Today is the final mad dash back home. According to the maps applications, if we follow the right path, we can be home after 8 hours of driving - with stops and border etc. 10 to 11 hours. I make the comment about following the right path - looking at yesterday's ride, I have no idea why the GPS took us to Marion first instead of straight on to 77/221 to 81/64.
The day starts with a constant rain, heavy at time - likely a harbinger of what our day is going to look like. Ah well, we get to test our gear and our will. The rain lets up a bit while we pack, and we overheat preparing the bike so we peel off one layer before hitting the road.
There is no direct route via major highways so we follow the GPS to State College and then follow secondary roads north. At least the drive north is almost a straight line. Almost immediately, the wind chill, which is magnified by evaporative cooling, causes us to pull over and put on the extra layer. At the next stop for gas, (no location because there is no 3G cell signal) Brian is freezing - the water is doing the capillary thing, and creeping up his front from where it pools in the lap of his pants, after rolling down the back side of his tank. That's a recipe for hypothermia - cold, wet, outside and inside. He uses the hand dryer at the gas station to try and get a bit dryer. I put on the heated jacket but don't plug it in. It's no good if I am toasty warm and Brian is near Hypothermia. It's best if I feel his pain so I know his condition when he calls for a stop. Good thing we have the communicators - one of the better safety tools on this trip.
Back on the road. Now it's nothing about enjoying the ride - it's just surviving the wet and cold and getting back to TO (or Burlington). Over a mountain, around some curves - Brian wonders out loud - isn't there a more direct route on a major highway? And the answer is no - 219 and it's variants are the straight line up. 77 is to the west and take us to Erie and add a hour, 81 and 15 to the east take us to Rochester and adds close to 2 hours. Once we get hit Penfield PA, 219 is by far, the straightest line. Unfortunately, I turn on the Spot tracker but forgot to hit the track button, so we don't have a record of our travels.
The cold sets in and it's time for a hot coffee by the time we hit the Penfield and we stop in the only place capable of serving hot food and gas (for the bikes). I pity to poor folk in Penfield because the food served in this location is appalling. I have beef coloured protein sandwich yellow coloured oil product that makes a weak attempt to mimic melted cheese (it comes mixed with the frozen plastic pouch, direct from the factory, so I can't order my meal without it.) Hey, these products are design so that the highly educated, 17 year old skater boy in rural anywhere, with the grossly deformed lower ear lobe, twisted into a gnarly shape because company policy does not allow him to wear his 3/4 inch plugs, can't screw up making the meal. At least we can taste the different coffee dispensers to find the one that does not contain burnt coffee. We are the only people drinking coffee in the joint. Most of the customers favour the mega sized, 1gallon, corn sweetened pops and blue or purple beverages that are emitted from brightly coloured dispensers, covered in posters that shout out for how much fun you'll have drinking this performance beverage.
A bit more time with the hand dryer gets all of the gear in ship shape and we are back on the road. This time, I turn on the electric heater, cause it really is cold. The rain has mostly stopped and we just go in and out of drizzle. It is getting colder though - what's going on? This is almost mid May, and we just left 28C weather one state down? We get a bit of sleet on the way and it's another stop - where we find an outfitter, where Brian can buy some extra fleece layers. Still not perfect but better than status quo. Brian promises to buy an electric jacket when he gets back home. At least we can smell the home stretch so it's press on regardless. When we see the signs to Ellicottville, auto pilot takes over for Brian and he gets a boost of optimism. We stop off at Coffee Culture, order a set of monster Americanos and sit by the open gas flame heater designed to attract skiers in the winter. Works for us as we bask in the infrared heat emitting from the flames. That stuff actually provides deep heating, which when combined with warm coffee, brings us back to life. We meet some harley drivers who ask about our trip and then share tales about great rides. It is amazing how many bikers dream about a trip to the Dragon or Blue Ridge, but then have excuses like "Don't think I want to risk scraping the floor boards on the tight turns" The answer is "just drive as fast as you feel safe, drive only as many miles per day as your body can take - but do it". You've got the bike - do it.
