Grant Narrows, Pitt Lake, Maple Ridge, BC

It has been a while since we have visited Grant Narrows. Maple Ridge is a community about an hour and a half east of Vancouver. We travel on the Lougheed Hwy and eventually leave the urban sprawl of civilization behind and 10 kms (6 miles) north on a desolate, badly maintained road with lots of pot holes you come to the end of the line



Since Traffic is light you will find all sorts of bicyclists heading towards the same destination



Grant Narrows is on the south side of Pitt Lake, a tidal lake that has tides influenced by the ocean. Actually Pitt Lake is the largest tidal lake in the world.



As you are making your way northward towards the lake you feel at one with nature, no signs of human development



There is a chill in the air, but warm in the sun. You can feel summer slipping away. Still there are people enjoying a day with nature



There seems to be a brisk business in renting canoes



There are excellent hiking trails on the other side of the water at Widgeon Creek and the only access is by water.



If you need a canoe, then this is the place



I don't think they are going to run out of canoes today where there is more supply than waiting customers





Some also bring their own boat



There are many cabins along the lake which are only accessible by boat as there are no roads. This fellow may be on his way home



And if you should so desire, you can also hire this water taxi



If you are hungry there is one food concession who serves up hamburgers with fries



and they also sell 2-stroke oil and mosquito repellant



I got the V-sign from momma's little helper

It was relaxing just soaking in the sun and watching the canoeists coming and going



The park caretaker lives on site and I noticed that "he" rides a cruiser



I noticed later that the day use parking area is FREE



On the way back to Maple Ridge we noticed some free-range chickens wandering about



Here is some information on Pitt Meadows (<-- click link), and Grant Narrows

Most of the land mass of Pitt Meadows is comprised of bog and protected by dykes



It's a peaceful place to spend a few hours

Sidestands to railroads to MP3-400

I think it must be a conspiracy for bike manufacturers to discontinue sidestands on most of their motorcycles. It is difficult to do routine maintenance or chain adjustments without one. On my last trip to Kelowna I found myself doing the "push ahead 3 feet method". I decided then that my next bike would have one. They are not cheap. For such a necessity which had formerly been supplied as standard equipment, you now need to take out a loan to purchase one



There are several aftermarket models available but I chose to purchase the OEM one from Suzuki. While it is possible to install these units yourself I was told that the dual springs were very strong and hard to put in place, so naturally I left it to them



This was the first time that I lifted it up onto my new stand. You put all your weight on the arm which juts out (nice technical term instead of using thing-a-miggy")

There is no difficulty in raising the bike, but getting it off the stand requires some thought. The V-strom is a very tall and heavy machine. On my scooter which weighs just over 550 lbs it is much easier as the left lever is for the rear brakes. You merely pull the scoot forward and slightly towards you and when it hits the ground you squeeze the left (rear) brake lever to stop it from rolling. On the Wee, the left lever is for the clutch. The right lever is on the opposite side and if the bike starts to lean more than a few degrees over to the other side then you could lose it.



I've heard of other vertically challenged riders use another technique which I tried and it is much safer. Make sure you raise your bike on level ground. and when you are finished lubing your chain, straddle the seat as if you were riding, then push forward with your legs outstretched like outriggers and when it hits the ground, it is easier to squeeze the front (Right) brake lever. If I don't say so myself, it works like a charm.

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Railroads:

I'm not sure if you are aware but Jack rIEPE (<-- click link) is a model railroad hobbyist.

Jack has a large collection of engines, cars and tracks all in boxes stored in his garage and guarded by snakes and spiders. Needless to say his equipment is being safely guarded. Recently we visited some friends south of the city and they had set aside some of their yard for this permanent display they intend to leave outside all year



My friend Alan spends many hours crafting these life-like buildings from pieces of balsa and other remants and scrap pieces of styrofoam.



He scours garage sales and junk stores for the toy cars and figurines



Evidence of his work can be found in every corner of his yard, in his shed, on shelves in his workshop and even on his dining room table



Everything you see is made with ingenuity and his two hands



Wood dowels, thread and glue are transformed into telephone poles with electric wires



It's almost like looking at the real thing



When I saw this setup I asked if I could take some pictures for my buddy, Jack



I think Alan said he purchased a new electronic gizmo that can control the engines to make them puff smoke and make all those real engine sounds.



Mr Jack rIEPE, hoping that you liked these pictures and perhaps give you some inspiration to get working on your imaginary town

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Victoria, May, 2009:

I forgot to post my favourite image from the scooter rally in Victoria earlier this year.


