Mini Moon part III (click the pics)

We just got back on Thursday, August 28th from a 4 night mini-moon bike ride…it was amazing. Rode some back country roads we have never been on and the best part got to see yet another part of our beautiful Province. Weather was OK for the most part until the last 2 days.  It rained on us riding back to Pemberton via the Highline and then it POURED on us heading home.  No biggie we always stay dry wearing our KLIM Traverse gear.  We started out on the Sea to Sky Highway the 99.  Can’t get much closer to the water when you ride this route.

It’s a scenic drive and for those who are not from here this road takes you to Whistler the home of the Winter 2010 Olympics. 

First night we stayed in Pemberton, just north of Whistler.  The IRON MAN was in town so this usually quiet little town was buzzing when we arrived.

This was not a trip about roughing it.  It was a trip so the two of us could relax, get some riding in which was well overdue and enjoy our back country.

Leslie does not drink that much but since the wedding she seems to be liking her spicy Caesar’s.  Cheryl always loves her beer.  Ate at the Woods Restaurant in Pemberton which was really good too.

We managed to get in a few GeoCache’s while away.  My Montana 600 is a geocache capable GPS.  Load the coordinates and you can walk with the GPS to their locations.  Pretty handy when you do not have cell phone coverage.

So, enjoyable first evening and then on Monday we headed out to the Tyax Lodge via the Lillooet River Forest Road and then the Hurley.

All in all we had a great time, the bikes, well?  When we now compare the suspension and power of our previous owned BMW F650’s, the F8’s are a completely different machine on dirt. We hit a little of everything, hard pack, boulders, loose gravel, mud and pot holes. Cheryl’s first time off-road with her F8 and she LOVED it. The F800’s are way easier to handle on this terrain and fun.

Perhaps we are getting better at riding but I can testify we now know why riders prefer the F8 for dirt.  It is just a FUN bike to ride on and off-road. We really like the wider handle bars, 21 inch front tire, long stance of this bike and the ESA.  I think the ESA on the F800 is under estimated.  In SPORT mode the suspension noticeably tightens up for the very bumpy ride.  On the highway you can adjust to COMFY mode and the ride becomes more plush.  Not a drastic change but enough to notice and we feel a very nice addition.  I wish our KIA Sportage had ESA. 😉

We stayed here as a treat post wedding…Tyax Lodge, very very nice, peaceful and perfect. The staff all work very hard to make you feel at home.  Riley the RMT gives pretty damn good massages too. 😉

Compliments of the Lodge…don’t really like champagne but it was thought that counted

The food and drink at Tyax was fabulous

We did a little horse back riding, geocaching again and decided to actually stay 2 nights here.

Canoeing to get the cache, Cheryl up in the bush

Some beautiful pics of our bikes

Enjoying ourselves after tons of family/friend entertaining…pre wedding and post

The ride home was amazing..there is this road called the HIGHLINE road from Seton-Portage, BC to Pemberton. It’s a little challenging in some parts, the views are to die for and there are sections where you are going almost straight up and straight DOWN…

Even though we have an intercom set up, Cardo G4, we both kept quiet while riding the back roads, just enjoying the peace of mid we both get while on the bikes.  Riding is therapy for us in more ways than one.  As the saying goes, “You never see motorcycles outside a therapists office.” 😉

Getting down to this bridge was steep and loose gravels, boulders and dirt…we took it really slowly to say the least…plus it is a very HIGH bridge, not for the faint of heart if you choose to look down

So, back to the work grind but feel better that we were able to sneak in a short trip….

I really liked having the ability to lower my Mirage 2 shield while on the bumps…the shield works really well for me. Was able to get air flow when I wanted and all I needed to do was raise the shield up for the street. Our Heidenau K60’s have over 8000 KM’s on them now. These are our 5th sets between our 650’s, the Triumph Tigers and now the F8’s. These are our tires of choice for sure. Seem to handle anything we ride on very well and last.

The rear on my bike

the front

Many have asked when we will take our real HONEYMOON?  Don’t know right now.  Cheryl is in the middle of her apprenticeship in her new role as an Ident expert for the RCMP.  Maybe next year we can find time to fly to ICELAND!  Rent some bikes and take on that beautiful country.  Time will tell and I am sure the BLOG will find out when we do too.  Until next time…..