A full 2 days of glorious twisties

"This road is extremely twisty, through gorgeous untouched wilderness. You're mostly surrounded by forest, and will ride alongside a raging little creek (I don't think it is a named body of water, but it was really flowing when we came through), the stunning Bear Lake and Fish Lake, as well as a couple of other small bodies of water. You'll cross several quaint wooden bridges, which were in good repair. We didn't see a single man made structure other than the road."

- ​direct quote from motorcycleroads.com

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The Saturday (Day 1)

This all-day event is divided up into 4 segments which beautifully segue into one another.  In order to qualify for the Sunday event, all you have to do is fully complete any segment of the Saturday ride.  Bring more than one bike...?  Simple - ride a full segment on each bike you wish to use in the Sunday competition.  Do you have a vintage bike that you enjoy riding?  Bring it along!  Non-competitors are more than welcome to join us as we amble through the gorgeous scenery on beautiful bikes.

• Segment one - Nakusp to Silverton (50.8 km or 31.6miles)

Everyone wishing to ride their bikes shall depart the town of Nakusp aboard their rides.  There are support vehicles and volunteers  ready to gather up any of the unfortunate souls who may suffer mechanical maladies along this or any other segment of the route.  This segment ends at Silverton, where we perform a head count, check on the chase vehicles, then move into Segment two.

• Segment two - Silverton to Nelson (95.5 km or 59.4 miles)

This leg of the journey takes us on wide sweeping curves that follow the features of Slocan Lake.  Our guides stand at the major intersections to endure that no one gets off course, but just before the end we divert our route through the 'suburbs' and acreages, allowing us to re-familiarize ourselves with the foot controls for gear and brake.  Here we will take a break for lunch in a public venue and ask the locals to vote for their favorites amongst the motorcycles.

• Segment three - Nelson to Kaslo (69.8 km or 43.4 miles)

This segment of the day takes us alongside the beautiful vistas of Kootenay Lake.  There are some good stretches of road that may entice you to test your redline limits.  Allow yourself to give into the sights of the area, not the twist of the wrist...

• Segment four - Kaslo to Nakusp (92.1 km or 57.2 miles)

This segment truly defines the joys of riding a short-wheelbase bike.  Leaving Kaslo back towards New Denver takes us along Hwy 31A.  Easily one of the brightest jewels in the Western Canadian road system.   Starting out alongside the Kaslo river, we encounter no less than 4 creeks and 2 lakes along our journey of epic beauty and rider engagement.  We end up back at New Denver, and return along the morning route back to Nakusp bearing huge grins under our visors.

The Sunday (Day 2)

Competition Day.  Also known as 'The Gathering'.  The morning meeting gathers all riders and volunteers together for a review of the road and weather conditions, the rules and regulations, and the safety and timing talks that are ever so important to the event.  We then wend a short distance to the road-course where the officials will have already setup the communications and timing systems, as well as establish a clear protocol for traffic management and emergency procedures.  We are allowed to lock down the course in segments of no more than 20 minutes, and then must allow public traffic to progress on their journey.  We try to run as many heats as the riders are eager to complete.  All runs must end by 3:00 PM.

After gathering together at the base of the road-course, we make our way back into Nakusp while the officials furiously calculate the times and points for the awards ceremony later in the evening.  In the unlikely event of a tie, there is a 'reserved right' to choose the bike of Italian origin as the tie-breaker.  In the extraordinarily rare event of a tie between two Italian marques, both riders shall engage in a competition of leg-wrestling.  Best 4 out of 7 being the victor.