Egads! We're a little late on this one. Sadly we did not even know about it, which just. Just. Just breaks our hearts. Charley Boorman is doing a bike tour from Cape Town to Victoria Falls. He took the East to West route through Canada, and finished his North American leg in Tofino.
This is the part that kills me. He started Vancouver Island from Duncan (50k and 46 mins drive from here), rode through Nanaimo, and to Tofino. In order to come through here, he would have been riding past our house. PAST. OUR HOUSE. *cry* So not only did he complete 50% of our trip without us, but we missed him completely due to work obligations, when he did so. یЋΑÞ¤WЧЄ۷Я and I spent the better part of this day crushed about it. :S To top it all off, we originally planned to do the trip this summer. Had things financially fallen into place, we would have been arriving back here at about the same time as Charley's convoy. Crushification. Even worse, poor یЋΑÞ¤WЧЄ۷Я missed the convoy by 30 minutes. He had about a 20 min drive to work on the highway, and would have been in the convoy all the way to the North end.
The entire trip, which is still underway, is being filmed and then aired on British Television (Channel 5) next year. Here's a little taste of the convoy that followed Charley to Tofino (this is in Port Alberni):
We are not giving up, even in light of this tour. The tour is really as it is described. They went to some extreme Canadian destinations (i.e. Camping on a glacier). Our trip, while perhaps not quite as cool, will be geared a lot more to tourists. In order to get the sponsorship funding we need, we have to be able to make it appealing to tourism Canada (and show the world what Canada has to offer- or at least some of). I also have to stay on reasonably major routes, for medical reasons. Our involvement with the Canadian Diabetes Association is still very much intended (though it hasn't happened yet).
We have done some talking with the people at VI Honda, and everyone is excited about our trip, and feels it would be a really worthy series to capture. The Exteme Frontiers tour really re-lit a smoldering flame for our hopes of completing this project. Charley Boorman aside, it will be really cool for the world to see Canada from a Canadian's perspective. Fret not! We cannot lose hope. Canada has no claim to Extreme Frontiers, so we forge our own path. We still think it's freaking cool that the guy who inspired our trip actually went on it. :)
In other news: Thanks to VI Honda, I finally got some riding gear. One day only sale today on all riding apparel. I got a great red and black textile jacket for $140 with taxes. :) It looks a lot warmer than it actually is. The lining was a little sticky, but it actually felt quite cool, and broke the wind a lot better than I was expecting. I almost went for a warmer riding jacket that had a plush vest inside, but most of the riding I do is during the summer and I needed my jacket to breathe. Besides, there was a $50 price difference. :P
Some repairs to do. The bluetooth in my helmet somehow became disconnected. Some minor rewiring to do. Although, I must tell you, in the event I were to purchase a new helmet, I would probably buy something different, or just skip the bluetooth all together. The bluetooth is too quiet. While riding it is next to impossible to hear the speaker, and I am on a pretty quiet bike. Also, after a single season riding with that helmet, the rubber on the button became hard and brittle and it cracked rather unceremoniously when I tried to use it the first time this summer. For a plain helmet, it's still pretty decent. It doesn't fog much, though on a wet day it does love to spit water at me where the visor meets the lip. Good ventilation and it's comfortable. When it was brand new, going full throttle on the tarmac, it used to push hard into my forehead and hurt, but I think that's just break-in. It doesn't do that anymore.
Up next: Test ride on the new 2011 Honda CBR 250. I will say, that despite the pictures and my original distaste for the look of the bike, in person, I was fully swooning. The headlight area is still not as attractive as the previous 125 line, but it is still pretty. The seat is a little wide in the thigh department (at least for me) but with legs up it was pretty comfortable. Squishy seat, though it had back handles and no bar (the 125 had a removable seat bar).
Got on a Ducati 848 today. I almost had to be wrenched off of it with a crow bar. Just sayin'. That bike was just shy of a sexual experience.
Follow me on Twitter! █ ♥ █ Every day I am challenged by my husband to try new things, stretch my legs, reach new heights and push myself to the limit. With him, I've done things I never thought I could do, physically, and overcome some of my greatest fears. Not only am I completely in love with the Long Way series, but I am so excited to do this trip. My husband and music are my entire life. You can guarantee a pretty wicked soundtrack, if we can score the rights! Though my dream bike is a Ducati 848, I am hoping to be on a 2011 Honda CBR 250 for The Long Way Across.
Harry The Fish
Harry the Fish is a tech junkie with a love for anime films, particularly those made by legend Hayao Miyazaki. He, like the rest of the Long Way Across team, also loves Top Gear! He has always loved motorcycles, and finally got inspired to getting his own after Shadow got his bike, and he finished the Long Way series. He will be spending the next year learning how to ride and is well on his way to getting his Kawasaki Ninja 250R. He will be joining the Long Way Across team from Tofino to Edmonton.
Follow me on Twitter! Looking for new experiences - always. I keep my list of real friends fairly small, but very close, and would do pretty much anything for them. Leaning hard over in a turn and scraping the foot pegs while I'm rolling on the throttle brings a crazed smile to my face. Roll on the throttle, and lean it over! Let go, pull the drogue, flare at 10, and hit the ground running. If your sport can't make you bleed, then you're not playing hard enough.
The Uniceflogo is propert of Unicef Canada, the leading charitable organization for children.
The CDA logo is propert of The Canadian Diabetes Association, a support resource for people affected by diabetes, supporting diabetes research, education, service and advocacy.
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