He rides alone, and without a plan. Onward Sanguine

[garthw]

He Rides - Alone and Without a Plan

Well here we go but first some background.

My wife and I have taken our bikes on a yearly ride. She was never one to ride but a few years back I convinced her to try it and, to make a long story short, she loves it. Each year’s ride she has done an ongoing update to her family and work mates and I would take those stories along with my pictures and create a ride report as we went along.

This year will be a little different. After a bout with cancer and a major surgery in April she will not be taking a ride this year. I had kind of resolved that this would be a quiet riding year as we worked on her recovery. Last week we were considering a few small trips in the car to get back to nature but a few things have come up with friends from out of town visiting etc she will be busy with them and other activities. I mentioned that maybe I would take a motorcycle ride and she agreed that yes I should go.

It has been a very long time since I have taken a multi-day motorcycle trip on my own, in fact I can only remember one other time, so here I am. The ride plan is simple. I am not making any plan at all. I have a general idea that I will ride east and likely stay in Ontario but the destination and timing be calculated on the go. Plan is to camp where possible and take a room if needed.

For some background here is a list of our rides and her reports.

How it started and her first ride report entitled
Ride 1 - My Wife’s First Motorcycle trip and her “Biker Stories from the Road” where we explored he Yellowstone http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828217

Ride 2 – My Wife’s 2012 Biker Stories from the Road where we road out to Vancouver Island and the interior of BC - http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=839391

Ride 3 – My Wife’s Biker Stories from the Road III (Hwy 89 revisited) where we explored the wonders of Utah and Colorado - http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=929790

Ride 4 – My Wife’s Biker Stories from the Road IV “Round the Lakes” where we circumnavigated a few Great Lakes and visited Vermont and New York’s Adirondacks. - http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=994865

Plan is to leave home in Dryden Ontario on Tuesday June 16, 2015. I have a commitment back here on June 28 but other than that the ride may last the 10 days or it may be over sooner.

 

[garthw]

So many things seem to be conspiring against me to take this ride. Yesterday while checking my tent I felt a spasm in my back. It has eased now but not sure how it will effect my ability to leave today. Will give it a whirl and if i fell OK for the first km then will plod on and make use of my hotel nights early to get myself feeling better.

Now this morning I open the news to a traffic accident that has closed the road ahead of me. It likely is beyond today's distance so should be open when i get there but have you ever had those signs that put up the red flags? We all do and we forge on but it all feels like someone is saying "maybe you are best to stay home"
........onward

 

[garthw]

Day 1 map

Well I finally got going this morning. The first part of the ride is one that I propbaly do 10 -15 times a year on both bike and in a car. I left around 10 am and headed for Thunder Bay. With no plan my "plan" was to just head east and see where I ended up at the end of the day.

The sky was blue and the wind was generally on my back so it was a pretty leisurely ride. I passed the turn off I used to take to get to work. I can remember riding my bike to work on mornings just like this and thinking it would be so great to just keep going.....so really the ride started as a dream come true!

The province of Ontario is huge. It spans 2 time zones and even the best rider or driver would be challenged to cross it in 24 hours.

Since I had done this ride so many times I did not take a pot of pictures, but here are a few

Crossing into the eastern time zone at Upsala Ontario

As you approach Thunder Bay you leave the arctic water shed and enter the Atlantic. From here all waters eventually make it into the Atlantic Ocean

a sign going the other way

Coming into Thunder Bay you see the "sleeping giant" which is actually a land form sticking out into Lake Superior

Upon leaving Thunder Bay I stopped into the Terry Fox monument. Every Canadian knows the story of Terry Fox and if you don;t google will be your friend. No greater courage has even been shown in a long time.

When you ride you are very lone with your thoughts. When I ride with someone else you always relive part of the ride or things you saw. Riding alone, that does not happen. Images and scenes pass by like a movie. You see them, you think about them and then the next one takes over.

The weather stayed nice so I just kept going. I was going to stop earlier but there were no rooms available in Marathon or White River. With my sore back I decded to spend the first night or 2 in a motel until I am back to normal. Ended up in Wawa Ontario.

Days stats
812 km
32.5 litres of gas $45.29

 

[garthw]

Day 2map

So it was a decent day. Last night when I finished the day I stayed at the Parkway Motel just east of Wawa. We had stayed there before and it is a nice place.

