A geezer meets his match

[Ritchard]

A quick trip report. I know this does not match the epic journeys posted here recently, but I had a great time.

I took the flying pumpkin out for a little spin commencing on Wed July 29. I traveled by lunchtime Fri July 31 around 2000 km, or 1200 miles over the top of Lake Superior. Overnight stops included Pancake Bay Ontario - I kid you not - and Upsala, ON, home of the smallest motel soaps the world may ever see. Along that part of the journey, I hit rain, really staggering rain sometimes, at least twice each day. I also hit the wall of a coldfront so suddenly while coming up to Lake Superior that the temp dropped from 24C to around 11C in a matter of minutes. Still damp from earlier in the day, that was an eye opener. Nearly froze me to death.

I spent a couple of days in the lovely resort town of Kenora, ON, where I attended the wedding of my brother. Kenora had seen the worst summer ever, with rain every day. Thankfully, they pulled one sunny day out of their bottoms for a beautiful wedding on the dock of the new in-laws cottage. Simple, lovely service, family all around. Can't be beat.

Next day, Monday Aug 3, off to my old home town of Winnipeg MB for a couple of days. Winnipeg is full of some of the finest people in the world, and it was nice to have a chance to visit some of them, thought they universally thought I was mental, showing up on my bike from Toronto. Of course, being from Winnipeg they were too polite to say so. Polite or not, you simply can't explain the why to people. One of the finer folks of Winnipeg, my old buddy Art, took this:



On Wednesday the 5th, I headed south from Winnipeg to the border crossing at Pembina ND, where I was greeted with a phrase that I had never heard at the US border before, but reminded me of Alice's Restaurant..."Have you ever been arrested" (they omitted the "Kid" part). The truthful answer to that, as well as perhaps the Sturgis rally a few hours away led to an hour spent chatting with some jolly Border Protection folks, and the complete disassembly of my luggage and such. This was an hour I'd never get back.

Once below around Grand forks ND, the weather changed for the better, as it had rained or threatened rain each day I'd been traveling, save for the wedding day, mentioned above. Indeed, after Grand Forks, the weather was nothing short of glorious, sunny and warm with a few puffy little clouds all the way home. The route was Winnipeg, Fargo, Minneapolis, Madison, (slept at Janesville, WI, nice town) Chicago (TRAFFIC!!!!) Kalamazoo, Lansing, Sarnia ON, Toronto. Of the return trip, the best part was the farmland beauty of Wisconsin.

I kicked it pretty hard on the way home, traveling 2400 kms (1500 MI?) in two long days. This is what I refer to in the title, as it pretty well kicked the stuffing out of me. But I had to get back to take care of some business.

In total, almost exactly 5000 km. Doing this solo was challenging, but I loved every minute of it. It was great to be away from phones and Email and work and stuff, and just having some time to think and listen to music and drive very slightly above the speed limit.

The bike is a wonderful machine. Comfortable enough for this kind of distance, big enough to shift position a little bit to get the kinks out. Days of spirited riding and not a hiccup. The only mechanical issue was losing the low beam part of my headlight in the last few hours of the trip - I limped home on Hi Beam - and having the bike WAY overfilled with oil at the BMW dealer in Winnipeg. I would have thought they would have known better. As much as I loved my bike already, I now respect it even more.

Edit to add: Mileage was around 45 mpg in US gallons, 53 in Imperial gallons, when riding at a brisk pace.

Cheers,

R

[challey]

Great ride report Ritchard.

Makes me jealous now that I've missed out on most the riding season.

Charlie

[iowabeakster]

Thanks for sharing that...sounds like a great time...even if the weather wasn't always great.

BTW...I love the pumpkin...It looks nice...Was that originally a dark ferro paint job?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, R

enjoyed your report...no pics?

I am considering doing a round Lake Superior ride sometime so it had special interest for me, plus being from way down here I question the actual existence of North Dakota.

The bike is a wonderful machine.

You're telling me. I thought that frequently on my recent ride.

Take more rides--they're addictive

John

[Ritchard]

Iowabeakster,

The bike was originally the BumbleBee colour scheme. When you have a crazy looking bike like this, and it's painted Orange, everybody wants to chat with you. I bought it a year ago more or less like this. It was a little nicked and scratched, so I had it painted a very slightly different shade in the spring. Where it was once a one-off super custom orange, it's now just Hemi orange. It also used to sport a rally number roundel on the tank; that was painted over.

Strangelove, now that I have had a few mins to deal w some of the pics, here they are. Admittedly, my pictures kind of stink.

Me setting out, just before getting soaked the very first time. I was sure the rain would hold off, it waited until I was in the thickest morning traffic on the first part of the freeway ride out of town. The Hein Gericke stuff is quite waterproof, WHEN YOU TAKE THE TIME TO INSTALL THE LINERS.



Ooops, before I get going, here is James Lee Burke peeking out of my tank bag.



Back to the narrative. An hour later, I was soaked to the skin, and my Alpinestars waterproof touring boots proved not to be. I had this break in the weather at this travel plaza. I actually bought two big shopping bags from the newsstand to put in my boots, like I used to do as a kid on the toboggan. I installed the liners in my jacket and pants and they kept me from getting any wetter, and later, when the sun came out they kept me from actually drying. You see, once I get going, I don't like to stop for much of anything.



My first gas stop in Parry Sound, thankfully, had a Starbucks, I was still damp. I was also kind of sleepy from an anxious pre-trip sleep. Mmm, Starbucks. Small town Starbucks aren't quite the same as big city ones.



Some nice people from my ultimate destination of Winnipeg, and a guy nuttier than me, riding his bike all over the damn place.



Just the lake part of the above. Lake Superior has got some bigness to it.



In Wawa, ON, on day 2, Canada Geese abound. You can eat breakfast under one



Or park near another.



In my report above, I talked about Upsala ON. Parkview is a misnomer. There was no park. There was however more than one channel of TV, unlike the previous evening's motel in Pancake Bay (I am not making that up) Ontario.



I also mentioned the smallest motel soaps in the world, which are to be found exclusively at the Parkview Motel. You need two of these for a proper shower.



Breakfast day three was in Ignace, ON, where they have a lovely old Twin Beech on static display in a little pretend lake.



And finally, the happy couple.



I am afraid I took no pictures on the way back, I was feeling like I was in a hurry, and as I say, it is hard for me to stop once I get going.

R

[Dr. Strangelove]

thanks

James Lee Burke as you know writes about my neck of the woods and can describe the skies down here better than anyone

J

[Ritchard]

thanks

James Lee Burke as you know writes about my neck of the woods and can describe the skies down here better than anyone

J

I've read every word he has ever published, and could drive around New Iberia without a map after reading so much Dave Robicheaux. I have told Mr Burke how extraordinarily he describes places, so many times while reading his books I could not only see, but smell, the place he was describing.

The new book is in Texas, it's his best in years.

Say hi to Clete for me.

[redwing]

Hi Richard ... Thanks for the report on your trip. Beautiful country you rode through. And the beemer you were on was hemi orange. I like it. I found several pictures of orange BMWs on a google search for R1150R and wondered if orange is a stock color. I have a R1200R silver and want to get it painted and I like orange and black. I have seen BMWs from an aray of years and were painted black with white pin striping. I'm big on tradition (but not spelling) and history so whereas the orange/black is in the front ... the balck / pin striped in white has value.
Robert

[f4tweet]

Hemi Orange. SWEET! Nice trip pics.