Wednesday Aug 10

I have the proverbial horseshoes up my butt when it comes to weather. Today, the forecasters, radar, all said I was going to get wet - very wet, but it didn't happen. 

The morning started cool and sunny, but after a fantastic breakfast at Eddy’s with the Trike gang, they set off back to the US for their western Michigan ride, and I set off west. It became cold and cloudy quickly so I guess the cold front started winning that tug of war. Stopped 45 minutes in at a Trading Post to put on rain gear and heavy gortex gloves and needed it for the entire ride through Ontario but it started to get sunny at lunch in Dryden. The roads from Thunder Bay were nice, not bad … but not as spectacular as from the “Soo” to Thunder Bay. Regular curves make up for the scenery that looks a lot like Bancroft area. Don’t need to ride a thousand km to see that. Had the first wildlife encounter with a small black bear that crossed the highway, half a km in front. Didn't have time to take a pic, but that’s how I like the wildlife - seen but far away

Tim Horton’s Chili and salad was a much better choice than another burger. Rain jacket and heavy gloves came off since it just warmed up to 22, so the long sleeve shirt stayed on. 

It was supposed to rain at the border but only got hotter so just after the border a hydration and rest stop provided the excuse to jettison the shirts and go hot weather gear, along with a top up of sun screen. I can’t believe how quickly the landscape transitioned to flat, flat, flat. I had a lot of energy from the rest stop and blew right through Winnipeg after a fuel stop and set Brandon in my sights. The Rever app says the trip went 898.0 km - a good ride. The Manitoba roads were under a lot of construction, and they needed it. The heavy truck traffic gouged ruts into the road way and where it collapsed, pot holes that could never be filled. Some of the sections under repair were dangerous for motorcycles.

The 110km speed limit however helped to reach Brandon in good time, although it was cooling down quickly. The tug of war with cold and warm weather was about to bring rain again - but it held out until I landed. After supper of turkey with perogies and veggies at Humpty’s family diner, apparently a favourite with locals, the sky broke and offered a sailors delight. Not sure if that nautical rule applies to the prairies, far away from the sea, but I was hoping …

That hope was dashed with an Accuweather notification on the iPad that it is going to rain in 58 minutes. Hopefully it’s gone in the morning. Will figure out tomorrow’s plan - tomorrow.

Tuesday Aug 9 - Day 2

Day 2 - Yahoo. Still full of piss and vinegar.

Weather looks a bit iffy - lots of rain in the prairies and Thunder Bay was going to get wet. I’m ready for it but since I’m not wearing the Klim jacket, put the Olympia rain jacket as the top item in my top case. 

Talk briefly to Dean (the Slingshot owner) and Russell (Spyder Owner). They are retired and living in Alabama and are doing a round the lake trip and today they are planning to hit Thunder Bay. Dean gets a lot of attention from the Slingshot. People want to know more about the “bat mobile”. In his southern drawl, Dean delights in sharing how fast it is and all the neat features. It’s got a steering wheel which makes it more of a car than bike. The Spyder has handle bars and you actually sit higher off the ground. The Slingshot is closer to a three wheeled go cart. 

The ride is spectacular and the tens of bike groups that pass by prove that the area as established a well deserved reputation with riders. Lots of curves, mountains, lake vistas. The area is rugged and beautiful. Pictures don’t do it justice. There are as many US riders as Canadian and a good mix of retirees and young bucks. Lots of two up husband/wife combinations. I suspect this is more indicative of US motorcycling than Canadian, expect up here, bikes are on the road for just 4 months of the year. 

Lunch is at the first fuel stop in White River and as I pull in, who do I see - the three trikes. They left an hour before me (I must get better at setting the bike up in the morning). Russell asks - what are the traffic rules here? The signs say 90, and we are following the law, but the truckers are pushing us to drive 110. I respond with the 15km rule and the regular advice - drive the same speed as the truckers since they can’t afford to get tickets but need to get there as fast as possible. 

