I arrived in Nelson on Wednesday afternoon, checked into my motel and then walked over to the Adventure Hotel, the headquarters for the Raid. I stayed at the Adventure in June so I was already somewhat familiar with the place, but with the entire hotel taken over by my fellow raiders, it was somewhat different.
There was a closed off parking area for motorcycles and a check-in tent. I checked in and inquired about the schedule, especially about the next day (Thursday) activities, since the schedule seemed different from what was published online.
The organizer apologized, told me that the schedule on the website was from the previous year when they had done a 3 day event to celebrate return from pandemic and that “we never really updated it because most people know…” She said there were a few people already there, and that I’d probably meet somebody to go for a ride with the following day.
What I picked up on pretty quickly is that while this event isn’t really “tribal” in the way many Harley or BMW gatherings tend to be, it was definitely “familiar” and as one who just showed up without knowing anybody, I was unfamiliar. The organizers not bothering to get the schedule right on the website because most people “just knew” was just a symptom of this. This would turn into an ongoing theme.
I guess I still have my ski-town cred…
I decided to not allow myself to get annoyed even though I would have preferred to use the extra day to do something else, somewhere else. So I had a beer at the Adventure, where both the bartender and the server remembered me from a month ago, then looked for dinner and something to do. A friend’s sister lives in Nelson, and a few back-and-forths with her got me dinner recommendations. Ended up at a smoke-house spot on the main street which is generally not my taste, but was really, really well done, very enjoyable and a great setting. Even better, the server mentioned that they had recently opened a speakeasy in the basement, accessible from the back alley. He offered to take me down the private inside stairway.
Easy Tiger was an great spot, with cool staff, a DJ on my first night there (but not always) and interesting experimental drinks. It became a regular spot for me to drop into on the way back to my hotel. I love the wallpaper with the tiger motif. The bartender is a nice guy, recently returned from a snowboarding expedition across Asia and a bit of time as an instructor at a resort in Kazakhstan (or Kyrgyzstan? I forget). Now he’s in Nelson, snowboarding in the winter, riding bikes in the summer, and inventing interesting drinks. Also had a long chat with the owner of the building and the restaurant upstairs, and with a couple of other random people at the bar. It’s been several years since I’ve been an active skier, but all those years in Utah seem to have translated into a level of comfort that makes me feel in my element with the locals in an outdoor/ski town like this one. I fit in far better with them than with the Triumph people.
But that’s OK. The raid was an excuse to spend time in a place I liked.
A day on my own
With nothing organized for Thursday, I went off on my own, riding south from Nelson on 6 towards the U.S. border, cutting east on the Crowsnest (Hwy 3), then north on the other side of Kootenay Lake, crossing back by ferry and then in to Nelson from the northeast, over the Big Orange Bridge (also known as “BOB”). The road coming back was rough and being resurfaced. The Tiger and I were not crazy about this. I probably could have tuned the suspension to make it feel better but didn’t bother because I didn’t realize how long the construction zone would be. The approach to resurfacing seems to be “grind up the entire length of the road, then repave the entire thing.” Very unlike what I usually see in the US where work gets done in smaller sections. Probably reflects the reality of a very short season to work in and the need to favor maximum utilization of each work crew over convenience for people using the road. As a motorcycle rider, though, the many km of torn up pavement was not fun.
I found a nice little creek to dive into on the way home, then dried quickly in the warm dry air and got back into my motorcycle gear for the last bit of the ride. I ended up back in Nelson on time for the welcome reception to the Raid. I parked my bike at the Adventure Hotel rather than where I was staying and attempted to be social with my fellow raiders.
The parking area reserved for the event had a liquor license with service from the adjacent hotel bar. I realized quickly that most of the people there were not from BC, where I’m well connected and feel very much at home, but rather were from Alberta, coming mostly from Calgary and Edmonton. I had a beer and a bit of conversation, I attempted to find a group to join for dinner. But things did not click, and the large number of smokers in the group made it unpleasant at times to even try. So I ended up with the locals at Beauties, the newest pizza spot and bar, which became my other regular drop-in spot.
Finally a day with the group… sort of
Friday morning I got up and walked over to the Adventure for the big group ride and photo op. Friday was the worst day for wildfire smoke and the skies were orange. I arrived just before the pre-ride briefing was supposed to start at 9:15. By then, the lot was mostly empty and most of the remaining bikes were lined up in the street, leaving. I had apparently missed whatever briefing took place, so jumped on my bike and followed. I had a good idea where we were going and where we were supposed to stop so I just went.
