Another "longest-day" ride - or two

Late last year I purchased the two (soon to be three) "Destination Highway" books for motorcycling. These books, one for BC and one for Washington state, list and rate the top roads in each respective place for those of us who like the "twisties".
This year's longest day, June 22, fell on a weekday so I allowed myself to make a last minute decision between the weekend before and the weekend after.

The weekend before - the 20th and 21st - the Saturday was grey, dull and damp. Sunday dawned grey and damp too, so I worked on the computer for the morning and about 2PM noticed that it had cleared up. I decided to go for at least a short ride and headed up Highway 7 toward Agassiz on the Fraser river with the intention of dawdling on the back roads on the way home.

I got to Agassizz and it was so nice I decided to go farther - maybe up to Hope and back down the other side of the Fraser from there.

At Hope I made the decision that I'd do the full loop, Lytoon, Lilloet, Duffy Lake road, Whistler, and home. It was about 4PM and I knew I could do it before dark around 10PM.

The road from Hope to Yale was relatively clear of traffic and I made good time. From there to Boston Bar is DHBC37 and I've always enjoyed it. Of course, it isn't nearly as good a ride as what I knew was beyond Lytton on the way to Lilloet.

The first year I did my trip, shortly after I purchased a used '91 GL1500, I went this same way - making the decision to go farther each time I got to a way point. Then I really didn't have any idea how long it would take me and I was still getting used to the Honda 1500 I'd had only for a few months. This time I knew exactly how long it would take and I'm now a far better rider on the 'Wing.

DHBC40 from Lytton to Lillooet is a hoot. The only time I've ever heard anything bad about it is when it is being re-paved as they do it by laying first tar then gravel - and letting the traffic push the pea-gravel into the tar by running convoys of traffic at low speed following a pilot car. This is NOT good for motorcycles at all as it is like riding on ball-bearings.

This time the road was ok but there are enough places where it has been patched that it may be due for re-paving soon. The only really tight places are right above the canyon where the road is really only single-lane - really only good for mountain sheep.

I phoned my wife from Lilloet and told her I'd be home that evening but I was stopped for some supper. After a taco salad at the restaurant in the pub, I headed for Pemberton via DHBC3 the Duffy Lake road.

I love this road. It winds through some of the West Coast's best mountain scenery and is a great ride. The turns come thick and fast along the whole length, and aside from some single lane bridges and a couple of areas where the road has subsided on one side, it is very rideable. I enjoy doing it North to South. I find the uphill corners in the North end easier to negotiate at speed than coming the other way. The South end downhill is fine too.

After Pemberton comes Whistler and the road home. I stopped at Brandywine Falls for a bio-break and to stretch.

The next weekend, June 27/28, started out cold and wet but cleared up by about 2PM. I headed out and South to do the DHWA1 North Cascades highway 20, crossing into the USA at the Abbotsford/Sumas border crossing. The female border guard commented "Winthrop - that's where all my friends with bikes go" to my reply to her "Destination?" question.

The road took me along WA547 past Mount Baker to WA9 and Sedro Woolly. From there, DHWA56 took me a little bit past Rockport on the Skagit river. This road follows the South bank of the river to and past where the Sauk river joins it. I had to backtrack a bit on WA530 to Rockport but the ride was great. Only a couple of places where there were well marked spots with gravel on them from repairs.

From Rockport Highway 20 winds up into the mountains in a well maintained and excellently engineered series of climbing corners. My first stop was at the Gorge Dam where an obliging local took my picture.

More climbing took me past lakes and valleys and other excellent scenery. At the end is Winthrop, a wonderful little wild-west town that I'm definitely going to come back to - and bring Shirley too.

It was getting late and I really wanted to get to Osoyoos before dark so I kept on going. I arrived at the Washington/BC border at just after 9:45PM, just as it was getting dark. It turned out that the CANAM rally was on that weekend and I'd forgotten about it. Fortunately all the rallyers were camped outside of town and there was space for me at a motel. I met some of them the next day at the local Macdonalds for breakfast before heading out to ride some of the local DHs.

For some of the other photos and larger ones of those shown here, see our family web site.

Prior to going home via BC3, I played around on some of the back roads from Oliver to Penticton. First on DHBC17 out of Oliver - but I left it to do its TE-D, Twin Lake Rd., to the middle of DHBC63 where I turned left to hit the entrance to DHBC6, Green Mountain Rd. This road is incredible! While it has virtually no shoulders, it is constructed in such a way that it telegraphs perfectly what it is about to do. I never had a second of hesitation this first time through its pile of curves and corners. The road was in pretty good shape with areas of excellent. Definitely worth many more trips back!

From the end of DHBC6 I crossed through Penticton to DHBC32 along Skaha lake back to Okanagan Falls. This road had more traffic on it than any of the others, but it was nice none the less. From Okanagan Falls I did the other end of DHBC17 and retraced my steps along Twin Lake Rd. and back to DHBC63. The North end of White Lake Rd. was not as good as its South end, and the engineering was much lower class compared to Green Mountain Rd., hiding corners and not even close to letting on what was coming.

Finally on the way home on BC3A, I headed for Keremeos then Hedley. Just past Hedley, before the bridge across the Similkameen River, is a turn to the right and DHBC78's TE-A, the Old Hedley Road. I've driven the main road many times by car, but never this other side of the river. The road is quiet and varied, with good pavement and easy curves. Enjoyable!

From Princeton to Hope is DHBC44 a road I've driven in all manner of weather from blinding snow storms to stifling hot. This day it was mixed, with a bit of rain around Princton and then again just as I got to the Eastern gate of Manning park. The rest of the ride back home was otherwise uneventful.

All in all, a wonderful 2 days of great riding.