(Sherry, Seamstress, Victoria, BC, opposite the Empress Hotel)

Her Spree is being held up by the rear rack on a Vespa GTS


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Earlier I posted a few pictures from my recent ride with Chuck Pefley (<-- click link), a professional photographer from Seattle.

I posted a more comprehensive Ride Report HERE. (<-- click link)

We spent a couple of days over on Vancouver Island and I am hoping that some of the Pefley experience rubbed off on me. After he left Vancouver he rode his scooter to Lethbridge, then down to Montana before heading back to Seattle through Spokane for the scooter rally . Go to his blog to read his postcards from the road.

I must say that his MP3-400 is a magnet. Everywhere we rode or parked, people would come over and ask him questions about "lack of Balancing" abilities. There is so much false information being spread about this beautiful machine that people think will balance by itself, like a trike. People with handicaps or injuries who used to ride are considering a trike so they are able to continue to ride but are lumping the MP3 into this same category. I know that Chuck will make some comments shortly about this mis-information so as an MP3 rider he is more intimate in it's abilities, or lack of ablilities as the case may be. I personally think that most riders use the "locking" feature as a crutch and find that it creates more problems than it solves.

Multiple Personality Disorder

While I have only met a few of our Blogging friends, I feel a sense of community that has brought us together via the internet. I go out of my way to meet people on my travels and it is my hope that one day our paths will cross. I truly feel that I have friends around the world, although we have never met. And when we do meet "one day" it will be like meeting a long lost friend.

Today I have a guest speaker, meet Norm from West Newbury, ME. He started with a 49cc Yamaha BWS scooter not long ago and has graduated through the ranks and has owned; Suzuki Burgmann, Honda Silverwing and progressed to motorcycles, Yamaha FZ6 and recently upgraded to the FZ1. He has riding buddies who own both maxi-scoots and motorcycles. He posted an interesting perspective not long ago and I have his permission to publish his post, unedited for your reading pleasure.

I think riders/drivers choose specific models and makes of vehicles dependant upon their personalities, perhaps as an extension of their egos. And when they are behind the wheel their personalities take over. I also believe that the same driver when put behind the wheel of different cars will drive them differently. Anyway, here is his post, I hope you enjoy it.

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Multiple Personality Disorder:

"My friend Ed left his Honda Helix with me for the purpose of my son learning to ride. He figured the automatic transmission, low seat height, and general good manners of the highway legal 250 cc scoot would be a good beginner’s bike. What he didn’t figure was that my son would never touch the thing and that I, a 52 year old kid, would ride it in a vehicular rotation all summer long, that also included my FZ1 and my Toyota Land Cruiser.

The formula for rotation was simple really. On nice days, defined as sun, light rain, clouds, nights, weekdays, weekends, workdays, off days, and holidays, I’d ride the FZ1. On heavier rain days the scoot offered great weather protection, so that was my ride. Ammo runs and large grocery runs were also scoot days because of the Helix’s massive built-in trunk, which could handle great weights without altering the riding characteristics of the bike. I’d also take it to cash in change at the bank. The Cortech bags on the FZ1 simply don’t appreciate 40 pounds of change in each saddlebag. Sometimes, if it was just plain “sloppy” out I’d take the scoot because it was much easier to clean the outer armor of Tupperware than the innards of the naked bike. And lastly, if there was a monsoon, or I have to move my daughter out of college or, ugh, a “family” outing, I took the Land Cruiser.

It occurred to me that I wasn’t quite the same person while riding one as I was riding the others. As I enter the massive Land Cruiser I believe the car injects me with a large dose of barbiturate. I can’t prove this because it’s smart enough to use one of those teeny insulin needles so it doesn’t seem to leave a mark. What I do know is that I suddenly become sedate and my mind starts to wander. I get from one place to another but I just don’t remember how I got there. As I drive I think nothing of the other cars, the lights, the intersections, exits, and detours. I could care less of such things. I think about my daughter’s loser boyfriend, my son’s lazy summer, my wife’s request for a “just us” vacation and how I wish I were on my bike so I wouldn’t think of all this stuff. Wherever I’m going, since I’m in my car, I’ve obviously been there four hundred billion times. This experience is so mind numbing that nearly my entire brain literally goes to sleep, leaving the brainstem to run the show: breath, drive, breath, drive, yep, the brain stem can definitely handle this.