The road heading east and north was the same as the day before, but somehow the construction was even worse in this direction: rough, uneven, and at times treacherous. So I took my time. I caught up with some members of the group who stopped at Kaslo on the west coast of Kootenay Lake, where our route turned west to cross the Kokanees.
I had been through here in June, so was somewhat familiar with the road and made good time. Last time it rained, this time the air was full of smoke. I think I preferred the rain. Close to the top of the route, I finally caught up with the rest of the group for our photo session. The organizer again apologized, saying something about how the briefing ended early so people started leaving. (Seriously? I arrived spot on time for the briefing.)
I got my riding photo taken at the top and it came out reasonably well. After that, I took my time heading back. It was clear this wasn’t really a group ride as I understand it, with a leader and a sweep keeping people together. Rather, it was a loosely organized bunch of smaller groups, all making one photo stop together. I kind of like that concept better than a truly organized ride, but had I known I would have made a better effort to connect with a group and probably arrived much earlier. I made my own way back, taking the route that interested me and skipping the lunch options I think some stopped for.
A gravel road into the trees
I had another beer with the group on Friday night and briefly joined some of them for pub trivia in the bar later. But it was also obvious to me that I had more in common with our regular server at the bar than I did with anybody I had met at the raid. I thought it was weird she remembered me from my previous visit, but she was quite clear about the “crazy ex-Utah skier guy who showed up on a motorcycle during a downpour.” I guess everybody has to be known for something.
I found myself back at Beauties, where I made a bunch of new friends. Is that a cool skirt or what? I asked her if I could get a photo for my girlfriend, was invited to join their group, talked skiing, mountain biking, touring by car/motorcycle/van/whatever to various clothing-optional wilderness hot springs, and the odd places we’ve lived. They were gracious with me, so I invited them to join me downstairs at Easy Tiger. I got back to my hotel late and didn’t worry about setting an alarm.
I slept through the very early morning departure for the final group ride on Saturday. Given the experience the day before, I wasn’t terribly excited about another anyway. Instead, I rode the bike north across BOB and onto a dirt road up into the mountains next to Kokanee Creek. There’s an old growth forest trail about halfway up the road and I stopped there for a hike in the trees and a nice soak in the cold creek, still fed by snowmelt. There were a few people on the trail and I returned with them to the upper parking area where we shared some snacks and photo-taking.
It was much better than any group ride.
The bike isn’t really set up for riding on trails, but it handled the gravel road just fine, though at a slow speed, through sharp turns in both directions. It ended up very dusty, so I found a self-serve car wash in town where I could hose it down.
Dinner and done
The cost of the raid included a banquet dinner and awards ceremony at the Adventure on Saturday night. I had no illusions that my relatively stock Tiger was going to win any awards, but I was glad to have it cleaned up and looking nice. I stayed for the food, got my picture from the ride yesterday, failed to get dessert (either there wasn’t enough for everybody, or a lot of people took two, leaving none for those of us polite enough to wait). I left at some point during the awards ceremony.
The dessert experience pretty much summed up the entire raid for me. I left, thinking about Milton never getting his cake. So like Milton, I moved to the basement. Well… back to Easy Tiger in the basement down the street. I enjoyed my final night in town back with some of the new friends I made the night before.
I’ll be back to Nelson, but I think I’m done with organized motorcycling events, and maybe organized events in general.
Overall
I enjoyed Nelson, it’s becoming a favorite place. The local ski mountain is small and relatively undeveloped, so it isn’t likely to turn into a mega-resort like so many other places. But the town is full of skiers, motorcyclists, mountain bikers, kayakers, photographers and the like. I haven’t skied much in years, but it still felt like home. Next time I’ll drive up and bring my mountain bike.
The Kootenay RAT Raid? A huge amount of work goes into events like this, and nobody is paid for running them so a bit of confusion is normal. I knew that when I signed up. It might have been a bit less stressful with some slightly more accurate information, but the greater truth is that it just isn’t my thing and everything else about it was kind of peripheral to that basic fact. So I did what I always do, which is participate to the extent that I am interested, and dumped out of it when I wasn’t. Overall I’m glad I went, but probably would not join any event like this again anytime soon. For me it was an excuse to get away, but I don’t need an excuse to go to Nelson again.
The ride home was pretty uneventful. I took the Crowsnest west this time, stopping in Rock Creek before crossing the border at Osoyoos. It’s the same route I took in June, but in reverse and in approximately opposite weather. It was windy along the Okanogan and Columbia rivers, so I was happy to settle in to a motel with a pool in Wenatchee. I took the fast road west in the morning and was home before lunch.
