When you are on the road some days are more memorable than others because of the people you meet, and today was one of the more memorable ones. The title of this blog is an amalgam of some of the people and events that made this day stand out, even though we didn't actually see a dead guy. But I'll explain that later.
Last night when Jim and I were at the restaurant in the motel the owner was excited about something and showed the people in the next booth a cell phone photo that he had taken. His English was pretty fractured but we picked up that it had something to do with 1915 and a car, but that was all we could pick up. When we left the restaurant we saw an old car that had been covered with a type of sheet that would protect it from the rain that we expected to arrive after the gale force winds.
We were hoping to see the car in the morning, but when we went into the parking lot it was gone. Later, we caught a glimpse of it as it passed by the motel but we expected that we wouldn't see it again.
Meanwhile, I saw an Indian motorcycle across the yard from our bikes so I walked over to take a photo of it. The owner came out of his room and he began to tell me about the bike. Jim joined us and we learned quite a lot about the bike and its owner.
Brian's 2015 Indian Vintage
Beautiful!
The seat and bags are actual leather
Engine detail on Brian's 2015 Indian Vintage
Brian is a truck driver from Stoney Plains, AB, and he bought the Indian in Calgary. This motorcycle is the top of the line 2015 Indian and is called a Vintage, and although Brian is not a 'vintage gentleman' he wears the bike well. He had been spending several days riding in the Kootenays and the Boundary country and had ridden as far east as Greenwood. His plan was to park the bike today because it was a party day. In any case, the 2015 Vintage is quite a fine looking motorcycle and I expect that Jim Knight's friend with the Indian Chief will be envious if he sees these photos.
Brian with his Indian Vintage
Details of the tank and engine of Brian's Indian
Now, back to the 1915 Model T Ford. When Jim and I left Creston we had no thoughts of seeing the old car. At that point we had no idea of what kind of car was under wraps at the motel and didn't expect to see it again as we rode Highway 3 to Creston. The highway from Creston to Cranbrook is another great ride. Running along the highway for a good distance is the Canadian pacific Railway line. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to work on driving this line though the wilderness, and how difficult it must have been for the first engineers who surveyed the line in the first place.
As we entered Yahk (Yak) we saw the old car which was pulled in to a service station so we made a quick stop and walked over to talk to the couple who owned the vehicle. Karen and Ed Archer are from Hayward, CA and had been on the road with their 1915 Ford Model T race car since Monday. Instead of the usual black this car was a bright yellow. When I asked him why his car wasn't black like what I thought we all Model T Fords, Ed told me that cars that were used commercially and for racing were painted different colours. And Ed's Model T had been modified to be a racer just after it had been built, so he was driving a one hundred year old race car.
Karen & Ed Archer with their 1915 Ford Model T race car
Rear view of the 1915 Ford Model T race car
An original 1915 California license plate
Jim with the Archers and their 1915 Model T
To keep with the spirit of the age of the car both Karen and Ed wore coonskin coats and leather shoes with gaiters and leather helmets with aviator goggles. Ed also wore a pair of white coveralls under which he had a shirt and tie. To complete the picture he had a pair of period correct eyeglasses and a great waxed handlebar moustache. It was perfect and one of the real highlights of the trip to meet them.
ED Archer in his period correct racing costume. Note the scarf.
Karen with her coonskin coat, period footwear, leather helmet and aviator goggles.
The problem was that the car had broken down and Ed figured it was the transmission. A woman who lived nearby had called a relative who lived in Cranbrook and owned a Model T and he was going to drive to Yahk with his tools to see if he could help. Otherwise they were going to have to either get the car towed to Cranbrook or rent a U-Haul and take their car back to Hayward, CA, a very long drive. I hope that they were able to resolve the problem and get their car back on the road.
As we were admiring Ed and Karen's car the strangest hybrid I have ever seen rolled by. It was part motorcycle and part Volkswagen beetle. and just as with Ed and Karen, we saw it parked in a rest stop so we pulled in and began to chat with the owners, Toree and Shane Borthwick, from Elkford, BC. They had been in Kelowna foe week and were heading home for work on Monday.
Shane had taken three years to build this vehicle which had the back half of a VW and the front forks from a Suzuki motorcycle. To say that it was one of the stranger vehicles we've seen would be an understatement, but it looked really good and they both loved riding it. Toree said she was really comfortable when it was raining and Shane was pretty pleased with the way the whole project turned out. I'd say he has reason to be.
