Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

[Abenteuerfahrer]

Sorry to hear of your mishap...heal fast..then go shopping and get these two; don't leave home without them, ever. Been there done that...

http://www.bestrestproducts.com/c-10...ump-gauge.aspx

Or this if you have little confidence in electrics...

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/4573/



cheers....

[dualsportrider2]

I wish I was as brave as both of you. Quitting my job and selling everything and traveling. I hope to do that when I retire, but... Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope nothing that slows you down for long. Will be following along.

[oldtouring B]

Collarbone--give it plenty of time to heal.. Might be a good idea to put the bikes in storage and rent a car for a trip back to Mom and Dad's basement! Best of luck with your recovery..

[Scubalong]

Sorry about your mishaps, I wish you the best, get well soon.

[100mpg]

so? what happened , where are you?

[lightcycle]

Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/15.html



We had planned to visit our good friends, Paul and Karen for the weekend in Calgary, but after my unfortunate accident, I called Paul at work and asked if we could come a couple of days early. Did I mentioned they were really good friends? :)


Saamis teepee in Medicine Hat, AB

The next morning, my shoulder still felt the same. Pain when I moved it, and no mobility save for a few inches to my side. Neda poured me onto the bike and I manually, but gingerly, placed my right hand on the throttle and we were off to Calgary. We passed through Medicine Hat and took a break at the Saamis teepee just off the TransCanada Highway. It's a monument built for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Saamis is the Blackfoot word for eagle tail feather headress (or the hat worn by the Medicine Man)


Close up of Saamis teepee

There are informational plaques all over the teepee, and I read up on the history of the First Nations tribes in Canada. All of their stories and traditions centre strongly around dreams, and I found it interesting how devoid it was of the overt moralism and story-telling structure of the fables and folklore of Western culture. In other words, it made absolutely no sense to me...


Paul and Karen and their boys, Kai and Ewan. Yes, Ewan. And a GS...

We approached Calgary in a thunderstorm. Through the pain of putting on my rainsuit over a bum shoulder, I thought how unfortunate it would be to also get struck by lightning now -- seeing how my 1.5m GS was the tallest thing on the open Prairie highway by about... 1.5m...

Paul and Karen moved to Calgary from Toronto over a year ago and it was good to see them again, even though we just saw them in Toronto a few weeks earlier when they came to visit. That afternoon, we rode my GS into Blackfoot Motorsports to see what they could do for me. 2.5 hours and one used GS windscreen later, I rode out with my bike all patched up! Unfortunately they were out of stock of spare rotator cuffs...

Although I loved my big-ass, ugly old Aeroflow windscreen, it was always doomed to shatter in any tipover or crash because of how far it sticks out at the sides. The stock GS windshield is terrible but at least it's out of the way in any fall unless the bike lands upside-down. *knock on wood*


Horse sculptures in the Courthouse Park in downtown Calgary

We spent a lot of time catching up with P&K and playing with their kids. While they were at work during the day, Neda and I rode over to downtown Calgary to walk around the Eau Claire market and do some shopping. We wandered around aimlessly around the Eaton Centre (not sure if it's called that anymore) for a while before we realized that we needed and wanted nothing that the stores had to offer. We weren't interested in any clothing, furniture, household items, or electrical gadgets. They didn't really fit on the motorcycle and besides we didn't have a home to store them in anyhow... We spent more time in the Mountain Equipment Co-Op perusing camping equipment, and even then noticed that we had everything we needed already!


Hiking in Kananaskis Park

Karen took an afternoon off to take Neda and the kids hiking in Kananaskis Park, just west of the city. I heard the word "hike" and suddenly the pain in my shoulder flared up again and I begged off to stay at home to work on the blog... :) I did end up seeing a walk-in clinic, they confirmed my Googled self-diagnosis, I had severely strained the soft tissue in my rotator cuff and it would take a few weeks to heal.


Neda is skilled in all manner of two-wheeled vehicles


Paul makes sure the car is locked before we head into the rodeo

On the weekend, we all visited a rodeo in nearby Rockyford, about an hour east of Calgary. We had missed Stampede (Calgary's largest rodeo party) by about a couple of weeks, but Rockyford's rodeo billed itself as the "biggest little show in Alberta".


Buckin' bronco! 8 seconds never seemed longer!


Rodeo clown tells bad jokes between events


Not sure who let these hockey players into the rodeo...


Calgary Ground Pilots and fellow adventurers, Jill and Curtis

I've visited Calgary a couple of times before on a motorcycle over the years, and I've kept in touch with the local motorcycle scene via CGP forum. Curtis and I have exchanged messages on there a few times and we finally get to meet in person! We had a late dinner at Wurst, and had a great time chatting away about bikes and travel. They are also two adventurous spirits and we hope to see them again on our travels.


At Wurst, these guys come out to play Happy Birthday to the customers.
Seems there was a birthday party at every single table that evening!

We spent almost a week in Calgary and we have to thank Paul and Karen for having us over, they were such gracious hosts! The shoulder seems to be getting a bit better, but for now Neda is still hiking up my R1200GS onto the center-stand at every gas stop, bless her soul!

[jeepinbanditrider]

My brother rides bareback broncs for fun. He did it on a team when he was in High School also. There's no telling how many teeth he'd be missing if it weren't for one of those "hockey" helmets My parents made him wear it when he was in High School (lots of braces and dental work when he was a kid) and he kept up the habit after graduating HS.

