In this segment we attempt to escape the rainy island for the main land and our duo becomes a trio.
Map for the day.
We woke up to rain and once again it was cold with temperatures hovering around 5-6C (around 40F) in the morning. The night before I had discovered a flaw with my micro-sized tent. It had room for me but not really much of my gear. Not a problem when it was dry but more of an issue with plenty of rain. As a (admittedly poor) solution I slept with gear piled on top of me in an effort to keep it dry. We packed up doing the best we could to keep the wet and dry items separate. We had moderate levels of success in this regard.
The rain briefly let up so we took a short tour of Ucluelet before leaving.
Boating related items are popular for decorating including a whole boat.
Quite a few artists selling to tourists.
We headed out on the road and I got very, very cold. Riding soaking wet in low temperatures with little sun at highway speeds is not a good combo. Especially when you bike offers almost protection without even a windshield. Despite having a schedule to keep by Port Alberni I demanded we stop at a McDonald’s where I used the hand dryer to dry out my gloves. I gobbled up a warm breakfast sandwich as well. I was too cold for photos on the journey across the island so unfortunately there are none. Plus we were cutting it close for ferry timing.
As we approached the ferry at Nanaimo there were signs telling us the ferry we were aiming for was full and the next one two hours later was almost at capacity. Despite this we continued on where we were waved through onto the first ferry. Apparently news of our trip had spread and we were famous … or bikes are small and get to jump the queue. Either way we were on the first boat with what felt like VIP treatment. In the line we meet up with an another friend of mine who lived near by in the Vancouver area. We had planned for him to join us. He informed me it had not rained for weeks on the Island previous to our arrival. His ride was a Honda CB300R which had only seen occasional use since he had purchased it new a few years ago. Our two became three as he joined us for a couple days of the trip.
The wait was so long for some that game of catch had was in full swing.
We were loaded up on the ferry. Some random dude on a Ninja got placed in between us.
The trip from Vancouver Island to Horseshoe Bay (main land area outside Vancouver the city) was uneventful.
This ferry was definitely less plush than the previous one but of course a lot shorter of a distance to travel. Thanks to our earlier loading we got to sit right up front and center.
The ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay.
Unlike the earlier, bigger ferry unloading was a very quick and efficient operation.
The scenic road up to Whistler along Highway 99. Whistler was the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics and I was looking forward to checking out the town. Unfortunately we did not end up exploring Whistler itself after finding out you can’t see anything beyond apartment buildings unless you park and take a bus into town. Bummer.
A look at the Honda CB300R. The tank bag looking uncomfortable and awkward to apparently worked well.
Packing priorities on display. Despite joining for only two days versus my eleven he had more stuff than I did strapped to the bike.
There is a red second generation Rx-7 if you squint really hard. I believe this is Pemberton.
We were out of room to haul our dinner to the campsite so I needed to strap parts of it to the back of my bike. A few brave hot dogs buns sacrificed themselves so others could stay intact. Some young people laughed at our packing strategy in the parking lot but it worked.
Fantastic roads up here! To top it off hardly any vehicles to slow us down or spoil the view. The lack of rental RVs was a nice chance of pace.
When we arrived at our campsite we were treated to a little bit more rain and a subtle rainbow (just visible in the above photo).
Three bikes, one campsite but annoyingly they charged us for each bike so we in effect paid triple what a full size camper would pay. Seemed a bit unfair.
We tried a bit of tent drying as best we could with fading sun light with only moderate success.
Our new addition brought some Crown Royal but I had neglected to bring any kind of a cup so a bowl was pressed into drink holding duty. While the mountain roads for today had been fantastic they were merely a warm up for the next set.