VW tricycle
Shane & Toree with their VW tricycle
One of the reasons that we decided to go to Cranbrook was that Jim's bike had had problems yesterday and the closest H-D dealer in Canada was here. When we arrived at the dealership Jim spoke to a mechanic who told him to replace his fob batteries which he did. Prest! No more problem. I wish someone had thought to tell me that in Lewiston, ID and I would have saved one hundred and twenty dollars.
We stopped to gas up in Cranbrook and a rider pulled in on a motorcycle that looked partially like a Manx Norton. I ws curious so I rode over to ask him about it. It turns out that the motorcycle was a 1978 500 single with a TT swing arm and a Manx Norton type tank which he had made in Scotland. Brian had left Victoria several days before and had ten days to do a ride so he was heading to Waterton National Park. This almost forty year old bike is his daily rider but his first motorcycle was a 1942 Harley-Davidson WLC. and he had owned a 1969 Norton Commando. I can only imagine that he wishes that he had both of those motorcycles now.
Brian from Victoria, BC with his 1978 Yamaha 500 single with Manx Norton type tank.
Highway 93 north from Cranbrook is quite straight and although it isn't the most intersesting road to ride, the Rocky Mountains to the east make it worth riding just for the fantastic scenery. Further north there is a large mud cliff that can be seen for a long way and its size is amazing as you get close to it. I have no idea why it hasn't slumped down but it is a sight worth seeing.
Ride to the mud cliffs south of Invermere, BC.
North of Canal Flats we pulled in to a viewpoint over Columbia Lake which is the source of the Columbia River. It nestles against the mountains and although it is the source of the Columbia, the south end of the lake lies within a few thousand feet of the Kootenay River which is a main tributary of the Columbia. A sign says that each year about 6000 tonnes of silt are deposited in each square kilometer of the lake.
Haze over Columbia Lake
Mountains on the edge of Columbia Lake
As we rode north to Invermere we rounded a corner and saw many flashing police lights. We thought we had happened upon a serious car crash, but as it turned out, as we arrived the police were blocking traffic to let a funeral procession enter the highway from a resort. Leading the procession were bout forty motorcycles followed by at least that many cars and trucks with the rear being brought up by a semi tractor with flashing lights. The line of traffic pulled in behind the tractor so we became part of a funeral procession.
We stopped a stop at a grocery store in Radium and I asked the cashier if a motorcyclist had been killed recently. She showed us the local paper which had an article explaining that two brothers from Calgary were riding up a hill with a passing lane outside of Radium. The lead rider passed a semi, pulled into the right lane then in to a view point. His brother, who had been following did the same thing but when he cut in front of the semi he didn't leave enough rood. The semi hit him, threw him across the highway and into the ditch where he was killed on impact. It is always sad to hear about a motorcyclist being killed but it is even worse when he is with his brother. Perhaps we were privileged to be a part, however small of this guy's last ride.
The highway north of Radium moves closer to the mountains and begins to curve around various features of the landscape. Ahead of us to the north the valley and the mountains were enveloped in haze. We couldn't determine if the haze was smoke or rain but we were hoping it was the former. With the number of fires that have been occurring in BC it didn't surprise to ride by the remains of a recent one right beside the highway. The firefighters must have done their job well because although it was a fair size they seem to have killed it before it became too large.
We entered Golden along the CP Rail yards. It is hard for anyone who doesn't live there to realize how important the CPR has been for towns like Field, Golden, Revelstoke and Kamloops. indeed all of these places exist because of the CPR and to see the size of the railyards in these towns makes it evident how import the CPR is.
One of the concerns we had was that we might not be able to find a room because of the season and because Golden is on Highway 1, The Trans Canada Highway. Several motels had no vacancy signs on but the Super 8 had a room which we were glad to get. Shortly after we settled in the sky seemed to become darker and threaten rain. Later on it began to rain and we saw lightning and heard thunder although the rain didn't amount to much in the end.
We did 375 kilometres today and tomorrow we plan on doing the final 350 kilometres to Kamloops. This ride has outstanding in many ways and tomorrow we'll wrap it up. We are already thinking that there are more roads to ride in Idaho, then there is Montana, Oregon, Washington...
No comments:
Post a Comment