Canadian motorcycle adventures

Motorcycle adventures in some of the world's most inhospitable environs are nothing new, Ewan McGregor is well known for his The Long Way Round documentaries and countless courageous souls have braved the far flung reaches of the planet astride a motorcycle.

But how many riders would be brave enough to ride the length and breadth of Canada, 10,000 kilometres, in temperatures as low as -50? on poorly maintained iced roads -- with their spouse?

Many people dream of getting away from their betrothed on adventure holidays but Canadian husband and wife adventurers Joe and Flora Lloyd have just finished making a new TV series filming their trip together, the result of which is the Reconnecting with Canada: The North documentary.

The expedition took Joe and Flora from Victoria to Tuktoyaktuk, and the intrepid pair used BMW F 800 GS motorcycles for their epic journey through Canada's icy northern regions. They travelled around 10,000 kilometres in total, and the adventure was not without incident.

"On the Fort Chip ice road, I came around a corner and hit a dump truck stopped on the road - bear in mind you can't use brakes on the ice!" explained Joe.
"The whole front end of my motorcycle shattered in the cold. We weren't far from our destination and I managed to limp in, but that night was the low point of the whole trip. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to ride, my bike was in pieces, and I was extremely sore.

"The next morning, I was in pain, but we got the bike fixed up with a lot of duct tape and ended up riding it another 4,000 kilometres to our destination!" said Joe Lloyd.

Local knowledge played a big part in the happily married duo making the arduous journey, with Paul Mondor (aka 'The Iceman') their guide. With keen knowledge of Canada's freezing northern regions, Mondor has previously broken the World Record for being the first person to ride coast to coast in the country during the winter, and taught the pair the art form of riding on ice.

"The ice roads were exceptionally challenging," Joe recounts. "The one at Tuktoyaktuk has extremely large cracks all over the surface - far wider than the tyres - and deep enough to stop you instantly. We constantly scanned the surface ahead, avoiding cracks, and snow drifts - all with almost no traction to speak of.

"I dropped the bike twice on the Fort Chip ice road and once on the Tuktoyaktuk ice road which, as a rider, was the toughest part of the journey. It had no traction, cracks were everywhere and it was our coldest day. Riding on the ice is really about weighting the pegs as much as possible, using the pegs to steer the bike, and not touching the brakes. Ever!

The BMW F 800 GS bikes were 'mostly unmodified' but as Joe explained, some warmth for the digits was necessary. "We did put on Hippo Hands, which are giant muffs that cover the grips and capture some of the heat. They also cut down on the wind, which at the lower temperatures really isn't pleasant.

"The coldest we saw was on the Tuktoyaktuk ice road and it was -47?. The cold really varied, we had some days that were -20? which actually felt colder than days at -35?. A lot had to do with the humidity levels," noted Joe.

And what about the best bits of the journey?

"There were so many highlights of the ride, though as a team the number one was reaching Tuktoyaktuk (the final destination)," said Joe. "The moment I saw Tuk in the distance really was something I'll never forget. After weeks of the cold, slips, falls, and almost an entire day of our hardest riding yet on the Beaufort Sea, seeing Tuk really meant we accomplished something truly amazing.

"Scenery-wise the Dempster Highway to Inuvik really was our crown jewel. I also really enjoyed riding up the Alaskan Highway right next to the buffalo herd. It was amazing to just sit on the bike in the snow next to them. The other truly amazing sighting we had was a lynx on the Dempster Highway wandering in front of us."

The husband and wife team said the hospitality of the locals was incredible: "Any town we entered, any gas station, any café and we had people coming up to us. After all it's -25? outside and two motorcycles pull up! Everyone was amazingly supportive of what we were doing. We had a lot of helpful advice, from locals about road conditions and everyone was really looking out for us.

"Funnily enough we even saw another group of bikers in Fort Chipewyan, right after I had my accident. They were doing a 400km charity run on the ice road - their mandate was to bring toys to kids at the local school. One of them had the same bike as me, and offered me any parts from it to complete my journey. We ended up using duct tape, but what an amazing offer!"

And you'd have to say that any marriage that can survive 10,000 kilometres in below freezing temperatures across icy tundra is going to last. We wonder if Joe and Flora Lloyd will film a relationship guidance series next?!

Checkout Curbsyde.com for more details and to watch episodes of the adventure.

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