Thursday, July 8th - Day 5 - "Iron Butts"

Right away I just want to thank Birdrunner of Sport-Touring.net for suggesting I skip Calgary, and go directly from Edmonton to Jasper.. As stated in the previous blog, it was a great idea. As well, Birdrunner and Gary of RideOnTwo.com said I HAD to see highway 93 "Icefield Parkway" to Banff, and that was gorgeous.


And today's jaunt to Revelstoke, was ALSO by Birdrunner. Tomorrow's legs are also his suggestion and I can't wait to see what's in store!


It's incredible how an invisible line on a map marking a provincial border can have so much influence in the climate, geography, and terrain. Practically as soon as I passed the sign saying "Welcome to Beautiful British Columbia", the temperature jumped from 21 to 33.. Oh man, those guys that warned me about crossing the desert this summer down in the southern states were right to offer the warning. Even travelling fast, the wind going through my vents and in my collar was like that in an unconditioned '89 Ford Taurus, lol! Ah well, still a lovely ride. Hitting the few tunnels along the way was nice as well. A few spots along the way allowed for a bit of leaning, which was lovely (and since I thinned out the gear and dropped the backpack in Edmonton, the handling feels so much better. Who cares if I wear the same clothes every day for 3 months and smell like an A&W Grandpa Burger with extra onions? 


The best part though was where the road splits through this massive rock, that was blasted and drilled through into two vertical spires that sit on either side of the road. It looks ridiculous but awesome at the same time. I wanted to take a picture but the road was sloped down and curving so it was just too nice a ride to pull over and stop.


Had an AMAZING medium-rare steak at a placed called 112 in the Regent Hotel in downtown Revelstoke tonight. Topped with minced shrimp and Alaskan King Crab with a -something starting with a 'B'- sauce.. outstanding.


Last night stayed at the Samesun in Banff which was an awesome idea. Backpackers are great people. Actually a lot of the people there were travelling by cars lol. But anyway, met some Royal Marines from UK who were on leave from CFB Suffield in Alberta. They're doing a predeployment ex before going to Hellman in Afghanistan. Great dudes, great stories, great times. I wish them the best and a safe tour and rewarding.


I also hit up the Fairmont Springs Hotel... the massive castle chateau. Some one in Jasper had said "The Chocolate Cheesecake is to die for!!"... so I HAD to go. The dude at the hostel front desk was in awe that I would go there just for dessert commenting on how expensive it would be and how he'd never afford it. I really dislike this attitude in hostels, the one where the staff assume everyone is on a severe budget and should only drink in the hostel pub and eat in the hostel kitchen, etcetera etcetera. Case in point, I get to the fairmont and it turns out it's $10 all you can eat dessert buffet for 3 hours. He was shocked the next morning when I told him that. He'd never even attempted to find out what was up their for his backpacking guests because he just assumed it was too much or that they couldn't afford it. Now he knows where he can take a date for a nice late evening chat.


I loved watching old people with 'old money' gorging themselves on all these desserts though, lol! Reminded me of the Incredibad song "BOOMBOX"





As well, I went to the Rimrock Hot Springs... $7.48 with tax to lounge around in a natural sulfur spring hot spring pool. Incredible evening for under $20. Can't beat that. I also told him that he was young and in a few more years with some hard work and maybe a touch of luck, he'd feel less limited. I hope I've helped broaden his perspective.

Now to explain today's title, lol! For those non-riders following along, touring can wear on the body, and those that can ride forever are said to have iron-butts.. and there are even tours and competitions and friendly rides called the same. Myself, I don't have an iron-butt.. or steel spine.. or even something that cleverly works well with the word 'knees'... all of these parts are hurting, and it seems after 200 km, the pain begins to become a distracting factor. I'm pretty sure the body will get used to it, but with some of the injuries I've sustained in life due to pretty intensive workouts and a short military career, it's possible i'll just have to suck it up for the remainder of time. So I won't mention it again, hehe.

