The Big Ride – When you know that you know (Part 1- Red Canyon, Utah)

Throughout The Big Ride I’ve felt blessed to be living my dream and for being able to share it with you.

If you have been following my blog you know that I’ve been on the road now for two and a half months.  I left Ottawa, where I live, on May 13, 2015 and I’ve ridden 20,000 kilometers so far – for my friends on the US side of the border that’s about 12,500 miles.  I still have another month of travels ahead of me and will likely put on another 6 to 8,000 kilometers.  This excludes when I left my bike enroute and drove 3000 kilometers in the rental car to visit my dad’s resting place in Northern BC – A wise decision given the forest fires at the time!

During The Big Ride I have seen and experienced some pretty spectacular and incredibly amazing things.

I’ve ridden roads with sweeping curves that were so sweet I felt completely at one with them and I’ve ridden others that were so steep and so high that I thought I was in the heavens; I’ve seen vistas with such beauty and grandeur that it literally took my breath away – nope it wasn’t the altitude 🙂 ;  I’ve spoken with individuals along the way that had lost all sense of hope of being able to live their dreams and before I left them I saw a sparkle of optimism in their eyes;  I’ve been inspired by others that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting along the way who are also living their dreams;  and I’ve been moved by the wonderment of Life, its magnificence and amazed at how everything works out when you let it; I’ve returned to where I was raised, reflected on where I’ve been in my life and the long winding roads have provided me the time to envision what I’d like the next chapter to look like; I’ve shared precious moments with family and rekindled friendships that will remain with me forever;  and you likely won’t want to hear this but on three occasions on this  trip I have felt the wings of the Angels brush by me.

When I started planning this trip over a year ago I purchased a motorcycle touring book on Utah.  When I started reading the book it was so exciting I couldn’t put it down.  It actually kept me up at night! Over the past few weeks it was looking doubtful that I would be able to include Utah on this ride.  The weather in southern California was extremely hot and riding south in 40+ degrees celsius didn’t seem plausible.  Instead I stayed north and when I got to Salt Lake City it was a critical “go no-go” decision point for me.

As it turned out the weather in Utah shifted and was more moderate so I decided to head south to make my way to Bryce Canyon National Park over a couple of days.  I must say I was filled with excitement and anticipation of what lay ahead.

When I turned onto the highway that would take me the last few miles to Bryce Canyon, I found that I had to drive through Red Canyon – to be honest I hadn’t heard of it and the sign I passed looked like any other that I had seen along the way.  When I turned the corner and the Red Canyon came into site I was literally swept away by its magnificence.  A strange feeling swept over me and I knew in that moment that this was why I had taken The Big Ride.  This was why I needed to ride the 26,000+ kilometers that will eventually complete this trip.  I knew in that moment that despite still having a months travel ahead of me, this was what I had come to experience.  This is what would make this incredibly amazing journey complete!

A feeling wonderment flooded over me.  As I stood in awe on the side of the road looking up at the sheer beauty of the massive red peaks of stone that Nature had so wondrously sculpted over time, I could no longer contain the joyfulness within me as tears ran down my cheeks. I knew in that moment that it was okay for me to start heading home. Being in Utah allowed me to complete this part of the journey.

The following video is only a glimpse of what I’ve seen in southern Utah.  I’ll be sharing more photos and video with you in the come days but here’s what I saw that morning as I rode through the Red Canyon. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more awesome photos and videos from my ride in Utah. Next up will be Bryce Canyon.  I’m betting that you will love it as much as I did!