I bought the Triumph at the end of August 2009 and have since rode 17,000 kms. Looking back over my notes, in a journal I have kept, it seems only now that I have actually covered a fair amount of distance. (my grammar and sentence structure will improve) I did my first 1200 km trip within a week and continued to ride all winter (insured bike 3 months at a time and soon realized that my car didn’t move for months). When June arrived I was going buggy with riding on the Island and needed to get a ferry (btw ferries are awesome on a bike. Show up and you are on.). My intent at 5 am on June 3rd was to catch a ferry and maybe Kelowna. When I got off the ferry I had meet Brian (60ish Harley rider who just finished 4 months in NZ and 27,000 kms!) and he had the Destination Highways books. Couple text messages and I was on my way to Pemberton to stay with family for the night and take the Duffy Lake road to Kelowna.

No agenda seemed to work. My only plan was to ride to Kelowna. Then Osoyoos, well the border is here, then Couer d’Alene?…..it just unfolded as it should. Travelling by bike is a very different experience. I had read others speak of the smell, heightened visual and extreme feeling of vastness. Robert Pirsig dialogue takes on a whole new meaning when you are actually out. The vastness is balanced with the community of unspoken motorcycle language. Every bike travelling with or against you gets a left hand lowered wave and a you get one back. Every stop for a coffee or meal is another conversation with another motorcyclist ( writing biker seemed odd) or another person curious about your BC plates or talk about the Bonneville they used to own. My only regret now is that I forgot to take a camera (old Black Berry camera was all I had) and that I didn’t stop more often and take more pictures. The roads traveled are stunning!….T