It's even warm in Ellicottville, and ... the sun starts shining out of clearing spots in the cloud cover. This is starting to feel like a homecoming. Heck, even the thermometer on the bike is showing 14C - which is warm compared to the last 5 hours. We get back on the road, and aren't driving for more than 15 minutes and we see the fog ahead, accompanied by a 10 degree drop in temp and wind like crazy. Clearly, we have just hit the cold front of the system that is bringing all this goofy, unseasonable weather. This follows us right into Buffalo, where the clouds are replaced with clear, sunny skies, generated by the high pressure zone behind the front. Brian doesn't like the Erie border crossing so we head to Lewiston. The winds coming off the lake are so powerful, that the gusts push the bikes across half a lane in a split second. We had done so well driving in tight formation - a skill that comes with many miles, but the gusts force us to spread out a lot.
Turns our that every other person in Ontario decided to go to Buffalo for shopping that weekend. I guess to buy Mom that special mall gift so that they can play customs roulette and lie about what price they paid when hitting the border. The back up of cars queueing up to return through customs is miles long. Screw this, we are not sitting in that, so we do what motorcycles are meant to do - find a thin line of the side of the road and follow the "motorcycle lane" to the front of the line. A few frustrated motorists try to block our path, but we adjust and go into the grassy section - hey, these are "adventure touring" bikes and they are designed for more off road that what that section could throw at us.
Big smiles and a quick chat, answering the the customs agent's questions about bike tripping and we are on the final stretch. Harriet invited me for dinner, but I just want to get home, so Brian and I say our formal good byes and hop on the bikes. It's a bit busy on the QEW with the traditional Canadian traffic pattern - Left lane bumper to bumper at 120km, right lane empty except for a few 80km drivers. It really is that obvious when you get back to Ontario. We say none of that in the US. WAKE UP Canada - learn how to drive.
Roll up the driveway. Julie and J are doing their thing. J gets me a beer (thanks) and I unload the bike. It takes a while to exit bike tour mode and switch to home mode and I wander aimlessly around the house, half dazed, not able to decide what to do next. My hearing is impaired from the massive wind noise in the last part of the drive - need to upgrade to moulded headset so that the communicator works or risk hearing loss. Off to bed early. Tomorrow is Mothers day and we have an action packed agenda.
I'll update the blog with photos and milage statistics. According to the odometer readings on my iphone, we drove 2,450 km averaging just under 410 km per day. To put that into perspective, most of our driving hours were done on roads that posted 45mph top speeds with sections that suggest 25 to 30 mph (for car drivers). You don't drive twisty roads if you're looking to make mileage records.
Great Trip Brian.
The day starts with a constant rain, heavy at time - likely a harbinger of what our day is going to look like. Ah well, we get to test our gear and our will. The rain lets up a bit while we pack, and we overheat preparing the bike so we peel off one layer before hitting the road.
There is no direct route via major highways so we follow the GPS to State College and then follow secondary roads north. At least the drive north is almost a straight line. Almost immediately, the wind chill, which is magnified by evaporative cooling, causes us to pull over and put on the extra layer. At the next stop for gas, (no location because there is no 3G cell signal) Brian is freezing - the water is doing the capillary thing, and creeping up his front from where it pools in the lap of his pants, after rolling down the back side of his tank. That's a recipe for hypothermia - cold, wet, outside and inside. He uses the hand dryer at the gas station to try and get a bit dryer. I put on the heated jacket but don't plug it in. It's no good if I am toasty warm and Brian is near Hypothermia. It's best if I feel his pain so I know his condition when he calls for a stop. Good thing we have the communicators - one of the better safety tools on this trip.
Back on the road. Now it's nothing about enjoying the ride - it's just surviving the wet and cold and getting back to TO (or Burlington). Over a mountain, around some curves - Brian wonders out loud - isn't there a more direct route on a major highway? And the answer is no - 219 and it's variants are the straight line up. 77 is to the west and take us to Erie and add a hour, 81 and 15 to the east take us to Rochester and adds close to 2 hours. Once we get hit Penfield PA, 219 is by far, the straightest line. Unfortunately, I turn on the Spot tracker but forgot to hit the track button, so we don't have a record of our travels.