Aboard the FZ1 I come to life. I smile to the world as I zip here and there. I remind myself of a humming bird. Now you see me, now you don’t. “Hey dear, did you see that little thing buzzing next to us? I went to tell you about it and then it was gone.” “Yea, must be one of them FZ1’s. Fast little creatures ain’t they?” I see the pock marks in the road and on the face of the teenager driving the car next to me. I see snags up the road well before I get there. I “sense” warnings of all kinds like the deer in my back yard at dusk, their ears bristling at the slightest variation of sound or smell ready to take flight if need be, but feasting for as long as nature cooperates. I smell the smells of summer. It might be freshly cut grass or rotting garbage, but it’s all energizing and it’s all good! If I’m on the FZ1 then by definition it’s a good day, a ride with friends to nowhere special, a ride to work, which isn’t too tough these days, and which guarantees me a ride home as well. Aboard the mighty Fizz only a massive traffic jam or a gas station can slow him down; he’s got a little bit of a drinking problem you know.

Now the Helix! Wonderful, funny looking, red rider, zany, and “what the hell is it” come to mind when one first gazes upon this personal transporter. If you haven’t seen one then stop reading this immediately and Google it. Go ahead, I’ll wait…take your time…I’m still here…don’t worry, I won’t go on without you…alrighty then! Crazy, right! It’s a 1995 model but that doesn’t matter because for over 2 decades Honda has been making this scooter and it looks exactly the same today as it did 25 years ago. Somebody out there really likes this thing and they got a friend at corporate who keeps ordering those poor workers to make more of them…exactly the same year in and year out. I’ll bet the assembly line workers who make Helix’s for Honda can do it with blind folds on. Hell, I bet I could make one if I really tried and I can’t make anything. Even my toothbrush has undergone at least ten major revisions during the same time period! Specs, if you can call them that, are: 250 cc’s, 2 tiny wheels, a horn, signal lights, and one bigass lockable trunk. If you own one of these things you don’t brag about performance; you brag how much crap you can stuff into that trunk. And how you get 230 miles to the gallon. (Well, it’s about 70 really but that’s not as funny as 230). 0-78.2 MPH in 20 minutes and 78.2 MPH to 0 in about ten…yeah, minutes. I’m not exactly sure what it uses for breaks to be honest but I think when you apply them about ten baseball cards go into the spokes of the wheels. You will slow, but you have to be patient.

Yet, when all is said and done, I get this evil grin as soon as I sit on the thing. I don’t avoid highways. I go looking for them. I get all the way up to top speed, 78.2 MPH, and head for the left lane. I find myself tucking under the enormous windshield to get an extra 0.5 MPH. As I pass someone I turn my head from my tucked position gleaming my idiot grin from ear to ear. Most people are fascinated by this thing, and wonder how on earth it is actually passing them on the highway…till they see that grin. Then they look away. They’re afraid I think. Motorcycle riders don’t wave at me. Heck, they don’t even look at me. They figure anyone stupid enough to not be embarrassed riding this thing is dangerous. Or worse, crazy. The funny thing is I like them to think that. The funnier thing is that I think I really am crazy when I’m riding this thing. My favorite thing to do on this is race semi’s on the highway. They always play along. I guess long hauling can get as boring as, well, as riding a Land Cruiser. I wish there was some other moron out there riding a Helix on the highway so I could race him when I’m in my car. Little kids wave to me though. They know a good thing when they see it. They haven’t been corrupted by what society tells them is cool. The little scoot that could makes them smile. Their parents in the front seat tell them it’s not nice to stare. But they really just don’t want their kids attracting the attention of the crazy guy on the funny looking scooter.

So there you have it. Three rides, three personalities. Multiple Personality Disorder. And I’m a happy guy!"

Norm

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Selected photos from the Victoria Scooter Rally (May, 2009)

Content and Sad at the same time

Content to be able to spend a few days with Chuck Pefley, a professional photographer for over 30 years. He has a photo Blog "One a Day - Mostly Seattle" (<-- click link)

Content to be able to take a few days off over to Vancouver Island. We left at 10 seconds past 5:30am to catch the 7am ferry from Tsawwassen (Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (Victoria). We left our driveway in torrential rain with sounds of thunder and arrived in the ferry line-up in plenty of time



Chuck rode his new Piaggio MP3-400



While I rode my new Wee Strom (Suzuki DL650) . Our plan was to land in Swartz Bay (Saanich Peninsula), ride some local backroads on our way to Sooke. Then take Hwy 14 north to Port Renfrew and then East on the newly paved forest road back to Lake Cowichan.


(Port Renfrew, BC)

We were accompanied by Ian (tall guy on the left), the only one of us who is not vertically challenged who resides in Brentwood Bay.

We decided to take another photo on the pier to show that we did actually ride to Port Renfrew as you could not tell from the trees in the background (on the prev photo) where we were.


