Day 16 - Nakusp (207 km): How many guys does it take to ....

... to help a Damsel in Distress? Thankfully, I had several come to my aid.

After the 0830h Vintage Riders Breakfast at the Leland Hotel restaurant on the waterfront, three of us struck out for a 200-km round trip ride. When we gassed up, France pointed out that my rear tire looked soft. Stupidly, I - who am a bit of a compulsive tire checker when I'm home - didn't think much about it nor did I
check the pressure. In the meantime, I wondered why the bike wasn't responding as it should and did missing a ride yesterday make me forget (?!) what it should feel like? Duh :-( I was pushing way too hard through the turns and I felt as though I was running on square tires. We reached our destination (Kaslo), had a nice lunch and I forgot about it. Until....we were riding again. Fast forward, we arrived back at Nakusp around 1545 and I had planned to pick up some oil (remember I was going to change my oil today ?) and give my bike a quick wash. And I wanted to get this done before the Bike Group Photo scheduled for 1700h. As soon as I parked my bike, I had 2 people tell me my tire looked really soft. That's when I decided I'd better check it but wanted to wait an hour or two for the tire air to cool. I washed the bike and moved it over in front of my room to free up the 'wash space' for someone else. Along comes a third person who says, "Mary Ellen, your bike tire looks really soft. Would you like me to put your bike on the centrestand and we'll look to see if it's punctured?". LONG story short, 'yes' it was punctured - by a nail about an inch and a half long. Steve, who put it on the centrestand, says "Let me get George - he's a Master Plugger". Before long, I have someone checking the front tire - lots of air there. And there are at least 3 people at the back tire. A pair of pliers magically appeared to pluck out said nail; George got out a 'sticky string' from his kit, reamed out the hole and inserted the cemented string; both Barb and Jay had portable compressors but we ended up using Jay's to inflate the tire. And within 10 minutes, Bob's your uncle - the tire's reinflated and the general consensus among the LD riders is that it should get me home. It was a clean hole, the nail was in the centre of the tire and in at an angle - and it's the rear tire. All factors in my favour. I made on conscious decision to not carry a plug kit and compressor. But I may rethink that. And here I was blaming the front tire. At least now I know what a flat bike tire feels like. BTW, our hotel has a beer and wine shop off the lobby so I was able to express my appreciation to George aka "EscapeArtistFJR" with a 6-pack of cold Canadian.

Now, for the ride. Beautiful day, sunny and not too hot (ie not over 21 degrees),no traffic and great scenery. I rode with France and Doris M today. Doris took us to Sandon where we spent over an hour learning a smidgeon of the very interesting history of this decimated and long-deserted town. We went from there to Kaslo where we met up with 3 other FJRs from the Rally (Jay, Jeff & Lucie, and Jeff & Bridget). We all had lunch together and headed back to Nakusp. We rode as a group until we ran up on 4 cruisers who were pretty slow. There are few good passing opportunities and no passing lanes on that highway (31a). Jeff, Doris and Jay got by; other Jeff, France and I did not - until the cruisers pulled over just before New Denver and let us pass. The others had stopped in New Denver to wait for us and on we went. A deer crossed the road in front of the cruisers and stood on the side hill less than 20 feet from the road, watching the rest of us go by.

Back at the ranch....you have the Saga of the Tire. I did not get the oil changed but, as with the tire business, there are different opinions on the acuity of the need for this. One guy changes his filter with every oil change (I brought a filter with me); another changes the filter every other oil change (per Yamaha recommendation); yet another feels that since I've been running highway miles as opposed to stop & go riding around town, then I may be fine until I get home. At any rate, an oil change is easy to do at any garage.

At the appointed time of 1700h, we all lined up at the town wharf - or most of us did. Some were still out riding, some just didn't show up. From there, back to the Kuskanax for preprandial cocktails. I mixed up some Long Island Ice Teas for my girlie friends - complete with fresh lime - and introduced Ann Marie to her new favorite drink ;-)

The Rally's closing dinner was held at the Legion hall about a block away. There would have been about 100 people at this: good food and company - all loving their rides which are predominantly FJRs but there's the odd token Honda ST1300, BMW or some type of sport bike. A live auction was held with proceeds of $1100 going to the local food bank. Doris Maron was the guest speaker and she presented a slideshow of just a taste of her around-the-world solo ride on a 750 cc Honda Magna between August 2001 and June 2004. There were lots of door prizes. I won a certificate for a Destinations Highway book. I believe I may have my choice of British Columbia, Northern California or Washington, which are the only DH guides available. I'll be shipping my bike for another West Coast ride!

Jim and Julia - along with Chris and Dave - arrived this afternoon at just about the same time I did. We're heading east tomorrow (Sunday) at around 0800h - depending on the weather. We should be home by the weekend - Sunday latest ?

My gosh, I feel as though I've been away for a month. Margot sent me lots of photos today: my gardens, the window boxes, John and Gracy - which was surprisingly emotional for me. I can't wait to come back here with John. And we'll see Jasper National Park and the icefields together. Apparently, Jasper is even more spectacular than what I've already seen - which is beyond my imagination.

Must get packed! Showers forecast for the morning but it's hard to say what'll happen. If you stand on the street and look around 360 degrees, you'll see a smorgasbord of weather around the mountains. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.....

8,178.2 km on the Trip Odo and counting.....