The Plan
Tour B.C. Itineray.
Thursday, June 10, 1999
Thursday afternoon/evening everyone meets in Kamloops at the Knutsford Campground. Knutsford is located minutes from Kamloops on the ever fun Hwy 5A. Set up camp, B.S, a chilli dinner will be provided
For fun that night we'll ride the length of Hwy 5A t a 70 klik jaunt of 60-70 km/h marked corners. Beforewarned this is the Kamloops boy's "home track" and they will get away from you.
Friday, June 11, 1999
"Ride, Eat, Sleep, Repeat......."Left out of the campground will take you into town (Kamloops). Hit the Days Inn for breakfast. Friendly folks, first motel you hit leaving the campground, nice big parking lot, and besides they supported us with some great room rates and donated a couple of restaurant gift certificates. Good place for breakfast.
Leaving Kamloops, follow Hwy. 1 east through Chase, Sorrento to Salmon Arm (should take about an hour). Just before Salmon Arm (just before a small bridge) you will see a turnoff marked Salmon Valley Rd. It's a right turn then a sharp left about 100 meters further. Stay on this road all the way to the Armstrong turnoff sign, about 40 km. (24 miles). This will take you out to 97A then right (south) to Vernon. Once there, follow the signs to Hwy. 6 and Lumby. This will take you up the beautiful Coldstream valley agricultural area then, past Lumby & up and over the Monashee Pass.
This is one of the most fun bike roads around with only one bad decreasing radius about 2/3 of the way to Needles. It's marked with a LARGE checkerboard. Watch for it. Other than that, it's just good clean fun. At Needles you will board the free ferry. It's a ten minute crossing over Arrow Lake and runs every 1/2 hour. On the other side, Fauquier, about 300 yards up the road pull into the Fauquier Esso and Mushroom Addition Restaurant. This is a good time to stop for lunch and besides, Roger is giving us a 10% discount (no, not on gas so don't ask!) It's just a funky little "no pretense" restaurant out in the middle of nowhere that happens to be nutty about mushrooms and Roger is kind of a character too.
From here head north up Hwy. 6 to Nakusp then continue on east on Hwy.6 to New Denver, the gateway to one of the all-time great motorcycle roads, Hwy. 31A. Our day finishes with a spirited romp over 31A to Kaslo where Ripples Restaurant, about halfway down the main drag, offers up good food, cheap and a great view out over the lake from the deck. I couldn't get us any discounts but if the weather is nice, the deck is a great place to hang out for a while an tell lies about how great we rode that day!. Kaslo is a real character town that has a feeling of having gone into a time freeze sometime in the sixties. You can take the time to stroll around town a bit because our home for the night is just ten minutes down the road (hwy. 31 heading south towards Ainsworth Hot springs) at Mirror Lake Campground. As with the previous night, if you don't see any of the group, just check into the office, tell them you're with the Tour B.C. and they'll tell you where to go.
See more detailed map of Day 1 route here Total Mileage Day 1: 511 kilometers
Saturday, June 12, 1999
Strongly recommend an early start. Grab a coffee if you can, skip breakfast and be on the road by 7:00. There is no sweeter way to start the day than the road from Mirror Lake to Balfour. But the reason for the early start is on the other side of the ferry from Balfour. Starting at Kootenay Bay and running down Hwy. 3A along the edge of Kootenay Lake is an approx. 50 mile reason to get up early. This is a "wreck-all-creation" area and by 10:00 the arteries are so clogged with "w.a.c." vehicles that you ain't gonna be making any time along here. This road is just too damn good to waste stuck behind Ma & Pa Kettle in a Weenie-Baggle and it is definitely not a "passing" road. So my advise...hit the road early and plan to be in Creston by 9:00-10:00
Look for the ABC Family Restaurant on your left as you come into town. This would be a good place to meet for breakfast and Denise (the manager) says the coffee is on her so that's pretty cool. From here on, it's going to be an easy sight seeing day. Following 3/95 east and north towards Cranbrooke will have you headed towards the heritage town of Ft. Steele on 95 or the Bavarian town of Kimberley if you opt for 95A. If you want to get into Calgary at a decent time, you don't have a lot of time for sight-seeing though. Follow 95 north to Radium then branch off on 93 towards Lk. Louise and Banff. There is a Parks Canada toll booth when you come out of Radium (if you don't see it in the first 1/4 mile, you're going the wrong way). Tell them that you are not staying in the park, just blasting straight through to Calgary and they wont charge you.
Hwy 93 is a great hwy. If you feel inclined to wick it up a bit, 93 serves up a smorgasbord of long high speed sweepers to keep you grinnin'. Do keepin mind that this is park land and wildlife is abundant so please be vigilant. As usual, the organizational body of this tour in no way wish to imply endorsement of such irresponsible behavior as speeding and accept no responsibility for your speeding tickets and/or crashes. You're on your own, bucko! If you are inclined towards a more leisurely pace, I think hwy. 93 is one of B.C.'s most beautiful roads. Kind of soothing "good for the soul" sort of stuff. 93 dumps you out on Hwy. 1 halfway between Lk. Louise and Banff. From there it's a straight shot through Banff, Canmore then Calgary.
If you are familiar with Calgary, great! I have attached instructions on the easiest route to Race City. If you're not familiar with Calgary and don't trust your map reading skills (or trust my directions) just pull over on the hwy. outside city limits and look lost. To those who do know their way around Calgary, if you see a two wheeled comrade on the side of the highway looking pathetic, please stop. I've added this because a) at this stage of the day I expect the group to be fairly spred out and b) If you don't know the way, Race City ain't the easiest place to find. I know; it took me two hours the first time.
Directions to Race City Motorsport Park, Calgary
Race City address is 68th street and 114th avenue S.E. so you know its in the south east quadrant of Calgary. Following is the simplest direct route when coming from the west..... Stay on hwy. 1 (called 16th ave. within city limits) to the Deerfoot Trail - Exit to Deerfoot Trail S. (major intersection) - watch for Glenmore Trail East and exit. (it will be a few miles) - once on Glenmore Trail E. look for Barlow Trail and exit right (it should be about 1/2 mile) - stay on Barlow Trail until 114th Ave. There is a large Race City sign at the corner. Head down 114th Ave for about a mile and you're there.
Race City is out in the middle of nowhere but where did you expect tofind a race track?..... in the middle of town?
When you get to Race City, go to the main ticket gates at the parking lot and we'll re-organize there. We're allowed to camp at Race City Speedway Saturday night. Now sit back, relax and get ready for some really great racing.
Note that we start at Mirror Lake and head south which is shown on the Day 1 map. Total Mileage Day 2: 645 kilometers
Sunday, June 12, 1999
Watch the races!! Superbike, open Sportbike and 600 Sportbike classes will all be running with a few regional races thrown in as well. The races start around 11 in the morning and should be wrapped up by the afternoon. At dinner that night we'll draw for the door prizes, say our good byes and you'll be handed next years Tour B.C. route and sign up sheet. What's a tour without a sequal?
I'm not sure how many of you plan on staying overnight on Sunday after the races finish up. If you're looking for a place to camp that night John Lobban has graciously offered Tour B.C. the use of his cousin Sandy Harden's farm. Special thanks to John and Sandy for the offer and we promise to leave the place in better shape then we found it in.
Dave and Doug (the Canuck Connection)
More detailed maps will be provided to those who sign up for the rally!!!
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