Beautiful sunrise in Winnipeg

Wow what a sunrise! Not a single cloud in the sky. Brisk 41 degrees and a slight breeze. Should rise to 70-72 throughout the day.

What a pleasant surprise. Lets get our ride on! :) 

Let me catch you all up, May 20-21

To say that yesterday and today was trying is putting it lightly. So after two years of research and planning, it just goes to show you that #$%^ happens. I do not care how careful you are or how many backups you have, something's happen that are totally out of your control. Do we want a list?

Heated gear: Pant liners and socks, not working. Not sure if it is jacket problem or what. I will attempt to get it checked out in Anchorage.

MacBook Pro: The charge cable popped, fried, and or cooked! Bought another today and backup plugin for other devices if it happens again.

Garmin GPS locked up today, fixed that by disconnecting battery and reinstalling.

Rain and Cold. Ok when I left, I said I want Cold and Dry, not Cold and Wet. Even though I’m dry, the suit is cooling.

Sink holes near Wawa and Nipigon almost got me,  would have been forced to reverse around Lake Superior to the south, got lucky.

Riding at a 10-15 degree right tilt. The last 50 miles into Winnipeg, not wind gust, just flat out 30-50 crosswind. So much so I had to close my shield and felt my helmet lift until chin strap tugged. I been hit by gust which are actually worse, but never a steady crosswind like today.

This morning I set my alarm at 5:30am East coast time and from the time I got up, till bundled snuggly, 6:15, no breakfast. I was determined to make Thunder Bay, 100Km’s down the road before I ate. Mission accomplished through fog, rain, and 39-40 degree temperatures. I walked into McDonald’s, undressed, and ate a big breakfast. All of it. As I was getting ready to leave, I approached an truck driver to ask one question. “Roads open and clear from here to Winnipeg?” He said yes and he was heading in the same direction. Told me to watch out for the police because they were heavy on that stretch and as long as I held 100kph or less, I would be ok. That sounds easy but that is only about 65mph and when you are the only one in sight, ripping down the road is much quicker. Ok, 102-105 is what I held and no intervention by Canadian Police Force.

The ride from Thunder Bay to Ignace was wet, foggy, and cold. When I rolled into town I decided to stop for gas even though I didn’t need it and coffee. I also decided to put on a second pair of socks over my heated since I was getting the impression that they were not working. While sitting in the restaurant everyone wanted to know, where I was from,(how could they tell?), where I was going, and was I cold. I guess with everything I was wearing I looked like RobCop or the Michelin man. We had some friendly banter, finished my coffee, then said my goodbye’s and vanished into the mist.

Some 45-50 miles outside of Ignace, I saw in the distance some breaks in the clouds. That’s blue sky, I know it is!! Sure enough the roads started to dry out, the temperatures started to climb, and the frown on my face started to fade. The roads also started to twist a little bit, so that was more amusement for me. Before Ignace, the roads were flat and straight and hardly a human in sight, except some idiot on a R1200GSA BMW. Yep, me.

I pulled into Vermilion Bay and decided time for lunch. I pulled into Busters Barbecue and had the Brisket, Red Pepper & Onions grilled, with fries. Yum! Sweet Tea was interesting also because it tasted fruity. Of what, I have no Clue. Apparently this restaurant in the middle of nowhere was on TV recently, because all the locals walked in and said, “We saw you on TV.” Oh ya!

When I stepped outside to the bike and started dressing, here comes a policeman wanting to chat. We talked about the bike, the crap hanging all over it, where I came from, and where I was heading. He got a big chuckle at just how ugly she was and I just said, “thank you”. He wished me safe travels and told me to watch the moose and deer. We shook hands and off I went.

The last half of my ride today was so much different than the first. I saw temperatures move from 39 degrees to 76 degrees by the time I rolled into Winnipeg. I went from no wind to a 30-50 cross wind the last 50 miles of the trip. Not gusting, steady constant wind so the lean angle never changed much. Overall the last half of the trip today was beautiful. I only wished that the day before and the first half of today would have been rain free. I’m afraid I missed some pretty sights. One more thing to note here. Where are all the motorcycles? I only saw one on the road until I got close to Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a big place with lot’s of traffic.

