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Woman Rider Magazine says “One dynamite experience”

Woman Rider Magazine
Spring Issue, 2003
By Genevieve Schmitt

The scenery is some of the best in the world, but you don’t have to go far to witness these spectacular views. British Columbia is home to the Canadian Rockies, and for some reason when the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. cross over the border into Canada they get more magnificent and breath taking. Being a lover of the Rockies, I didn’t think this was possible. Maybe it’s the access. Roads that hug the mountainsides get you up close and personal with the expansive mountain ranges laid out before you. Maybe it’s the rugged, rocky peaks different than the peaks in the U.S., yet with their own kind of splendor. Maybe it’s the thousands of pristine lakes that fill the basins in between layers of mountains — mountains that slope down framing just the perfect picture. Maybe it’s the clean, crisp air, the unpolluted areas or the friendly, simple people. Maybe it’s all this wrapped into one dynamite experience that makes the Canadian Rockies a must-see on your list of “motorcycling musts”

For riders seeking a grand experience with a “foreign” feel, Canada is just the ticket. It qualifies as foreign travel with different money, different stamps, a different language (well, sort of, Canadian English resembles European English more than it does American English), and different road signs. Highway distances are measured using the metric system, as are gas prices. Most labels are printed in English and French, and the American dollar remains strong against the Canadian dollar, about $1.55, sweetening the urge to buy.

Motorcycle enthusiast Mike Ciebien of Whistler, B.C., knew he had a goldmine of views before him, so seven years ago he started his Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays. He runs four, seven and ten day tours starting in Whistler and heading east in various directions towards the B.C. Mountains. His tours are billed as “luxury” with guarantees of the finest hotels and most appealing restaurants in each area. The seven night, eight day tour I took lived up to its promise and then some.

The Service
Simply put: this is a tour company for those who want to be pampered. Pampering in motorcycling means not having to deal with mundane tasks that can bog down a motorcycle trip taking precious time away from sightseeing. Have you ever had anyone clean off your helmet visor at rest stops for you? How about fill up your motorcycle with gas while you’re enjoying lunch? Or what about having someone turn your bike around after you’ve pulled in headfirst? It’s all about customer service, and these three tour guides (one of whom was a woman) knew how to perform their duties to a T, making the seven male and five female riders and passengers feel like the “very important persons” they were on this trip

At first the guys, and even some of us ladies had a hard time giving in to the first class treatment. Motorcyclists are a self-sufficient breed, but slowly we all started getting used to it, realizing this kind of service was all part of the package for which we paid. Raymond Lane, a rider from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, who came with his wife, Kirbi, remarked, “I can surrender to that kind of service, but it’s not natural, particularly when Libby (one of the guides) is carrying my luggage up the steps.”

That’s right. Bellman is another job title these guides proudly wear. Our luggage was delivered to our hotel room each day upon arrival, and picked up outside our door the next morning. The guides also washed the motorcycles and performed routine maintenance on them each night ensuring they were in tip-top shape for the next day’s ride. (One day there were chocolate kisses sitting on our tanks.) Lane also noticed one guide checking around our lunch tables making sure no one forgot anything.

Why did the guides go the extra mile? So the riders could have more time to enjoy their rest stops, take pictures, read historical markers, get a drink and eat a snack. A cooler in the chase vehicle was always full of cold water and soda, and the guides played waiter at the rest stops. It’s all part of Ciebien’s philosophy stated in his brochure: “We do not lead you around, rather we help small groups of adventures enjoy their vacation to the fullest.”
The Route

Our “Western Canada in a Week” tour averaged a semi - leisurely 375 kilometers a day (233 miles). Our longest day was 450 kilometers (280 miles) and took us through a range of different ecological zones. Some areas, like the Okanagan Valley, were dry and arid with rolling hills reminding me of some desert areas of the U.S. I was quite surprised to see this kind of topography in Canada. I guess I envisioned the land “up there” either looking like the Pacific Northwest, or the Rocky Mountains. (I was later “reminded” that Canada is part of the same continent with the same ecological zones of the U.S. They just extend north into Canada. Duh!) Other areas reminded me of central California’s fertile agricultural landscape—large, lush, green fields growing vegetables and fruits with fresh ripe aromas. Each time we were about to enter a different climate zone, the guides alerted us so we could prepare accordingly with our riding gear.

The tour spends only one day in the heart of the Rocky Mountains with a rest stop in Glacier National Park (not the one in Montana) in the Selkirk Mountain Range where we rode through the famous Rogers Pass, and a lunch stop in Banff National Park beside stunning Lake Louise, and emerald jewel fed by glaciers. (The ten day tour that’s offered spends three days in the Rockies reaching north to Jasper.) The heart of the mountains is where the scenery was most awesome, literally taking my breath away.

