I'm home! After 27 days and 7300 miles I'm actually home. Of course, I'm only home for two days then we're off to Laguna Seca, which means another 1000 miles on the bike (I'm calling it the bonus round).
And finally, I've got pictures. Just click here to check them out.
Over the next week, I'll be uploading even more photos and tons of video from the trip too! So stay tuned.
Until then, here's me Kart racing in Phoenix.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Coast2Coast - It's pronounced de-SHAY
Friday July 11th - Colorado Springs to Durango CO: My big push over the first four days of the trip home has finally paid off. Friday and Saturday are both easy days. Friday I rode across the rockies. What a stunning mountain range. I was really impressed with the first half of the day, crossing over 11300 foot passes (and getting light headed and loopie along the way) but nothing could have prepared me for the spectacular views on the road from Ouray to Silverton to Durango.
Just leaving Ouray, there was road work and traffic stoppage. I was the first in line and the stoppage was long, probably 20 minutes or more. You're thinking... that sucks. But nooooooo. It meant that there was 20 miles of open road in front of me and no cars! I didn't have to pass a single car until well after Silverton. Wooo Hoooo! Tearing up the rockies on a BMW!
I took a bunch of photos and video, and this stretch of highway is far and away the most beautiful landscape I've encountered. Absolutely breathtaking (and actually breathtaking because the entire ride is over 10000 feet).
Near the summit, just above the 11000 foot mark I passed two bicyclists stomping away happily and grinning from ear to ear. I gave them honks, thumbs ups, and a good round of applause. I was well and truly impressed, and I could tell they really appreciated the recognition.
Oh, I did an easy 350 miles today.
Saturday July 12 - Durango CO to Canyon de Chelly: I can't tell you how much fun today was (but I'll try). Today was a really short day of riding, only 260 miles. But every minute was just wonderful. And it wasn't just where I was riding, but HOW I was riding. With such a short day today there was no urgency. I took my time and enjoyed every attraction I passed. First stop this morning was the Durango to Silverton railroad station and museum. I got to see all 3 trains leaving this morning.
It's such a joy to see these beautiful narrow gauge steam engines running. The sound they make, from the chuffing to the steam horns, is just fantastic. But woo wee... they are not green party friendly. These suckers belch unbelievable amounts of black smoke and burn up 6 tons of coal on every trip!
The railroad has been running since 1881, and they're the only railroad in the US to have been running steam engines continuously since that time. I'm coming back with Gwen and the kids and riding this train, soon.
Ultimately, I decided not to ride the train myself today. It's something that would take nearly the whole day, and to be honest, it's just not something that I want to do alone. So I pushed on to Mesa Verde National Park to view the cliff dwellings, ride the beautiful curvy road and try not to smack into the abundant deer in the area. They're dumb critters.
From there, I was off to Four Corners. I let the GPS lead the way. I just aimed my bike towards the convergence of state lines on the screen and before I knew it, I was there. By the way, from Cortez to Four Corners you take highway 160, a.k.a. the old highway 666. I was singing "Highway to Hell" the whole way!! BTW curse those wimpy bureaucrats for changing the name of the highway to make it more PC.
From there, I headed to Canyon de Chelly, where I am now. I checked into the hotel early, took a quick shower, then headed off to see the canyon sans riding gear and helmet. Just a t-shirt, sunglasses, ball cap, and earplugs.
Only a few days left until I'm home. Off to see Pierce tomorrow, then more Karting on Monday! I got some sweet videos and photos today, and as always, I'll post them as soon as I'm home. I think you're going to really enjoy them.
Thanks for checking in, and I'll speak to you again tomorrow.
Just leaving Ouray, there was road work and traffic stoppage. I was the first in line and the stoppage was long, probably 20 minutes or more. You're thinking... that sucks. But nooooooo. It meant that there was 20 miles of open road in front of me and no cars! I didn't have to pass a single car until well after Silverton. Wooo Hoooo! Tearing up the rockies on a BMW!