Ok, I turned on the Spot Tracker today and then forgot to fire up the Iphone for part two of the process. I have to tell the tracker to track me using an App in the phone and I forgot to do this in my hast to dress and leave first thing this morning. Once I arrived in Winnipeg and got an TXT message saying it was off, I fired it up. So, you can see where I ended up, but not my track. Sorry about that. Now here is the funny part. The wife was pretty adamant about me buying and using this thing. She has been shopping with her mother and sister-n-law the last day or so and didn’t even notice. No, it wasn’t her that notified me! This actually made me smile.

Mental and Physical evaluation after 4 days on the road. The mental stresses the last few days with sinkholes, laptop death, heated suit lower portion failure, and what seem to have been wet feet at the time but turned out not to be, has been a lot to process while trying to lay down the miles I want to cover. As long as things work like the are suppose to, I’m fine. When things break, it slows me down.

Physically, my butt is doing pretty good now. Day 1 and 2 was a little rough because the ole butt was starting to burn the last half of the ride each day. Day 3 was better and day 4 I hardly notice the ole butt. So I think we are getting the ole butt broken in. Ok, you all can stand and laugh now because you might pull a muscle laughing if your sitting. When it is cold and your not moving your head left and right enough, muscle in your neck start doing funny things. Today it felt as if I had a pinched nerve and was having a hard time looking right full. Funny thing though, when the temperature started rising, I’m good. Everything else is good. 

Ok, I feel like I’m rambling here so I will wrap this up. I was just looking out my hotel window and the sun is still up at 9:10pm. The weather report is saying sunset at 9:15pm here. I also crossed into the Central time zone, so now I’m an hour behind you. I will post a picture below and a picture link for the photo’s that I could not link the other day. Weather tomorrow looks to be calm, 45-75 overcast along my route, so maybe not so bad. Mileage will step up another notch to 517. I forgot to get my total mileage so far, but I should be somewhere between 1800- 1900 miles so far.

PS – Laptop issue solved. Stopped at the Apple Store in Winnipeg, so blog will continue to run as long as I find wi-fi.

Pictures of the day or yesterday.

Day 3, Wet, cold, not so fun

I have to make this fast because I can see what's wrong with my MacBook and it is the power cord. If I can make Winnipeg in a timely manner tomorrow, I can buy another at the Apple Store.  That mean leaving early and in the rain again. 

Today started out well enough because even though it was overcast, there was no rain. That lasted until about noon and then it came and it came, and then it came some more. It was also bouncing between 48-52 degrees. At first I didn't want to stop and plug in the heated gear but about 1 hour from my destination, I couldn't take it anymore and plugged up the vest and gloves. My legs were ok and my toes were a bit cold, but I felt ok. Now with the heat on I felt invigorated. 

I came blasting into Nipigon, Ontario to the hotel I picked out and they said, sorry booked. I said really? She said about 30 minutes ago a sink hole opened up 3 miles outside of town and everyone is rushing to get rooms. I went one hotel down the block and got a room. Pretty nice to because the insides have been recently remodeled. Outside doesn't look like much, but inside is nice. Specially for $87. 

I walked down the road about 3 blocks and decided I need to get supper. I missed lunch because there was nothing along my route once it was time to eat. Everything that was available was 2 hours behind me. So, I stopped on the side of the road, ate a pack of peanuts with a little water, (Yes, my $50 water bottle paid off!!), and then down the road I went. 

Let me tell you something about the BMW, well two stories quickly. First, I knew when I bought it that the fuel range could out ride me. I made 285 miles today before I stopped for fuel and she still had fuel, but I needed a 5 minute break. Yep, just 5. Day 3 and my butt break-in is almost complete. Except for the 10 minute peanut stop on the side of the road, that was it. I ran the entire length today with about 15 minutes in breaks. Hardcore? Well for me it is, when you add in the cold and rain. I still got a little damp, I think because I didn't seal the bottom of my jacket and my toes felt a little damp. Tomorrow I will do a better job being ready for the rain. 

Story two on the Bmw. I know Gary Mace is going to say it's because I'm top heavy but my extra fuel tnaks have not been filled yet. I think it was funny and just plain silly at the same time. I stopped just long enough to hop off the bike, take a picture, and hop back on. I didn't even kill the engine. We I mount the bike like I always do, like a horse, I kid you not, I got blasted by a gust of wind broadside and I just couldn't hold it up. I caught it, but the wind just keep blasting and I could not fight it back upright. Having a 32 inseam on a bike with a 32-34 inch seat height didn't help either. So I just softly laid her on her rightside, walked around to ensure the kickstand was down, in gear, and bike off. Picked her right up with all gear loaded, with two legs and off I went. Best part???? No one saw me, so the only one laughing at me, was me. This was not my first drop and it will not be my last. 

