1,900 miles later......somewhere in Canada!

Brian and Wendy
After an extended stay in Fairbanks the journey recommenced with a 200 + mile run to a little place called TOK where I discovered the bike had an oil leak (not a great thing to happen when you`re about 1,000 miles from the nearest BMW garage! An anxiety set in which stayed with me for quite a while. Not sure how bad it was I bought extra oil and tried to nurse it along to the nearest garage of any description. They were few and far between in the Yukon as I discovered. The weather which had been fine in Fairbanks became “changeable” pretty much from there on in. Cold, blustery, wet........ you get the picture. From TOK to HAINES JUNCTION (another little outpost) was uneventful but fairly arduous (7/8 hour ride) followed a day later with another 7/8 hours to WHITEHORSE, the capital of the Yukon. The Yukon is about twice the size of Britain and has a population of 30,000, and 26,000 live in Whitehorse! Found a Yamaha dealership and asked them to check the oil leak and put new road tyres on. Everything (apart from the bill) was going swimmingly! Got the cheapest hotel I could find (the backpackers hostel was full) and went for a beer. With the locals being extremely friendly, conversation was easy at the bar. Had an interesting chat with a slightly drunk chap who insisted on buying me a beer and said I was either ex military or slightly crazy doing the trip I was on. “Those people down there (the U.S.) are dangerous!” He was shocked I wasn`t carrying a gun or any weapon at all. I told him it wasn`t an English thing to do! He just shook his head. “You`re about the bravest f****r I know”. Didn`t know whether to take it as a compliment or what. The next day, confident the bike was now O.K. I headed for WATSON LAKE (271 miles) through some appalling weather and worse roads. It seems scattering 50 – 100 metre patches of gravel across the road is the way they construct the highways. Not so good on two wheels. Met up with an American Harley rider who was one of 800+ riding from Key West, Florida to Homer, Alaska (9,000miles). First past the post wins $500,000!
Found cheapish accommodation in Watson Lake at an old 1940`s airbase (ironically run by a German couple who had lovingly restored it). Unpacking the bike, I discovered the leak was back. Now the only place to get it looked at was going to be Calgary (a long, long way). The anxiety returns! Tried to amuse myself by visiting Watson Lake`s main attraction – The Signpost Forest.
Don`t ask why, but signposts from all over the world are placed there. After raining most of the night, I set off early for Fort Nelson. Sounds a nice place but wasn`t. It poured down for two days. Nothing to do but find a nice pub (Dan`s Pub) and watch baseball and Canadian Football (like American, but they think it`s better!) Next day brought a minor break in the weather so I got up early but had to wait until the shops opened to buy some Bear Spray. Heard so many horror stories and good advice I felt I needed some protection. This was bear country after all. The previous day I had seen two black bears and a brown bear by the side of the road. Not a place to run out of petrol or break down, miles from anywhere and not much passing traffic. It seemed to really concentrate the mind somehow. On top of keeping a lookout for stray moose, buffalo, deer, gravel, and pot holes, I was totally knackered by the time I reached DAWSON CREEK. During a petrol stop en route I met a couple from England who now lived in Canada. Brian and Wendy Blackwell (you can check out their blog at www.wearetheblackwells.blogspot.com). We had a chat and since they were heading in the same direction, I said it would be nice to meet up for a beer that night. They were such a lovely couple, even though Brian had been having technical problems with his BMW, they took pity on me and bought me dinner - the best ribs I`d ever tasted! That was the last of the good life. Having decided I was way over budget and needed to severely economise, the day after I set off for Prince George determined to find a campsite. Another long and very tiring leg eventually found me arriving in town at about 5.00 p.m. Maybe I was just very tired, but I pulled up to a junction to check the GPS for a campsite and lost concentration. The bike went down with a crash! Another blow to the ego and a snapped front brake lever (still, you don`t need the end two inches anyway). By which time I`d had enough and went to the cheapest, seediest downtown motel there was, which luckily was just round the corner. Shower, lube the chain and find a bar. Deja Vu? The following day I was going to be heading to Jasper in the Rockies. A famous ski resort and a place I`d heard a lot about. While packing the bike (for the mandatory early start) I noticed a problem with the pannier racks from the drop the day before, so it was out with the tools. A couple on a big Honda Goldwing, Tim and Angela, were also staying at the Motel and he kindly helped me put the racks back on straight and offered me a place to stay in Seattle if I was going that way!
Tim and Angela from Seattle

Just like Brian and Wendy ................ the world`s full of kind, generous bikers! Thanking them for their help I set off for Jasper and was soon soaking wet (again). The beautiful Rocky Mountains hid themselves behind dense clouds and swirling rain. Still, it did clear up in time to pitch my tent and armed with my Bear Spray I went to bed knowing tomorrow it would be better. You know what`s coming! Yes, it rained all night and pretty much most of the next day. It was cold, grey and pretty miserable, so with nothing else I could do (Jasper itself was 2 miles away), I went back to my sleeping bag.