I took a bunch of photos and video, and this stretch of highway is far and away the most beautiful landscape I've encountered. Absolutely breathtaking (and actually breathtaking because the entire ride is over 10000 feet).
Near the summit, just above the 11000 foot mark I passed two bicyclists stomping away happily and grinning from ear to ear. I gave them honks, thumbs ups, and a good round of applause. I was well and truly impressed, and I could tell they really appreciated the recognition.
Oh, I did an easy 350 miles today.
Saturday July 12 - Durango CO to Canyon de Chelly: I can't tell you how much fun today was (but I'll try). Today was a really short day of riding, only 260 miles. But every minute was just wonderful. And it wasn't just where I was riding, but HOW I was riding. With such a short day today there was no urgency. I took my time and enjoyed every attraction I passed. First stop this morning was the Durango to Silverton railroad station and museum. I got to see all 3 trains leaving this morning.
It's such a joy to see these beautiful narrow gauge steam engines running. The sound they make, from the chuffing to the steam horns, is just fantastic. But woo wee... they are not green party friendly. These suckers belch unbelievable amounts of black smoke and burn up 6 tons of coal on every trip!
The railroad has been running since 1881, and they're the only railroad in the US to have been running steam engines continuously since that time. I'm coming back with Gwen and the kids and riding this train, soon.
Ultimately, I decided not to ride the train myself today. It's something that would take nearly the whole day, and to be honest, it's just not something that I want to do alone. So I pushed on to Mesa Verde National Park to view the cliff dwellings, ride the beautiful curvy road and try not to smack into the abundant deer in the area. They're dumb critters.
From there, I was off to Four Corners. I let the GPS lead the way. I just aimed my bike towards the convergence of state lines on the screen and before I knew it, I was there. By the way, from Cortez to Four Corners you take highway 160, a.k.a. the old highway 666. I was singing "Highway to Hell" the whole way!! BTW curse those wimpy bureaucrats for changing the name of the highway to make it more PC.
From there, I headed to Canyon de Chelly, where I am now. I checked into the hotel early, took a quick shower, then headed off to see the canyon sans riding gear and helmet. Just a t-shirt, sunglasses, ball cap, and earplugs.
Only a few days left until I'm home. Off to see Pierce tomorrow, then more Karting on Monday! I got some sweet videos and photos today, and as always, I'll post them as soon as I'm home. I think you're going to really enjoy them.
Thanks for checking in, and I'll speak to you again tomorrow.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Coast2Coast - You know I love you folks...
Because this blogging crap is hard work!
OK, today's post we're going to get caught up on the past 4 days of my trip, which are the first four days of returning home.
By the way, there've been some complaints that the blog page is slow to load, so I fixed that.
July 7th - Wells NY to Punxsutawney PA: It's always a mixed bag of emotions starting a journey like this. At the beginning of the first leg I was having general anxiety about starting the journey, plus excitement, plus the reality that I was going to really miss Gwen and the boys. The journey home was a much simpler deal... I'm going to miss Gwen and the boys. The leaving was easy, the journey was easy, the saying goodbye is the hard part.
The ride to Punxy was relatively easy. 453 miles. That used to seem like a lot. Now, it's a short day. I left the lake house early so I could make it to the National Soaring Museum by 10am when it opened. That was definitely a highlight. If you're a soaring pilot, don't miss it. I'll post photos later.
From there I went to Punxy. Now, everything in Punxy is centered around Phil. The loveable little groundhog that makes his world famous weather prediction every Febaruary 2nd. Every business has a 4 foot tall Phil outside. I did the tourist thing and went to Gobblers Knob. Then I had dinner at Punxy Phil's. Their slogan is Cakes and Steaks. Silly me... I thought they meant cakes... like the dessert. And steak... like from a cow.
Ohhh no. They meant cake like hotcake, and steak like greasy horrible hamburger that tastes like the lady's cigarrette in the smoking section 5 feet away.