About 15 miles from the last nights hotel, I saw moose! Looked like a calf to me and it was about 30-40 away from the side of the road. I consider for 5 seconds turning around and getting a picture and thought better of it. I read the warnings that if  mother feels her space is vilolated, she will track you down and stomp you to death. Meh! Moving on. Later in the day I saw two more Bullwinkles behind a guard rail and raven, so I snaped two shots and tookoff. So today I saw 3 bullwinkles.  

I wish I could honestly tell you that I'm looking forward to tomorrows ride, but in the rain at 40 degrees, is not something that makes my day. Part of the game, but I honestly wait dry and cold, not wet and cold. 

Battery is just about dead, so I must upload with no pictures. When I get power for the laptop, I will do another post with pictures. 

1st equipment failure. Errr!!

Well this is like losing my right arm. I'm hoping that the charger for my laptop died and not the laptop itself. It will not charge. I will be forced to use this little tiny iPhone keyboard and screen until at Winnipeg. I located an Apple store and will make it stop one when I arrive Tuesday. 

I can live with the laptop. The question is, can you?

Day 2 ends meeting some nice folks.

My night camping in Vineland, Ontario went much better than I expected because I sleep like a baby. I didn’t start to stir until the Geese started singing or doing whatever Geese do at sunrise. So I laid there listening to them fly over, landing in the water, and singing for about 30 minutes, so I started packing. Didn’t take me long and I was on the road for leg two. Destination Elliot Lake, Ontario.

What I didn’t expect, once I rolled out on the Interstate, if that’s what they call them here, was the amount of traffic so early Sunday morning. The second thing I didn’t expect was when I skimming just west of Toronto to see 8 lanes of traffic in one direction. Damn glad I wasn’t going to part of the Monday morning push through there, because it must be a nightmare. No sweat buzzing through there this morning for me because Garmin had my back. Can’t imagine old schooling all those turns through all that traffic.

Once I swung out on 400 and 69 the scenery went from congestion to peace and quiet on the road. For the first time on this trip it was starting to feel like I was on my own. Not so much so that I felt it necessary to start filling my extra fuel tanks but enough where at times there was no car in sight. I can find places just like this in my own backyard, so I’m not in no-man’s land yet. The roadside had a very distinct rock, Granite, that they obviously blasted away to make way for the road. They left a lot of these rocks as decoration or scenery. One of the more interesting things I saw was these strange little man looking rock creations along the side of the road. Not one or two, they were everywhere. So when I stopped for lunch and asked a local about the rocks that were obviously put there by humans, I suspect kids, what did they represent. He said in the past that Eskimo’s used them for navigation and you can read about them and see pictures of them here. Hell with all the fisherman that I saw, I thought the locals were marking their favorite spots.

I rolled into Elliott Lake around 3:15 and checked into a Hampton Inn so I could recharge all my toys. Oversight 1, I should have wired two USB ports on the bike because the fussy little I-phone doesn’t like to share. Whatever!! For dinner, I went out and tried the Fireside Grill per the recommendation of the front desk and confirmed by Tripadvisor. It was ok, filling, but nothing spectacular.

I rolled out of the Fireside and decided to drive down by the lakes of Elliott Lake and found out that the heritage of the town is based on mining. It was the main world supply of Uranium. Read that here. I took a few pictures of the lake, dogs swimming, and when I depart lake one, I pulled out in front of 3 motorcycles. They shortly broke off to the right and I went to the next lake. I took a few shots and then retraced to where the other bikers scooted. Hmm, Scenic Overlook…..what could that be. I followed the road a few miles up to a fire tower outlook with a scenic overlook. Course you know what happened next, we started jabber jawing about my trip and motorcycles and we spent a good hour just chatting. Motorcyclist are a fun bunch to chat with and these folks were no exception. One expressed their interest in buying the same exact bike soon and request to sit on it just to get a feel. Yes, of course I let him. It’s always great to see a motorcycle grin. Well there was 4 of them and one of me, and for the life of me I cannot remember their names, but if they read this blog and comment, we will all know soon. Great people and may our paths meet on the road again someday.