The cold sets in and it's time for a hot coffee by the time we hit the Penfield and we stop in the only place capable of serving hot food and gas (for the bikes). I pity to poor folk in Penfield because the food served in this location is appalling. I have beef coloured protein sandwich yellow coloured oil product that makes a weak attempt to mimic melted cheese (it comes mixed with the frozen plastic pouch, direct from the factory, so I can't order my meal without it.) Hey, these products are design so that the highly educated, 17 year old skater boy in rural anywhere, with the grossly deformed lower ear lobe, twisted into a gnarly shape because company policy does not allow him to wear his 3/4 inch plugs, can't screw up making the meal. At least we can taste the different coffee dispensers to find the one that does not contain burnt coffee. We are the only people drinking coffee in the joint. Most of the customers favour the mega sized, 1gallon, corn sweetened pops and blue or purple beverages that are emitted from brightly coloured dispensers, covered in posters that shout out for how much fun you'll have drinking this performance beverage.
A bit more time with the hand dryer gets all of the gear in ship shape and we are back on the road. This time, I turn on the electric heater, cause it really is cold. The rain has mostly stopped and we just go in and out of drizzle. It is getting colder though - what's going on? This is almost mid May, and we just left 28C weather one state down? We get a bit of sleet on the way and it's another stop - where we find an outfitter, where Brian can buy some extra fleece layers. Still not perfect but better than status quo. Brian promises to buy an electric jacket when he gets back home. At least we can smell the home stretch so it's press on regardless. When we see the signs to Ellicottville, auto pilot takes over for Brian and he gets a boost of optimism. We stop off at Coffee Culture, order a set of monster Americanos and sit by the open gas flame heater designed to attract skiers in the winter. Works for us as we bask in the infrared heat emitting from the flames. That stuff actually provides deep heating, which when combined with warm coffee, brings us back to life. We meet some harley drivers who ask about our trip and then share tales about great rides. It is amazing how many bikers dream about a trip to the Dragon or Blue Ridge, but then have excuses like "Don't think I want to risk scraping the floor boards on the tight turns" The answer is "just drive as fast as you feel safe, drive only as many miles per day as your body can take - but do it". You've got the bike - do it.
It's even warm in Ellicottville, and ... the sun starts shining out of clearing spots in the cloud cover. This is starting to feel like a homecoming. Heck, even the thermometer on the bike is showing 14C - which is warm compared to the last 5 hours. We get back on the road, and aren't driving for more than 15 minutes and we see the fog ahead, accompanied by a 10 degree drop in temp and wind like crazy. Clearly, we have just hit the cold front of the system that is bringing all this goofy, unseasonable weather. This follows us right into Buffalo, where the clouds are replaced with clear, sunny skies, generated by the high pressure zone behind the front. Brian doesn't like the Erie border crossing so we head to Lewiston. The winds coming off the lake are so powerful, that the gusts push the bikes across half a lane in a split second. We had done so well driving in tight formation - a skill that comes with many miles, but the gusts force us to spread out a lot.
Turns our that every other person in Ontario decided to go to Buffalo for shopping that weekend. I guess to buy Mom that special mall gift so that they can play customs roulette and lie about what price they paid when hitting the border. The back up of cars queueing up to return through customs is miles long. Screw this, we are not sitting in that, so we do what motorcycles are meant to do - find a thin line of the side of the road and follow the "motorcycle lane" to the front of the line. A few frustrated motorists try to block our path, but we adjust and go into the grassy section - hey, these are "adventure touring" bikes and they are designed for more off road that what that section could throw at us.
Big smiles and a quick chat, answering the the customs agent's questions about bike tripping and we are on the final stretch. Harriet invited me for dinner, but I just want to get home, so Brian and I say our formal good byes and hop on the bikes. It's a bit busy on the QEW with the traditional Canadian traffic pattern - Left lane bumper to bumper at 120km, right lane empty except for a few 80km drivers. It really is that obvious when you get back to Ontario. We say none of that in the US. WAKE UP Canada - learn how to drive.
Roll up the driveway. Julie and J are doing their thing. J gets me a beer (thanks) and I unload the bike. It takes a while to exit bike tour mode and switch to home mode and I wander aimlessly around the house, half dazed, not able to decide what to do next. My hearing is impaired from the massive wind noise in the last part of the drive - need to upgrade to moulded headset so that the communicator works or risk hearing loss. Off to bed early. Tomorrow is Mothers day and we have an action packed agenda.
I'll update the blog with photos and milage statistics. According to the odometer readings on my iphone, we drove 2,450 km averaging just under 410 km per day. To put that into perspective, most of our driving hours were done on roads that posted 45mph top speeds with sections that suggest 25 to 30 mph (for car drivers). You don't drive twisty roads if you're looking to make mileage records.
Great Trip Brian.
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