Yuk. Skunked out on the Punxy Phils. Oh and Pennsylvania... get with the program and get a no smoking indoor law going. Jeezus H.
And now for my favorite thing in the whole world to blog about... the Amish!! Talk all the shit you want, because until they invent a computer that runs on the power of a butter churn, they'll never read it! Ha.
I nearly ran over a few of those pesky little bearded bastards in their horse drawn buggies. Don't speed in Amish country. Their cars are only 1 horsepower. Turns out, according to the locals that the Amish around Punxy are "not the good Amish" but the ones that have been cast out and shunned.
I guess that's my major gripe with the Amish, is their heavy usage of shame and shunning. If you want to explore the world and spread your wings... nope. You do that, you get shunned and can't come home. It's their defense mechanism against extinction. Because I assure you, one spin on a Ducati with a cute girl on the back and it's "Hey... fuck this farming by candle light business!"
I do find it ironic that the shunned Amish remain Amish. If you only stay Amish so you can remain part of your community, and your community shuns you anyway, shouldn't you just bust out?? I'd be chillin in the south of France faster that you can say Jeremiah Joseph Yoder.
Oh and one final note on PA. Summer is road work season. I passed more orange barrels in one day than all of the Chins in China. (Put that in your PC pipe and smoke it.)
July 8 - To Indy: I passed through 4 states, PA, West Va., Ohio, and Indy. Somewhere along that ride... And I honestly have absolutely no idea where... I passed the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum. WOO WEE!! Bike heaven. I grabbed some cool viddy and photos, so I'll share more about that later. But dude... WICKED.
From moto heaven it was on to Kettering Ohio to check out the Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza. After that, I grabbed what can losely be called food and headed for Indy to meet up with Duwayno.
Now, I've got some minimum requirements for my friends. They've got the be intellectual, funny, hip, and above all, my friends have to be able to give me shit. I dish out the shit to my friends. They've got to give it back.
This element of my relationship ties into a conversation I was having with Duwayno not 5 minutes after seeing him again after 6 years. I was telling Waynoman how I stopped for lunch at White Castle, and how it was absolutley the most disgusting meal I've ever had. My mind had been boggled for the remaineder of the day on how a food chain can grow and thrive by selling the worst hamburgers on the planet. Duwayno was quick to point out "You're supposed to go at 2 in the morning when you're drunk. If you go during the day when you're sober, you're a fucking idiot."
I'd never been before by the way.
But more importantly Wayno was giving me major shit, which meant that nothing had changed in 6 years. So that was really cool. And Duwayno hasn't changed a bit. Actually that's not true. He's a better man today than I've ever known, and I rate him as one of the top people I've ever met in my life.
It was great to see him.
So, after 500 miles on the bike, with the prospect of another HUGE day the next day, we did exactly what two people should not do... we went for sushi then got trashed on Johnnie Walker Black.
Wednesday I woke up at nearly 10am, and we proceeded to brunch until after 2pm. THEN I left for Kansas City and pulled 561 miles until 10:30 at night.
By the way, my plans for arrival went completely in the shitter. My destination was Kansas City so I planned on passing through the city and getting a hotel room on the other side so I wouldn't get caught in morning traffic. On the MO side of Kansas City there are about 20 miles of burbs.
On the Kansas Side. Nothing. Nada. Squat. Nuttin.
There's a goddamn toll road to Topeka. Half way to Topeka I got off the toll road at the motel 6 (smokey ass shit dump... Kansas as it seems is also behind the times with the smoking laws). I didn't know I was headed onto a toll road, and I didn't have cash, just change. So when I got off the road it was $1.40. I handed the toll booth attended all of the change in my pocket and asked her to give me back what was left over (gloves on you see).
Turns out I was 14c short. I had 1.26 in the pocket, .26 of which was canadian. The nice attendent (the horrible cantankerous smiteful bitch) immediately went into "I'm calling the state trooper mode" and "You're going to have to wait here until the cops arrive."