Owned by a European couple it has been all re-done and when I asked if there was a place to get beer she said no, but gave me one from her private residence. It was a Czechoslovakian beer named Golden Pheasant. It was a nice end to a long day.

It started out cool and cloudy, even a few sprinkles of rain. I am sure thankful for investing in my Klim gear. It is 100% waterproof gortex and very high quality. You pay for it but on cold showery days it is so nice to be able to just ride through it and not have to worry about putting on gear.

My gear is as follows,
Jacket and pants - Klim Overland
Boots - Sidi Canyon Gortex
Helmet - Shuberth C3

Having good gear really makes your sport or activity better all around. As Tewster wrote in another forum. "I am too poor to buy cheap stuff. It has to last forever". There is truth in that.

Anyway back to the ride. It was cool and the closer you got to the lake the colder it got. Superior has a huge effect on the inland weather, a drop of 5-10 degrees is not uncommon with an on shore wind. If you come this way be sure you have some gear for cooler weather available. At one time it was down to +5c. The ride from Wawa to Sault St Marie is truly spectacular in pretty much every season but winter. I have done it many times and never tire of the beautiful vistas, the seeming drop off the end of the earth views and just the ruggedness of the Canadian Shield.

I did not take a lot of pictures today as I have photographed that area so many times but will post a few that i have in my collection.

Coming up on the lake

Rock Cuts

Old Woman Bay

Nice views

I also enjoy the names along there. Places like Rabbit Blanket Lake, Old Woman Bay, Gargantua, Katherine Cove just seem to bring alive a day gone by when the voyageurs and aboriginals followed the big lake they called Gitchee Gummee.

I was running low on gas and would not make the Soo so stopped and had to take on a few litres of regular to make it to the Soo. I love my F800 GS but the need for premium fuel can be a royal pain at times.

As you come down into Batchewana bay and the more shallow end of the lake near the Soo the water warms up a bit and the trees change. You leaved the ever present spruce pine and fir of the shield and start to see the maples oaks beech and ash of the great lakes lowlands and the rock begins to change from the granite outcrops of the shield to the limestone

As I made my way through the Soo I made the decision to ride down onto Manitoulan Island and take the Ferry across Georgian Bay. I have only driven this one other time and it was in the dark in a car. The ride down to South Baymouth on Manitoulan island is about 110 km. The first portion to Little Current was really nice, lots of open white rock sweeping curves but after crossing tghe north channel it became a little more humdrum, but a nice ride all in all.

Once I got to the Ferry Terminal all of the bikes were lined up for first load as is normal for most ferries.

The ferry came in and we loaded up

and we headed off across Georgian Bay.

It was an uneventful trip and i am staying the night in Owen Sound. Met a fellow at the Ferry terminal who is heading to the Horions Unlimeted meeting so I think my next stop will be there

My venture into the land of travelling alone has given me lots of time to think. In some ways it is so convenient. Take for example the choice to head down to the ferry. With 2 riding that would have been a discussion of pros and cons and maybe one not wanting to do it and in the end a compromise. To me it was just a choice of right or straight at a light.

On the other hand when i travel with my wife we usually have communicators on and for the ride through nice area we are continually talking about things and looking at things "together". It is a shared experience. Also i normally ride ahead of her and will call back any hazards, sharp curves etc which keeps her in the know and prepared but it also brings my safety awareness up to where it should be. Today on my own of course his does not happen. There were no consequences but who knows.

Now to the trip with no plan. Of course I thought about that too and actually the concept is fine but in practice it is impossible, you have to have some sort of general plan. So I suppose it is just a "loose plan, with a direction, some thoughts but we put it together on the fly. Don;t know what you actually call that but that is the way it is .....for now......onward

Stats day 2
673 km (+28 ferry)
Fuel - 26.2 l
Cost - $35 (did not fill up at days end)

 

[garthw]

Map Day 3

Well today started with a plan but it quickly disappeared. My original thought was that i was going to go to the Horizons Unlimited meeting and spend a few days there, but when I looked at the forecast, I thought to myself "why do you want to spend 3 sunny days listening to folks talk about riding when you can be riding?"

Before I came to this revelation I had stayed at a motel in Owen Sound with the thoughts of sleeping in and making it to Orillia around noon for registration and then drive down to Ajax and see Gene and Neda's presentation. (If you don't know who they are find a few days where you want to read ride reports and look at this one. It is epic) http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813572 Gene has great wit, great photography and Neda is the perfect motorcycle model. Cute as a button and bright.

