the Bahamas, each time conversa-
tion came about how we could in-
corporate a sidecar into the trip or
‘how cool would this road be with
our bike’. I kept the bike running
throughout the winter and spring
riding into the office in all kinds of
weather: snow, rain, sleet and sun-
shine. The 2WD is a very reassuring
and useful tool to have.
Travelling more than 9,600 kilo-
metres on the Ural during the sum-
mer of 2018 we explored Alerta, Brit-
ish Columbia and Montana. Tweeks
were added and we’d firmly set upon
her the name of ‘Sassy’. It really
captured her spirit. Early on she gave
us a lot of sass, especially with the
engine packing it in in Saskatchewan.
We also wanted a name with a kind
of Russian sound to it like ‘Sasha’. So
Sassy it was and Sassy she’ll be.
With all that behind us, Sassy still
had to prove herself reliable. She did
just that when we did the big three
mountain pass ride of Western Cana-
da. We traversed the Rogers pass, the
Crowsnest pass and the Highwood
pass in just over a week of riding fully
loaded. A true test that the issues
were sorted. We were ready for a big
trip, but where and how would we get
enough time to get away?
We decided to sell up our individ-
ual homes to combine the proceeds,
buy a smaller house to be mortgage
and debt free. We hunted for a new
home, looking at many and putting
offers on a few. We weren’t success-
ful, losing out to other buyers. Little
did we know that once again the uni-
verse had different plans for us.
The idea of a European trip was
toyed with. We talked about the
‘what if’s’. Six months, a year per-
haps, travelling around like a practice
retirement? This notion took hold
and one evening in August we decid-
ed to write out our intentions on a
couple of pieces of paper. We wrote:
‘We want to travel Europe for a year,
happy and healthy on our sidecar
motorcycle’. With a wee dram of
whisky, we cheersed to our idea and
burned the papers, sending them up
in smoke.
I knew that I could take an unpaid
leave of absence and Sam was in be-
tween contracts. Then out of the blue
she was offered another job. Great!
But that could change everything.
None of that mattered. Our in-
TRAVERSE 22
tentions were quickly becoming a
reality. Both houses sold in a matter
of weeks. Inexplicably, Sam’s verbal
offer of the job fell through. It all
combined with major illnesses and
the loss of a few young and vibrant
friends of ours to be the catalyst to
make it all happen.
Feet first we took the plunge with
no idea how deep the water was. My
leave was authorised, we booked air
freight transport for Sassy and tickets
for ourselves. Furniture was sold,
insurances sorted, unneeded posses-
sions disposed of. We were going to
do it. The trip of a lifetime!
What was in store for us? We had
no idea. That was the point! DW
Dan and Sam are world travellers and
sidecar motorcycle enthusiasts from Canada
who believe you should never finish a trip
without having the next one planned. They
encourage everyone to live life to the fullest,
don’t wait, just grab life by the handlebars!
You can discover more about them at
NowhereFastEverywhereCool.com