Gravel, Dust Storms, Cross-winds, and the Creek - Day 15

When we left Whitecourt, the road we took was not just the only road, but the main road used by truckers mainly hauling logs and gravel. This, the road gets covered with tree parts and gravel. As the trucks roll down the highway, the sand and dirt from the truck bed leaks and with the help of the turbulence created by the truck makes dust clouds.

We expected rain today, so we dressed appropriately and headed west on Highway 43 toward Dawson Creek, BC. Luckily for us, we were able to time it just right and make it through the rain and weather formations. Most of the ride had blue skies in front of us, but always a looming bunch of gray clouds to the south and coming our way.

Kind of ide and seek with the rain. we came upon the town of Grand Prairie and had lunch. It was good to take a break as the winds today were relentless. 50K winds all day.(that's about 30 mph).

It's kind of interesting and you take it for granted, but once you cross the border, you enter a metric world. Speed limits, measurements, weights and temperatures, al in kph, km, kg, and Celsius. That means quick math most of the time, but after a few days it becomes easier. Seeing destination signs with km instead f miles means you have a much shorter distance than if the numbers were in miles. Now it's easy - 100km=62.2 miles, 200km=124.4 miles, 50km=31.1 miles. Not so hard. Now kph to mph is a little dicier trying to do the math at 70mph. You se, I have an American made motorcycle, so, no English/metric speedometer. Fortunately, Ed has a German motorcycle - so we're in luck - as long as the comms system works. It has been out of action for 2 days. A quick reset and pairing of the devices put us back on the air today.

Generally, highway speeds are 110kph - or, do the math, 100kph-62.2mph plus 6.22 mph =68.42mph. Easy right? 110kph = approx. 70mph.Ok, enough with the math. That's the easy part. Try to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. Now that's a different story. Not doing that math at 70mph, so have to have a cheat sheet, if it feels warm, then it's warm and if it feels cold, then it's cold. That's about as much math as I'm doing on the fly. We dress about the same either way.

By the way. Enjoy your cheap gas at home. Not only is it more than $5.00 per gallon for premium, but it's dispensed in Liters. 4 liters to an Imperial Gallon, so at $1.28 per liter, $5.12/gal. Some times higher. It seems the further north and west we go, the higher the gas price.

Riding through AB to day had a little more scenery. The usual deer crossing and moose crossing signs and warnings. Occasional oil wells pumping, you know the kind that looks like a rocking horse, and occasional petroleum refinery on the side of the highway.

Here is a new meaning for the phrase "Mobile Home". When people move here. they even move the house!

Since things are so far apart, most pickup truck owners ride with a gas tank and pump in the back of their pickup. We saw one pumping gas from his truck bed into his gas tank yesterday at a rest stop.

When we were in Great Falls, MT, we ran into this guy named Tom who had to be well into his seventies who just got back from Alaska. He told us of his ride and gave us some good advice. He was riding a trike that broke down and was staying at the Fairfield Inn as well. His last bit if advice - "Go up there and touch the Circle boys!" Thanks Tom, we hope to make that happen.

Arrived in Dawson Creek about 3:14PM and all the while thought t was 4:14PM. Looks like we crossed another time zone. Would have liked to make it further, but up here there are limited services and limited accommodations so we decided to play it safe and get a room here where there are plentiful hotels.

Tomorrow we cross the Rockies and the Continental Divide. It's supposed to rain all day, so we'll see how far we get. Next big city is Fort Nelson, only about 260 miles away. Next after that is the city of Whitehorse, about 635 miles from Dawson Creek. Not going to make that, so we'll try somewhere in between. We'll see how it goes with the weather.

Dawson Creek is where the AlCan Highway begins. Mile 0. We'll be riding it tomorrow. Another day behind and another day closer to the Circle. Wish us luck.........

Tally is we added 2 Canadian Provinces - Alberta and British Columbia, travelled 263 miles today, and gained another hour - now on Mountain Time.

While riding through Dawson Creek I got a call from Kasey and was glad to speak with her. Glad she called then because at 70mph the wind noise in the helmet is too loud and is just too hard to have a conversation.

Ran into 2 other bikers at the hotel headed to the same places we are, so we'll probably see them on the road. One guy rode with his wife from Missouri and the other rode solo from Pennsylvania.

More tomorrow..........