Last chance rally 2003

As one might expect by the name of this rally it would be a cool one.
The weather forecast was not very encouraging. I debated whether to take the route straight north and go over Kootenay pass and risk ice and snow or take a longer route around those mountains.

I  called the border guys Friday morning and they highly doubted any snow up there. So I decided to go for it, over the pass. It was around forty degrees when I left home, but the electric gear and two balaclavas on my head made for fairly pleasant traveling. When I got to the Canadian customs, I made one mistake. I had my earplugs in and his first question was: Where are you from? Only my ears heard, where are you going? I gave him my license and when he saw my answer didn't jive with the address on my card, it set wheels of suspicion  in motion and I had to have a criminal check done. Luckily, it did not take long and I was to the top of the pass in about 40 minutes. There was some snow on some spots on the ground but the road was bear and dry. That was a relief. It was smooth sailing all the way to the rally near Penticton on Skaha Lake. We were right on the beach with all the facilities. That evening we sat around the fire and watched the almost full moon come up over the mountains and reflect on the lake. I got tired of my self-inflating mattress always going flat on me so I took my old large air mattress and it really went flat on me! I did manage to get some sleep though as I have developed more natural cushioning this last year. The morning dawned a colder and misting type of weather. Martin had the coffee made so we warmed up with it and some "porridge". Chris and I were not going to let a little nasty weather stop us from having a GS ride into mountains! So we marked our route on the maps and GPS and headed out. The light rain would not let up so we donned the rain gear and pressed on.

We had to share the gravel roads with free ranging cattle and mostly they were not too concerned about us. I was concerned about this one large bull along the road that started to pull in front of me when I was coming through, but a pickup from the other direction changed his mind and I whizzed by. After taking a wrong turn, we tried the other road that said "road discontinued" or something just as ambiguous. The road deteriorated for a while with a nice mixture of ruts, bumps, rocks and even some mud. Amazingly, we got trough to the other side of the mountains and continued our GS loop a little farther south after a little lunch. The trip back over was similar roads only we went another thousand feet higher, to about 5,800 ft where we met up with the snow. This was getting to be an annual thing now, slip and slide in the snow at the Last chance. We had about an inch of snow to contend with for about four miles. We were lucky the grades in that area were not too steep. I took one picture of the snow after coming down the steepest grade. We were right on the edge of sliding while going down that hill. It was hunting season and people were out in there ATV rigs and pickups. One guy was coming our way gawking around and did not notice Chris while he crossed into our lane. He jerked back finally and Chris was making several hand gestures at the guy. We took the road around the backside of Skaha Lake and found that the wind was really ripping down here. When we got to camp, we found that our campmates had saved my tent from rolling away even though it was staked down and was full of my gear. They tied my tent to a tree and put a picnic table in front of it to break the wind! No campfire tonight! Most of us went to Oliver to go to the Indian restaurant. They served great food from the northern region of India. I had goat meat. It was really good.
We set up tables behind the restrooms to get out of the wind so we couldchat and generally enjoy each other's company.

I used part of the time to repair the leak on my mattress. It was cold enough that the glue was not getting hard. My butt did not hit anything hard until morning so the glue job helped a lot but I retired that mattress to the garbage can anyway. It was going home day and the wind was even stronger! I have a picture of me trying to fold the tent with the tent streaming out horizontally. Our continental breakfast crew made us feel right at home amongst all this fury. After the good buys, I headed for Midway to cross into Washington, and took a zigzag diagonal course home. When I stopped for lunch, I discovered my tent was gone! I thought I had it strapped down pretty good. I should pay more heed to the navy's creed: There's no cure like a secure!" Someone got a nice free tent. Oh well, I didn't like the OD green colour anyway. I also didn't like the looks of the weather when I got to Chewelah, WA. Rain clouds are circling the mountains where I want to go  over the pass. There is muddy construction up there also. To go around this mountain would be another hour's drive. I didn't see any snow on the high peaks so I decide to try it. The road is paved and winding, a nice ride. I get up about two miles and round a corner about 35mph and I'm daydreaming a bit. I spot what I thought were two large dogs on the side of the road. They are deer! Hit the brakes, hard! "Don't run into me! Don't run into me!" Blam! In a split second, the bike and I are on our sides sliding along the pavement for about 20ft. I landed on my hip and slid on it. I got up and didn't think anything was broken. I looked around and saw the dear shake his head and run off. I should have taken a picture of the scene but I was thinking some cowboy might barrel around the corner and finish off my  beemer. So I picked it up, just barely, and moved it off the road and surveyed the damage, miscellaneous bent accessories and handlebars. My custom pannier was ground down a bit but not bent.

The steering stop was busted off. Where I slid on my leathers there was hardly any wear! Glad it wasn't my hide that was ground down like the thick aluminum pannier. I started her up and proceeded on my way at a slower pace. I made it to the construction area and watched for mud. I came around one corner and she slid a little on me so I dropped down to creeping speed until I got through the muddy area. I made it home ok and noticed my hip was getting more painful and I as hobbling around. A few days later and I am feeling better, though still sore. I thinks my guardian angel, Frank, had laryngitis that day and I had my ear plugs in. This was my first real crash on a motorcycle in 23 years of riding. The tape keeps replaying in my brain. Still processing it, I guess.
Now it is time to prepare the bike for the winter as I do some more mods and time for a ring job also. That should keep me out of trouble until January when I plan to go to Arizona again. All in all a mixed bag for the weekend, but that's life!
Jerry
Here's a link to pictures
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4141549&a=30822329&pw=