A couple of weeks after the glasses scare, I decided to finish breaking in the engine on the V-Strom. What better way to do that than a trip up the icefields parkway from Calgary to Jasper, Alberta. I thought I’d take a few days and see what it was like to camp while traveling with the bike. So I loaded it up with my camping gear and set off.
What an amazing road the icefields parkway is. It’s closed to truck traffic and it’s smooth as silk. I left Calgary with nearly a full tank of fuel and rode confidently up the highway, past the Columbia Icefield on route to Jasper. Then my fuel gauge started to flash.
Since I had only ever run one or two tanks of fuel through the bike, I was guessing on the fuel economy. I also didn’t consider the extra weight and drag associated with my luggage. I slowed down to a more economical speed with about 130km to go and my fuel gauge already warning me that I was running low. I had passed the “no fuel for 200km” sign 70km prior. When I left Calgary I thought I could make it with one tank of fuel.
I had never been to Jasper before so I didn’t recognize the road or the scenery along the way. I began to get more and more nervous as there were few signposts along the way to tell me how much further I had to go. Then my fuel gauge flashed differently. This time it meant, “dude, you’re really running low now.”
Jasper seemed like an eternity away. I slowed down further. What was left of the traffic, which wasn’t much, started to pass me. Then the sign showing Jasper was around the corner, about 20km away came into view. “Would I make it?” I wondered.
I rounded the bend into town and got slowed down by some road construction just before the town. Oh great.
Finally I rolled into town and made it to the first fuel station I could find. The V-strom took 21.5 litres of fuel. Thankfully there was a full litre of fuel left in the tank. I was pretty tired from the possibility of running out of fuel, and I had ridden by far my longest day yet – 435kms (270 miles).
More to come…
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