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Two Wheels Only Magazine says “This is luxury touring”

Two Wheels Only Magazine (UK)
February 2006 Issue
By Grant Leonard

“Around The Rugged Rockies”

....the ragged rascals ran, for 10 days over 2,000 miles of the best roads in the world.  This is luxury touring....

We were no longer in normal channels.  The family of nervous Mexicans in front and the little sweating Iranian chap behind should’ve given me a clue.  My wife Olivia was indignant.  Why had we been sent to this queue?  I should’ve been indignant too - after all, we’d arrived in British Columbia.  British.  Like it says on my passport.  You know, used to be a pink bit on the map.  “Do you know who I am?” I thought.  Yes, he certainly did.

“You were refused entry to Canada on 18 August 1986.  Why?”

“Oh, really, er, long time ago, that....” I blurted, the penny dropping with an audible clang.  “Ah, yes...yes...I think my US Visa only had a couple of weeks left on it, so the Canadian police sent me back to the US.” Twenty years ago during what they now call a ‘gap year’ I’d tried to pull the oldest trick in the book - when your three month Visa expires, nip across to Canada or Mexico for a day, come back in and get another three month Visa.  Being the oldest trick, it’s also the first one in the Immigration Officer’s book. 

“That would make sense.  Okay.  Welcome to Canada.  Next!”

Phew!  Olivia was obviously wondering what she’d married.

A two hour courtesy bus ride to Whistler later, our Holiday began with a drinks reception with our traveling companions.  We were on a Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays tour of Western Canada, a luxury tour combining the world’s best scenery with great roads and great plates of food.  Ten days and 2,500 miles with 11 traveling companions and 3 guides.  And all of us riding a varied selection of Triumphs: Tiger, Sprint ST, Speed Triple, Bonneville, Speedmaster and Daytona 650.  Something for everyone. 

I’ve always wanted to see the real Canada - ever since I was a kid, captivated by the mural on the wall behind Mrs. Gabbitas across-the-road’s settee.  It was a down-lit scene of snow capped, pine-covered mountains and a mirror lake.  The image stuck.

Riding in this part of the country is the ultimate antidote to riding in the UK.  Twisty roads, towering snowcapped mountains, endless straight roads and flat plains.  You see very little traffic at all, you ride at your own pace, the variety and quality of the roads is breathtaking - forever memorable.  The Holiday is all-inclusive and expensive, but I have to say worth it.  The experience is truly priceless. 

We went in September - it was still summer in the UK but autumn was evident in BC.  We had weather extremes of zero degrees to hot sunshine, dry to drizzle, but only 10 minutes of riding in the rain.  We climbed from Pacific Ocean-level into snow at over 2,000 metres. 

It’s a funny thing being on a group tour, thrown together from all parts of the world for an intense 10-day riding and eating experience.  By its nature it’s very sociable, and the group was as varied as the bikes we were riding.  There was the obligatory Scottish contingent, Neil and Sheena (Thunderbird) and Jim and Elizabeth (Tiger), zany Maria (Speedmaster) from New York City, our TWO competition winner, Zara (Bonneville) from Lincolnshire, Dave and Jacquie (Speed Triple and Sprint ST) llama farmers from Maine, Steve (Speed Triple), our resident Back Street hero from Oxford, and Lynsey and Ron (Sprint ST) the Brummies from Durham.  A right mix.  And we all got on from the first and had, it has to be said, a right laugh - and not really because we had anything much in common.  Except the bikes of course, which is all you need.

The Rockies is a vast mountain range on the west coast of Canada stretching from Vancouver in British Columbia over to Alberta and down to Montana, Idaho and Washington, USA, to the south.  The inspiration for the popular tune I’m a Lumberjack and I’m Okay , it’s an area of wilderness populated by bears, moose, elk, mountain lions, beavers, wolves, eagles and home to native Canadians (not sure if I’m allowed to say Indians).  Obviously I wanted to see a grizzly. 

“You don’t wanna see a grizzly,” drawls our guide Mac, over dinner (prime Alberta rump and lobster tail).  “No, really I do,” I insisted.  “No,” he continues, “if you see him, you’re probably too late.  He’ll hit 30mph in six seconds from a standing start.” Hmm.  Good reason not to be riding the Bonneville.  Mac then went on to describe the “grizzly” death of an unfortunate in recent weeks - two girls out jogging, one could climb trees, one couldn’t.

Always last away; we’d follow the guide till we caught the group.  No one gets left behind.  If the riding guide doesn’t stay with you, the pick-up truck (with spare bikes and luggage trailer) would sweep for you.  We’d been briefed the night before by tour boss Mike Ciebien and guides Jarvis and Jake on how to behave when riding in a group.  We would ride in a staggered formation, plenty of distance between us, pace set by the lead guide.  Any debris on the road should be indicated by pointing down or waving a foot.  We would encounter rock falls, so this is a good practice to adopt.  We could cut loose and ride at our own pace and meet at the various stops, or stick with the group.  Look out for ‘brown ice’ (cow shit) and ‘bear jams’ (traffic stopped to ogle a bear, etc.).  The emphasis was squarely on safety, getting there in one piece. 

