Entry into the Darker Side of RVing

We had some free time yesterday, so I went on the roof to confirm that the kayaks were secure, and in the process discovered that the removable ladder on the back of the rig lost one of its anchors.  We should be able to order a new one though, but the bigger discovery was that the bikes had an unwanted visitation.

We figure it must have happened in Revelstoke as it was the only place where we left the rig site until now.  Also, when we were setting up, the neighbour across the way seemed particularly interested in our goings on.  I just assumed it was because we were definitely pulling off the look of first timers, retracing our steps and redoing and adjusting settings with the inefficiency of rookies.  I ignored it.

We decided to unbag the bikes and take them down since we are here for 4 days.  We were disappointed to see that the rack that was rated for 500 pounds had bent down a bit, but the roads were in rather rough repair state.  Ken will weld a reinforcement for it in Cereal, but the biggest upset was noticing that his helmet which was in the basket wasn’t there.

I figured it must have bounced off, though it baffled me how. Nonetheless, the ladder clamp had shaken off, I suppose it is possible...

 Then we took mine down.  My helmet was actually chained into its basket, so it should be fine. .... And I’m sure it was safe in the basket...and likely in the same location as Ken’s was.  I had used heavy duty electrical tie wraps to secure the milk crate to the rack at the back as I had on Ken’s bike.  Ken’s basket was just as secure as it had been when I fastened it, but my basket was gone, and therefore the helmet as well.  As my bike was on the inside, it was less exposed, and even if the basket had shaken off, it would have likely snagged on the rack or ladder.

It seems our curious neighbour found a five finger discount on helmets, then left the next morning.  So we are out about $550 between the 2 of them.  There is no point in submitting an insurance claim as that would cover about $50 after the deductable.

The lesson seems to point to not putting the weather bags on them while travelling.  That way, with visibility, any impropriety would have been discovered sooner.  Bagged, we were a full 3 days past before we noticed their absence.

As we can’t afford to replace them properly, and since we see bikers riding around with helmets that look like starched Yamahas, and since we are only going to use them for short jaunts, we have decided to get good bicycle helmets.  We aren’t happy about it, but until we can set aside the money to buy proper ones, we can’t ride without something.

The sad thing is that we probably look like people made of money with the trucks and sundry, but what isn’t seen is that it is the total sum of our possessions, and we, like most other people live from cheque to cheque.  Our savings went into Spirit so that we could safely travel, and it was saved for exactly that purpose.

So many people in the community of RV travellers are awesome people who are co-operative and wonderful helpful instant friends.  But there are always the exceptions, and we just met one of them, it seems.  :-(

We refuse to let it kick us down though.  Today is another day.  So with that, I bid you,

Adieu