I am reminded of speed as well since my preference is to have zero vehicles in front of me, to maximize enjoyment of the view. That also means driving slower to safely enjoy the views. The bike passes traffic smartly and the roads have passing lanes so the silly fast moments are few, but every hour, there is an OPP officer, lights flashing, handing out a citation. They are like sharks in a school of fish. They can eat constantly but the population is so large, few get hit. 

There is zero cell coverage in White River and near the end of my meal I ask two girls who seem to be on Facebook, what carrier they use, and they reply “wifi”. Silly me, I get an email off to Julie and back on the road. 

It starts to get over cast and cooler closer to Thunder Bay. The cold front was promised but only delivered the occasional potter/patter that didn’t warrant covering up my iPhone. But, I’m getting cold so a quick stop in Schreiber to hydrate, coffee and SNUS to get alert again and put on a shirt to warm up. I meet Pastor Bill and we chat about motorcycle touring, and enjoying the gifts of life. He wishes he could ride a bike but never got over the fear. His conversation certainly leaves a positive impression of northern community, something we see most places we travel to. 

Wouldn’t you know it, 20 minutes in and I can see a weather front in the distance … and behind it brings clear sky. That doesn’t look right, but at least there is no rain with the front. Get into the sunny area and lo and behold, it’s hot. Seems the warm front pushed out the cold front and now I’m riding with way too much clothing in temps that are climbing from 19/22 to 29/32. Not wanting to slow down average time, I continued to cook a bit until a scenic overlook and thirst create the incentive to stop, change, swig and pic. Funny how an empty place can fill up with cars, just as one starts to take a leak. 

Thunder Bay has no hotel rooms - some fair is opening up tomorrow and there are sporting events - it’s high tourist season. After the second rejection, I look across the street and what’s parked there? - three trikes and one of them is a Slingshot. I cross the road and Dean recognizes me immediately and calls out to join them. They too have not found rooms and are madly researching options. I call Julie to let her know the situation (and say hello). She’s off having girl fun and offers some suggestions. We finally get rooms in a motel in Kakabeka Falls, but I’m out of gas. The give me the address and we’ll meet at the motel. Apparently “the restaurant” closes at 8PM so we need to hustle to get dinner. 

The motel is a small old fashioned motel. A place to stay with air conditioning and outdated everything else. The proprietor lady seems nice, but I sleep in my cotton sleeping bag. The restaurant is called The Eddy and the food is amazing. I join the Trike gang for dinner just before the doors are locked at 8PM. We have the usual conversations but it’s hard for me to understand their accents. It’s interesting how people define themselves and the words they choose to used over a dinner with strangers. I truly enjoy dinner, the food and conversations. That’s what makes motorcycle travel so different. How else could a group of Alabama retirees invite a Toronto BMW rider to dinner?

Monday Aug 8 - Day 1

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.

Spot tracker still not working

The Spot account isn't working yet. I will spend some time on the phone today to try to clear it up with them, but in the mean time, the ride will be tracked on with the Rever app. I will post the link to the ride when the link is ready for publishing. 

Day 1: A few km and a Swedish Massage

We are off. The trip has started. 

Starting Odometer: 12,481km

The goal for day one is simple - off to Windemere for my buddie’s birthday -  spend the weekend celebrating and then start of week - on the road for serious. 

Tom drops by the house to say good by and share some words of wisdom. He is our group ride leader and has taught me everything I know about motorcycle touring. On those rides, he sweats the details, we get assigned tasks, but generally, our job is to enjoy the ride. We discuss several details, including how we’ll organize a meetup in Tennessee in early October, but his big message is: “This is your ride, do what you set out to do, follow your heart - enjoy it and be safe”.

The bike is packed and ready. I already know that the stuff needs to be repacked to use space better. The load is heavy so I crank the suspension to two riders to level out. It’s top heavy and simply turning the bike around, a few wobbles that took way more effort to correct remind me that this thing can tip easily and it would be a bitch to right. The load will need to be cut back for the final run up the Dempster to survive any gnarly weather. 

