BC Railways Adventure Ride and to Alaska

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by Holaday

My daughter is graduating high school this June. Gonna try and do a trip 2 up with her this summer. Don't have enough time to turn her into a rider. I'm guessing Missy started riding dirt bikes a while back. Enjoying seeing local BC scenery from your perspective.

Holaday: Wow checked out your posts, Awesome, Who are you? Wow cool, BTW. I get that. Missy started very young, she was still 3 something, by late 4 she could ride her brother, fast.



By 6y she grew the XR70



Then she got that serious Motorcycle Face



By 8 we did the KTM thing



They grow up fast.

And she never stopped. She is an awesome dirt bike rider. And to my surprise (not really) she can put a bike bike through anything.

Wow thanks for your support, have a great graduation with your daughter, I always wanted a girl that I could really ride with, well dreams do come true. I just had to raise her. But now I got a riding buddy for the rest of my life!

I realize building memories is what you get in life.

Loved your posts, Loved BC, we should meet one day.

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by BigDogAdventures.com

Having ridden almost all of the KVR that is legal to ride a couple of years ago on my way to Alaska
this ride report is really going to be enjoyable to me.

Awesome------thanks !
Wish my son could have went along.

Mark: Make me laugh, I think Missy and I were only a couple of day behind you.

Wait until day 6 report where we come across this sign, from you.



Missy has some words for you....

After the ride we were going to email you and tell you of our experience, but we some how never did.

See you on day 6

[BigDogAdventures.com]

Originally Posted by gpskevin

Mark: Make me laugh, I think Missy and I were only a couple of day behind you.

Awesome----just too cool !!!!!!!!!
Wonder you didn't pass us-------were' kind of slow !!!

I can't wait to tell Dingweeds about this.

BigDog

[Bob]

Cool trip!
I love RR routes.

[gpskevin]

Today was supposed to be our shortest day of riding but we didn’t get started until about 10. (Those of you that were following us on the spot were probably wondering why…?) Well we left the motel at 8 like normal. Because we were in a city we decided to do breakfast at a local restaurant called the Coldwater Hotel.


I guess this place is known for it showers

(And across the street was an abandoned store that literally contained like 15 cats. They were all just sitting in the window looking at the people passing by.)



After breakfast, we stopped at the local outdoor store to purchase another bottle of bear spray. (So that each of us would have one and not rely on the other when a bear is actually present.) At the store we had to wait for his wife to show up and bring in the new shipment of spray. After a long wait we finally were on our way, bear spray in hand.



We rode awhile and pulled over at a gas station for a refill and some much needed ice cream on a hot day.



After our snack we rode on and we came to a section where we were supposed to cross the river. But in fact the ferry that was located on the opposite side of the river was closed. After we sat on the bank for about 15min the driver decided that he should yell across the river. But because of the roar of the rapids we could not hear him. So we waited another 5 min and I think he realized that we were still waiting so he got on the load speaker and told us that the ferry was closed.



We then had to find our way on dirt paths to the city that we were trying to get to. So our day that was supposed to be shorter turned out just as long. And I will say my glove tan is beginning to be quite bad. More tomorrow. Keep following us!


Missy carrying the extra tire because the Beemer can't do it.

Missy Farts while riding, Wow still a kid


Hot, fun day

Slideshow of pictures from the day

Upcoming BC Railways Ride 2013 join us

[Fishenough]

Following along, thank you Kevin and Missy!!

This is only the second report on ADV that we have read as father and son together. The KVR has popped to the top of our list as a place for father and son to visit. We are currently bike-less, yet bought helmets, a safari tank is expected any day, and he has just taken his motorcycle learners permit. My son had one full year of ridding licensed in Asia, 15 to 16, and he did so well on the roads there, BC should be fine with careful attention.

He howled at your last youtube video and you can guess why he is so interested in your ride report!

Thanks!
Kev

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by Fishenough

Following along, thank you Kevin and Missy!!

This is only the second report on ADV that we have read as father and son together. The KVR has popped to the top of our list as a place for father and son to visit. We are currently bike-less, yet bought helmets, a safari tank is expected any day, and he has just taken his motorcycle learners permit. My son had one full year of ridding licensed in Asia, 15 to 16, and he did so well on the roads there, BC should be fine with careful attention.

He howled at your last youtube video and you can guess why he is so interested in your ride report!

Thanks!
Kev

Fishenough: I love this ride with your kids stuff. Sidebar: I have a story for you. The summer when my son was 14 he says to me, Dad I don't want to get a job the summer when I turn 16, but I would like to ride across america on the Trans America Trail with you. I said right? But for 2 years he kept at me. So we planned, then 2 days before the flight across the nation he took his drivers test and got his motorcycle licence. So we did the ride. Here is the video for you to watch with your son.



Hope you can work out some great rides yourself, I am finding they grow up fast. But they don't leave motorcycles.

