Thompson-Nicola/ Fraser Canyon BC loop

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 Earlier this week, I found out there was going to be a car show in Lillooet this weekend. Last year on about our fourth ride together ever, my girlfriend and I accidentally rode to Lillooet. We were in Cache Creek for lunch, and rode to the 99 turnoff to see the Hat Creek Ranch,and as we were going by it, my girlfriend yelled "This road goes to Lillooet." I thought she yelled "Let's go to Lillooet!". I smiled and asked if there was a gas station in Lillooet, then pinned it. Apparently she laughed for miles...so it was great to have an excuse to go back to somewhere that had been a source of great amusement, as well as being a great ride.
 It was a lazy and late morning, so the rubber didn't meet the road until about 11:30AM. We took the number 1 from Kamloops to Cache Creek, laughed past the Hat Creek Ranch, then rode the 99 to Lillooet. Our first stop was just outside Cache Creek, where fires had recently threatened many homes. There were a lot of  places where the fire had burned right up to the houses, so we stopped for a picture of an old church with a burned off hill behind it.
 I still can't make myself stop for the pictures, and passed up some fantastic photo ops today! I will upload some pics tonight and post the rest of the ride tomorrow.

[Sport-Touring]

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` After a windy ride to Cache Creek, we took the 99 turnoff to Lillooet and tucked in behind a rider on a black Kawasaki sportbike. I tried to follow at his/her speed, but after Marble Canyon I just couldn't take it and had to pass. The road is very entertaining, with 20 and 30km corners and great views of the Fraser River far below. All too soon we arrived in Lillooet, and found the Route 99 Cruz-In on main street.
 The show was small, but the variety and quality were great. We chatted with some locals, and I had a nice talk with the Syndicate Scuderia dragster team. One of my uncles used to race a dragster in the 70's and was always talking about these guys. What a gorgeous car! Unfortunately we were only there for the afternoon, and wouldn't be staying to hear that sweet little Hemi run on Sunday at the airport drags. We took the obligatory tattoo pics, and pics of the Mopars, hot rods and rat rods; then we went to find some lunch. I slotted the Guzzi in between all of the Harleys at the Reynolds Hotel.

[bubba zanetti]

Great riding area!

Nice pics Dean. That dragster reminds me of the Tommy Ivo one. I think he was one the first to enclose the cockpit. I keep meaning to get up to the drag strip near Cache Creek. They used to have bike drags too. Not sure if it is still open. Used to be NHRA events.

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I remember Ivo's dragster. I was big into quarter mile when I was a kid. Three of my uncles raced, and one built engines for a record holding Super Stock team in the early 80s.
 Sadly, the Ashcroft strip is no more. Now we have Mission, and 1/8 mile strips in a few places (Osoyoos and Kelowna).
 Spokane is the best bet.
 

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 I will get this finished later. I found out yesterday that a young friend of mine died suddenly. I am glad that I was instrumental in getting him on a fun bike for his first (and only) bike. He was a passionate rider, who did everything to the fullest. It wasn't riding or driving that took him. Live life to the fullest! You never know when the end credits are going to roll.

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Back to the ride...
Lunch was loud, with a large table full of Harley riders all trying to out-bullshit each other, but the burger was decent, and the fries (which I am not normally allowed to eat) were excellent. After stuffing ourselves, we joined the throng of Harley people heading out to their bikes. They were off to find a liquor store and call it a day...while we were headed back out on the road. I really wanted to ride the Duffy Lake road to Pemberton, but it was afternoon already, and we were supposed to be back in Kamloops the same night, so after a short jaunt down 99, we turned around and headed for Lytton instead. I had never ridden this piece of highway, and it proved to be a nice ride.



 Once again, I tried to behave and followed a pair of Harleys but the music from the second bike was driving both of us crazy, so I whacked it open and blew past them when the road allowed. Five or ten minutes later we went by a rattlesnake on the center line of the road. I yelled "Did you see that rattlesnake?" Linda said no, so I pulled off, and went back, and parked on the shoulder with my four way flashers. She asked if I was going to go help it across, and given my track record with rattlesnakes, I responded with a loud and definite "No!"  We both sat anxiously watching and waiting for it to slowly cross the highway. The Harleys went by and waved, while we stayed to make sure the snake disappeared into the tall grass before turning around and getting back on our way a few minutes later. A few more miles down the road there were mountain sheep standing on the left shoulder, so we stopped momentarily for their photo op. The rest of the ride into Lytton was picturesque, but uneventful.