The ride itself is somewhat boring - early weekend traffic means the roads are very busy but moving. Got the classic cager dorks who think that the left lane is made for those who drive 105 kph and refuse to move to allow others to pass because anyone passing them is speeding, and therefore a criminal in the eyes of their law. 

Had several opportunities to use the Clearwater lights to warn cars that were about to, or did cut me off to watch it. Even with five very bright lights to make sure the big fat Bemmer is not invisible, people still cut in front of the bike. I’m sure that 98% just didn’t see me because they were clearly startled when the horn goes off and the Clearwater Lights are rapidly flashing 100% power and it looks like they just got hit by lightning. Many are appologetic, others give the finger - how dare you interrupt my near nap condition!!

The probably didn’t see me (or any other vehicle that would have been close to them because a) they didn’t check their mirror before making the lane change, or b) the never check their mirrors while driving so they have no idea what’s behind them. Our traffic laws are designed to put tax paying individuals on the road to earn money (and pay tax) and buy gas (and pay tax). Competent, safe driving practices are completely absent in both Highway Traffic Act and it’s enforcement. I'll rant about that some other time.  If everyone followed the Smith System and European traffic rules, our highways would be significantly safer and more efficient. 

Met Julie in the Port Sydney Foodland to get fresh corn for Brian’s birthday dinner (I made Alton Brown’s baby back ribs for dinner). Fully loaded, the bike gets attention and several guys (it’s always guys) come over to inspect and chat. 

The weather band that my GPS was warning about deliver’s a full load of rain, just as we turn into Dee Banks road. I start unloading the bike under the car port by the marina, change out of the full gear and relax waiting for the rain to stop so that we can get to Brian’s.

It’s Brian’s birthday tomorrow. We’ve known each other since church youth group and a few close friends are celebrating this milestone - I’ve prepared the birthday meal featuring Alton Brown’s baby back ribs recipe, Thomas Keller’s lime corn and Julie’s bean and spud potatoes. One of his gifts is a massage and the masseuse is there for the afternoon. I am offered an hour of Swedish massage. My wife tells me to get on the table commando style - Uhhh, that’s a first for me. Some might judge me as a goody-two-shoes, but I have never been nekkid in a massage. 

Loosing my job, getting ready ready for this trip, starting to look for new work - the last few months have been stressful. That stress starts to flow out as she works on my feet and calfs. The sinuses start getting congested, thinking alergies,  and am told that is caused by the increased blood flow and oxygenation. I won’t get into the full details but feet, legs, hands, back, neck and scalp are all happy and relaxed. I can fully attest that a Swedish massage is a great way to start a ride. Before you start snickering, the lady is a grandma and rides a Yamaha. 

Birthday Dinner is tomorrow, spend a day relaxing, reorganize the boxes and the ride starts for sure at the start of the week. 

SpotWalla link to follow the trip

The trip will be tracked by a handy Spot Satellite tracking device and published on a SpotWalla page

SpotWalla Link:

If you want to get real time information about "Where's Mike?", that's the site to visit - so, click on the link.

Note: the site will not report position until August 4th and the real trip does not start until August 8th, so don't be surprised if the map reports no data until after those dates. 

Inuvik Trip Plan

The objective of this trip is to make it to Inuvik before winter weather sets in. It is said, Inuvik has 4 seasons:

• June is spring
• July is summer
• August is fall
• the rest is winter

We are hoping that the predicted warmer than normal summer extends August a bit since our plans will have us there late August. 

The core thread for this trip is my "Transition Tour". Jeff and Cipi are signed on to join the Kelowna to Inuvik and back leg of the journey since that part is a highlight of any adventure tour. 

The Route:

Leg 1: Toronto to Kelowna

4,211 km, 46 hours, 28 minutes of driving over 5 long distance days.