Sunday, July 4th - Day 1 - Edmonton - "I'm Going Vegan"

Finally, after many months of preparation and planning, I've hit the road. And WHAT a road! lol, No, highway 63 is not that exciting... despite being coined "Death Highway", but it was nice to be out there doing more than a half hour tooting around. Some corners had some fresh pavement on them and I was taking them at about 180 kph occasionally cause, well honestly, it's just funner that way!


Forecast had said 'thunderstorms in the afternoon'... so my original intention was wake up early, watch the Moto GP race, and then pack and hit the road. Of course, the night before I went out with friends to Earl's as a sort of send-off/birthday dinner on account that I'd be gone a while. I got home that night and although I wasn't intoxicated, I felt really tired. Could it have been the nightshift I had finished that morning and not slept after? Yeah, I'd say being up for 31 hours will do that to a person. So rather than start the trip off on the wrong foot, I turned off the alarm clock and let myself sleep as long as possible.


10:30, I was up and at 'em!! lol Got everything packed and organized, realized regretfully that I'd have to bring a backpack for this trip, which puts a MAJOR damper on the riding. You have even MORE weight up high, and it wears on the shoulders, restricts air flow through your jacket, etc. So I'm definitely gonna thin out the kit here in Edmonton.


Even so, the clouds, and the palette of greys and blues were absolutely beautiful on the way down. The farther south I went, the more farm land opened up, and the expanse of rolling hills and changes from green flax to bright yellow canola were a lovely contrast or complimentary to the dark skies. Pictures never capture what the eye sees, but I'll do my best on this trip.

Anyway, being as I still took the estimated 4 hours to get ready that I figured it would, take I was on the road by 2:30. And the weatherman was pretty damn close. Thundershowers in the afternoon were just torrential downpour lol, intermittent though. Nothing like a monsoon to keep you  on your bike, and dirty up your freshly cleaned/waxed/shined bike. Oh well, them's the breaks.


I let my couchsurfing host know that I'd be waaaay off schedule and sadly most likely miss Fort Edmonton. I wanted to see the train that was used for a scene in The Assassination of Jessie James which starred Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.


My host was great, really nice, talkative, and after much deliberation, we decided to skip the whale blubber in her freezer from Inuvik, and find something near Jasper Ave as she lived downtown. End up going to a place called "The Blue Plate Diner", a vegetarian's delight!


Being as I've NEVER had a veggie burger and figured this should be a trip for firsts, and maybe lasts, I ordered one. I knew not to expect a taste replacement for beef, but was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the beats and other things that when mashed and ground together, form a pretty hefty, and delicious paddie! So, after all these long, hurtful, selfish, years of killing cute, innocent, cows.. I now know I can still live a meaningful and enjoyable existence never eating animal products again.. PSYCHE! Yeah right, I've said it before and I'll say it again; anyone who's ever been to a cattle ranch and witness cows doing nothing but eating and shitting on eachother will agree, some animals have no purpose but to be eaten. Even when cows or oxen or whatever were first roaming the wilderness waiting to be used as a food source, they still probably did little more for their ecosystem than provide food. That being said, I'm gonna enjoy some great burgers this trip along the way. Some may however, be 'veggie'


And after that we came back and watched a show called Camille starring James Franco and Sienne Miller. Ya know when a movie isn't that great buy might still have some redeeming qualities and you call it "a renter"? Like "oh that movie in the theaters is a renter"? Well this was like.. not even a PVR'er... horrible movie. Hardly coherent. Might have been based on some ridiculous novel which inspired the writer and director to try and recapture all the imagery from the book on film. Not always possible. Just watch the last twenty minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Weird..


Okay, time to get the bike serviced before this thing begins.. Can't wait for another  horrible example of customer service by Argyll Motorsports.

The Promotional Website is now UP!

