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July 26, 2020 Mark this date on your calendar for a great Motorcycle Adventure now a one day event due to Covid-19.
Road Ride: Rain or shine: Kickstands up at 8AM starting from the clubhouse. Road ride will be Whistler to Lillooet for lunch then back thru Lytton to home. About 575 km. Depending on turnout, this ride may be altered and I am willing to change routes and destinations as the group likes. Obviously, weather may be a factor. Be ready to go, gas tanks full, cold water in the saddlebag. We will use the "One fill all fill" protocols so we are respectful of others peoples time so as to reduce stopping. This is not a race so go with riders you can keep pace with and we recommend obeying traffic signs. See you in 2 weeks
Adventure Touring: Kickstands up at 8:00 AM starting from the clubhouse. The adventure ride will head up the freeway to the Coq. We will ride up the Coq to the Britton Creek rest area where we will pick up the Lawless FSR and ride it to Tulameen. From Tulameen we will ride north on the Colemont road to the Voght Valley road. We'll continue north on the Voght Valley Road to the Kane Valley Road and then ride the Kane Valley Road north to where it joins up with Hwy 97c/5a about 15 km south of Merrit. We'll ride into Merritt for gas and then take the Coldwater Road south out of Merritt to the Coq and then take the Coq back home. There will be about 110 km of unpaved road on this ride but it is all fairly easy gravel/dirt and more street oriented bikes, such as the 650 Vstrom or the Honda 750NC should not find it too challenging. Some sections of the Kane Valley are soft dirt which could turn into gumbo if there is a lot of rain. If that's the case then an alternate route will be used.
A map and a GPX file will be made available to those who request it.
Please feel free to call John Taylor, or email him at jakers_357@hotmail.com for additional information. Note: Depending on the number of riders who turn up it may be advantageous to split up into smaller groups based on rider experience and bike type.
Signups: There is no signup fee for this one day event. Home by 6:00pm-ish.
Lunch Lunch will be at a Take Out Covid spaced Restaurant or brown bag it.
Check in the photo gallery for pictures and see all the fun had in the past at this event.
Bring your riding buddies and meet new ones!
History Of The Routledge Run
This event was started in 1954, dedicated to Bob Routledge, a respected motorcycle mechanic and one of the signers of the 1939 GVMC incorporation. The original perpetual trophy features a pewter figure of a German army dispatch rider on a BMW. This may have been a souvenir brought back by returning soldiers after World War II, but it’s exact origin and significance is a mystery.
Traditionally, the event was held as a Saturday ride to a campground, with a field meet on Sunday. Field meets involved tests of rider skill, such as riding a length of 2x4, throwing darts from a moving bike, rolling a barrel with the front wheel, a slow race (last one across the finish line wins, touch a foot down you’re out), and any other crowd pleasing stunts the organizers could dream up.
The field meets gradually lost their appeal, and with the rise in dual sport riding, the event was given a fresh approach. The Routledge Run has in recent years been successful as a two-day ride, with street riders and dual sport riders taking separate routes to an overnight campout. The camaraderie and good times continue.
Our usual weekend Friday to Sunday was modified to a one-day ride. There were about 18 participants riding on Adventure Touring and Highway Cruiser bikes and one convertible Pontiac with two ladies along for the day.
The day started out warm and got warmer as we went along. From our Clubhouse kickstands went up at 8 AM heading West on Hwy 1 to Whistler and Pemberton for our first gas stop. Arriving at 10:30 we fueled and hydrated and headed for Lillooet. At Lillooet most stopped at the Reynolds hotel for a safe distance lunch.
At approximately 1:15 pm the group (in several small sub groups) headed for Lytton in the 37degree warmth along the Fraser Canyon with one final gas stop in Boston bar and on to home. Approximately 575-600 km's with no major incidents and a very pleasant time with world class amazing beautiful BC scenery one can only see along this corridor.
Several of our group also started from our Clubhouse and took a different route with adventure touring bikes looking for a bit of gravel. They headed East to the Coquihalla highway to the Britton exit and branching off along the Lawless forestry road to Tulameen.
The attendance for the Dualsport section of the 2020 Routledge Run Adventure tour was disappointing. Only three riders showed up- and one of them wasn't even a club member. The three riders left the clubhouse at 8:00AM and traveled up the freeway to Hope and then up the Coq to the Britton Creek rest area. At Britton Creek we met up with another club member on a quad who rode the Lawless FSR with us to Tulameen where she had to stop because her quad was not licensed for public roads.
From Tulameen we proceeded north on the Coalmont road to the Voght Valley road and we rode up Voght Valley to Davis Lake where we stopped for a picnic lunch. After lunch we continued on Voght Valley to the Kane Valley road which we rode all to hwy 5a/97c - about 10-km south of Merritt. We rode into Merritt for gas and then returned to the Coq via the Coldwater road. The ride coming home was hot and temperatures on the Coq, as indicated by the bike’s thermometer, were 38 degrees; much too hot for enjoyable riding.
Although there were only three riders in this group the ride itself was an unqualified success. The weather was ideal (except for the extreme heat that developed later in the afternoon) and the riders enjoyed spectacular scenery, especially north of Tulameen all the way to hwy 5a/97c. This ride was an easy one, ideal for large adventure bikes. The route is shown on the attached map shown in the GVMC Website Photo Gallery under 2020 Routledge Run.