This is a solo leg for me. The Ontario section will be a special ride, enjoying curvy roads where the path is dictated by rocky Pre-Cambrian scenery right to the border with Manitoba.

Toronto to Kelowna

One can appreciate how large Ontario is by the fact that it's a two-day ride to get to the border with Manitoba.

I have never driven the prairies, so I don't know what to expect but after the initial scenery change, I'm certain the goal will be to get to the foot hills of the Rockies ASAP.

The route follows the southerly Crows Nest Pass through Trail BC. I drove through this area many years ago when I was an auditor with Graton Group and am looking forward to seeing it again.

Kelowna will provide a rest location, fine tuning the bike gear and waiting for Jeff (and Josh - if he can take the time) and Cipi to arrive. They are trailering the bikes from Toronto and will need a day of rest before we hit the next leg to Dawson City. They will bring my knobbies which will be installed while they rest so that the bike is ready for the Dempster. We'll also get rid of any dead and duplicated weight so that the bikes are as light as possible for the Dempster.

Leg 2: Kelowna to Dawson City

2,835 km, 35 hours driving, 4 days driving

This leg takes the BC interior route to Dawson City, Yukon. We'll save the Alcan Highway, which starts mile zero in Dawson Creek BC, to the return leg.

Dawson city is built on permafrost and boasts an August mean temperature of 12.3C (~54F) but in September, that drops to 5.8C (~42F). You can see why we want to stay out of September as much as possible, therefore the mad dash out. 

Leg 3: Dawson City to Inuvik

744km of dirt road, 14 hours, 2 days of riding. 

This is the main event highlighted by the famous Dempster Highway dirt road highway. 

Leg 4: Inuvik to Alaska and back to Kelowna

5,977 km, 75 hours, 7 days of riding.

This is a long leg because it follows the entire AlCan highway back to Dawson Creek BC and then, via Banff, return to Kelowna.

Inuvik to Alask and back to Kelowna

Everything on this leg is new to me so that's where the real adventure begins. Hope it doesn't snow (too much)

Transition Tour:

I'm calling this the transition tour because the extended time to take this trip are made possible by the fact that the company that I work for was sold and my position has been transferred to the incumbent CIO, making me ... redundant. This situation is a rare opportunity to take time for that big trip that we all dream of, but never have the time to take. While I am sad to leave my team and disrupt an extremely productive mandate that had the potential to disrupt the trash business (in a very profitable way), the change was not under my control. 

This trip provides the clean break from the past and provides a transition into a future role where I hope to find an organization in need of a major business change - which is my specialty, as proven out by the results in prior roles.

I don't regret the change - the transaction is a great deal for shareholders (including myself) and it reminds all employees and officers that their positions exist to serve the shareholders. The only way to totally control this fact is to become "the" shareholder - and run your own business.

In fact, the change is a blessing: it provides the time and means to do the transition trip. While the long distance part is unique - it's just miles (or kilometers). Inuvik is the challenge because it's at the end of an 800km paved road, that sits on top of Arctic permafrost. The road is unpaved and is coated with Calcium Chloride to control dust and provide a packed surface - when it's dry. When a bit wet, it becomes a slippery challenge because the calcium chloride turns into a layer of snot like consistency. When it rains a lot - the road becomes dangerous:

After a moderate rain - bikes want to take a nap. Not a good idea if one of the big trucks is barreling down

No bridges - crossing the McKenzie River

Bears ... 'nuff said

Big Rigs

When the Dempster is unforgiving ...

Combined with high speed truck traffic, that stops for no one, sprinkle a few bears and other large wildlife, and the trip becomes interesting. Here is a post from someone who did the trip in a pickup truck. The fact is the unlucky leave the Dempster in a coffin.

If the weather gods cooperate, the road delivers spectacular views and a special experience plus a visit to north of the Arctic Circle.

On a good day

Fall conditions

Richardson Mountains

Tombstone park

Made it !!!!

Heck, if these guys can do it, so can we:

For those who think a motorcycle is an extreme adventure on the Dempster ...