For 14 fucking cents.
After a few choice words (by me) she finally said "well you can use a credit card."
I was fuming, something like "Listen bitch...don't you think you could have mentioned the credit card option before the calling the troopers option, it's 10:30 at fucking night and I just want to go to bed."
What a horrible miserable piece of shit of a person. Screw her. She was the Agent Smith to Duwaymo's Neo. Life in balance I guess.
Today's ride was through Kansas. I can sum it up in three words "Don't go there."
OK, that's a bit severe. Kansas was pretty, but the people are toothless and backwards and the wind blows hard across the praries.
I'm in Colorado Springs tonight. It's been a real treat. I've met some nice friends, checked out the local high end audio salon, and had the single malt sampler with my baby back ribs.
Now I'm off to watch Cash Cab, Deadliest Catch, Man Vs Wild and Mythbusters. Then spank my monkey and go to sleep.
Because of the big mileage of the last two days (561 and 555) I've only got short easy days ahead. So I'm going to take my time and enjoy the rocky mountains.
Talk to you soon.
OK, today's post we're going to get caught up on the past 4 days of my trip, which are the first four days of returning home.
By the way, there've been some complaints that the blog page is slow to load, so I fixed that.
July 7th - Wells NY to Punxsutawney PA: It's always a mixed bag of emotions starting a journey like this. At the beginning of the first leg I was having general anxiety about starting the journey, plus excitement, plus the reality that I was going to really miss Gwen and the boys. The journey home was a much simpler deal... I'm going to miss Gwen and the boys. The leaving was easy, the journey was easy, the saying goodbye is the hard part.
The ride to Punxy was relatively easy. 453 miles. That used to seem like a lot. Now, it's a short day. I left the lake house early so I could make it to the National Soaring Museum by 10am when it opened. That was definitely a highlight. If you're a soaring pilot, don't miss it. I'll post photos later.
From there I went to Punxy. Now, everything in Punxy is centered around Phil. The loveable little groundhog that makes his world famous weather prediction every Febaruary 2nd. Every business has a 4 foot tall Phil outside. I did the tourist thing and went to Gobblers Knob. Then I had dinner at Punxy Phil's. Their slogan is Cakes and Steaks. Silly me... I thought they meant cakes... like the dessert. And steak... like from a cow.
Ohhh no. They meant cake like hotcake, and steak like greasy horrible hamburger that tastes like the lady's cigarrette in the smoking section 5 feet away.
Yuk. Skunked out on the Punxy Phils. Oh and Pennsylvania... get with the program and get a no smoking indoor law going. Jeezus H.
And now for my favorite thing in the whole world to blog about... the Amish!! Talk all the shit you want, because until they invent a computer that runs on the power of a butter churn, they'll never read it! Ha.
I nearly ran over a few of those pesky little bearded bastards in their horse drawn buggies. Don't speed in Amish country. Their cars are only 1 horsepower. Turns out, according to the locals that the Amish around Punxy are "not the good Amish" but the ones that have been cast out and shunned.
I guess that's my major gripe with the Amish, is their heavy usage of shame and shunning. If you want to explore the world and spread your wings... nope. You do that, you get shunned and can't come home. It's their defense mechanism against extinction. Because I assure you, one spin on a Ducati with a cute girl on the back and it's "Hey... fuck this farming by candle light business!"
I do find it ironic that the shunned Amish remain Amish. If you only stay Amish so you can remain part of your community, and your community shuns you anyway, shouldn't you just bust out?? I'd be chillin in the south of France faster that you can say Jeremiah Joseph Yoder.
Oh and one final note on PA. Summer is road work season. I passed more orange barrels in one day than all of the Chins in China. (Put that in your PC pipe and smoke it.)
July 8 - To Indy: I passed through 4 states, PA, West Va., Ohio, and Indy. Somewhere along that ride... And I honestly have absolutely no idea where... I passed the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Museum. WOO WEE!! Bike heaven. I grabbed some cool viddy and photos, so I'll share more about that later. But dude... WICKED.