[BigDogAdventures.com]

Kevin--------I'm 61 years old-----you probably guessed that.

The video above was the vest video I've ever watched-------ever------bar none.

Brought a tear to my eyes------as my son left motorcycles------never to return it seems.

BigDog

[Bob]

Great video, thanks for all the work.

[Honkey Cat]

Enjoying your ride report. I think its so rad you and your daughter doing thid trip. My kinda girl.

Thanks

[gpskevin]

Today was the best and worst day of the trip so far. This morning started out bright and early. It was a longer mileage day and so we had to leave an hour earlier. Our ride started off a little sketchy when we came upon a sign that said road closed due to wash outs.



This was an inconvenience considering we were supposed to travel 160 miles on these roads and now our plans had changed. On the sign someone had hand written “We can go anywhere” (Steve this is for you. Under was signed Bigdog and Dingweed. Kevin says you know who they are.) So I proceeded to take charge of the situation and said “Bigdog….If he can do it, we can do it.” So we went for the trail anyways. And as a matter of fact, it was easy for us. We went right through everything. I just can’t understand why Bigdog had a problem with the trail.



OK, the story from Kevin: I had known who Big Dog and Dingweed were, I had a conversation with Big Dog back in 2005 discussing the Continental Divide Ride. So I knew that these guys were pretty aggressive explorer riders. I also knew that we had about 160 miles of Dirt in front of us and then maybe 100 more miles of pavement. I was starting to feel a little like a parent here, knowing that I did not want to be stuck somewhere very remote fighting to get our bikes through something. And I could see that the weather was changing. So my vote was to turn back and take the easy path. But the girl was having none of it. She was very insistent that if these two guys could do it then we could do it. I explained that there were on WR250R's and we were on big bikes, you can't do the same rough stuff. Nope, she wanted to go do it. She kept saying if "Big Dog can do it we can do it." As it turned out about 20km up there was a canyon that had been washed out but there had been a crew working on it and so by the time we got there the road was mostly repaired. So no problem. "Thanks to Big Dog" making the note, if he had not done that we would have surely turned back.

Back to Missy: Well anyways we were on our way and going down our original track when we came upon some cows that were just sitting, lounging around. So I went up to the group and all but one mother walked away as soon as I approached. So I went over to her with some food and pet her



She was quite nice until she gave a grunt and then I freaked out and ran off.

So back on the trail we were driving along and this is the best part of all, a baby bear and mother bear ran across the street right in front of us.



The baby climbed a tree and the mother ran off into the forest. This was the opportunity for us to play with the bear. We tried to coax him down out of the tree but he would have nothing to do with us. We tried out favorite cat calls. We tried the name Midnight. We then noticed the mother was sitting near on the other side of the trees and then we decided that it was probably no longer a good idea to play with the baby. So we packed up and left on our way. But the bears were very cute. Check out the pictures!



So now you’re probably wondering what the worst part of the day was. Well a little while after the bear the sky started to get dark and the air was frigid. Well it started to pour rain. And just our luck we still had about 200 miles left in the day. So we rode and rode sopping wet and cold and tired all day long. It was absolutely miserable. So that was our day long and miserable yet great. WE had to recall our words of wisdom from Keith Bennett, it wasn’t very fun now, but maybe someday we would think it was lots of fun. (paraphrased)





I thought it would be fun to keep an animal count. So this is a list of the animals that each of us has seen.

Seal: Kevin 2 Missy 2
Moose: Kevin 2 Missy 2
Bear: Kevin 4 Missy 2
Marmet: Kevin 20 Missy 20
Bald Eagle: Kevin 0 Missy 1
Antelope: Kevin 8 Missy 8
Deer: Countless
Snake: Kevin 2 Missy 0

Upcoming BC Railways Ride 2013 join us

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by BigDogAdventures.com

Kevin--------I'm 61 years old-----you probably guessed that.

The video above was the vest video I've ever watched-------ever------bar none.

Brought a tear to my eyes------as my son left motorcycles------never to return it seems.

BigDog

Mark: Wow thanks, I just wanted to say thanks to you. You are un inspiration to many many riders out here. I have watched your rides for years, I guess about 7 now and find them to be awesome! Keep up your adventures and thanks for all the work you do to share it with us.

gpsKevin

[Bicyclist]

I'm another one enjoying your report.

I have one of those funny looking green things and I'm wondering what kind of tires Missy has on it. I've been staring at the pics and can't decide whether the fender is raised a bit or not. Can't believe she's riding on the awful stock seat.

I'm planning to be out that way this Summer.

[1marka]

Great ride report so far and I loved the video of the TAT. I would however give a word of warning. Never get between a mother bear and her cub. Just because she ran out of site in the woods does not mean she could not come back especially if she thought your catcalls to the cub were threatening. A momma bear is nothing to mess with.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

[Saralou]

What an amazing adventure for you guys!! LOVE the videos. Waiting for more!


Sara