The trip starts in Ernst today.
Last night we had a quiet birthday dinner with Brian and Harriet - Turkey burgers and leftovers from the big Saturday party meal. Brian had meetings in the morning so we kept the evening light and went to bed early. The bags were repacked on Sunday afternoon, so they were sitting downstairs on the dock ready for the boat ride in the morning so all we needed to do was get up and go.
Sleep came quickly but anticipation woke me up before sunrise. My mind went through the checklists several times but that wasn’t like counting sheep. When the alarm went off at 6am, it provided the excuse to jump, hit the coffee on button and start packing. The temps were cool in the morning and the lake was glassy still on the ride over. It was going to be a great day for the ride.
You would think that with all that preparation, packing would be quick - Joanne, the marina manager called over 45 minutes after we landed “You still packing???” The bags did not go on in the right sequence, so there are two retries. I come to re re-confirmation that the bike is too top heavy. As the bike is loaded, the suspension compresses with the weight. When the last bag straps were tightened, the bike almost tips over because the side stand angle has changed so much. Pumping the suspension up to two riders setting fixes the problem, but I know the bike will not handle well on the Dempster in the rain. I will shed as much stuff as possible before we leave Kelowna.
Julie and I travel to Huntsville for Muskoka Roaster coffee and a bike. We are taking care of last details - Julie is ordering insurance and I’m getting the Spot activated. Both activities are completed in reasonable time so it’s good to have one last proper meal with Julie before I hit the road. Our hug goodby lingers a bit longer - it will be a while before we see each other in person.
The bike wobbles a lot at low speed but becomes stable at speed. This ride is a marathon, so speed and curves are secondary. I practice the collision avoidance manoever and the top weight greatly hinders the precision. The safety manoever becomes a risk if I’m not ready for how the bike reacts. Not sure how other riders who put a lot more stuff on their 1200GSA’s find the handling when loaded. My stuff is well within the total capacity for the bike, but it sure isn’t the canyon carver when barely packed.
Day One goes well. Not a lot of speeding, so little risk of getting a ticket. The roads are familiar from prior trips but the French River area proves again how stunning that area is compared to north near Sudbury.
Riding in the North is not like anywhere else - even in built up areas, one needs to be mindful of “remote”. Driving outside of Sudbury, needs gas, GPS finds a gas station .8km away. Drove 15 km to get there. It seems that the GPS gas/hotel etc. search is as “the crow flies”. In this case, I had just gone over a bridge to a remote town and the exit was a few miles up but the roads to connect to town were a long way off.
Got into the Sault (Soo) at a reasonable time - it was too hot to set up a tent when a Days Inn was so easy to check in. Three Trikes were parked out front - a BRP Spyder with trailer, a Harley with trailer and a Polaris Slingshot.
Dinner was Swiss Chalet - better than a burger joint and I could walk. Wandered to Lowes, and Walmart to get batteries, wipes and After Bite.
Photos to come when there is more bandwidth.
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