Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

Woke up late-ish and had breakfast at Denny's next door, which was fine, apart from having to send the water for my tea back as it was cold enough for me to dangle my finger in rather than hot enough to brew tea... I agreed with Nick that we'd leave later than the van, at 10am (van leaving at 9am) so that I could catch Tracy online, so I could find out how she got on with the consultant, Mr Ross. Nick fancied a relaxing start, and as we only have 230miles to do, it would be no hardship. So I returned to the room and my laptop and updated the blog whilst constantly switching into Skype and MSN to see if Tracy was online, but she wasn't. I knew she'd have to drive down to Haverhill to take the boys home, and surmised that she was probably travelling. So I called her mobile via skype and left a message on her voicemail, then packed the bike and off we went.

Riding out of Prince George was a different experience, as we'd not been in a town since leaving Anchorage. At first we got stuck at the traffic lights, which seemed to ignore the presence of motorcycles, and refused to go to green, whilst all the other lanes had their turn. Twice. So we gave up and went straight on and then u-turned to come back again. Finally out of Prince George and onto the highway we could pick up the pace a little and get into the groove. Only I couldn't. My mind was elsewhere, distracted by thoughts of Tracy and her discussions with Mr Ross, and my lines through the corners were not as smooth as usual. Hope Nick, following, didn't mind too much. The sky was as overcast as my mood, with a few very dark grey clouds threatening rain. It started shortly after we left joined the highway and so I pulled over to don my rain jacket, and then it stopped and the sun came out. Looks like it was going to be one of those days...

After a hundred miles or so, we stopped and removed the rain gear, once again being accosted by complete strangers eager to discuss our travel plans. Extracting ourselves from the paparazzi and rejoining the highway the sun shining and the scenery beautiful, my mood started to lift a little, and my riding improved. Eventually we arrived at the Mt Robson view point, where a few of the others were waiting to form groups of 7 in order to reduce the cost of entering the Jasper National Park. Now we were there, the rest could leave and we'd form a 3 with Nigel, so they got ready to go. Then Julia started asking who had stolen her bike keys. She'd put them in the ignition and then gone to get her gear on, only to return to the bike to find the keys gone. Now there is a rule on a Globebusters trip that if you leave your gloves or anything removable on your bike, it will be taken (to teach you not to, as things will go missing in Latin America) so this was a reasonable assumption. Only none of our group had taken them. With panic setting in, I noticed that Nigel's keys were in his bike (and he was away on the phone some distance from the bikes) which didn't seem normal, and also recognised the key ring as Julia's... She'd put the keys in the wrong bike!

When they'd gone, and Jeff had made us a cup of tea in the van (much better than the cup I had for breakfast), I borrowed Nick's phone card and rang Tracy, first on her mobile and then on her mum's landline. Whilst the news from her visit to Mr Ross was not good (a whole other story, and one she should tell herself), it was lovely to hear her voice, and she sounded upbeat. Hope she wasn't just putting it on for my benefit...





Then with Nigel leading we left and rode past Mt Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies (3954m) and into Jasper National Park. We rode through Jasper town, filling up with fuel, and then on to the Bear Hill Lodges, where we're staying, Jim and I sharing a large lodge with its own kitchen and living area... very nice...





I got changed and went for a wander round town, before returning for the weekly Globebusters meal, this time a BBQ, cooked by Kevin and Jeff and with more meat, salad, cheese and nibbles than a group our size could possibly eat...





With the BBQ underway, it was time for the first “Prat Hat” nominations...

Let me explain... “Prat Hat” is a Globebusters tradition from previous trips and works like this. Once a week, each member of the team is asked to nominate their “prat of the week” for the daftest thing, and then there is a short-list compiled of the best nominations, which are then asked to defend themselves, before a “vote” in the form of a “clapometer” decides the “winner”. They are then required to wear the “Prat Hat” for any full team gatherings (including meals out, border crossings, etc). Chris had supplied and excellent “Prat Hat” for the occasion, a genuine Scottish “See you Jimmy” hat...

The nominations included Chris himself for washing his passport, Julia for the afore-mentioned keys incident, and Al, who last night had offered Karen the advice that she should cut down on the mayonnaise in order to avoid “MORE cellulite” and Julia the advice that she should consider having her long hair cut shorter because “older women look better with shorter hair”...

It was a close call until the nominees started defending themselves, and Al continued in much the same vein, the women in the group throwing nuts at him... perhaps he should have quit whilst just behind... the vote was almost unanimous, and Al got to wear a silly hat for the 2nd day running... I think he likes it, really...





Now we'll all be watching each other very carefully, looking for excuses to nominate each other, and trying desperately to avoid getting the “Prat Hat”...