[riderskate]

I'm really enjoying your trip. Keep the reports comming and I hope your feeling better real soon.

[lightcycle]

On a totally ADVRider.com-related note, we ran into Naekid when we were riding back to Calgary (at the beginning of this entry):

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=811729

He's the third ADV guy we've encountered on this trip, pretty sure there'll be many more Inmate-encounters!

[ronazon]

So how is the shoulder and where are you guys now?

[GISdood]

Originally Posted by ronazon

So how is the shoulder and where are you guys now?

Ditto that... if you're in the Prince George area drop us a PM. Plenty of tent space, covered parking for the bikes, and a spare room if your shoulder needs a break from tenting. The only exception is if you happen to be through here between Aug 31 and Sept 8, as we'll be out on a road trip of our own.

Hope the trip is progressing well and that the shoulder is healing up!

[YJake]

I'm officially in now

-Jake

[Mo-Tarded]

Originally Posted by lightcycle

Not sure who let these hockey players into the rodeo...

If this feller had a hold of the horns you coulda played it off as you rodeo-ing the GS into the ditch ! Why is it some falls seem to take a lifetime to complete !

SoCal here... Timing is everything of course but if we're here an invite extended up the street from a SoCal beach ! Garage, bed and jacuzzi included. ...and mandatory for bad shoulders. Two collarbones on one side, one and a torn superspinitis tendon on the other side.

[lightcycle]

Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/16.html



After our much-needed break in Calgary, it was good to be on the road again. We're headed west towards Banff National Park where we'll spend a couple of nights in the National Park to do some sightseeing and ride the amazing roads in the area.


Neda spots wildlife again on the Bow Valley Trail

From Calgary, we bypassed the main TransCanada Highway and took the smaller, more scenic Bow Valley Trail, which follows the Bow River all the way to Canmore. We saw tons of motorcyclists, mainly sportbikes, zoom by on the twisty road, taking advantage of the beautiful, sunny Albertan weekend-weather.


Rocky Mountains loom ahead on Bow Valley Trail


Posing on the main strip, Banff Ave


In Banff, we parked next to two Ontario GSes! One with an RTI sticker (where we used to teach)!

We've visited Banff many times over the years, mainly to go snowboarding in the amazing resorts in the area. It's a classic alpine tourist trap, very pretty, overpriced storefronts selling the latest Arcteryx fashions to Starbucks-sipping vacationers with permanent Oakley tan-lines on their face. We know, because we used to be one of them back when we had jobs. And snowboards. And a home to store all that stuff in... :)


Posing on the main strip


Ride back to our campsite on Bow Valley Parkway


Once again, Neda's keen eye spots more wildlife


Waitin' on a train. Please use your imagination. Or Google Image "Morant's Curve"...

Paul told me that there was a famous spot in Banff National Park called Morant's Curve where people camp out for hours in front of the S-shaped turn waiting for the eastbound Canadian Pacific trains to pass by with the picturesque Bow River and (usually) snow-capped Rocky Mountains in the background. Sure enough when we arrived, a dozen photographers had set up tripods to capture the event. So we broke out our groceries and proceeded to make lunch while waiting for the train. The CP rail schedule is about as reliable as a chocolate camshaft, and over the NEXT TWO HOURS, one-by-one the photographers got fed up and left, as new ones arrived to take their place. We couldn't wait any longer - we wanted to ride. So, empty-handed (empty SD-card?), we rode towards Lake Louise.


While I waited for the train, Neda went hiking and took some pictures


Rental canoes on Lake Louise

Next stop, Lake Louise, the site of the most photographed lake in the world. We arrived in the pouring rain, so we hid out in the very posh Chateau Lake Louise, waiting for a chance to dash out to hike around the area. Once again, we were inundated by tourists of all nationalities. Tour buses swarm the Banff/Lake Louise area like GS-owners to the latest Touratech catalog. We really needed to "Get to da choppa!" and just ride where other people weren't...


Riding through the rocks at Radium, BC

So we did my favorite loop (er triangle?) in the Calgary-area: Banff->Golden->Radium->Banff. Kilometers of twisty roads, most of it with very little traffic south of Golden, and all of it with the majestic Rocky Mountains surrounding us!


Relaxing in the hot springs at Radium

The loop takes us into Eastern BC for a while, and we stopped at the hot springs at Radium to dip into the naturally heated wading pools to relax our riding muscles (posteriors) before the trip back to our campsite in Banff.


Kootenay Highway at dusk

The Kootenay Highway runs from Radium, BC through the Kootenay National Park, all the way back into Banff National Park. Although not as famous as Deals Gap, Sea-To-Sky or Cabot Trail, it's a destination highway for many motorists as well, and we hit it at just the right time, as the sun was low in the horizon. The colours took on a beautiful, lazy hue lit by the setting sun and for the first time on this trip, I felt that zen-like feeling, when all the turns in the road come to you telepathically and everything is right in the world. It was such a magical ride on that road that I didn't want it to end. Neda chimed in over the intercom telling me she was feeling exactly the same way and it was wonderful sharing the ride with her that way.


Zen.


Riding into the setting Alberta sun

This was such a great riding day, and I felt I really needed it after the eventful week I've been having.

[BluNozr]

Nice report and great photos.