selecus
06-15-2008, 10:37 PM
It was a beautiful weekend, so my friend and I decided to take advantage. This was my first time doing this circuit; the trip was absolutely fantastic but had one flaw, read on...
Saturday June 14th:
We headed to the Okanagan and decided to drive through Manning park after Hope. Amazing road, yet it was surprisingly chilly. Also barely managed to make it to Princeton, basically rolled into the gas station on fumes. From there we stopped in Keremeos at the Pasta Trading Post for lunch, great little place, had a nice rustic feel to it.
Next we rode to Summerland, thinking we'd spend the night there, instead we doubled back to Penticton and stayed at the Penticton lakeside Resort. This started off as a budget camping trip, instead we splurged on a $180 room with a view of the lake (I lack discipline). Naturally the next step was to head down to the lakeside patio for beers; beers turned into tequila shots, which turned into double vodka tonics, followed by an excursion to " Dance Moves" on Main street. It was a messy evening; once again, I lack discipline.
Sunday June 15th:
Scheduled departure was 10am, but surprise, surprise, we both woke up with a wicked hangover; actual departure, 12:00pm. Would probably have been even later had the hotel permitted late checkout. So off we went to Merritt via the 97, as most of you know, there isn't much else to do on this road other than ride really, really fast. Stopped in Merritt for a burger and that's when the real fun began. We took the "8" to Spences Bridge; this is the most fun I've ever had during the course of my short riding career. The road was beautiful, full of twisties with zero traffic. It was totally unexpected, we were taking this route just to get to Hell's Gate Canyon, which was also fantastic. Some scary gusts of wind where knocking us around a bit, but for the most part it was great. I especially enjoyed the series of tunnels...
We finally rolled into Hope around 6pm, when my wonderful weekend took a horrible turn. As I was pulling into the Husky station, I hit gravel and down I went. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, but my bike did suffer, broken mirror and front right blinker, nose and right fairings scratched. Nothing I can't fix, but damn that sucked. As if the ride from Hope to Vancouver isn't boring enough, I had this to muddle over all the way home! Live and learn I guess...
Anyway, still a great weekend overall. I've attached some pics below...
Have a good week folks, and watch out for the gravel!
Saturday June 14th:
We headed to the Okanagan and decided to drive through Manning park after Hope. Amazing road, yet it was surprisingly chilly. Also barely managed to make it to Princeton, basically rolled into the gas station on fumes. From there we stopped in Keremeos at the Pasta Trading Post for lunch, great little place, had a nice rustic feel to it.
Next we rode to Summerland, thinking we'd spend the night there, instead we doubled back to Penticton and stayed at the Penticton lakeside Resort. This started off as a budget camping trip, instead we splurged on a $180 room with a view of the lake (I lack discipline). Naturally the next step was to head down to the lakeside patio for beers; beers turned into tequila shots, which turned into double vodka tonics, followed by an excursion to " Dance Moves" on Main street. It was a messy evening; once again, I lack discipline.
Sunday June 15th:
Scheduled departure was 10am, but surprise, surprise, we both woke up with a wicked hangover; actual departure, 12:00pm. Would probably have been even later had the hotel permitted late checkout. So off we went to Merritt via the 97, as most of you know, there isn't much else to do on this road other than ride really, really fast. Stopped in Merritt for a burger and that's when the real fun began. We took the "8" to Spences Bridge; this is the most fun I've ever had during the course of my short riding career. The road was beautiful, full of twisties with zero traffic. It was totally unexpected, we were taking this route just to get to Hell's Gate Canyon, which was also fantastic. Some scary gusts of wind where knocking us around a bit, but for the most part it was great. I especially enjoyed the series of tunnels...
We finally rolled into Hope around 6pm, when my wonderful weekend took a horrible turn. As I was pulling into the Husky station, I hit gravel and down I went. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, but my bike did suffer, broken mirror and front right blinker, nose and right fairings scratched. Nothing I can't fix, but damn that sucked. As if the ride from Hope to Vancouver isn't boring enough, I had this to muddle over all the way home! Live and learn I guess...
Anyway, still a great weekend overall. I've attached some pics below...
Have a good week folks, and watch out for the gravel!