TRAVEL

EVERYWHERE

Heat, weather, traffic and construction are just a few things to consider when planning a motorcycle trip

STORY BY ANNA FRAZER

If you like to travel by motorcycle, you probably like to see a variety of scenery and views like this one at Fruita Canyon in Colorado National Monument which make all the planning worthwhile.

PHOTOS BY ANNA FRAZER & ROBERT FRAZER

In summer 2021, the residents of Western Canada experienced the “heat dome,” a cone of extreme hot weather that blanketed most of B.C., Alberta, and parts of Saskatchewan over a few weeks in July. My husband and I didn’t passively suffer through the heat by staying indoors and hydrating; we took a weeklong motorcycle riding trip through some of the hottest parts of the B.C. Interior and the Alberta Rockies. We had fun and enjoyed every moment. When our concerned family and friends called or texted us, worrying about our well-being and questioning our sanity, our response was that the proof is in the planning.

We did not plan to ride during the heat dome. The trip was conceived earlier in the spring, with the expectation that the first week of July would be decent riding weather. With the Canada-U.S. border closed for recreational travel, the obvious choice was to stay local, to revisit some welltravelled roads and discover new ones in our own backyard. Since we wanted a leisurely ride, to enjoy the scenery and partake in other activities like sitting by a lake or having a cold beverage on a patio, we planned for average daily riding distances around 400 km or less. This plan provided time to sleep in, consume copious amounts of coffee in the mornings, spend the rest of the day riding and arrive at our destination in time for pre-dinner drinks.