Sunrise / Sunset Rides

[cowboyup3371]

Before leaving work tonight

[TiiMuch]

I'm gonna chuck this one in here,....on a TL1000r, mostly cuz it's a early morning/setting sun run on a big cc Zuk on an really cool mountain side/ocean side road....but HERE because Ive got the 1100E now and this is all happening/happened because that was the bike I always wanted as a kid who could'nt afford it.
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And last holiday Monday I rode the Tiller up to Whistler and back.

It was a fantastic experience and punctuated the end of summer for me. This bike was in its element on that wide open mountainside road.

I left home at 630am to beat holiday traffic heading up there.

A couple short stops for Starbucks coffee which I knew would have me fully awake for the trip. One in downtown Vancouver, the other in Horseshoe Bay,...the point where the the highway turns from divided 6 lanes to a never ending series of corners heading north to Whistler Mountain along the west side of the Coastal mountains, the ocean inlet, Howe Sound down below, Islands to the west of that.

There were major upgrades made to this road for the Olympics recently and the road is mostly divided four lanes now, some of the tighter turns have been straightened out a bit. The surface is pretty well great except for the places where rocks fall off the mountainsides above and leave sharp craters(?!).
It makes the road safer in a lot of ways,...well, other than the road will handle WAY higher speeds if your "charging", which happens a lot as there are a lot of people here with deep pockets and car/bike rides, and egos to match.
The roads "issues" have gone from crossing the center line for whatever reason(any of torrential rain,slush/ice in winter) and impacting head on into opposing traffic, to higher speed crashes.
The problem is that the inside of every corner is a rock wall and the outside is a cliff or concrete divider barrier.

There was very little traffic when I was heading north in the am,...I eventually came up behind a full sized GMC 4x4 work Pickup moving at quite a clip.
To take the worry out of being the first one to meet a wayward critter crossing the road I followed at varying distances.

This bike felt fantastic on that road at those speeds. I was getting some wobbles from the rear if I shifted my weight quickly mid corner, but otherwise very, very confidence inspiring.
Intoxicating with the big torque,...acceleration was never lacking?!.

Lot's more traffic on the way home(south) that afternoon.
I met up with a guy on a brand new Aprilla 1000 V-Twin and we rode mostly together all the way back to Vancouver.
Taking turns leading and following. It seemed I had a power advantage on the 15 year year old TLr.
It certainly was a riding experience highlight running thru those mountain passes near another similar bike.

I "thought" I would just fix this bike and flip it,...nope,...this one is a keeper.

[TiiMuch]

One more, again, on the TLr, but this tread has made me realise how much better these rides were because of the time of day,....seriously, there's something to be said for seeing that sun come up, or go down below the horizon on a ride.

Hate to bring it up, but two of the coolest scenes in the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with Brad Pitt was one, when he's left the love of his life in bed, knows he's leaving for a long while, hopped on a I think a Triumph or BSA 750 and cruises along, admiring the sunrise over the southern US Gulf. And another scene were he's really young, like 19 y.o., and riding some ****box bike in some south asia plain watching a sunset over feilds.
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Ok, the early trips into town continue to be a great source of driving/riding experiences.
At 530am the roads here are mostly empty and the people who are driving then are used to scooting along at full clip,...the traffic thru the under river tunnel is commonly going 110kph,...that never happens any other time. It takes just one confused/scared driver to slow traffic down, and of course closer to the rush hours it just slows with the volume.
On the bike I get to ride right up to the tunnel like the buses tho in the HOV lane,...the bike is good in rush hours.
But those early mornings,....
So yesterday me and this guy in a big black Ram Hemi truck are cruising side by side on the stretch coming up to the cloverleaf to the tunnel,...he "thinks" hez going to force me to either speed up or slow down so we can get behind one or the other in the lane for the 270 degree circle to the right.
Except I am in a lane that goes over the overpass and allows me to take the shortcut to the left, to allow me to scoot around and come up via the HOV lane like the buses. All legal as I'm on a motorcycle.
I brake hard, downshift all the way to 1st for the really tight turn to the left and then roll on the throttle and the bike just rockets up to speed, by the time I'm coming around to join the lanes lined up for the tunnel I'm blowing by cars,...in what normally people would think is the slow lane?!
The guy in the truck is way behind in my mirrors and I'm kinda laughing thinking that he probably thought he had me beat.
THEN a BIG, all black full sized GMC SUV with HUGE flashing red/blue and bright LED lights was RIGHT up on my ass, just before the tunnel,....holy ****,...had he just seen my little full on brake/full on throttle up thru the gears run?,....I kinda turned and gave a "what me"/"where am I supposed to pull over here?" gesture and he changed lanes and blew by ME,...I watched as he went lane to lane passing cars in the tunnel ahead of me,....was he trying to get ahead of me to wait for me on the other side?,.....
Nope,...there was something big happening just off at the exit, lot's of cops there,...he was just trying to get PAST me,....whewwww,....
Today,...same section of road,...this guy in, no kidding, a Smart Car was tail gating me,...trying to prove he can keep up or whatever,...I let him pass me and he, like the truck driver yesterday went around the cloverleaf to the right, I'm thinking he was surely smirking, thinking he had somehow proven to both him and me that his golf cart sized car was worthy.
I had to slow for traffic in front of me on the shortcut route,...Almost stopped, from a rolling start, turn full left then roll on the throttle, This bike gets LOUD when you get way into the throttle. 130Hp rips the morning air apart and I come shooting around the corner to line up for the tunnel, the front tire kinda skipping along, almost airborne with the acceleration. It seems I'm looking right at the side of the Blue/Silver Smart Car as we are converging,....I catch a glimpse of his wide open eyes and mouth as I rocket by him, ten feet away on the inside lane,.......seriously,...hilarious.
Then just cruise, keeping up to the fast traffic, tucked in, 110kph to town/work,...

[themess]

Rocketing by traffic is dangerous. Someone going much slower will eventually change lanes just in front of you or directly into you, because you weren't visible in his mirror.

[TiiMuch]

I appreciate your comments and understand the danger.
My recounting of the story makes my riding seem more dangerous than it is.

Rocketing by traffic is dangerous. Someone going much slower will eventually change lanes just in front of you or directly into you, because you weren't visible in his mirror.

[storm 64]

I liked the part "130 horsepower ripping through the morning air" 👍

[lurch12_2000]

Today's setting sun. Dropping below freezing as the sun lowers, but it may be my last ride for awhile. The SV650 ran flawlessly in the cold.

[Redman]

Today's setting sun.
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Nice sunset / silhouette / shadow picture.

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[520eek]

DSC_0080.jpgOut in the Mojave desert just 9 days ago. Great trip, put on 1200 miles and had no problems! I had done all the corrective items on the top 10 newbie mistakes and a couple others.....ran really great!

[gustovh]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208961929068205&set=a.1230158956857.2034865.1315605451&type=3

[davegs850]

Great Pic! Love everything about it! Looks professional!

[fred smailes]

Great shot!!
Thanks for posting, looking forward to riding with you in june!
Fred

[dorkburger]

Agreed. Very nice!

[Redman]

gustov

REally great photo. Sharp focus, and great exposure for a silloutte and yet color in sunset.
Tell us about how you found the setting and how the photo was made.

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[gustovh]

I did not take the photo, Rick, a nice Canadian did. The photo was taken at Stub Stewart state park, nearby in a parking lot at sunset. Here is another one taken that night. You would not know the sky would look like it does in the picture for it was much lighter to the naked eye when taken. My 850 on the left, Sandy's 1000 in the middle and Richard's 1100 Interceptor on the right.