For the last couple of years James and I have not really had to touch to much gravel in our explorations. At the end of last year (2013) as our explorations took us further and further out from our home base we encountered more and more gravel roads. I think we would both say that we became addicted to gravel roads. The roads seemed to allow us to feel like we are really exploring and it allowed us to go deeper into areas that ended up yielding some incredible houses. As the year wore on we sought out more and more gravel. We changed our bikes and tires on existing bikes to handle the gravel that we were starting to do. Rides on pavement were only to get us to the beginning of the gravel.
The GS750 which is a renowned 70's superbike, proved that with some lower wider handlebars (superbike bend) and some decent tires could conquer some pretty crazy gravel. As a test one of its first real rides was on 150kms of gravel and dirt from northern Edmonton to Smokey Lake along the Victoria Trail. It is a great ride that takes you on the historic path that the pioneers and settlers took along the North Saskatchewan River to go from the HBC trading post at Smokey Lake to Fort Edmonton. At the same time James was riding his GS850 and we both were surprised that despite the rough spots the bikes handled the gravel quite well. With each ride the confidence on the gravel was growing significantly. In the stable at the time was my Yamaha XT 350 and I regularly rode that bike on as much gravel and dirt as I could find. The XT was meant for that kind of riding and the more single track I did the more confident I became in the dirt and the easier it became to handle the bigger bikes in the gravel. James on the other hand used pure experience to become better. He road mile after mile on gravel roads and became more and more comfortable until there came a point early on in the year that we could fly down gravel as comfortably as we could on pavement
Eventually I would wind up in BC completing a 3000km journey on my Versys with the main intention being to travel to the living Museum of Barkerville. There are paved ways into the remote town but there is a brilliant multiple mountain pass road that leads from the small village of Likely to Barkerville. 190kms of off road motorcycling which I will chronicle in a later blog.
James and I took our adventures to a new level this year by removing ourselves from the roads more travelled and hitting the roads less travelled. We enjoyed countless kilometers together and on our own this year riding down endless roads of gravel finding that which will become the content of this years Ghost Ride entries.
Michael
James and I took our adventures to a new level this year by removing ourselves from the roads more travelled and hitting the roads less travelled. We enjoyed countless kilometers together and on our own this year riding down endless roads of gravel finding that which will become the content of this years Ghost Ride entries.
Michael