That same group of riders suggested while traveling through British Columbia that I find and ride through Kicking Horse pass. I will not forget this, because I typed it into my I-phone and now on my blog. I will have to review this to see if it fits into my routes. Shame to travel this far and miss something they loved. Yes, Mark Trent, I also keep your suggestions!!

Ok a few facts. The metric system makes it a little difficult to figure out gas prices, but I sat down today and did the math. $5.15 to $5.25 a gallon for mid-grade or 89 octane. Their signs took me a bit to figure out also. They show gas prices by the cents, not the dollars and cents. So in the States we show $3.29 and we all know it is actually $3.30. Canadian’s show their price 130.3 and they assume $1.30 per liter. Just a little different, they just don’t show the decimal after the first digit. Now all you have to do is figure the liter to US Gallon. In a car I would not even give this a moments thought but on a motorcycle most of us do not use the fuel gauge but know our max range based on our weight for the trip after a few tanks run through. Mine is looking to be 38-39, given me worst case 38 * 8 = 304 to look for fuel 334 to dry. 152 extra miles in those special tanks I have. One more metric conversion that I have had to learn is telling Canadians how far or long my trip is going to be. 16,500 miles converts 26,554 Km’s. One last number I need. In the States I tell my boys the 7 mph rule. If your doing 7mph over the speed limit or less, the police will rarely give you the time of day. Now I know here that conversion is 11Kph. Anyone’s head buzzing yet? Ok, I’m done with my silliness and I know my wife is shaking her head and saying, “You say I ‘m OCD.” 

Today log shows 401 miles travel, trip total 809. Tomorrow I will end up in Nipigon, Ontario and it will be a rain event if the predictions are accurate. Well I have the gear and we will find out soon enough if I spent my money properly. If I told you how much I invested in my Suit, Gloves, Boots, and heated gear over the last two years, you might just chock. Being dry and warm, when it’s raining, 50 degrees, and going 70mph comes at a price.

Did anyone checkout the weather in TOK, Alaska today? That is my entry point into the state on May 26th and it was a low of 16 and currently 30 with light snow.  Can you hear me sighing????

Pictures of the day

Day 1 in the books

The send off from you guys out there that have decided to follow me was special. I got all your Facebook post, txt, emails, and cell calls and I tried to answer most but access and time is going to be an issue until I reach Alaska I fear. Believe it or not I sit here in the middle of nowhere just outside Welland, Ontario in a tent typing a blog post and they actually have wi-fi through tout the camp ground. The couple nest to me have three dogs, which one chased me to my camp site, but I was bigger. Grrrr! Tuck your tail dog! Now I get to listen to the, The Doors, riders of the storm, whether I want to or not, but it’s not so bad. I could be pushing jets.

Lori will tell you point blank that I’m not the type of person to put my feelings out there, specially face to face. I decided not to tell everyone my full reason for the trip until the night before I left, so I didn’t have to tell it over and over again. If I touched your heart, it’s because you love your own Dad or in my brothers cases, our Dad. If I made you sad, I’m sorry. Now you know why I didn’t want to tell it over and over again. Even after 14 years, if I trench down for it, like last nights post, the pain returns. I want to be clear though, I’m doing this trip in happy stat of mind and not one of pain or regret. I was fortunate with my Dad that when he left, I had no regrets.

The ride today through the top of Virginia, the skip through Maryland, cross Pennsylvania, New York, and into Canada was mostly overcast, 63-75 degrees, no rain, perfect day. Sure picture blue skies would have been nicer, but let me tell you the sun can sometimes be brutal on a motorcycle rider. My beak, (nose), has a tendency to get burned even when it is cold, after baking in direct sunlight all day. Beak looks good right now.

For lunch I stopped at Gio’s world famous BBQ in Pennsylvania somewhere in the middle of nowhere and if ask me where, you will get a glazed look. It was tomato based and I got the platter with their special sauce and it was yummy! I didn’t have enough room for the beans, bread, and fries. I ate all the meat and had to throw the majority of the rest away. I hate that!!

 

Today’s route did appear on SpotTracker perfectly and I was a bit worried about it because it was flashing low batteries most of the day. I have some pretty cool AA batteries that the top opens and I plug them directly into a usb port to recharge. Tomorrow, I will attempt to recharge them while I drive and use the second set to run the tracker. Speaking of today’s run, I laid down 408 miles a little more than laid out. One more cool thing, I went into the Garmin GPS and told it to show all distances and speed in Kilometers in hopes I get no Canadian tickets. Observation so far, all Canadians speed, a lot!