The mountain roads were as diverse as you’ll come by. Lots of tight twisties mixed with long sweepers. One in particular came on the second to last day of the tour that had this motojournalist excited as a cocker spaniel after a bunny rabbit. The 55 kilometer West Side Road in the Okanagan Valley from Vernon to Kelowna can easily rate as one of the best motorcycling roads in North America. Riding the long twisty pavement that curled beside Okanagan Lake felt like riding a roller coaster except instead of going up and coming down, the curves on this coaster went side to side. One S connected to another, connected to another, not so tight as so you could see through five or six turns. Some spot were heavily lined with trees with others were wide open with magnificent vistas of the lake.
As we pulled into the hotel parking lot shortly after, my face flushed with exuberance with the Triumph Bonneville America under me humming with its own version of excitement, I heard a voice cry out to me with a certain British accent, “You were hustling that Bonnie, weren’t you?”

It was Marion Bond with her husband Nigel riding pillion, who had been hot on my tail on that leg of the ride.

“ To say the least,” I responded with a grin wider than the lake sparkling before us.

One of the joys of riding on this tour was swapping road tales with the international group of riders assembled; further adding to the tours’ “foreign” feel. The Bonds hailed from Dorset, England, and four others were Canadian including the guides. The remaining six were Americans.

For half of the tour, I rode the cruiser-style Bonneville America, the motorcycle I selected when I signed up. Ciebien owns a fleet of Triumphs that he rents to his customers, however, you are welcome to bring your own bike. Even though everyone had assigned bikes, we were invited to try out the other models. The guides always had the bikes washed and polished before we set off in the morning. I rode each of the six different models that were brought on this tour, adding an extra element of enjoyment to my overall experience. Day to Day
Our days were structured with each rest stop, gas stop, breakfast, lunch and dinner all planned out ahead of time. We were given a detailed map of our entire route at the beginning of the tour and at each rest stop the guides (one lead bike, one rear bike, and one in the chase vehicle) meticulously outlined the upcoming portion of the trip. They knew these roads backward and forward right down to where we’d find ruts in the pavement. While it can be enjoyable to travel with an air of uncertainty ahead, knowing what to expect allowed us to enjoy the scenery that much more.

We were not required to ride with the group, although most of us found the pace of the guides a pleasant one. Slower riders could travel at their own pace and ride with the rear guide and chase vehicle stayed behind the last rider. On the final day, the chase vehicle with all of its tools and a spare bike came in useful when the clutch cable on my traveling partner’s Sprint ST broke. In a matter of minutes, the spare bike was unloaded and we were on our way to catching up with the rest of the group.

Our ride days typically started at 7.00am for an hour’s full breakfast, usually served at the hotel, followed up with a multi-course lunch, concluding with dinner, the five course kind, commencing around 7.30pm.

You’ll never go hungry on this tour. In fact, I found the lunches to be too much. I, like most bikers I know, usually combine breakfast and lunch, filling in the afternoon gap with a light snack to avoid that post-lunch lethargy.

The accommodations were top-notch, the kind with fluffy pillows and fluffy towels in each room. There was lots of variation in the choice of accommodation with each stop offering a new and pleasant experience. All had TVs and a phone, except for an exquisite B&B we stayed at in Revelstoke, where those were found in the community room.

Our guides also knew which tourist spots we’d enjoy and which ones to avoid. One place that was off the beaten path, quite hard to describe and not listed in any tourism guide was a combination antique, ice cream and Christmas shop. On the outside it didn’t look like much, but it was one of those diamonds in the rough our guides knew we’d like.

This tour more than lived up to its promises as far as what could be controlled. The brochure did boast of incredible wildlife sightings, but I don’t recall seeing anything other than maybe a deer. That’s OK. The scenery, good riding and good company more than made up for an absent elk.

Sidebar:
Why Women might be attracted to Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays

1. Pack all you want. Your luggage is carried in the chase vehicle and there is no limit to the number of bags you can bring. Each motorcycles is equipped with saddlebags and a top box, so there is plenty of storage on the bike as well.
2. Try out different bikes. If you are not comfortable on the motorcycle you’ve chosen, the guides will do as much as they can shuffling around bikes to make sure they find one you like.
3. Bathroom breaks. There are plenty of bathroom stops scheduled throughout the day, including the first one usually just 40 miles into the ride—smartly planned for those big coffee drinkers. Joanne England, a passenger on this trip, noted, that “Woman’s needs are taken into account as far as washroom facilities. They were appropriate wherever we stopped.”
4. Icebreakers. After the first day’s ride, the guides organized an informal pre-dinner social in their hotel suite supplying wine, beer, soda and snacks as a way for the group to get better acquainted.
5. Female tour guide. It’s nice to have a female guide along to balance out the gender mix.
6. Discounted rate. To attract more women to his tour, women riders get a break on the rate.

— June 26, 2007

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Testimonials

"Hard to know where to begin with the praise. The RMMH staff could not do enough for you, nothing was too small for them to deal with promptly in a friendly and profesional manner all we had to do was get on the bikes and enjoy ourselves, what more can you ask. A pleasure to meet and make friends with everybody.”

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