Day 1. Here we go again and 5 degrees is colder than you think
I feel like I just recovered from the last trip and here I am headed to Tofino on a motorcycle in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.
45 min into this trip I'm already questioning my decision. And not just my decision to go on this trip but to ride a motorcycle a long (ish) distance again. Why? Because not even an hour into this trip and we've already hit freezing rain.
It's essentially the equivalent of someone who is heavily tattooed, going in to get more. More punishment, more torture. And I'm not talking about getting a little script tattoo that took 20 min and saying "I kinda liked how it felt". I mean people who are covered and continue to put themselves knowingly through the pain. For me anyway, I'd say easily the last 5 times I've gotten tattooed I'm 20 minutes into the session and I always say "Why on earth do I do this to myself?" Is the juice worth the squeeze as they say....
As night falls we are hurtling towards dropping temperatures and quickly lowering morales. The small town lights fade and we are quickly reminded that the middle of nowhere doesn't come equipped with street lights. The sky above us is a mesmerizing landscape of ever changing colours and lights. I had to force myself to not look up actually, the stars almost hypnotizing me into forgetting that I can't feel my hands or my feet, and I am nowhere near my destination.
Jeff is riding ahead of me, as well he's definitely more prepared for this weather. Slowly the gap between us grows and grows and all I can see is the distant glow of his taillight. As I look around I am instantly aware of how DARK it is, looking over my shoulders I literally see nothing, just infinite darkness. I find myself scared of this immense void of black behind me, as if I'm 8 years old again running up the basement stairs once I turn off the light. Despite the fact I am so extremely cold I speed up to close the gap, holding on for dear life and cursing my decision for leaving on this trip.
I endure two more hours of this frozen hell to finally arrive in Fernie BC for 2 am. Within less than half an hour we already get our first noise complaint. What can ya do eh? I fall asleep like a vampire and while my body thaws out I fall into dreams of being on a beach with a cerveza and some Spanish beauty...