I left Owen Sound and it was a near perfect riding day and the ride along Georgian Bay through places like Meaford and Collingwood is really nice but I was soon reminded what i dislike about riding in southern Ontario and that is TRAFFIC. Ride the quiet back roads and soon you come up on a line of cars all following the one person who decides that 5k under ANY posted speed limit is what they are going to do. Once you get past that you get to the 4 lane and it is risk of life and limb.

For the most part I had a lot of time so just stayed patiently behind the line but you really cant enjoy the scenery because you know that any minutes they are going to see a tweety bird they want a picture of and are going t slam on their brakes.

End of rant! A funny thing happened in Meaford. I stopped at an Esso station and filled up with premium. As the gas came to the top of the tank I got the definite smell of old gas. Smelled like varnish or turpentine. I was not sure but it was full now and not a lot I could do so i just rode off waiting for problems to begin. Well in fact the bike ran beautifully and in fact i got some of my best mileage of the trip. Alls well that ends well I suppose. I have also now discovered the Petro Canada Ultra fuel with 94 octane. have started running it. Of course it seems to be running better but probably just me will see how the mileage responds.

Speaking of pictures, you may note a lack of them. Seems some dolt forgot to put the SD card back in the camera last night so the first 1/2 the day got a view and that was about it, but really it was mostly straight highway riding anyway so not a real loss

My re-planned route took me north to Huntsville. I had seen a map in a magazine talking about Riding the Ontario Highlands (http://ridethehighlands.ca/) so my objective is to ride a few of the roads. One that drew me in was Highway 35 from Dwight to Norlund. This is in the heart of Ontario Muskoka region and just south of Algonquin park. I have been down this road many times. When I worked the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources had a training center near Dorset on Nora Lake. It was a former forestry school and I would come down here at least once a year and instruct on forest fire behaviour. I remembered the road being very scenic and twisty. It did not disappoint.

Went by the old training center. The buildings are all still there but starting to show some need of maintenance. Such a shame! Wonder which of the 4 year wonders will finally say oh well it is too run down lets bulldoze it.\\

I had my snoop around I headed south. Once you get to Norlund all the soul has been taken out of the old twisty road. It is more of just a highway now so I bee-lined it for Lindsay where I went to college 35 years ago graduating from Forestry there.

Stopped by the school and took a look around

Sign at entrance

Main entrance to the school

Original residence rooms. Stayed 2 years there and what a great time. If the walls could talk ha ha

Also spent many a student grant dollar in this place. It was just called The Grand Hotel back then and was a bit of a dive but the perfect forestry student hangout

Had a Harvey burger (cause they make a burger a beautiful thing) and headed down to Ajax to hear Gene and Neda speak of their 3 year journey. Very interesting.

Tonight I am staying in Whitby and will head back north and start riding some of the advertised "10 best" and see where they stack up. Hopefully the Friday traffic stays low. School is not out yet but will see how it goes.\\

onward!

 

[garthw]

Map Day 4

What a great day for riding. A thunderstorm came through last night and today was clear and cool. I stayed in Whitby after the Gene and Neda presentation. I thought about a lot that they said all day.

As I said earler I had recieved a map with a magazine that talked about riding the Ontario Highlands so that was where I was headed. My first thought was to ride the "Highlands Loop" but a part of the folder that said "10 best roads" was pulling harder at my thoughts so that was the plan for today. Make a loop of my own and try to hit as many of them as I could.

Spoiler alert - They were all great and I never took a single picture. If you can imagine older lost roads, paved but lots of cracks, a few heaves and a few bump signs, long sweepers, light traffic, that was for the most part what they were. They were all kind of the same so if I took 50 pictures I would probably not be able to tell each location apart.

Note:The first of the roads is actually one I rode the day before from Dwight to Norlund. As I said it was a great ride, lots of scenery good condition pavement but south of Norlund prob best to give it a pass. Also I can see this one beiong pretty busy during the summer due to the number of cottages and lakes that you pass

I had thought I would begin with a leisurely ride on highway 7 to Peterborough and then buck horn but I remembered yesterday and the line of cars thinking they were beating the traffic and the school buses so I but the bullet and took the 401/115. It went pretty quick but it actually got pretty cool so had to stop and put a sweat shirt on.

