500 miles north

Location:

Prince George

Kevin had woke at 3am, still adjusting to the time and spent the early hours pacing the room. We set off from Vancouver early morning around 7am, after a nightmare packing the bike. We had brought across with us a lot of kit which somehow no longer nicely found its place on the bike. I was forced to dump various items of clothing (from an already meagre supply), and other bits such as travel wash, extra stuff stacs.

Heading out of Vancouver. Kev was pleased to be on the bike and riding. On the race track, you get your warm-up lap; this next two weeks was ours - it's just that it is 2,500 miles long!

We were distracted from the fantastic scenic roads as we could not quite get straight on the bike. You get those days when things don't quite fall into place. I felt wedged into a space that makes economy airline seating look like a positive luxury and Kevin was shifting around on his seat pushing back into me to get more space, when I had no room to spare. We would have to sort this out soon, as a 500 mile day is one thing when you're not quite comfy, but double the mileage and it becomes untenable.

We arrive at Prince George late afternoon and drop straight into the Yamaha dealer to see Chris, who has sorted out a set of tyres for our return leg down. This is to be our first tyre change when we are on the record. He knows that it has to be turned around quick. We check the tyres which are already waiting for us. Chris and the guys will be Guinness witnesses and this spot will also be our start point for incorporateing an Iron Butt Saddlesore 2000 to Tucson.