A Different Pace

I recently had the opportunity to do some off road riding in what for me was a large group.  This was a different experience as most of my riding is just me with my lovely wife hanging on the back.  It was a great experience, one that I hope to repeat in the near future.  My riding style as a solo rider is much different as I can push myself more while still riding within my limits.  Being up on the pegs for loose gravel lowers your center of gravity and makes it much easier to control your motorcycle at speed as the gravel demands that it takes its part in controlling your ride.  The group dynamic is also much different than riding as a solo pair (is solo pair an oxymoron?).  When you get a group of riders together most are there for one reason; they are there to ride.  They love being off the beaten path, seeing the world wiz by as they try to merge man (or woman) and machine as one.  One can hardly blame them; it is an absolute blast.

This however is not my usual mode of travel.  Ever since I started riding again, my wife Sheila has been riding behind me about 95% of the time.  This forces some changes in riding style, but gently nudges changes to a more relaxed style as well.  Just having two people on the bike means that the handling will be different.  Getting up on the pegs still works but is a bit more awkward, so I end up sitting a lot more which means the gravel demands that it takes a little more control of the ride.  The gravel always wants it their way.  Most significant for me is that now I have to think about the safety of two people not just me.  Like most things in life, there is a certain amount of risk that needs to be accepted.  You control what you can and, accept the rest.

All that said I love riding two up with Sheila, and she loves being my co-pilot.  We operate at a different pace than the rest of the world when we do this.  We find our own off the beaten path roads and enjoy every moment of it.  With this in mind Sheila and I set off one Saturday morning with a simple plan.  I wanted to show her a little bit of the roads I had taken with the group ride a few weeks earlier.  The whole loop would have been too much as our pace is much slower.  One thing about riding in a big group is that you can’t stop and take a picture (or twenty) every time you see something neat.  With just the two of us, this is not a problem.

We headed out west and then south of Calgary.  At Black Diamond we were forced to do a little detour as the police had blocked off the road for the annual parade.  No big deal.  A short detour through Turner Valley had us back on track past Longview and finally on to the first destination for this ride which was the Williams Coulee road. With the group just a few weeks back, I never got the chance to drink in all the beauty of this road.  I could now stop when I wanted, sometimes only driving half a mile between photo ops.  Sometimes we got off the bike and wandered around, other times I would just pull the camera from my tank bag for a few quick shots.  Had I tried this with the group I would have either been left alone in the dust or lynched and left at the side of the road.

We continued on to the end of Williams Coulee Road and then turned back towards Calgary but on random roads that had their own little adventures to discover.  This included one that required us to navigate a small herd of cattle that didn’t seem to want to give it up.  We actually had to do this twice as the road ended in a farm but this is all a part of the road less traveled.  There was also a stop for lunch, a short visit with my in-laws and a diversion to Carseland to avoid having to get onto a highway too soon.  Finally we set our sights on home.  A good day riding for our team of two.

Our style of riding is not for everyone, but it works for us.  I look forward to my next opportunity to ride solo with a group again, but I know my best rides will always be with my wife on the back seat beside me (another oxymoron, but you get the picture).  We often set out without any plans except to enjoy the day and this we do.  Sometimes we have a destination, sometimes only a direction, sometimes not even that.  We operate at a different pace, but it works for us. 

Check out the map!
For some reason my interactive map will not work with the Blog post, but if you want to see some details of our travel on this day, click here