2012 Rolling Over the 100K - Part 1 of 10

2012 Rolling Over the 100K

Part 1 of 10

What I Want to Do!

T minus 48 hours

Perfect Getaway

What I Want to Do!

I am making arrangements to go to Ottawa to visit my family this year. I love to do this by motorcycle and I plan to write this blog about the adventures I will no doubt encounter along the way. Unlike the disastrous trip I had in “Alaska Sunk” in 2010, I am expecting this trip to be a breeze. Uneventful at best. My secondary goal is to roll-over the 100,000 kilometres reading on my Harley Davidson odometer. Considering that I am her original owner and all those “clicks” have been put on by yours truly, I will consider that quite an achievement. I currently read 96,877 kilometres. To make my trip even more pleasant I bought myself a brand new Mountain Equipment Coop tent. I really didn't have much choice since my last tent was totally destroyed by catastrophic weather conditions in my 2010 Alaska Sunk trip.

T Minus 48 hours

Two days before I was scheduled to leave on my journey I stopped momentarily at a downtown Safeway store to buy a few last minute groceries. It was such a warm, sunny day and I was riding in a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Some people insist on riding in full leathers downtown on hot days which is a practice I don't subscribe to. When you're hot and sweaty you are distracted and your reflexes are impeded. After leaving the store I found myself cruising down Kingsway in the heart of the City of Burnaby without my helmet. I hadn't noticed this. Neither had two policemen in a police cruiser riding alongside me in the outer lane of traffic. I turned-off at the first side-street I came across and made my way through the back-streets back to the store while remembering exactly where I had left my helmet. I'd left it right beside the cashier's register in isle number 6. When I got there, however, it had disappeared. It was gone. No-one had seen anyone take it. The manager made an announcement over the voice communication system but to no avail. It had been stolen. I had to take a bus home to pick up my spare helmet while wondering whether or not this was some kind of “Omen” for what was about to come. I bought a new Harley helmet at T Minus 24 hours.

Perfect Getaway

I can never sleep well before I leave on one of my adventures and this time was no exception. I was all set to go at some indecent early hour. I have packed my motorcycle well. I had carefully secured my new tent and sleeping bag; made sure that I had not packed too much stuff and I was gassed-up and ready to go. I had been monitoring the weather across the country for the last two months and it was good. Ottawa, especially, and throughout Ontario had been consistently sunny with above average temperatures. Many days had seen temperatures in the thirties. How wonderful! I wouldn't be needing my rain-suit this trip but I'd packed it anyway. My friends Perry and Carol had come to wish me well. I started the mighty Harley. She huffed and she puffed and spluttered with  anticipation and suddenly, in a deafening roar of pure Harley power - I was gone!