Test Run #2
February 2007 » Revving Up for Rideup

Now that my modified motorcycle and gear are almost ready, I made my first winter testrun on February 16, 2007. The purpose was to determine fuel consumption in cold weather, and check the winter highway holding conditions of the bike with a full simulated expedition load of about 800 pounds – that includes me, my gear, and the bike itself!

My plan was to leave Regina and drive northwest to Saskatoon and back on the double-lane highway – a complete distance of about 550 kms. When I left Regina at about 10:30 a.m. , the temperature was only
–8 degrees Celsius, which was a lot warmer than in previous weeks. There was a strong wind of between 30 and 50 km/hour coming from the northeast, however, meaning the wind chill at road speed was between –25 and –30 degrees Celsius.

As expected, things weren’t easy! For the first 30 km after leaving Regina , blowing snow caused quite a bit of drift across the highway, and I had to limit my speed to no more than 80 km/h. In addition, I got pretty cold because I was wearing a regular set of riding pants since my winter thermal pants are still in the process of being shipped to me. I had to set my electrical suit to the maximum setting, which ultimately caused me a few electrical problems.

When I reached the midway point at Davidson, I stopped for fuel and to check over the bike. When I was ready to get going again, the bike wouldn’t start, and I discovered that the battery had been discharged to below the minimum starting requirements (after the ride, I discovered that overuse of my electrical suit and inaccurate voltage gauges had contributed to this). I charged the battery for 30 minutes, and decided that because I had been delayed, had some electrical problems, and could be facing some bad weather, I would cut the test ride short and head back to Regina.

As I was preparing to head back to Regina , my friend Fred Kwan and his family happened to be passing through Davidson. They offered to follow me back to Regina to ensure my safe return. Thanks, Fred!

On the whole, the bike performed well, and handled just fine on the road. On my next test ride, I have to be careful not to overtax my electrical system, and I have to breathe carefully so I don’t fog up my visor. I also have to get more used to using my modified winter hand and foot controls. Oh, and I look forward to wearing my thermal winter riding pants!

In the next couple of weeks, I’ll take my next test ride on my
studded ice tires.

Test Run #1
June 2006 » Regina to Stony Rapids

It would be crazy to try riding to the Arctic Ocean without taking some test rides! I scheduled my first ride for June of 2006, so I could take advantage of the longer sunlight days. The days turned out to be a lot longer than I ever expected!

My purpose for this summer test ride was to test my modified Kawasaki KLR 650’s performance and handling with the expected equipment and fuel load on similar roads to those I will be encountering on the Dempster Highway on the actual ride. I was looking for a winding gravel rock road in forested terrain, and the road from La Ronge to Points North mining camp at the west side of Wollaston Lake fit the bill.

There is also a seasonal road from Points North mining camp that goes north to Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan’s northernmost community. If all went well up to Points North, I was going to take this 180-kilometre-long Athabasca seasonal sand road on the final stretch up to Stony Rapids.

I started out from Regina on June 21 in a rainstorm and drove the 700 kilometres to La Ronge. So far so good. I noticed that the bike handled a bit sluggishly on the highway and was sensitive to gusts of winds from the side – something I expected with the load it was carrying.
I was going to require modifications on the suspension and gear storage system for the next ride.

On June 22 – the longest day of the year – things went smoothly at first. I intended to drive from La Ronge to Points North, which was approximately 500 km away. When I got to Points North at 6:00 p.m. , I had to stop and clean the dust out of my air filter, because it was starting to affect the bike’s performance. Two hours later, I was ready to ride the remaining 180 kilometres on the sand road to Stony Rapids.

Because heavy haul trucks use the sand road during the day, I had timed the ride to take this stretch of road on the longest day of the year when it would be light out until close to 2:00 a.m. Although the distance was only 180 kilometres, it could take me as long as 9 hours to take the road, given the fact that top speed might be only about 20 km/h on the twisting sand and rock-covered road. If I didn’t make it to Stony Rapids by dark, I would camp out until morning and then finish the ride.

Did I say finish the ride? Well, that never happened! At about the 70 kilometre mark, I drove into dry silt bog on the road – think talcum powder two feet thick! In the fading light I thought it was sand and tried to power out of it, but that was the wrong thing to do. My rear tire dug down to bedrock in a second and launched me into a sand hole and off my bike.

I was wearing a full riding suit with soft armor and spine protection. However I did not bring a any hard armor to protect my chest, knees or elbows, because I didn’t think I’d be doing any serious off-road riding. Big mistake! I landed on a rock on my left shoulder, and broke something, but I didn’t know exactly what. My left arm was useless, I couldn’t even pick up my bike, and I faced a long night by the side of the road in an area where wolves had killed a man the previous year.

My GPS told me that the Black Lake First Nations Reserve (where there was a nursing station) was only 50 kilometers away, so I loaded up my necessary survival gear started walking, hoping someone would pick me up. I got picked up an hour and a half later by a guy from Winnipeg named Brian, who was delivering a 4 x 4 half-ton. It was a bumpy and painful four-hour ride to Black Lake , and it turned out there was no one at the nursing station. We continued on to Stony Rapids, where I was treated and my arm was put in a sling. Later, I would get further treatment for what turned out to be a broken collarbone in Regina .

I thought my adventure was over once I arrived in Stony Rapids Hospital, but a fast-moving forest fire threatened the town a day later and I was evacuated back to Black Lake Indian Reserve for two days, after which it was threatened by the same forest fire again. I was lucky enough to get evacuated out of Black Lake before the forest fire shut down the airport. A few days later, the whole of Black Lake had to be evacuated.

I got my bike shipped back to Regina and spent some time recovering from my injury. I learned a few important things about the bike and about myself on that test ride, but one thing became really clear:

I’m more determined than ever to “Ride up for Autism” to
raise awareness for kids like my son Eric.