Note:The first of the roads is actually one I rode the day before from Dwight to Norlund. As I said it was a great ride, lots of scenery good condition pavement but south of Norlund prob best to give it a pass. Also I can see this one beiong pretty busy during the summer due to the number of cottages and lakes that you pass.

The Buckhorn & Glamorgan Road http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/the-buckhorn-and-glamorgan-road/39

Once I got to Buck Horn I settled down to some more serious leisure cruising. The traffic was minimal, and the road was a real gem. Lots of tight curves and long sweeping curves. The scenery is like a cartoon as it just seems to repeat the same pattern of bush, swampy area, lake and repeat. Not that it is a bad thing. It was really nice. The pavement was lost highway or typical northern Ontario. The GS soaked up the bumps but a big harley or something may feel it.

Highway 118 & 28 (Haliburton - Denbigh) http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/highway-118-and-28-carnarvon-denbigh-/33

This one was a nice ride but more wide open. A bit more traffic and could see it getting busy in the summer. Pavement was pretty good. Good cruiser bike highway.

Denbigh to Glascow station via Calibogie. (Calabogie Road & Centennial Lake Road) http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/calabogie-road-and-centennial-lake-road/29

This is the one you read or hear a lot about and it lives up to its reputation. Lots of tight corners, roller coaster drops (at speed) traffic was light but the bush is close to the side. An animal stepping out one of you does not have a chance so ride with usual caution. Road is a bit rough in spots. GS loved it and I did see a big group of Harley at the end but I don't think this rad is really for them

Renfrew to Barry's Bay via the Opeongo Road (Hwy 66 & 64) http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/opeongo-road-hwy-66-and-64-/38

Another great ride and the topper was that they had just finished paving the last few km. Light traffic but could be more at the hieght of the summer. Another raid with a few wrinkles and bumps but lots of sweeping turns up and down hills. I think every bike can enjoy parts of this road.

So I have a couple more to do as I begin to point my nose west again. Looks like some rain is coming in for Sunday so will get while the getting is good. Tomorrow it will be the following

Old Barry's Bay Road - Palmer Road - Schutt Road http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/old-barry-039-s-bay-road-palmer-road-schutt-road/37

part of Loop Road (Highway 648) http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/loop-road-highway-648-/36

and the Elephant Lake Road & Peterson Road http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/elephant-lake-road-and-peterson-road/30

Not sure what route I will take as I head west. Will try to dodge the rain and may head south of Superior just for a bit of a mix. Stay tuned......onward

 

[garthw]

Map day 5

It was a bit of a longish day yesterday. I had done an oil change in Barrys Bay and to do that I had to borrow a CRV10 allen key from a service station the night before. I wanted to return it in person and give them a Tim card for their help and they did not open until 9 so waited around.

My bike has been treating me so well I decided to treat it to a Royal Purple oil change. With over 55,000 km on it now I also think it is time to name the machine. Its name will be Sanguine. Sanguine is one of the 4 temperaments and refers to pleasure seeking and sociable.

Old Barry's Bay Road
http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/old-barry-039-s-bay-road-palmer-road-schutt-road/37

So I got the wrench back to the garage and headed out down Barry's Bay road. The weather was perfect and the traffic very light. The road was a real pleasure to ride but at the beginning there were a lot of driveway entrances so again this would probably be very busy in the summer. Just about any bike would enjoy this ride.

Upon the advise of Rocer10 I went in search of the Polish war memorial to see what it was all about. I am not Polish but I do have an interest in war memorials etc. I truly believe that if we do not learn from the past we are doomed to repeat. All of my vehicles have a poppy on the visor 365 days of the year so I do remember.

Coming from the north it is easy to miss and of course I did. I went back and forth a bit and finally there it was. Coming from the south it is in plain view.

The memorial is called The SZARE SZEREGI Monument.

The description (taken from http://www.couplesresort.ca/attractions/Articles/Monuments/szare_szeregi.htm

In memory of 10,000 polish scouts killed during Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and also for those murdered in concentrated camps in occupied Poland from 1939-1945. This monument was built on the 50-th anniversary of Warsaw Uprising and was uncovered to the public on July 9, 1995.
This monument was erected by the polish-Canadian Community to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and to endorse the memory of the young scouts and guides, known as the SZARE SZEREGI (Gray Ranks) who fell during the uprising or lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps during the occupation of Poland (1939 - 1945)

SZARE SZEREGI" consisting of 10,000 scouts and 1,100 guides who without regard for their own safety, took an active part in all aspects of the resistance. Two Battalions, Zoska and Parasol distinguished themselves through their outstanding bravery and valor. One of the youngest armies in the world, the power of the Polish nation, has written itself into the annuls of history in gold letters. Over half of them fell fighting to free Poland. Through their deeds they have proclaimed to the world that Poles value a free homeland above all.

