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FASTn50
11-23-2008, 11:01 PM
I doubt few if any will actually read this to the end so I’ll start off by giving you the Prize in the Cracker Jacks first because it would be a shame if you didn’t learn of this excellent restaurant in Gibsons just ‘cause I can’t write a spell binding story! I had an hour and a half to kill before the ferry back and stopped in at this restaurant:

Haus Uropa Restaurant
426 Gower Pt Rd
Gibsons, BC
604-886-8326
www.hausuroparestaurant.com

Kyle & Rolanda Nygren own the restaurant. I told them my schedule and let them pick the menu. The food was truly wonderful! A generous glass of a very tasty red wine was served and the meal began with a very fresh crusty roll and a large bowl of hot and creamy celery soup. Delicious and a perfect warm-up after a crisp ride! The main meal was a lamb shank perfectly cooked in a rich dark gravy. Sweet potato was served as a soufflé, thin sliced medallions of grilled zucchini, pumpkin cubed and prepared in a sweet sauce, stuffed red pepper and tiny red potatoes were roasted to perfection. NOTHING remained on my plate at the end of the meal but a bone! A cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cake completed my indulgence. $67 plus tip and worth every penny! I LOVE finding places like this on my rides! As usual, my only association with this restaurant is as a first time customer. I received no special deal or consideration. I’m just passing on what I think is an excellent place to stop for a great meal and good grog! For me, it is an integral part of an epic ride.
Turns out Kyle rides a 1983 BMW R100 that now qualifies for a “Collector” plate.

Now for the ramble:
Out of necessity, I have been a slave to my work seven days a week, 10 – 16 hours a day for so long now I forget exactly when this marathon began but I’m pretty sure it was around the time of the Zofka Ridge Race! Apart from the odd FVDRA meeting, Supermoto meeting, waving flags at the arena cross rides and the occasional free (or not so free) meal with friends or family, mostly at their insistence just to verify I’m still alive and not wearing the same clothes as the last time they met with me, life has just been work and the only riding the commute back and forth between the office and home trapped amidst the cagers reading their papers, text messaging and drinking Starbucks or anything else but driving!

On weekends old Ebenezer, that would be me, permits the drones to start at 9 am instead of the usual 7 am. Today (Sunday) as you well know was a particularly beautiful day compared to the previous dozen or so and I realized after a couple of hours that nobody really cared if I was there at work or not and though I will break out in a sweat at 2 am tonight when it occurs to me what I didn’t do which must be done by Monday morning, there was nothing stopping me from jumping on the bike and head to somewhere twisty! So I did!

I caught the 1:20 to Langdale with the intention of a quick cruise to Eggmont and back. Anyone that has ever ridden with me knows I’ll never get that far because I have an uncanny knack to find every dead end road published or otherwise and do them repeatedly whether I’ve previously “discovered” them before or not! Fortunately, I don’t remember doing them before and they are usually an interesting ride but inevitably the day has slipped away long before the itinerary! I don’t care; I enjoy my rides thoroughly and I get to do all those tasty twists’ I find twice!

One of the items on the itinerary was to find that dirt track John Parker keeps referring to. Talk about a local secret! I must have ridden back and forth between Sechelt and Roberts Creek 4 times and asking the locals at each end only to be greeted with blank stares! And no, of course I didn’t bother to look up the directions before I left…. A tow truck driver in Sechelt finally got me off the goose chase and to the track. I see why Parker keeps going back! It could probably use a little machine grooming and is a little sandy but even as is it looks like a great all weather, year round track to keep the dirt skills honed. As soon as my desk gets cleared I’m heading back there with the knobbies!

As for the road riding, virtually all the leaves have been “swept” off the paved surfaces and there was little traffic on the “lower” roads. I enjoyed some good brisk riding and though I didn’t get past Sechelt and up to the paradise past Pender, it was still an excellent afternoon and much better spent wearing out the Pirelli’s than sitting at a desk counting beans! And, as mentioned, found another great place to enjoy exceptional food!

That’s about it. Time to stop goofing around and do some of that work I should have done! :tredmill

Watch for frost! :blindside

p.s. A BIG thank you to the Gibsons McD at the top of the hill! :hurryup

BLADERUNNER 954
11-23-2008, 11:22 PM
oh the track up near sechelt, up behind the gravel pit? iirc it's a right turn off the highway, up passed a residential area, then you look down onto this track which has huge elevation.

FASTn50
11-23-2008, 11:53 PM
oh the track up near sechelt, up behind the gravel pit? iirc it's a right turn off the highway, up passed a residential area, then you look down onto this track which has huge elevation.

Ya Roger, that's it. Have you ridden it? I'll let you know when I go and maybe drag you and Andrew up there. It looks like a great place! I started to ride the VFR down the hill but realised in time the road is pretty soft sand and I might have had to call that tow truck to get me outta there! Maybe he was counting on it when he gave me directions! :laughing

J1k
11-24-2008, 07:17 AM
let me know when, i will will follow you up there,i'll have more time than i need on my hands very soon.

FASTn50
11-24-2008, 08:00 AM
let me know when, i will will follow you up there,i'll have more time than i need on my hands very soon.

Will do John. I have to find out where to get the key for the gate etc and it will be well into December and maybe not even until the break between Christmas and New Years before I can get away again but for sure I'll get in touch. Parker should be able to help with the access info.
Again, :thumbup on your decision. In the long run it's all good for you and your family. Instead, I'll have the commute to get the bikes to you!:eek At least I'll have the comfort of knowing no more of my money will be going into Mikes pocket!:rockon

sushigrl
11-24-2008, 11:17 AM
sunshine coast trip without me? i'll remember that!

BLADERUNNER 954
11-24-2008, 05:39 PM
Ya Roger, that's it. Have you ridden it? I'll let you know when I go and maybe drag you and Andrew up there. It looks like a great place! I started to ride the VFR down the hill but realised in time the road is pretty soft sand and I might have had to call that tow truck to get me outta there! Maybe he was counting on it when he gave me directions! :laughing

yes , Andrew and myself had ridden that place maybe 3 years ago. back then it was on an honor system, where you put some money/donation in a metal box, if you did not have a key. two riders let us in, once they noticed we made an effort to pay.

i'm sure the track layout has changed over the years, but that hill is not going anywhere:laughing

FASTn50
11-24-2008, 10:03 PM
sunshine coast trip without me? i'll remember that!

Greetings from Arlington Texas! I'm doing the 24 hr whirlwind tour! :( All work and no play but I'll be back home Tuesday night!

:laughing Believe me, I thought of you Anna! Had I actually planned the escape from work earlier I would have dropped you a note to see if you wanted to go with. I'm surprised though; all your recent posts seem totally preoccupied with dirt! Who would have believed it a year ago, eh? :laughing

I promise never to go there again without offering you the opportunity to join me! Maybe we can talk you into joining us in the sandbox in sechelt with full knobbies when we head up there with the dirt bikes? I hope so! Then the next step will be to work on getting you out to the Supermoto races where you can string all your new experiences into a winning race! I'll gladly wave the flags for you if I could ssee that!:rockon
:cheers

sushigrl
11-25-2008, 05:59 PM
haha ya the street-worthy toys are sleeping. i'm playing dirty now, at least trying to. 99.9% of the time don't know what the heck i'm doing :laughing

FASTn50
11-25-2008, 11:30 PM
99.9% of the time don't know what the heck i'm doing :laughing

Thats the secret to all of my riding styles! And half the fun too!:)

mel22b
11-26-2008, 10:48 AM
Nice write up! Made me very hungry.