(Pier: Port Renfrew, BC just past the Pub - Chuck, Ian & Bob)


(Paved forest service road, Upper Harris River between Port Renfrew & Mesachie Lake)

While we did have a "few" (very few) breaks in the weather, it was mainly rain, torrential rain & heavy rain so photo opps were few and far between. At times if felt like monsoon season.

Content to watch the master photographer at work setting up his shots, paying particular attention to his footprints and camera angle.


(Piaggio MP3-400ie: National Harbour board pier @ Granville Island, Vancouver, BC)

We devised a signal system to alert each other when we wanted to stop for photos. While we were nearing the Athlete's (Olympic Games 2010) Village, Chuck "tooted" his horn. This was the signal.



You can see Chuck struggling to put his MP3-400 into position, and while shooting over his shoulder we ended up with this . . .



This photo of the Piaggio MP3-400 was done in the style of Steve Williams "Scooter in the Sticks"
(<-- click link) .

We spent an hour or so at the local night market and I got another chance to follow the Maestro in "action"



The rest of us were content actually devouring the food, while Chuck was busy photographing.

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AND VERY SAD:

Today, our pet of over 15 years is GONE. She had been ill and we had to sign the papers to put her to "sleep" . I came home to check her food and water, forgetting that she is not there. No longer will I have the opportunity to give her a loving pet when I leave for work, or arrive home. It feels eerily silent and knowing that we will never see her again, except in pictures past.

All we have is her empty collar, and it makes me sad to see it just lying there on the table, empty . . . devoid of a purpose. It brings tears to my eyes.


(RIP: Szan Szan, our White Chow, friend and companion for over 15 years)

I'm NOT, Crabby Bob

Nope, Crabby Bob I'm not, at least not today. We decided to leave the big city and travel over to Vancouver Island and head north to Campbell River, BC to visit with my uncle and take a couple of days R & R. Campbell River is approx 5 hours north of Victoria, dependant on which route you take.


(Crabby Bob, Fisherman's Wharf, Cambell River, BC)

It started with a relaxing Sunday morning with home-made crepes filled with ground walnuts, sugar, topped with fresh strawberries



Hmmm, fresh made from scratch crepes were thin and light. It was like having dessert. Sweet and delicious. What a nice way to start the day



I opened my big mouth and told her that I was watching my calories and preferred to eat a little less so instead of making 4 per person, she only made two. On the second one I stuffed fresh strawberries inside and also sprinkled some on top and also spread some raspberry preserve. It taste so good that I ate it in small pieces



Every Sunday during the summer there is a Farmer's Market down at the Pier (Fisherman's Wharf) until 2pm. We are trying to figure out what to have for dinner and it was suggested that we should pick up some crab and perhaps some buffalo steak. I don't recall every having buffalo before, but I have had Ostrich meat which is very low in fat. It seems that buffalo meat falls in the same category.


(crab tanks, full of crabs)

I remember reading recently on Jack Riepe's Blog that they could purchase 4 or 5 crabs for $20. NOT HERE, even though they are caught in these local waters. The average crab was over 2+ lbs at $8.95/lb



Our two crabs set us back around $40.00 . You can't get crab any fresher than this. Crabby Bob obtains his "stock" from local fisherman and they are alive until purchased, at which time they are quickly dispatched for your eating pleasure. Of course we had to take them home to cook ourselves


(public pier, Campbell River, BC)

They were doing a brisk business and we had to wait our turn. It seemed that a lot of other people had the same purpose in mind



We then headed over to the Farmer's Market section were they had white tents set up for all the vendors



There were other people walking about but being small town Canadiana I do not know whether this was normal traffic or less due to the economy



It seemed that all the products being sold were either home grown, home produced or home-made



I imagine that this is Rosa. I asked if she made all this jewellery an she said she made everything you see on her table



There were lots of dust catchers on display ready for your hard earned money



and beads and trinkets



or these floral arrangements of the non-breathing variety



There was also preferred parking for motorcycles and watching owners taking their dog for a walk. There's a dog there somewhere in case you were distracted



They also had a stage set up with live entertainment, and vendors selling food



We ended up at this trailer unit to purchase our Buffalo (Bison) rib-eye steaks. Tonight we were preparing for a feast. Salad, first course crab then 2nd course Buffalo steaks. There was no room for dessert so we saved the dessert for breakfast the next morning. What better way to start the day but to have dessert first



Two crabs waiting to be cooked. Between the 4 of us, we get 1/2 a crab each



they are nearly ready. Here they are being poured out of the pot into the strainer



I can still taste them. We had melted butter, lots of lemon, claw breakers and small crab forks to dig the meat out. we made a mess of ourselves and suddenly no one was talking anymore being too busy eating

I just had to show you the shells. Nothing left to waste



It was a good time to be in Campbell River