Nelson, B.C. Canada
Only
200 miles to go from Trout Creek MT, cross the border, ride around Lake
Kootenai, ride the ferry across, and roll into Nelson….the finish line!
Needless
to say, I took my time. Had a leisurely
breakfast in the small family café across the street and sipped extra coffee
while reviewing the maps for sites I wanted to check out for future fishing.
(Pics of Canada near end)
The
3FC planned route is to cut over from MT200 to US2 via MT56. It looks like an absolutely scenic ride but
there are no streams, creeks or lakes on the ride. Whereas, 200 continues into Idaho along Lake
Pend. So my route will be to take 200 to
US95 and check out all the locales along the way. Then north on 95 to the turnoff at ID1 to
cross the border and ride through Creston to connect onto Canada 3A.(Pics of Canada near end)
It
was easy to get thru the border, a few questions, no inspections. Wonder what it will be like to get back into
the US….the place where I am a citizen and served honorably in its military?
After
a little confusion with missing the first turnoff into Creston I got the Garmin
locked in and was able to find my way to 3A….then off on one of the great
scenic rides along Kootenay Lake to the small town of Kootenay Bay to ride the
ferry across the lake to Balfour.
And
this is where I encountered the second scariest “close one” of my whole ride
(the first being the Ft. Myers thunderstorm).
About
two thirds of the way through the ride, near the town of Boswell, I saw about
4-5 Gold Wings pulling out onto the road.
I recognized the bikes as guys on the 3FC but I didn’t know who they
were. They had briefly stopped at the
House of Glass Bottles to check it out.
I decided to just tail them at a little distance but keep pace with
their ride.
These
guys were much more experienced in the curves than I but I wanted to work on my
technique (i.e., get some cojones). I
did a lot better and was really enjoying the twisty turnies when, in one 90
degree turn, I was close to the center line and saw this pickup truck veer over
the line towards me. I straightened up
to get away from the center just at the 90 degree turn showed up! Crap! I was
heading for the rock wall! I pushed down on the handle bar (or so I thought)
and my eyes were focused on the white line edging the road and rock. My peripheral could see the rock wall inches
from my right hand. My brain was
screaming “don’t look at it! Look
ahead! Look AHEAD!” and my eyes went up
the road and the bike leaned left off the line away from the wall.
I
made it….whew!
Then
the adrenalin hit! Thought I was going
to have a heart attack from the adrenalin after surviving a possible fatal
crash! My whole chest just tightened up. CRAP!
Not good for a guy who had a quintuple bypass L.
I
commenced some deep breathing, rode easy, and pulled off at a roadside store to
let the ticker resume normal tick tocks.
Needless
to say, I took a nice leisurely ride into K-Bay and got in line for the ferry
ride.
Ha!
Guess who was in line ahead of me? It
was those guys on the Gold Wings! Check out the cloud arangements in this photo!
And itturned out to be Bud and Dean. Also with them were Dean's brother Ken and Randy ……. I got in line with them and told them the story of my adrenalin rush.
While on the ferry we were able to
get this photo of this lovely young Canadian lass. She is in nursing and doing continuing
advanced studies. Perhaps someday she’ll
go to med school. Her boyfriend has a
motorcycle so we encouraged her to have him upgrade to a Harley.
And itturned out to be Bud and Dean. Also with them were Dean's brother Ken and Randy ……. I got in line with them and told them the story of my adrenalin rush.
The ferry ride was fun. Got to take a bunch of photo's and enjoy the scenery! here's one of me with the brothers Ken and Dean. Then one with the group and a shot of the Balfour Harbor. The last one was taken when the ferry was arriving at Kootenai Harbor to load us up....gives ya an idea of the size of this puppy.
After the ferry ride it was an easy and enjoyable jaunt to Nelson. Everything here is so picturesque. I found out later this actually is a tourist town in all seasons. Skiing, watersports, fall colors, spring blooms…people love to take holidays here.
After the ferry ride it was an easy and enjoyable jaunt to Nelson. Everything here is so picturesque. I found out later this actually is a tourist town in all seasons. Skiing, watersports, fall colors, spring blooms…people love to take holidays here.
After
checking in to the finish table I collected my finisher buckle and some other
stuff. Went out onto the patio and found
Blake (SMCA Chair), Steve (Vice Chair) Bob (broken chair) and some other SCMA
(no chair) types. It was a great reunion
since we last saw each other the night before the start of the 3FC.
Sleep
was most welcome, I am worn out. The
body aches everywhere. I have been
non-stop riding for 17 days. My wrist
arthritis has become inflamed….it’ll be a heavy ibuprophen induced sleep.
Adrenalin
no mas por favor.
C ya mañana,Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761
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