It is the ride, not the destination that counts. While this is true having Penticton, BC host the 9^th Annual Canadian HOG Rally was another stroke of genius for the folks from HOG Canada.

After attending last years event in Summerside, PEI, I didn't expect it to be as successful and entertaining. Being a photo-hog, I am always looking for that perfect shot. I found in PEI that every turn in the road would bring you a new cove or bay worthy of any calendar.

The Penticton area of BC is no different. From the cut-backs and ski lift of Apex Mountain Resort to the flowing roads around the east side of Lake Okanogan, there are unlimited photo ops of the beautiful scenery. I've toured over a great deal of our wondrous continent and can honestly say that southern BC is the most beautiful place to ride.

Thursday morning I left Calgary solo as usual, but not for long. Twenty minutes west of Calgary I pulled into Cochrane to meet up with the Johnson sisters and their gang from Red Deer and Edmonton. Anyone who has met these girls doesn't forget them. Two blonde lookers who come from a family of riders and ride like the devil is on their ass.

Ella knows I'm habitually tardy so even though I showed up thirty minutes late, they had only arrived five minutes earlier. We sat around shooting the bull and making our usual greetings and salutations for ten minutes or so before we mounted up and headed out to fuel up.

A quick count totaled eight bikes in our group before we hit the highway. Once on the road we drifted into two groups, those cruising near the limit and the big dogs, running substantially faster. That's usually the way it works. Some are more comfortable traveling at a leisurely pace while some of us feel we are standing still at 120 kph and need a little more throttle to satisfy our thirst for speed.

Even though we were traveling at two different speeds, the stops were often so the slower group didn't get left behind, they just had shorter stopovers. While stopped in Revelstoke, I happened to mention at the rate we were moving, we would be hard pressed to reach Penticton that night.

"Oh", Ella casually responded,

"We're only going to Sicamous tonight".

Always being cash conscience and knowing I had a free room in Penticton I quickly decided to continue on alone. First, I enjoy night riding where many don't. Second, while riding with the group I don't take the shots that I do when traveling solo. Alone I can easily turn around for a picture I want, where in a group I usually only get the rolling shots. Lastly, I wanted to be at the Rally early Friday.

I made great time all the way through except in Enderby where I got nailed in a speed trap at the western end of town. The miles I ride I should have known better and the ticket I received would have covered two nights at a hotel.

I rolled into Penticton near midnight and hit the first Tim Horton's I saw for a large coffee and further directions. Turns out the home of Justin and Jill where I was staying was only a few blocks from the main drag along the beach and the Lakeside Resort/Casino which hosted the Rally Headquarters. At this time I would like to thank Justin and Jill for their generous hospitality during my stay. Jill even had all her good looking friends over to party with us. She turned out to be excellent at trolling, and there were plenty of good girls looking to ride on the Harley all weekend.

Oh how the times have changed me. Years ago, my first stop would have been Slack Alice's for a cold beer and some naked hot women. These days I tend to meet and converse with fellow sober riders. I guess instead of hanging around the bars I seem to always find a local coffee shop. At this one shop I met many riders including a couple down from Fort St. John which just hosted the 4^th Annual Alaska Highway Thunder Run, June 30- July 1. Linda has promised us a report on how they did. In the first three years they raised $80,000 for charity, and this year they were expecting over four hundred bikes to attend.

Dwayne and Linda both ride Classics and they came 1^st and 2^nd in the Show-n-Shine so we did a shoot on their bikes Friday afternoon. senior gentleman named Lyle I ran into twice had been riding all weekend with his son who was visiting from out of town.

One disappointed fellow I met at the Lakeside had just been informed that because he rode an Indian he would not be allowed to register for the Rally. He did tell me though that I made his day by giving him the latest copy of Alberta Motorcycle Enthusiast Magazine.

Friday morning I headed over to see Marcel Cloutier at the Registration desk only to learn that I would have to wait for my Rally Package to be mailed out at a later date. All the available packages were already gone.

Next I tracked down Lesleigh Barron and volunteered my services. Volunteering is always a excellent way to get involved and I even received an olive green shirt for my efforts. I told Lesleigh to give me the dirtiest job she had so she sent me out to help with the Buell demo rides as a chaser. What a great way to earn a shirt, riding my Harley around the Okanogan Lake.

