Ride to eat and doing 'The Loop' - twisty nirvana island style

Yesterday we went for a really long ride.  On our anniversary which was the day before I finally insured the Duchess.  We went for a little tootle with a friend, of course it was a 'ride to eat' jaunt.  This is the first time I have looked at my bike and sat on it since last October.  I usually go to the parking lot before I venture out, but it didn't work out that way.  Coffee and goodies was a very pressing matter at that moment. The wonderful thing is that with in a few minutes I was feeling the groove of riding again and the first test was the right hand turn onto the rather large hill by my house, all of that went smoothly. I was riding a little gingerly to give my bike the respect it deserves and for me to get the feel of it again. Very quickly I was getting used to the lean and the familiar feeling of leaning into the curve.  I still love my NC700, although secretly I am coveting my husbands BMW F800GT which he got about a year ago.  It came with a lowered seat and I have been heavily hinting that I would like to take it for a spin, but he seems to conveniently not hear my hint or ignores it.  I get it, it's his baby.  I was pretty picky about who rode the Duchess.  I think what he is afraid of is that I am going to like it so much that we will end up hunting one up for me.  I am perfectly contented with what I have.  *wink wink*

The hubs Beemer

Yesterday was the perfect day for a ramble out into the countryside to our favourite coffee place Shirley Delicious, which is aptly named because it is in the unincorporated town of Shirley.  

It is an eclectic coffee place offering a wide variety of meals from vegan, gluten free, and regular, if not exotic choices of food. They make the best deserts and their sandwiches are artisan quality it is worth the hour ride out there.  We tend to laze around in the sun chatting out side.  Covid19 has changed the way  everything is done on the island, and it takes. a bit of intimacy out of the experience.  The island is a very foodie place, lots of fabulous places to eat and explore different cuisines.

They have a very eclectic menu and it caters to just about everyone from vegan, gluten free options, to the rest of us omnivores.  Sorry about the picture tint, I was too hungry and wanted to grab a quick food porn pick before it got scarfed up.  It was a fresh turkey sandwich with cranberry chutney, brie cheese, fresh herbs and greens on house made foccia bread.  OMG it was worth the hour drive! 

I'm not sure how many in my blog world know that I have discovered a new passion during the pandemic, art.  I have been going through massive changes before the pandemic with my job and am in the middle of a job hunt. The changes started well back in December and ultimately it meant the medical practice I was working at for the last 27 years closed in June.  It has been a topsy turvy time, and a bit of emotional roller coaster, but I am now unemployed and looking for work.  During this time I needed something to channel my energy into and I started rock painting for fun.  Things have rapidly changed with this and an I am delightfully enjoying this new creative outlet and I am being daring and have moved onto painting small canvases.  The reason I mention this is I left these two little rocks out with the owner of Shirley Delicious and they were thrilled to get the  crow and snoozy bee. So back to the road trip part.

 After we finished our delectable goodies we were just going to pop down the road to Jordan River, where I just wanted to pick up a few rocks for painting. 

This is the lead off point for the Pacific Circle Marine Route  affectionately known as 'The Loop' to the locals. I could hear it calling my name and we decided to ride! 

Map credited to Cowichan Valley Tourism 179 miles of twisty nirvana

The Loop winds through the beautiful Cowichan Valley on paved logging roads and it's very remote and you lose cellular coverage through quite a few parts of it.  The road is narrow and twisty and have some very high sharp turn areas and many a rider has come to grief out there and it is a little unnerving because essentially you are probably 2-4 hours away from help of any time, so you have to be pretty cautious and follow the road advisory signs.  Anyway that being said it is a magical ride, through beautiful west coast wilderness and forest.  We have being experiencing an abundance of bears on the island, although we didn't see one this trip we did find bear scat several times in the middle of the road.  You kind of don't really want to pull over to the side and whip out your picnic lunch in really isolated spots.  You have to be bear aware in just about all remote regions of BC.  We have had a few grizzly bears swim over from the mainland and they really aren't a native species to Vancouver Island.  