Tomorrow’s weather should be almost as good as today and a 30% chance of rain at my destination. Should be another 400 miler zipping around the backside of the great lakes. Below is my picture link. Not much today, but it does show my campsite.

Pictures of the Day

Here we go!

Well after two years of slow but steady planning, the day has arrived. Tomorrow morning, May 18th 2013, I will begin my 6 week, 42 day, and 16,500 mile adventure through, Canada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, and then I will be sprinting home from there. I’m 99% packed except for those last minute things that I will need when I first wake in the morning. There is nothing left that I believe I can take that will make me more safe or comfortable. I personally believe that I thought of everything that could go wrong that I can fix or have the skills to fix. Communication setup is the best that I can muster with GPS trackers, GPS Nav, and Cell. When my stops allow Wi-Fi, it will be primary communication tool. I’m tired of planning and I ready to run.

For those that don’t know and those that do, here is my why. I said 2 years, but it’s actually a lifetime, if I take it all in. But in my mind it all started July 1999 when my Dad passed away suddenly. Massive heart attack took his body, but his presence is still in me. Things I do, things I say, and things I feel, tell me he will always be part of me. I learned many lessons from him and the one the left the largest impression on me is, you never ever give up on your child, no matter how bad it looks. I personally never had to invoke this with my boys and I feel lucky, but what I saw my Dad do at times, reference his own kids, impressed me.

One of my fondest memories is when he would pull that little pop up camper to different destinations, one being California, 4 kids and a guinea pig, and would do his rendition of the Auctioneer. If my two brothers are reading this and not remembering it, they must have Alzheimer's. If I know my two brothers, right about the time they hit the play button on the video below they will be smiling and maybe just tearing up a bit. The old man also did this while calling Square Dancing in the 60’s. This brought me a smile.

Now let me finish the reason for this trip. 14 years ago I stood with broken heart over my dad’s casket wondering why so young, 71. Why? Today the answer still does not come to me, but time has softened the blow. I know everyone thinks their parents are special, or at least I hope they do, but I always considered him my dad and my friend. All my questions and all my youthful concerns would always be listened to and answered the best he had to offer. The day I asked his permission to ask Lori to marry me, not only did he approve, but he also gave advice on handling girl friends father. No matter the outcome, make sure you show respect. His firm parental hand, could always be predicted. He’s sense of humor still runs rampant through my veins. One of his favorite saying that he would use on women when he opened a door for them, I‘m still using at least once a week where I work. You open the door for any gender, smile and then say, “Age before beauty!!!” Beware though, using this on women might bring you harm. Overall, he was a pretty cool dude in his era.

Standing over his open casket, I reached in separated his hands, and slid a small matchbox RV between his stomach and hands. I closed them back over the RV and made that promise. Before I leave this earthly place, if God thought it right, I would complete his dream to drive to Alaska. He wanted to drive an RV, so I’m making a small modification in riding a motorcycle but I know he would not mind.

So for me, the arrival of this date is a happy one and sad one at the same time. No matter how much I think about it, this sort of puts a closing chapter on Dad. I know he will always be part of me, but there is no replacement for Dad.

Ok you know the whole story and now maybe, just maybe, you will now think I’m not so crazy for attempting this adventure. I also want to thank all those that I work with who came up to me personally wished me well. Sometimes we just do not know all those we touch until something brings it to light, like this trip. I think those that I work with are more excited about my trip then I am ,if that is possible. I have been given things of humor, like the little toy girl and the request that I take pictures of her at some of the attractions that I run into. I will honor this request. I have a piece of paper with many signed names, I will take this with me on this journey. Then my trainee, who has heard story after story from me about Alaska, gave me a key ring with a special message inscribed, it will also make the trip. Thank you Mrs. Kauffman.

The last person I need to give really special thank you to, is my wife of 32 years. Without her support and understanding, none of this would happen. She has never stood in my way or fought me about this trip, but she is as nervous and worried as a mother hen. That’s her and I wouldn’t change a thing. Never fear woman, I will return to harass you until infinity. This is Mark Love!

Ok, this briefing is over! Let’s get this show started.

Not the Destination, But the Journey.