From moto heaven it was on to Kettering Ohio to check out the Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza. After that, I grabbed what can losely be called food and headed for Indy to meet up with Duwayno.
Now, I've got some minimum requirements for my friends. They've got the be intellectual, funny, hip, and above all, my friends have to be able to give me shit. I dish out the shit to my friends. They've got to give it back.
This element of my relationship ties into a conversation I was having with Duwayno not 5 minutes after seeing him again after 6 years. I was telling Waynoman how I stopped for lunch at White Castle, and how it was absolutley the most disgusting meal I've ever had. My mind had been boggled for the remaineder of the day on how a food chain can grow and thrive by selling the worst hamburgers on the planet. Duwayno was quick to point out "You're supposed to go at 2 in the morning when you're drunk. If you go during the day when you're sober, you're a fucking idiot."
I'd never been before by the way.
But more importantly Wayno was giving me major shit, which meant that nothing had changed in 6 years. So that was really cool. And Duwayno hasn't changed a bit. Actually that's not true. He's a better man today than I've ever known, and I rate him as one of the top people I've ever met in my life.
It was great to see him.
So, after 500 miles on the bike, with the prospect of another HUGE day the next day, we did exactly what two people should not do... we went for sushi then got trashed on Johnnie Walker Black.
Wednesday I woke up at nearly 10am, and we proceeded to brunch until after 2pm. THEN I left for Kansas City and pulled 561 miles until 10:30 at night.
By the way, my plans for arrival went completely in the shitter. My destination was Kansas City so I planned on passing through the city and getting a hotel room on the other side so I wouldn't get caught in morning traffic. On the MO side of Kansas City there are about 20 miles of burbs.
On the Kansas Side. Nothing. Nada. Squat. Nuttin.
There's a goddamn toll road to Topeka. Half way to Topeka I got off the toll road at the motel 6 (smokey ass shit dump... Kansas as it seems is also behind the times with the smoking laws). I didn't know I was headed onto a toll road, and I didn't have cash, just change. So when I got off the road it was $1.40. I handed the toll booth attended all of the change in my pocket and asked her to give me back what was left over (gloves on you see).
Turns out I was 14c short. I had 1.26 in the pocket, .26 of which was canadian. The nice attendent (the horrible cantankerous smiteful bitch) immediately went into "I'm calling the state trooper mode" and "You're going to have to wait here until the cops arrive."
For 14 fucking cents.
After a few choice words (by me) she finally said "well you can use a credit card."
I was fuming, something like "Listen bitch...don't you think you could have mentioned the credit card option before the calling the troopers option, it's 10:30 at fucking night and I just want to go to bed."
What a horrible miserable piece of shit of a person. Screw her. She was the Agent Smith to Duwaymo's Neo. Life in balance I guess.
Today's ride was through Kansas. I can sum it up in three words "Don't go there."
OK, that's a bit severe. Kansas was pretty, but the people are toothless and backwards and the wind blows hard across the praries.
I'm in Colorado Springs tonight. It's been a real treat. I've met some nice friends, checked out the local high end audio salon, and had the single malt sampler with my baby back ribs.
Now I'm off to watch Cash Cab, Deadliest Catch, Man Vs Wild and Mythbusters. Then spank my monkey and go to sleep.
Because of the big mileage of the last two days (561 and 555) I've only got short easy days ahead. So I'm going to take my time and enjoy the rocky mountains.
Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Coast2Coast - I'm Alive!
A lot has happened since the last update, way back in Duluth, and I've got a few things to share.
Duluth, Thursday June 26: With three days of riding left on my outbound journey weather began to become the major factor in my ride. Basically, storm cells move west to east across the midwest. I found myself in a pocket of dry weather between two huge systems. The systems were moving about 500 miles a day, which meant that I had to outrun them or be caught and soaked. I decided on this day that I would push on with my normal 400 mile day, and if possible (if I was feeling up to the challenge) push on an additional 200, and make it a BIG day.
