BC Big Trailie Ride
June 2008
June 2008
The BC Big Trailie Ride was an informal group ride organized by a couple of riders on the Adventure Rider Forum. This was the second ride they had organized as a trail ride for large dual-sport bikes, but the first time that I joined them. They were meeting up in Merritt, BC so I left for Merritt on a Thursday from Edmonton. I decided to take a scenic route through Rocky Mountain House, Lake Louise, Golden, Revelstoke, and Kamloops on the way - it would be about an 11 hour ride to Merritt. I arrived in Merritt just after 5:00pm, introduced myself to a few other riders, and we headed to a pub for food and drink.
For this ride, we ended up with about 21 riders on a mix of BMW GS's, a few HP2's, several V-Stroms, a Buell and a KLR. The goal for the first day was to reach Oliver. We headed south out of Merritt on a twisty paved road, and on to the Brookmere Water Tower. We then took the Brookmere logging road for a short ways before jumping on the Kettle Valley Railroad (KVR) trail, an abandoned railroad bed. In Tulameen, we jumped back on pavement through Coalmont, and on to Princeton for lunch.
After lunch, we took a dirt road through the hills to Summerland, and then took Hwy 97 south to Oliver and the Southwind Inn. We ate dinner at the pub, and then told stories for awhile before calling it a night.
The next morning , we traveled south to Osoyoos and turned onto the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3) to ascend Anarchist Mountain, a nice twisty pavement ride with a great view at the top. A little further east on Hwy 3, and then took some great dirt roads in the area of Rock Creek, and the Canada-US border. Turning north, we had the opportunity to ride another section of the KVR, passing Layer Cake Mountain and back to Kelowna for lunch. After lunch, we turned south for some dirt roads towards Chute Lake, then on to Pentincton again and the Log Cabin Motel. Pizza and beer for dinner, and more stories. After plenty of BS, I went to bed early as I needed to head back to Edmonton the next morning.
It was a great ride, and a great opportunity to meet many new friends!
For this ride, we ended up with about 21 riders on a mix of BMW GS's, a few HP2's, several V-Stroms, a Buell and a KLR. The goal for the first day was to reach Oliver. We headed south out of Merritt on a twisty paved road, and on to the Brookmere Water Tower. We then took the Brookmere logging road for a short ways before jumping on the Kettle Valley Railroad (KVR) trail, an abandoned railroad bed. In Tulameen, we jumped back on pavement through Coalmont, and on to Princeton for lunch.
After lunch, we took a dirt road through the hills to Summerland, and then took Hwy 97 south to Oliver and the Southwind Inn. We ate dinner at the pub, and then told stories for awhile before calling it a night.
The next morning , we traveled south to Osoyoos and turned onto the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3) to ascend Anarchist Mountain, a nice twisty pavement ride with a great view at the top. A little further east on Hwy 3, and then took some great dirt roads in the area of Rock Creek, and the Canada-US border. Turning north, we had the opportunity to ride another section of the KVR, passing Layer Cake Mountain and back to Kelowna for lunch. After lunch, we turned south for some dirt roads towards Chute Lake, then on to Pentincton again and the Log Cabin Motel. Pizza and beer for dinner, and more stories. After plenty of BS, I went to bed early as I needed to head back to Edmonton the next morning.
It was a great ride, and a great opportunity to meet many new friends!
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