Direction to Warsaw

There were lots of other smaller shrines set up near and on the monument

These monuments have significance and while I was there a lady drove in and asked if they still did a ceremony there. I told her I was not sure. One other thing I did notice was that a lot of the names / road names were polish or eastern European and the houses had a star on them. I know on the east coast there was a connection to the Acadians via the star and I am thinking the same thing applies here to the polish ancestory or escape from the tyranny of WW2 but I am not sure. Was going to take a picture but decided that it was not my place to pry into the private lives.

The next stop was the "Crooked Slide" log flume. It was a neat kind of a park and relaxing stop. I am assuming it was once an operational log flume to drive wood downstream.

I left the Old Barrys bay road and continued down Hwy 62 down to Maynooth where I was going to find the Peterson/Elephant roads. This is a pleasurable ride on its own. Lots to see, nice vistas and good surface.

Elephant Lake Road & Peterson Road
http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/elephant-lake-road-and-peterson-road/30
WHen i got to the Peterson Road there was as sign that said it was a significant historical marker. I saw this a few times and each time i looked I could not find it. Google is my friend

These were really nice roads to ride. You transition from the Peterson to Elephant without really knowing it except it goes from near new chip seal on the Peterson to older asphalt on the Elephant

These roads would be a pleasure for any type of bike. The bush is close so watch for wildlife.

You come to the end at Harcourt and meet up with the Loop road

Loop Road (Highway 648) http://ridethehighlands.ca/en/routes/loop-road-highway-648-/36

This was a pretty wide open new smooth asphalt road. Looks like it could be busy in the summer. Cruisers would like this ride.

SO that was it for the ride the top 10. I think I hit all but 1 or 2 and it is a place that I would come back to and further explore. Lots to see and do in this area and my whirl wind tour just skimmed the top

Now it was time to get heading west, but I was having some trouble with my knees. Last year on our ride I notice by the end of the day my knees were aching and it is getting a bit more frequent. I stopped in Haliburton at a drug store to get something to calm the aches.

I had been invited to meet for coffee by Rocer10 who lives int he area. I was looking at my timing and was going to text him when I stopped for gas in a few minutes. As I was leaving the parking lot I heard someone calling my name. I thought they were calling to another person in a car leaving at the same time but no it was me. He invited me to have lunch and I gladly accepted. We headed town to a road side stand that sold burger and sausage and he treated me to an excellent burger and some onion rings.

We spent a good half hour swapping stories. He is a bit of an ambassador for the area, which lives on the tourism and summer visitors. We had a great conversation but soon it was time to move on.

I headed to Bracebridge where I was going to get back on Hwy 118 and try to stay away from the 400 level freeway up to Parry Sound.

A nice ride, passing lakes and nice views

Saw this old car on the side of the road so took a pic

Once again my knees were giving me some grief so I stopped at Canadian Tire and fashioned myself a set of "highway pegs" from a 3 ft length or aluminum and some hose clamps. It was a $10 investment to see if I could get some relief.

It worked a bit but a better solution has to be found. The drugs were a bad idea as I felt a bit loopy and that is not how you want to ride.

The rest of the day was a straight higher speed slab run up 69 to 17 and ended my day in Bruce Mines. Pretty unspectacular except some of the rock cuts they have done 4 laning hwy 69

I could see cloud ahead and when i got to Espanola I pulled in for gas and used my phone to check the radar. Sure enough it looked like a pretty huge swath of rain just ahead but it was moving north. If i waited a bit it may move out of my way so had a coffee. I did up my vents and left a bit later and sure enough I hit some spatters of light rain but all in all it was good. It did cool down a lot. I left Parry sound it was near +28 and when i got to Bruce Mines it was down to 13

I decided to stop at a Motel/bar/restaurant as i thought after that day i needed a beer. I got unpacked and went in and had a couple of local craft beers watching golf. The combination of the drugs and the beer did me in. I stumbled back to my room and crashed at 9pm. Up and at em with a 2 beer hang over today. Not sure where I am going but again I will be pointing west.