The Duchess waiting for the Beemer

If you were wondering what I was waiting for, hub was adjusting his suspension on the Beemer because he and the daughter were out the other day.  We also took a quick break just to enjoy the cool ocean breeze.  Once you get into the Loop back country the temperature is usually a good 7-9 degrees higher than oceanside. 

This is the start of the drive up a steep hill and the road gets progressively narrower and very twisty/. Yay Twists! It is 179.63 miles of twisty goodness (300km for us Canucks).  Past this point there aren't many more pictures as we tend to keep riding.  We did not stop at Port Renfrew out of courtesy to the residents, during the pandemic we are limiting our visiting to island spots, particularly remote places as they do not have any medical facilities and we want to respect their communities;  It is also home to the Pacheedaht First Nation, they are known as the people of the Sea foam.  They have the most beautiful campground on their traditional land, wide open to the ocean and it is spectacular.  We thank the Pacheedaht First Nation for allowing us to visit their traditional territory.  

After you leave the Pacheedaht First Nation there us a lake with a little lonely tree growing out of a stump, that is the only place we stopped to take a picture.  

After our picture stop we completed our lovely ride through to Lake Cowichan and then headed to the Trans Canada 1 to get home.  Traffic has been rather light as most people are just staying with in their communities as our restrictions have lifted a bit.  Our provincial authorities are asking us to keep our travel local and within our provincial borders.  We did flatten the covid curve, but we are all very anxious about new cases and we really aren't all that friendly to people from outside Canada at the moment and even inter provincially Premiers are asking Canadians not to travel to other provinces.  

All in all if was wonderful to get back on two wheels and have a little wind therapy with my life bestie and we enjoyed ourselves.  We were tired when we got home,  but had big grins on our faces, they type of grin only a two wheeled jaunt produces.  

Blogging again

Blogger has changed a lot since I last used it.  One of the reasons I had given up on blogging is that I couldn't get blogger to work on my iPad or my PC, and it was an exercise in futility trying to get anything posted or upload a picture and I all but abandoned the blog.  Yesterday to my surprise, there is a new version of blogger and it works!  

I have a new iMac which integrates all of my apple products - yay!  I take a lot of photos and it's nice that pictures automatically show up on my desktop, and I can happily and easily upload pictures of my adventures to the blog without a struggle.  So here's to blogging again! 

Here's to more adventures!  

PS - Comment moderation is stilll on this blog.  

With every season there are changes.

It has been quite awhile since I have visited my blog, I do keep an eye out for spammers and zap their posts because the notifications come to email.  

It has been well over a year since I have blogged anything, the reason is that life has gotten so busy, that there just was not enough time to do anything other than work, eat, sleep, survive.  So here we are today after experiencing a pandemic and still in the midst of it. This has brought change in my life by way of finding time at home to be peaceful and filled with art.  I have taken up painting, mostly rocks, but canvases and drawing.  We have been asked to stay at home and not do any non essential travel and to physical distance.  I was still working through this time period as I was the only one in my office. 

Covid did pay a visit to our house and I had one very sick family member, but all is well now.  I have to say it was very scary and worrisome.  I have never been this afraid ever.  So keep washing your hands and physical distancing, mask wearing is also smart, keep those droplets in!

So here is what is happening with me, I decided that I was no longer going to teach motorcycling and retired this year before the season began.  I did love teaching and loved mentoring, but did it for 5 years and all on weekends and evening extra training sessions.  Over the last two years I had upgraded to teaching classroom theory and traffic instructor taking newbs out on the road.  I work full-time and by the time of the end of riding season I was exhausted because I was working almost 7 days straight and was no logging any seat time on The Duchess.  My hub would say "Let's go for a ride" my response usually was "Can't I'm teaching".  There comes a point where you have to find balance and that time has come.  I want to ride for fun and not have to worry about what kind of mayhem my student(s) are going to cause or get into - trust me I have seen some hair curling stuff.  So that part of my life has happily closed, but I will always be around to mentor and support new riders and be a safety advocate.  Here we are and it's June 19th and I still have not insured my bike! Gotta get on that! 

