downshifting, and braking them.
The next slow down we have is a R1 rider doing exactly the speedlimit on the S2S. I laugh and explain why to the driver and he understands. Then I quickly start to depise the R1 rider. Upon every passing zone the rider lets all the cars pass then at the last second when there is only 100M left of the passing lane, R1 idiot zips ahead and gets in front of everyone. The R1 idiot does this all the way up to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. We pass the R1 F'ing idiot later on the upper levels. He/She was riding a dark red R1 with a red and white skull helmet, what a tool! :2guns :gun
Upon reaching the gas station, we unload the bike, I pay the guy, and off he goes. Took us about 3.5 hours but Robin of TNT automotive did a great job securing the bike and getting me close to home. About 15 minutes later, my girlfriend came by and took me and my broken ass bike home. What a day!
A huge thanks to Mark for helping me out. Finding a place to park my bike for the night and offering to two up me home from Whistler was extremely generous. The biggest hero of the day was my BCAA card. If I did not have it and I had my bike towed to Vancouver, it would have been a $900+ bill. With my BCAA Plus membership it only cost me about $200. My $120 membership has paid for itself for the next five years of renewals. If I had the Premium membership it would have been FREE! Those of you that don't have BCAA might want to reconsider. Another bonus of having a BCAA memebership is the $7 to $10 off hotel/motel stays. It adds up! Needless to say my BCAA membership has paid off very well.
66517