"A
car with a trailer coming our way is passing and having trouble getting back
into his lane. I flash my headlight to make sure he sees us. He sees us but he
can't get back in. The shoulder is narrow and bumpy. I'll spill us if we take it...
I hold steady to the edge of the road. Her he COMES! At the last moment he goes
back and misses us by inches." p. 111 ZMM
At Anahim Lake I met an
old guy riding a vStrom (a sport touring bike) who tells me he just got out of
the rain fifty kilometers south. He was going to camp in Anahim, however with 3
hours of daylight left I felt that I wanted to get some more distance before I
camp. That and I am cheap and know that it would cost me much more to camp at
Anahim Lake and I thought I could find a recreation site for free.
I drove for almost fifty-five
kilometers south of Nimpo Lake when I found this nice spot along the river.
While it was not a formal recreation site it was obvious that people camp
there. That or young people come and have pit parties. Being Monday night on a
long weekend so I could rule out that possibility.
The next morning I pack up
my things at a leisurely pace and start my day. Without coffee I should add. I
pulled into a resort a few kilometers down the road but it appeared that no one
was home. I didn't want to push the issue seeing I was out in the middle of
nowhere. You never know how people look at longhaired bikers showing up to
their piece of heaven unannounced.
Finally I got to Tatla
Lake where I pulled into the West Chilcotin Trading Post. I asked a guy who was
pumping his own gas where he thought I could have a cup of coffee. He told me
that the Trading Post had excellent coffee and it was always free. I assumed
one would have to fill up with fifty litres or more of gas to get in on this
deal.
I walked in and met an old
couple huddled around a freestanding stove set up in the middle of their store.
As we started talking he told me that he always brews Kicking Horse coffee and
uses water from an artesian well that is on his property. The coffee was
fantastic and it was free. So what is a person to do, buy some stuff that you
don't need of course.
The store had a myriad of
treasures. It is where I bought a machete that was made in Brazil (you are
welcome Noah). This time I picked up a book and a post card for Alli. I sat on
the car bench seat that was on the front porch of the store and I wrote a quick
note to Alli and mailed it. I could see from the mountaintops that the weather
was moving in so I knew it was time to go.
Every now and again the
clouds would break up and I would get to see the sun. The highway changed to a
more easterly direction and I could see that the weather was moving directly
from the west, so I felt that I could keep ahead of the system. It didn't
appear to be moving very fast at this point, but I know that things can change
quickly in this part of the world, especially with the diverse geographical
terrain.
I won't bore you with all
the details and get to the content of the title of the post. I knew that when I
approached Redstone I was in perfect synchronicity with the weather, my
thoughts, and my surroundings. I was a little dumbfounded with what happened
next.
I noticed an old Chevy
pick up truck heading towards me. As it got closer, something didn't look quite
right. I didn't know if it was a make shift roof rack but as it got closer to
me it took on a different shape. About ten metres before we met the shape
lifted out of the truck box and started to float in my direction. I didn't
really have time to have too much of an “oh shit” reaction. I moved into the
farthest part of the road. There was no paved shoulder and a deep ditch so that
wasn't an option. I intuitively lifted my left foot and the object hit my bike.
About a second later I realized that I was okay and it was a box spring
mattress that had flown out of the box of the truck. I pulled my bike to the
side of the road, but I couldn't shift my gears. I turned off my bike, looked
down at the pedal and something didn't look right.
I started to walk towards
the truck that was now at least a hundred metres down the road from me. The
couple grabbed the box spring, threw it in the back of their truck and started
reversing in my direction. They were relieved to hear that I was physically
okay and said that they would help me fix my bike after they take their junk to
the dump. I walked back to my bike with a thought that maybe I would include a
bit of motorcycle maintenance on my trip, hoping that the damage was
repairable.
I unpacked my bike in
order to get access to the tools that were in my trunk underneath my seat. By
the time I was ready to work on the bike, the couple had returned. They were
able to block the road so I could safely lie on the road to check out my bike.
The gearshift lever appeared to be stuck on a piece of metal that shielded the
muffler from the undercarriage of the bike. I was able to take the lever off,
bend the metal and then mounted the lever a bit higher than it was originally.
Everything worked okay. I exchanged contact information with the couple and
they offered to pay for any repairs that I might incur.
It turned out that I had
met the woman a few days before when I filled up with gas. She recognized me
and seemed very grateful that I wasn't injured. I didn't allow myself the same
relief or time for a reaction as I was still being pushed by the weather and
didn't know if I had time to stop. A few kilometers up the road I stopped and walked
into this gorgeous lodge. I asked the cook if she could make me a chicken
burger in ten minutes. She stated she didn't have chicken but could make a fish
burger.
I set my stuff up on the
deck so that I could watch to see how fast the weather was approaching. I
couldn't relax so I walked around the pond and the beautifully manicured
grounds.
It was like I died and
gone to heaven.
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