Another change that has come my way is that I am in the process of a career shift.  The change came back in December when my employer became seriously ill.  I finally wrapped up our office last week and walked out of there for the last time after sitting at that desk for 27 years.  It has been emotionally draining because it was just my boss and me, and I am still worried for my friend.  I have been anxious and at times downright terrified of the 'last day' at work.  But after intensely working to close the office and looking at options, something shifted and I actually found peace. 

Go figure in a pandemic fraught with chaos and fear, I take up painting and that has been my godsend and given me a quietness and contentedness.  I have been looking at options because right now job hunting is difficult.  I am still looking at everything and thinking I no longer want to work in a solo medical practice. I am ready to venture into a work place where I am with others.  The last 6 months being alone in my office has been truly tough and not having any contact with anyone was starving my bubbly soul.  

I'm actually quite excited about finding this new path, I never thought I would say this, particularly thinking back 6 months ago.  I think it feels good to have some forward direction, instead of being stuck to a spot.   I have some leads, I've revamped my resume and have had a few interviews (which after 27 years at one place was interesting).  I have decided I am going to take what is right for me and it may be awhile, but that is perfectly fine. 

Hopefully soon you will see some motorcycle pictures, but we are keeping it local on our island due to the pandemic.  I can't say how often the blogging is going to be happening, because now in my side cases is an art set with pencils, sketch pad, watercolours and watercolour pad.  I'm savouring life a little bit more than I have in quite awhile.

I hope you are all well. 

Motorcycle anniversary and other assorted loose ends

This is a picture of my first novice class where I was responsible for teaching 10 new students during my practicum.  It was very intense, as a new instructor you are expected to teach the bulk of the curriculum.  It was at times very stressful, other times very fun, and I must say I was extremely happy and relieved when it was over.  I have come quite a way from those early novice classes and enjoy teaching quite a bit.  It was worth all the effort and the rewards of mentoring new motorcyclist is beyond measure and I'm thoroughly grateful to the instructors who mentored me and continue to mentor me.  Hard work really does pay off.

On another note, I kind of lost track of blogging and almost ditched it all because I was having trouble logging in and even posting.  I'm not the most techy person, but in the end it just came down to changing to a more compatible browser. Jeez if only I had figured that out a year ago! So I'm back to blogging! Woot!

I am no longer a part of Farkle Garage and it may be finished as well, tv land is hard and very competitive. It was fun while it lasted and I think I still have some stories to tell, who knows you may see some vlogging and a youtube channel.

Still in the land of the living!

It has been quite awhile since I've created a blog post.  I did a lot of teaching in 2018 and was extremely busy and it left precious little time for blogging, riding, or even free time.  This year is a little different, I'm trying to find a little balance in my life and a little more personal time.  I have frontloaded most of my early classes earlier in the season and a little later in the season.  I am hoping to have a chunk in the middle that I can go on adventures.

It has been an exciting start to the New Year!  I taught my first novice class early in the season and Scooterpie Junior was in the class learning to ride with my partner instructor.  I have to say there is something a little surreal watching your kiddo learning to ride.  At one point I was practicing a bit for a demonstration I was going to be doing and I saw Junior go whizzing by me.  In that blink of the eye I saw my little teeny tiny girl all of a sudden grow-up! It seems just like yesterday that she was a babe coming home from the hospital, my how time flies!

My lovely daughter passed her  motorcycle skills test and has completed part one of her training, now she is waiting for her traffic class which is mid-April.  I have to say I am extremely excited! I can see some beautiful long summer evening rides with my hub and daughter.  Life is definitely coming full circle.

Life is too busy! Time to slow it down!

It seems I have fallen off the blog train and into oblivion.  It is not for lack of wanting to blog, but more like my life is too busy and getting in the way of sitting behind the keyboard and generating content.  I'm not sure what I am going to do with Princess Scooterpie blog at this point.

Update on what's up with me, it has been a very busy year and it has been filled with personal/professional growth and a few health challenges thrown in on top (nothing dire) just physically challenging.