400 miles put me into Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada. But before I could get there I needed to pass through Wisconsin and Michigan. The riding was beautiful. This was my first time through both states, and they're just gorgeous. But... cold. There is a thing called the "Lake Effect" and when you're close to Lake Superior, it's fricking freezing. I had every layer I could find on, including rain gear, and I was still freezing my ass off.
I finally pushed inland towards the middle of the upper peninsula of Michigan and it started to warm up, but it was still cool. I've been struggling with "the 300 mile wall" on this trip. It seems like around 300 miles into every day I start to drag. This day was in particular the worst day I've every had. And it was the first time in my life I've every felt actually drowsy on a bike.
Well, just at that moment when I was really hitting bottom, bam! I get pulled over by the State Troopers.
The officer was coming the other way and clocked me on his radar at... get this... 30 over! Now surprisingly, the experience of getting a ticket in Michigan is not all that bad. Well maybe it sucks but I had to make the best of it. The officer was really cool. He liked bikes, was about my age, and we chatted for a good while before we got down to business.
But business had to be done.
So I got a ticket. Trooper Dave was cool and wrote me for 10 over, which is fair. But the deal is, if you're from out of state, you need to square up on your ticket right then and there. So I had to follow him to the court house, which fortunately for me was 20 miles in the direction I was heading. But I had to actually go to the court house, go to the ATM, get out 100 bucks, and fork over 95 of them bucks to the great state of Michigan.
But looking back, this was probably the break I needed to get my mind revived for the rest of the day. It was only 60 miles from where I got the ticket to Canada, so I pressed on, crossed the border, exchanged some cash and headed for lunch. After a nice lunch break I decided I still wanted to press on. So I did, all the way to Sudbury, ON.
My total trip mileage was 635 miles that day. Which is my biggest day ever on the bike. When I pulled into town there was a bike night going on at the local Tim Hortons, which is it turns out is the ubiquitous Canadian doughnut shop. The bikers there were SUPER SUPER nice and really welcoming to me.
Some nice bikes too. One guy had a Yamaha V-Max that was just stunning. The nicest one I've ever seen and put many Harleys to shame. Another guy, whose name I regretfully cannot remember, was just so generous. He offered to show me where the hotels were and showed me where the best parts of town were for getting something to eat. He even offered me a place to crash should I not find a hotel. All this generosity from one of the craziest looking bikers you've ever seen.
Isn't that interesting... the real biker guys are nice, but the yuppy biker guys are the assholes.
The following day, Friday June 27 would be my last day riding on the outbound leg of my journey. I pushed on for 535 miles through Canada into New York. Canada was really cool. I really liked the people and the scenery. The only knock against them is that they pay twice as much as we do for road signage.... because about 50 feet behind every sign in english is another one in French. It's not a knock actually. I'm just joking. But it really does emphasize, mile after mile, that you are indeed traveling in another country. I just thought that was the coolest.
The Conine family lake house is just off route 30 in Wells NY. Route 30 is the main road bisecting the Adirondacks and it's a nationally recognized scenic byway. So the last day of riding was easy miles. Really easy even though I piled on 535 miles.
So I arrived safely, a day ahead of schedule, relatively dry. The week at the lake house was wonderful, and I'll tell you more about it later.
Today I'm in Indianapolis on my way home. I'll fill you in on the details later.
Also, I wanted to mention that I've been taking tons of photos and I'll get them posted towards the end of the trip so everyone can see them.
Cheers, ciao, talk to you soon, and thanks for following along!
Rod
Duluth, Thursday June 26: With three days of riding left on my outbound journey weather began to become the major factor in my ride. Basically, storm cells move west to east across the midwest. I found myself in a pocket of dry weather between two huge systems. The systems were moving about 500 miles a day, which meant that I had to outrun them or be caught and soaked. I decided on this day that I would push on with my normal 400 mile day, and if possible (if I was feeling up to the challenge) push on an additional 200, and make it a BIG day.