The full trip log:
Road Trip: Part 1 – Preparation and Starting a 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 2 – Best Laid Plans on a 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 3 – Making up Time – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 4 – The Miles Pile On Up North – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 5 – Heading for the Coast – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 6 – A Coastal Ferry Cruise – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 7 – Vancouver Island and Rain – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 8 – Rain, Rain and More Rain – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 10 – Riding Nirvana – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 12 – Beer, Dune Buggy and a Ferry – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Road Trip: Part 13 – Finale – 4,500km Road Trip on a 250cc Motorbike
Sorry to hear you had so much rain on Vancouver Island, but the scenery heading back looks amazing.
Small world (?) meeting a friend that far away from home…. when you say “lived nearby” did you mean Vancouver Island, or home in Leftbridge (sp?) – Either way, it kinda worked out well.
Love the camping solution for the whiskey. 🥃😉
Sorry it was not clear but we planned to meet up. He used to live in Lethbridge, now on Vancouver Island. I tried clarifying it a bit in the text above.
The scenery was amazing but the best is yet to come.
Wind, wet and 40F temps do not mix well. I salute you!
I’d been hoping that the third was actually ME and I’d somehow forgotten, but alas it was not so. Looks like a great route a bit further off the RV-beaten path.
How’s your friend like the CBR? That’s a 300R not a 300F isn’t it? A CBR250R is at the top of the list for Mrs DougD’s next ride.
Crown Royal is not my favourite, although for a motorcycle trip spirit I’m sure it does the job. My current fave is Balvenie 12 year doublewood, are there actually any really good Canadian whiskies??
Yes – you are right 300R it is.
I don’t claim to be a whisky expert – just drink whatever is poured for me. 🙂
“are there actually any really good Canadian whiskies??”
Good enough to be sipped from a wet plastic bowl, apparently. 🙂
Do a bit of research before buying a CBR250R. Even acknowledging Internet myths and exaggeration, they don’t have a great rep for standing up to North American highway usage. The 300 is supposed to have a stronger bottom end. A friend rode the 250R for a while … but coming from a GSXR1000 he found it a bit underpowered and upgraded to a Yamaha R3. I rode both briefly, very nice bikes, but the 321cc Yamaha twin was in a whole different class.
Hmm. You do see quite a few ads with “rebuilt engine” or “new engine”. However we don’t have any intention of subjecting it to the David Saunders duty cycle 🙂
Mrs DougD is quite a gentle rider who does not enjoy highways. For that sort of thing I have the Kawi C10 freight train 😉
You were clearly unlucky on weather. Although June is notoriously unreliable in southern BC. May can be sunny & warm, but for some reason June often regresses to much cooler & damper, before the often drought-like ‘real summer’ starts in July. I’ve been going to a music festival in Ymir, BC in early June for the past three years, and it’s virtually certain that 25C sunshine in the last week of May will become 15C rain by festival opening day. 🙂
“The night before I had discovered a flaw with my micro-sized tent. It had room for me but really much of of my gear.”
I assume you meant “not much of my gear”. This is why I consider garbage bags a must have item when camping. They make great rain covers for gear, among other things.
Actually I did have some items wrapped in garbage bags. There was so much rain pooling that it was starting to get in anyway for items that had to be placed on the ground or a table.
Ahh, that’s different then. Actually what we were taught in Boy Scouts, which I completely forgot until you mentioned your problem, was to cover your backpack with a garbage bag (or better still, an actual rain cover if it has one), and to get it up off the ground, like tie it to a tree or something. That, I assume, it to try to prevent the problem you had.
Tie it to a tree would have been a good idea actually. Did not think of it then.
Warming up at McDonalds after a rainy ride, we’ve all been there.
What scenery! I am jealous. Once, in ’94 on a very very cold day, my two old Chevys failed to start. I started my Honda CB360 with the kick start and drove 18 miles to work. On the way it started to snow. I got a thumbs-up from a diehard Harley guy, but I would have rather been in a bright pink Geo Metro(sexual? Just thought of that…) at that moment. I got to work with my pants frozen in a teardrop shape on my legs. Stupid work ethic. Now I would stay home, but now I have an old Avalon which always starts. Stupid Toyota work ethic…