June 15th, 2026
Prince George, British Columbia
Woke up at 8am. Got
ready to go as usual and loaded up the bike.
Did some last-minute checks online before I left and lost my
internet connection.
We checked out and hit the highway, but only for a few
blocks to pull over and get fuel.
Once the tank was topped off, we headed north on highway 97.
The ride was a bit cooler than most days, it was mostly
clouding and overcast and temperatures were hovering around 25 C. That was a bit too cool for me, so a few miles
up the road I pulled over and put on my 2nd layer under the riding jacket.
Once back on the road things were mostly uneventful.
Stopped at a few rest areas either to use the facility or
take photos if they were in nice areas.
There were a few light sprinkles of rain coming down now and
then, but nothing to worry about, and we had gained about 2000 feet of elevation,
so if it was light up there, we were probably going to be good, but will check
weather when I stop for lunch.
A few spots of road construction slowed us down as they had
only 1 lane open, so had to wait and take turns. The first one I came up too had us there for
15 minutes. It was an interesting stop
though as while I was waiting, two bicyclists pulled up beside me on the
shoulder (I was near front of the line).
Two girls from the US (Oregon and Montana) pedaling to Alaska! We talked for a bit, but then the highway guy
told them they could proceed now and to stay off the main road except where
needed to pass the workers. They took
off (and must have turned off as I did not see them later when we got to head
down the same road).
Few miles later we had to stop again, but this time only
about 5 minutes passed before we were able to go.
I pulled off in a town called 100 Mile House and topped off
the tank again, just to be safe, the hills and light winds are still slowing me
at times, and fuel economy has become a science project.
I have noticed if I keep the bike in 6th gear
around 55-58MPH (which is the speed limit on many roads anyway) I do really
well on fuel, maybe not as good as riding 30-35, but still get nice range. I can push it up to 62 MPH without too much
loss, but still not as good. If I move
up over 65, the fuel disappears faster, and if I try going much over 70, it
nearly halves my fuel economy. So thankfully
most of the highways are 56-62 MPH speed limits and I can stay in a good range. The big key is keeping the RPM low, but not
too low (I suspect the riding in hills at 2500-3000 RPM the other day was what
caused the bike to overheat.)
If I stay above 3500, but below 4500 things are good, up to
5500 I can do well, but need to be careful and constant use over 5500 things
just get worse the higher it goes.
So back to 100 Miles House.
Once I had topped off the tank, I went over a few blocks to the A&W
place, been lots of years since I have eaten at one.
Food was okay. Had
some good conversation with some older guys having coffee in the same seating
area, well, one of the guys talked, the other one just sat and smiled and
nodded. (A 3rd guy was at another table, think they might have known
each other, but he kept to himself).
After I finished eating and was ready to go, I went out to
the bike and a lady was outside the pickup parked next to me smoking, but she
commented on the bike and we talked about it.
Turns out she and her husband are doing a trip up to the Arctic Ocean
later this year, though not sure if by bike or car.
Shortly after they left, another motorbike pulled up next
too me, a really fast looking Aprilia, though forgot the model. We talked briefly and then he went
inside. As I was finished my load check,
a car pulled up and guy got out and came around and asked me how I liked the
Rigg Gear bags I have. Seems he might
have been looking at them, so told him what I thought. He then went and sat in his car on the phone.
I pulled out and hit the highway, and was confident in a
nice ride as I used the WiFi at the restaurant and radar showed most of the
rain had already passed by this area and not much predicted to move in for the
rest of my route.
Moved up the highway, again stopping as needed, but not anything
amazing to see other than the one lake we passed and rest area was right on the
shore.
About 2/3 of the way it started to sprinkle again.
Figured it was nothing to worry about, but then it started to come harder and eventually turned into rain. I rode for a bit hoping it would quit soon, and no safe spot to pull over as we were going downhill.
But after a few minutes, I had no choice, found a wider
shoulder near a bridge and pulled off to put on my upper rain gear at least.
As expected, by time I stopped, dismounted, pulled out the
rain gear, took off backpack, put rain jacket on, fasten it all up, put pack
back on and got ready to leave, the rain had all but stopped. A mile down the road things were dry.
I went ahead and left the rain jacket on though, since it
was still cloudy, but also temps had dropped to 21C, which to me is cold, so
the rain jacket helps block the cold wind better.
Eventually came into the outside edge of Prince George,
traffic was busy, few stop lights to wait at, but we made it to the motel and
checked in.
While I was checking in, I decided to check on something
that had occurred to me while riding a few hours earlier. I went into my phone settings and found that international
data roaming was disabled. Turned that
on and BAM….my internet works on the phone now.
I had forgotten that was turned off by default, but
something from memory when I was in Europe last year and has similar issue was
dredged up during my ride.
So at least I can get better map updates instead of using
the offline stuff and can now check on stuff along the way, at least till I get
farther north, then things may get bad again, there are parts of some of the
routes that will not even have cell service at all.
My room is on the far back side of the hotel, on another
street, maybe be quieter since not on the main road.
I unloaded the bike and got changed, then checked online to
see where I wanted to go eat.
The motel has a restaurant attached that had good reviews,
so thought I would check it.
Left the room and a few doors down the building changes into
Apartments that people rent, and a lady and her kids (older) were outside with
the most amazing looking Maine Coon cat!
I went over to see the kitty and talked with them for a
while. The were interested in my travels
and recommended some places to see, but when I looked at map later, they were thinking
about a different highway I will not be travelling, so will not be close to
that stuff.
They also recommended the motels restaurant.
So that was where I went, had a good burger, some fries and
since they asked, I tried the gravy with the fries. These Canadians are on to something, was
really good.
As usual I used dinner time to offload all the footage from
cameras.
I then came back to the room and started dealing with the
manager of the hotel I stayed at the previous two nights. They were not happy with the review I left
them (was all positive, praising the great service, but I guess a few things
they did for me they normally do not do, and did not want that mentioned.)
Whatever, I figured I would just delete it, but what a
damned joke. Hotels.com (I booked room
through them) does not allow you to edit or delete your own comments!! What a
stupid practice.
I had to get ahold of their support (and that was a nightmare
of its own) and request the deletion, which ends up being a form they send, I
fill out the data and submit it, then they will do something in 48 hours!
Probably not going to review things on that site anymore,
and unless I have negative things to say, probably going to skip the reviewing
on any site. Figure if things really suck,
I will let the world know, but not going to call out the good stuff anymore as it
seems that might not make people happy either.
I then worked on converted 360 footage and wrote up this
blog, but now I am really tired, and have a 6-hour ride tomorrow, thinking it
is time for bed.
Catch ya down the road!
Chris
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