I have spent a good chunk of the early part of 2018 studying and upgrading my motorcycle instructor skills, which included three teaching practicums, two in the classroom theory portion of our curriculum and one for motorcycle traffic class for a two day 16 hour guided riding session for our newly graduated novice (basic) motorcycle students.  I passed my three practicums with flying colours and haven't really looked back too much since then, actually I've been too busy to look back or do much else since undertaking this in the spring. 



It has been an extremely busy year teaching for me.  Our season is drawing to a close and to date I have taught 4 novice classes & a theory class, which encompasses two weekends per course, 5 Theory A introductory sessions for would be students, and 6 two day traffic classes, as well as numerous extra training sessions for students who need a little more seat time to work on skills. This year alone I have taught or mentored about 100 students through the course of teaching in 2018, that's a lot of teaching!  Add onto this my full time job, and I have to  say I am  feeling worn a little thin, so I am actually kind of happy that this weekend will be my final traffic class as the season comes to a close. 


I didn't get in very much riding for pleasure at all, which saddens me quite a bit, and next year I will be needing to find a better balance to my work life.  My hub and I didn't get in too many adventures together either due to my schedule and we need to remedy that, as he has a new to him BMW F800GT, which is pretty exciting for him and I'm still trying to figure out how to pry the keys from his hands and take it for a rip, he is a little protective of it.  During the summer we did escape on two mini adventures, the first was in June when we rode up to Tofino for a weekend getaway and the second was in August where we escaped to ride the Sea to Sky Highway and Duffy Lake Rd t& Thompson Okanagan, we were planning at least a week on the road, but the forest fire situation in BC quickly curtailed that and we rode about 1,000km in two days and called it a day due to the heavy smoke/ash from the majority of our province being on fire, so that was that.


After we returned and hub went back to work, I took on another novice course and unfortunately hurt my right knee.  At first we thought it was a meniscal or ligament tear, and after a week being laid up and not being able to ambulate well an MRI was ordered and visit to an orthopedic specialist.  The findings are not what I was expecting acute osteoarthritis with the meniscus being displaced. The MCL and ACL were not torn and were intact, that is the good news. However, the structure of my knee is not very happy at the moment, I have narrowing in the joint canal, edema in the surrounding structures and a joint effusion.  What this means is that there is nothing surgical to fix at this point and is going to keep on declining because of it being osteoarthritis.  In retrospect if there had been torn ligaments or meniscal tear, it would have been easier to manage. The current treatment plan is to moderate activity with low impact exercise, wearing a brace for walking/hiking, I guess there goes my budding basketball career - just kidding. I am going to see the orthopod for some cortisone injections and synvisc (hyluronic acid) joint lubrication injection.   All of this may have a large impact on teaching motorcycling due to the amount of walking and stop/go impact that I sustain through teaching and adding the physicality of pushing motorcycles around.  So life might be getting a little slower for me in the near future with regards to teaching, and that has me feeling sad, but on a brighter note I can still ride and it has impacted my seat time.

So now I'm gearing up for winter and the quieter time of the year and actually looking forward to a little bit of down time and maybe I can get the knee to settle a bit more and get into a more comfortable state and start building up muscles with some pool therapy and low impact exercise. 

All in all though despite the wee knee setback, I have had a really good year and am excited about adventures for next year.

Upgrade! The journey continues!

I have been teaching since January 2015.  Up until this point I have been teaching just novice sessions in the parking lot.  I generally teach 4 to 5 classes a year and there are 10 students in each class, so that's a lot of new students.  I finally made the decision that I wanted to do more and in the very early spring I did a practicum for the classroom theory session and completed that.  The final step was to do a traffic course practicum which consists of two days of guiding riding with 4 students and an instructor assessor. This past weekend was the date!  It was gloriously sunny and hot and all 4 students passed with flying colours and I am sure whenever they shoulder check they will hear my voice in their minds saying "Shoulder check and scan more!". Here's to happy riding and new students!

The adventure continues!