It was three hours before I had to report to the Buell tent so I took the time to visit the Hog Mall. Len Creed from Canadian Biker was there and I had a chance to meet and chat with his wife Maureen. Somehow I had missed June's issue so Lenny set me up with a complimentary subscription since I'm a contributor to the magazine. They also had some pretty cool shirts and patches so I picked up one of each. I'll definitely be wearing my "Canadian Biker" shirt my next trip south of the border.

Many if not all the Dealerships across the country had shirts available. I usually like to pick up my shirts during my travels but I did get one from Pete's Sales and Service in Pembroke, Ontario for my buddy Pete who is working down Atlanta way these days.

Another booth I spent some time at was the BCCOM table. The British Columbia Coalition of Motorcyclists protects the rights of its members who number over 6000 (think that's right, he mused, scratching his head). I had no knowledge of ACOM until last issue when I read Roland Haug's column regarding the organization folding here in Alberta. When I started writing on different subjects I realized I was in danger of becoming an "Activist", a thought that did not appeal... until now... I think I have found my cause. Hopefully we can all get together and do something to protect our rights, think about it.

At noon I headed outside to take some pictures of the Show n' Shine. There were plenty of hot looking machines and crazy paint jobs, but very few older bikes.

I missed the bike rodeo which was disappointing but that's the problem with these events, you can't do everything. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. I never wear a watch, don't have an alarm clock, and refuse to run my life by some archaic idea such as 'time'. When I'm on the road, I am where I am, and I never rush to leave any place, because I never know if I'll ever return. Like a wise man once said,

"Don't forget, wherever you go... there you are".

At 6 pm I rode over to King's Park for the Bike Parade (I know, you're wondering how the heck I knew it was 6 o'clock if I don't have a watch. I ride a Classic, remember. The bike is equipped with a clock. The evils in life we must deal with, eh). Amazingly, I made it before the rest of the Red Deer crew. This gave me time to set up the cameras and take a few pictures. When Grant and Ella arrived they brought over forty other Chapter members with them, pretty good turn out. I must say I was very pleased to see so many of our brothers from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, and other states. A final count showed that over 1000 bikes took place in the parade.

The highlight of the evening for me was finally getting to meet Willie G. Davidson. That man is amazing, he is always smiling and no matter how tired he may be, he always has time for his legions of enthusiasts. He even took a moment to pose with me, his wife wasn't sure if she should join so I made sure to invite her also. She must be a great woman or Willie wouldn't be smiling all the time.

After the parade, the Powder Blues Band took to the stage for the Beach Party. Unfortunately I missed it, I was at Slack Alice's, what can I say.

Early Saturday I met Kelly at the local Tim Horton's and we headed up to Apex Mountain Resort for the HOG Breakfast and a ride up the chair lift to the summit. Once again Willie G. was out shaking hands and just being his friendly self, mixing with the crowd.

The Activity Guide said breakfast would only be served until 11:00 am and at 10:50 we were still hundreds back in the line. No fear though, there was food enough for all and nobody went without.

After a tasty bite to eat we ran into Ella, Erin, and Allen (a star in his own right), the only Red Deer members able to get up early enough to attend. We decided to tour the summit and twenty minutes later Allen was doing snow angels dressed only in safari shorts. Did I mention what a stylish couple Erin and Allen are? Erin even wore a dead raccoon on her head most of the weekend.

We enjoyed Apex so much that we didn't return to town until near 4:00 pm. Shiiit, the Biker Bingo was 2:00 - 4:00 P.M. and I missed it, oh well.

The Classic needed some servicing and I found a local shop on the east side called Drifter's Bike Shop. Don was very helpful and had me in within the hour and out the next. We barely had time to check out the talent at Slack Alice's around the corner.

The Vine and Dine Dinner / Closing Ceremonies were from 5:00 - 11:00 P.M. but a bunch of us from Harleydavidsonman.com had our own BBQ at our base of operations for the weekend.

Sunday, all is over but we stay another day taking a ride to Naramata Pub for lunch with some local friends and toured the east side of the lake later in the day.

Monday morning I loaded up the FLH and headed north to Vernon before turning east to Lumby and the Slocan Valley, but that's another story.

CCRyder