Hello from Kelowna, BC. Short Storey

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Marku
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Hello from Kelowna, BC. Short Storey

Post by Marku »

Just moved to Kelowna at the beginning of last October from Edmonton. Kept my bike (r1150r Rockster) here for month then thought I had to put it into storage for the winter.

So, I drove my bike to my mothers house to store in her garage in Chilliwack at the beginning of November. Man, was it cold leaving Kelowna. My hands, even with the heated grips on full blast were frozen a few miles out. Had to stop and warm them up every 2 minutes or as long as I could hold out. Luckily the weather got warmer the farther I went west. By the time I was about 30km/20miles outside of Merrit the weather was nice. Anyone who lives in British Columbia knows how the weather changes. Especially in the mountains. :P

The trip wasn't to bad. I arrived in Chilliwack, plugged in my bike, bought a car and drove home.

January, in Kelowna, I look out my window, (what's that sound) a dude on a motorbike. WTF! Would never see that in Edmonton unless the weather was freaky. Basically people have been riding their bikes here since.

Meanwhile, my bike, is a super dangerous winter mountain ride away. There is no way I would risk taking the Greyhound to go grab my bike and ride it back. When I was thinking about it. I checked the freeway conditions and the the bloody freeway was closed due to heavy snowfall. Even though here in Kelowna the weather was totally bike rideable.

(Side note: I actually missed Christmas at my moms due to the road conditions. I decided to go for New Years. and that was a near death experience in my car. Not so much that the road was bad. But the people on it. In the winter on the Coquihalla Highway people make one lane in the snow in the middle of a 2, sometimes 3 lane highway. So if you want to pass them you have to drive through half a foot of snow. Being from Edmonton this is nothing for me. But the locals here suck at driving in the winter. Sorry, but you do!)

Now it's the end of May and my bike is still in Chilliwack. In one week I'll be flying to Calgary for a seminar, then flying back to Chilliwack and riding my bike home never to store it there again. I can't believe how much riding I've missed out on so far. With a combination of the ridiculus gas prices, the boringness of driving a car, the beautiful weather in Kelowna. I think I might sell both my car and motorbike to upgrade to something special like a K1200R or maybe even a sports cruiser of sorts. They just opened up a new BMW store here in Kelowna this year aswell. How is that for timing? Lub my BMW.

Click to see a Google Map of my route.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&s ... 866455&z=8
sjbmw
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Post by sjbmw »

Interesting.

My son will be going to school in Kelowna in September. I have been watching the weather.ca pages all winter and the average temps in Kelowna during the Winter were about the same as NJ!

Something about Okanagen Valley's topography keeps the worst Canada has to offer at bay.

I think we will have a flight out there this summer Marku.
Freedom is dangerous. Those in power that steal freedom are more dangerous.
Marku
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Post by Marku »

Nice. I'm sure your son will enjoy it here. There's lots of expansion going on at the university right now and the whole town as a whole. Personally I believe Kelowna is one of the most beautiful places to live in Canada. There is so much to do here, it's unreal. From snowboarding/sking in the winter and the lake in the summer. All literally outside your front door.
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