BC Big Trailie Ride 3

It was another beautiful morning as we headed east on Hwy 3 to start the day's ride. We didn't stay on the pavement for very long and soon found ourselves on the Oliver-Cawston Road, a very fun dirt road.

Riding on the Oliver-Cawston Road

IslandR

JR Larry

Cam

Cooler

dr650bc

Night Wolf

Randle

Strompette

Canuck

We re-grouped near the intersection of the Fairview-Whitelake Road, which we would take to the Green Lake Road and then north towards Okanagan Falls.

dr650bc's enjoying the ride!

We drove through Okanagan Falls, and took the Eastside Road north along Skaha Lake. We stopped for some pictures by the lake.

We rode north into Penticton, and then took Hwy 97 towards Summerland where we stopped for gas.

From Summerland, the plan was to take the Princeton-Summerland Road, a beautiful and fun dirt road, back to Princeton where we would eat lunch, and then everyone would go there separate ways. A few of the group departed early, leaving us after the gas stop in Summerland.

Unfortunately, we made a wrong turn shortly after leaving Summerland and ended up on the wrong dirt road. Not realizing we were on the wrong road, Bora20 and I started picking up the pace (basically hauling a$$) and left most of the others behind. We finally stopped to take some pictures of the others as they caught up.

My bike stopped on what we thought was the Princeton-Summerland Road

Cam shows up and we wave him on, and the others following him.

Canuck

IslandR

Manxman comes up to tell us we're on the wrong road

When Manxman reaches us, he informs us that we missed a turn and are on the wrong road. Bora20 quickly takes off to catch up to those that we had waved on, and I follow shortly afterwards. It doesn't take long to realize that this must certainly be the wrong road, as the road condition quickly deteriorates, and eventually becomes just a muddy trail.

Just about this time, I see Randle riding back towards me. Unfortunately, he has bad news.

The trail condition up ahead had gotten much worse, and Cam had apparently taken a fall and broke his wrist. I took off back down the trail to let Manxman and the others know what happened. When I reached them, we decided to send dr650bc back towards Summerland to try and get a cell signal to call for an ambulance. Manxman and the others with him would wait where they were, and I ran back up the trail to see about getting Cam down the hill.

By the time I reached those waiting with Cam, they had flagged down a couple in an SUV that had apparently also missed a turn and were lost. They agreed to let Cam ride with them, and I started leading them down the hill; eventually meeting up with the ambulance that dr650bc had finally contacted. In the meantime, the others were helping to get Cam's bike down the road. One of our group would ride down the hill a little ways on Cam's bike, and then be ridden two-up back up the hill to retrieve his own bike - a long process, but it worked.

Cam's getting care in the ambulance

IslandR's bike is resting while he rides Cams bike down the hill a ways

My GS1200 is resting while I wait for IslandR to come and retrieve his bike

After making sure the Cam was taken care of, most of us had to hit the road for home. I was actually heading to my friend's cottage in Sorrento on Shuswaps Lake. It was a couple of hours north for me, and I finally arrived there. We ended up having a BBQ with Bob, his wife Marian and a few of their friends.

I slept good that night, and then the next morning took off for the marathon ride back to Camas Washington.

Other than the bad luck with Cam, it was a great multi-day ride with some fantastic friends and riding partners. The people make the event as much as the roads, trails, and scenery - great people made for a great ride!!!