400 miles put me into Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada. But before I could get there I needed to pass through Wisconsin and Michigan. The riding was beautiful. This was my first time through both states, and they're just gorgeous. But... cold. There is a thing called the "Lake Effect" and when you're close to Lake Superior, it's fricking freezing. I had every layer I could find on, including rain gear, and I was still freezing my ass off.
I finally pushed inland towards the middle of the upper peninsula of Michigan and it started to warm up, but it was still cool. I've been struggling with "the 300 mile wall" on this trip. It seems like around 300 miles into every day I start to drag. This day was in particular the worst day I've every had. And it was the first time in my life I've every felt actually drowsy on a bike.
Well, just at that moment when I was really hitting bottom, bam! I get pulled over by the State Troopers.
The officer was coming the other way and clocked me on his radar at... get this... 30 over! Now surprisingly, the experience of getting a ticket in Michigan is not all that bad. Well maybe it sucks but I had to make the best of it. The officer was really cool. He liked bikes, was about my age, and we chatted for a good while before we got down to business.
But business had to be done.
So I got a ticket. Trooper Dave was cool and wrote me for 10 over, which is fair. But the deal is, if you're from out of state, you need to square up on your ticket right then and there. So I had to follow him to the court house, which fortunately for me was 20 miles in the direction I was heading. But I had to actually go to the court house, go to the ATM, get out 100 bucks, and fork over 95 of them bucks to the great state of Michigan.
But looking back, this was probably the break I needed to get my mind revived for the rest of the day. It was only 60 miles from where I got the ticket to Canada, so I pressed on, crossed the border, exchanged some cash and headed for lunch. After a nice lunch break I decided I still wanted to press on. So I did, all the way to Sudbury, ON.
My total trip mileage was 635 miles that day. Which is my biggest day ever on the bike. When I pulled into town there was a bike night going on at the local Tim Hortons, which is it turns out is the ubiquitous Canadian doughnut shop. The bikers there were SUPER SUPER nice and really welcoming to me.
Some nice bikes too. One guy had a Yamaha V-Max that was just stunning. The nicest one I've ever seen and put many Harleys to shame. Another guy, whose name I regretfully cannot remember, was just so generous. He offered to show me where the hotels were and showed me where the best parts of town were for getting something to eat. He even offered me a place to crash should I not find a hotel. All this generosity from one of the craziest looking bikers you've ever seen.
Isn't that interesting... the real biker guys are nice, but the yuppy biker guys are the assholes.
The following day, Friday June 27 would be my last day riding on the outbound leg of my journey. I pushed on for 535 miles through Canada into New York. Canada was really cool. I really liked the people and the scenery. The only knock against them is that they pay twice as much as we do for road signage.... because about 50 feet behind every sign in english is another one in French. It's not a knock actually. I'm just joking. But it really does emphasize, mile after mile, that you are indeed traveling in another country. I just thought that was the coolest.
The Conine family lake house is just off route 30 in Wells NY. Route 30 is the main road bisecting the Adirondacks and it's a nationally recognized scenic byway. So the last day of riding was easy miles. Really easy even though I piled on 535 miles.
So I arrived safely, a day ahead of schedule, relatively dry. The week at the lake house was wonderful, and I'll tell you more about it later.
Today I'm in Indianapolis on my way home. I'll fill you in on the details later.
Also, I wanted to mention that I've been taking tons of photos and I'll get them posted towards the end of the trip so everyone can see them.
Cheers, ciao, talk to you soon, and thanks for following along!
Rod
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Coast2Coast - Update
Hi Everyone! Just in case you were wondering, I made it to NY. The Catch 22 is that there is no internet up here! So I'm taking a few minutes on a friend's computer to let you know everything is going great.
I'm back on the road tomorrow and I'll give you a full report then!
Talk to you soon,
Rod
I'm back on the road tomorrow and I'll give you a full report then!
Talk to you soon,
Rod
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