The only other organized group-riding trip I’d been on was the Moto Giro in Italy.  This contrasted somewhat with the Canadian tour.  It involved a few hundred bikers on vintage to modern bikes thrashing round Italy, flat out in a sort on Cannonball Run with lunch stops in 30-degree heat.  If someone crashed or broke down, you’d stop and help, wait for the truck/ambulance, then tag on to someone else to race.  This was different.  It was all about enjoying the road, riding well, respecting your fellow riders and being very safe - quite a challenge, I thought.  And I found it every bit as satisfying as hammering along like a loony.

Riding a anything but a leisurely pace would miss the point.  The Rockies are all about scenery, the wild outdoors.  Riding a bike is the best way to see it and feel a part of it, out in the cold, fresh mountain air.  One day we rode through six different climatic zones.  Next best mode of transport would be bicycle, but you wouldn’t get very far in 10 days and the bears would probably get you.  As a biker I have developed a ‘third eye’, normally used for watching cars pulling out of turnings or doing U-turns.  Now I was using it for birds and animals, wow - o-my-God views and especially deer.  They’re as dangerous as black cabs in London.  These nervous little things hop about at the side of the road planning their deaths.  We’d ride over huge, browny -red smears where cars had suffered ‘deer strikes’.  Messy.

The ‘luxury’ aspect of the trip manifested itself in many ways, but the subtle touches made the difference.  The rest breaks were calculated to be 10 miles before the first twinge of numb-bum.  We never felt tired.  The guides, Mike and Mac, would go around everyone at the stops, polishing visors.  If we stopped to take in a view, you’d come back to your bikes all lined up neatly, no matter how they’d been left.  And all cleaned every night.

Bu the best part was not having to think.  That was all done for us.  Now that’s a Holiday.  Jarvis or Mike would give the ‘heads-up’, just before we set off again, an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and detailed description of where we’re going next, what to look out for (danger, scenery) and where we were going to fill up or stop.  I never listened to a word -always sounded to me like Miss Othmar in the Peanuts cartoon ("Blah, blah, blah...").  Not surprisingly, then, I missed a turn 500 yards after a rest stop and almost went careering into America - Idaho, actually - with two other riders following me to the border.  I don’t like borders…

And so you’d ride, follow-my-leader, line astern, nicely spaced and look around - a true magical mystery tour.  I’ve never ridden like this in 30 years and I loved it.  We had several stints of flat-out blasts, breaking with the group, but we all had maps and we didn’t stray too far.  Towards the end I had reached a state of Nirvana.  I didn’t want it to stop; I was loving the riding, never tiring.

We’d stay in hotels, always better than above average, with a couple of magical stopovers.  One was at Tekarra Lodge, in Jasper, a collection of cute wooden cabins scattered among a forest on top of a ridge with any unforgettable view.  After a long days ride Jarvis, our guide, lugged a cooler up to the look-out and we drank beer and wine while they put our luggage in our cabins.  Really this was true luxury.  Ironically, the cozy, smoky cabin was basic, but like stepping back into another era with its log fire and grandma’s feather bed.  And, adding to the ambience, a famous guest - Marilyn Monroe - stayed a few days there while shooting a movie back in 1954.  I actually found one of her earrings under the bed.  BC is used a lot by Hollywood: cheaper with every type of backdrop - city, desert, mountain, and glacier.  Tekarra Lodge also has a gourmet restaurant - as with every evening stop, we chose ‘a la carte’, all included, just paying for booze.  Of all the hotels, this was our favorite.  We stayed two days, blasting out on our free day to Miette Hot Springs for a bath in sulphurous hot water.  We got a dollar discount because the water was only 38 degrees instead of 40.  Like it was their fault.

We got back to find Maria having an open house - some of the group had gone horse riding, arrived too late, hit the supermarket instead and had a party.  The whole group ended up there ‘warming up’ for dinner in Jasper, and evening of sake, sushi and laughs.  We had choice of bike from the Triumph range and I had only one request; the Tiger.  It ticks all the boxes for a lively, long tour - long suspension for comfort and dodgy road conditions, big motor for torque, upright riding position, flat seat for pillion, luggage, big tank.  It did everything brilliantly.  I loved it.  The ride that I took home with me was the last leg on the last day.  Funnily enough we did the same ride on Day 1, but I don’t even remember it. I felt tuned into the road, to the bike and set into the twists and bends with the rhythm and precision of a downhill slalom skier, totally relaxed.  The odd cough through the Autocom reminded me I wasn’t alone.

Final rest stop was at a logjam on Duffey Lake - a sea of bleached tree trunks we could walk across.  There was the final emotional group photo (to the stains of Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song).  Then back to Whistler for dinner, lots of drinks and the long goodbye.

— June 27, 2007

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Testimonials

Hi to you all,

“Now that we are back to reality (back to work), we just wanted to say a truly big thank you to everyone on the team at Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays for an exceptional holiday. Especially Libby for the excellent organization and Ryan and Brandon for being brilliant guides. We hope to come again sometime in the future! Please feel free to give our number/email address to any prospective clients who wish to know first hand how good the whole experience was.”

Once again THANK YOU.

Bob & Jan Hughes, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England

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