So I decided in order to have something tangible to offer my potential clients after I've told them about this amazing opportunity to ride high end sport bikes around Romania (A beautiful, exciting, and fun country may I add), I had to have a website ready.

I'm not coding guru. I don't know HTML, nor flash, nor anything really. Just what looks alright. So I sat down, busted my ass, and put together a primary page, all as a flash movie, which would play and summarize the premise behind this touring company, and hopefully leave customers wanting to know more. Then from all the people contacting me to be updated with info, I will be able to tell how many people are likely to book a spot, and therefore, how economically feasible the venture is. Because it'd be foolish to jump in and have no one show up.

Of course, knowing that the iPhone does not play flash, and also that not everyone wants to sit through a 4 minute movie every time they want to reexamine the content, I put together a simple plain html page.

Both have contact links, links to Romanian Tourism sites

www.romaniatourism.com

www.romania-landofchoice.ro
www.youtube.com/romaniatouristoffice

but here's my fave commercial, it's quirky, but well-produced, and simply.. breath-taking...



And both have my toll free number as well as contact email. I'm fairly proud of how the flash movie site turned out. The html site... lol, i admit it was totally drag-n-drop easy stuff... but oh well.

I had contacted every major manufacturer seeking permission to use photos of their bike but only MV Agusta of Italy replied. All they said was "ensure the site says that we are not affiliated"... So I assumed the same for everyone. We'll see what comes of it. Surely they would understand that I'm promoting their products, as well as endorsing them.

Anyway, take a look, let me know what you think :) www.pinnacletouring.com 

ps: for those of you who like to party.. yeah... the clubs ARE that good. I've been to two. As for the landscapes go, I didn't see the danube but I did see a lot of other gorgeous places.

Sitting, Planning, Waiting, Wishing...

I've been working on this for a little while now, I have the Itinerary completely sorted out by where I will be on what days....

I have hostels and cheap motels planned for back ups, but I'm hoping to couch surf so the locals can show me what they think is best about their cities.

I have a few breaks along the way. I'll be catching two Moto GP races along the way and each race weekend last 3 days. A couple of days in Dallas to rest my butt after the long ride through the states bordering Mexico. I'll be spending a few nights near Orlando so I can see some beach, and live it up at Disney World and maybe even Universal! Then a couple nights in Daytona Beach which I've been to before and loved. I'll be spending a weekend in Vancouver for a friends wedding (yes I have to store my bike and gear, and fly there, then fly back, NUTS!) A couple nights in New York (definitely gonna have to come back here to really enjoy it in the future). I even get to celebrate my birthday in beautiful, sunny, Kelowna!

I have my tickets to the two MOTO GP races, one in Laguna Beach, and the other in Indianapolis. I am stoked for those!

Right now I'm working out a few things that I have read about and may wish to do while I'm on my journey.

I've kept each leg of the journey as short as possible to maximize my time off during the day (although I will still love every second of the ride). My days should include a brief calisthenic workout (I like to stay fit), a good meal, a couple of tourist attractions (or not so touristy an attraction), perhaps the opportunity to appreciate some art and some architecture, and maybe get a glimpse of the night life.

In most major centers I'm going to be hunting out hang outs for sport bike riders to get a feel for thoughts and ideas on my Luxury Sport Bike Touring venture. My aim is to provide a service that people REALLY get fulfillment and enjoyment out of so I need to get on the streets and talk to my potential market. This will also allow me to meet and make good solid contacts. I'll also be visiting major superbike dealerships to further awareness about my venture. Fit in a few track days, a few maintenance appointments, and we're talking about a very successful and FUN business trip :P

I'll have a netbook for updating blogs here, and probably at TravBuddy, as well as for communicating with my Couch Surfing hosts at www.couchsurfing.com

I look forward to hearing suggestions about roads or highways to travel (for scenic AND riding enjoyment), places to eat, see, enjoy, relax, party, and just take it all in! Just drop me an email.