Onward Sanguine!

 

[garthw]

Map Day 6

Well I am a sad case. I took my 2 beer hang over and finally got moving at the crack of 10 this morning. Weather was clear with a bit of high fog and cool so put my sweat shirt on.

I had some coffee in the room but planned on breakfast at a great stop about 60k west of Sault St Marie. After gassing up in the Soo I headed out. The traffic was light and the view is pretty sweet.

As you drop into the Superior basin you get right along the shore with it long beaches

Had a great breakfast sandwich and home fries at the "Cookhouse". We have stopped there a few times and never been disappointed yet.

They have a sign out front that shows the mileage to several spots but no Dryden Ontario on that one

I left feeling a lot better and headed for Wawa. If you remember from the first time I passed here it cooled of very much next to the lake and this was no exception. A cold fog rolled in off the lake blanking what was a clear sky elsewhere

I was prepared this time and had the Gerbing on and cranked it up as the cold set in. At one point it was down to +5 c

Pretty soon I was entering Lake Superior Provincial Park

Some great views along this stretch \

Earlier I had seen a couple dead moose hit by trucks on the side of the road. The moose in Ontario are having a tough go of it for some reason. Climate change? who know but I know up in our area the populations are crashing like crazy. It was nice to see this one leisurely eating.

I pulled into Wawa and filled up at Young's. It has a pretty neat general store attached. Lots of quirky stuff in there. Worth a visit if you are through but I have been here a few times so headed over to Tim's to have a coffee.

Next stop for a break was in White River. It is the home of the original Winnie The Pooh and have a statue and plaque. I remember when they did this Disney made a big stink about it but the community responded that they would make a bigger stink because what they were saying was the truth and what Disney was saying was a story.

Needless to say Goliath backed down and the statue stands and I think Disney actually helped with the finance and setup of the statue so it was to their likeness.

There were a couple girls there bicycling across the country. They had been on the road for 48 days. Cute kids with great tans and strong physique from all that exercise. I think I could use some of that.


Continued on past Marathon and decided to call it a day in Terrace Bay. Looks like one more day on the road and I should be home

Onward Sanguine!

 

[garthw]

OK so i have been home for a couple days so time to werap this up.

I looked att he forecast for the next day and it looked like a pretty good chance of the monsoons hitting me before noon so I made the decision to get up early and get most of the day done dry. It is not like I cannot drive in the rain. i have great gear and the only down side of the rain is the increase in accident risk.

I woke to a dense fog and +4.5 degrees. Cool enough to wear the Gerbings for the morning at least. I thought it should warm up once i get out of the lake influence.

The ride home was uneventful and a ride I had done many times. Stopped for a quick hello and goodbye at my daughters place in Thunder Bay, gassed and ran.

Got home around noon (we gain an hour due the time zone change) and a black sky to the west. I made it into the garage and by the time I got the bike unpacked the rain was coming down in buckets.

So my thoughts on my ride alone?

Yes there are distinct advantages to riding alone. The freedom of choice and ability to change plans with no discussion are great, but i do like riding with my wife.

As i said earlier, she tempers my ride, makes me slow down. On my own I am apt to just ride all day and not really see anything except what passes by. She does not like riding more than an hour or so without a stop so we make stops where we can do a bit of sight seeing etc. We have a "stop at 500km or 5 o'clock" rule of thumb for a days ride so we see stuff.

I am also less likely to eat poorly. When you are riding harder I noticed that I tend to stop at the fast food places but with her it is the mom and pop type places that have decent food and coffee served in something other than a paper cup.

Hopefully she recovers enough to be able to ride again. Until then i suppose i will be forced to ride alone.

Thanks for coming along.

Onward Sanguine

 

[Rharrod]

Nice report, Hope to see you two in Billings!

 

[tangorider]

Nice ride report.
Wish all the best for you and your wife. I hope you can ride together again very soon.

 

[Voni]

Thanks for sharing! I especially enjoyed your sharing of feelings about riding alone.

And healing hugs to your beautiful wife!

Voni
sMiling

 

[Omega Man]

Great report. Thanks and good luck all they way around.
Gary

 

[shortythorne]

Very nice ride report and thanks for sharing!

 

[lee]

Thanks for the report and pictures