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 (Full disclosure ahead of mini-rant...I own a Harley, without a stereo, and with mufflers.)
 So what is it with Harley riders and loud crappy music? They need 300 watts per channel to hear anything over the open exhaust, and it's either Skynyrd (which is fine with me), or much more likely: crappy country or 70s pop. It's like they are insisting that the rest of the world partake in their misery. You WILL listen to my loud pipes and loud music damnit!
 I tried listening to music on my bike in the 80s, with a Walkman, and gave up; in the late 90s/early 2000s with a Mini disc player, and gave up;and again with an MP3 player on my FZ750, but that was just dumb, and I shut it off to hear the bike. The bike is the music! If it isn't playing a great tune, get something that makes real music! Even on the freeway tonight, I was enjoying listening to the Guzzi. That FZ was incredible...just as good as my RZ. Loud-ish pipes can still save lives, and they are way more entertaining! LOL. I guess if you live on the Prairies, a steady drone could get boring, but anywhere else on the planet it seems like a distraction and detraction!
 So you Harley guys need to get yourselves some ear buds and stop the noise pollution, and I won't have to blast past you wide open and assault you with my Guzzi music!
 

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 Back to riding...
 I had never stopped in Lytton until this trip. I like it. Not much there, but it has enough. We stopped to stretch our legs, and to install the Airhawk seat pad for my best girl. A train was coming through, so we had tro wait at the crossing for that to pass. I haven't had to do that since I moved away from Cranbrook (which has a switchyard right in town, and I lived on the wrong side of the tracks, of course).
 We turned north onto the "Fraser Canyon" (Trans-Canada Highway 1), and were met with very little traffic. I love the Canyon. All of the roaqds we were riding are the ones I remember as a small child, when we lived in various locations in the Cariboo, and travelled back and forth to the Okanagan or Vancouver pretty much every weekend.  The scenerey is epic, the road is interesting enough to nor be boring, and there are far less idiots on the road than on the Coquihalla Hwy. I still couldn't make myself stop for pictures, and there were plenty of opportunities.
 Before too long we rolled into Spences Bridge, and at this point I pulled off at the exit for Hwy 8 to Merriitt and shut off the bike. I knew Linda wanted to get home before dark, and it would be shorter to go back to Cache Creek, but I was really jonesing to ride number 8. I love that road, and she had never been on it. I pleaded my case, and told her that at the speed I ride, it wouldn't take that much longer than going the short way. I think she secretly wanted to see it, because it was all to easy to convince her we should go that way....that and she does like to see me happy, and I was very happy to be going to Merritt.
 You know how you can go by a place dozens of times and not notice something? It turns out there is a waterfall at Spences Bridge that I have always missed!





 Highway 8 is a gem. It follows the Nicola river for 69km with plenty of twists and turns along the way, as well as great scenery. I remembered the road as being rougher, but it must have been the vehicle I was in the last time I travelled it, as the Guzzi had no problems with the road surface, and we were cruising at a pretty good speed. All too soon my fun was over and we rolled into Merritt. It was getting on toward sunset, and the temperature was dropping, so we stopped to let Linda add a few layers back. I convinced her that it wouldn't take any longer to finish the trip home via the old highway , 5A, rather than taking the shorter Coquihalla. The elevation had entered into the equation,a s 5A stays lower and warmer, without the big hills. besides which , it is picturesque, and it was the only highway when I was a kid. I let the Guzzi strtetch it's long legs, and we made good time chasing the last rays of sunlight back toward Kamloops. I had planned to stop in Quilchena for my standard picture there, but it came up to soon, so I grabbed a couple shots from the bike, and passed the only two semis, two pickups, and the one car that were going our direction the entire way.







 We wound past Nicola Lake, and the three smaller lakes, saw a few deer as the sun was almost down; carved up the last twisty hill and hauled ass past Knutsford and on down into the city.



Home. Five hours and ten minutes of riding time, nine hours total. Three hundred miles/just under 500km. Plenty of corners, and a fun time was had by all. The Norge is perfect for this kind of two-up riding, and I don't really see myself looking for a "better" 2-up bike (as much as I want an FJR!   )
 That was probably our last full day of riding together for this year, unless things warm up...but I am not done riding yet this year!