Ride around the lakes

One of my favorite quotes is "You have to risk to go too far to discover how far you can go".  Well, I went  far on my last ride - the Great Lakes. A ride around Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Leak Erie. It is an IBA ride that can be done in either 50 hours for the extreme version or under 100 hours for the Classic.

It started a few months ago with a bit of chatting about it with my riding friend Marco who lives in Philadelphia. It was winter and cold and what else to do but to start planning for riding season?  Fast forward and there we were, ready to head out on our trip. Prior to the ride I changed the oil, oil filter and air filter on Blackie. Cleaned, oiled and adjusted the chain. Checked everything and felt good about hitting the road. I have had a few mishaps on longer rides so I wanted to make sure I was set and ready.

Marco 

Marco and I met up in Watertown, NY which was the start of our ride. Had a quick dinner at the Tilted Kilt (let me just say, this place makes Hooters look like day care...) and then we got one of the hotel staff to witness our start form. Hit the bed for a few hours of shut eye. Our target start time was to leave the hotel at 3 am. After a not so great sleep it was time to go. We had the night staff at the hotel sign as our second witness. 3:25 am was the official start time when we got gas.

Trans-Canada Highway

The ride to the Canadian border was uneventful and no traffic. It was still very dark outside. Border crossing was easy. "Good morning mam, how long will you be in Canada - maybe 24-36 hours, what's the purpose of your visit - to ride around the Great Lakes, what is the license plate on your motorcycle - MY BMW very original eh?. Do you have any weapons - no sir (dang, did I pack a knife...) Have a nice ride. Thank you sir."  We had a bit longer of a stop than planned cause Marco's iPhone was not cooperating with his hands free and the intercom. And after a while he gave up and we headed out. In order to avoid Toronto Marco had us going a little north east at first to then catch the Trans-Canada Highway. 

Lake Superior on Canadian side

The sun came up somewhere outside of Ottawa as we were driving west towards North Bay which is one of the mandatory stops en-route. The weather was improving by the mile and when we stopped at the shores of Lake Huron it was time to peel off a layer. We stopped in Sault Ste. Marie to look at the canal and lock separating Lake Huron and Lake Superior. It was quite warm by now. No complaints :). The day was just getting better by the minute. We continued on and soon the views of Lake Superior were in front of us. It was gorgeous and it felt like each turn, each climb, each descent was just more beautiful. The sky was so blue, the water turquoise in some spots and nature so green. We stopped at one of the outlooks to marvel over the beauty of nature. I definitely want to go back and visit some time! The ride continued and the views remained amazing. 

Happy Swedish National Day

We stopped in Wava for a photo op. I wanted a photo in front of the giant goose while holding my Swedish Flag, in honor of the Swedish National Day. I also had Marco take a photo of me holding Ardys ashes in front of the Welcome to Wava sign. Ardys Kellerman is an inspiration to me and one of my long distance riding heroes. She passed away after being hit by a car on June 24, 2013.
 

Somewhere in Canada

A quick stop in White River where Winnie The Pooh and his friends were created and I purchased a small Tigger to become a travel companion. Couldn't wait to hit the road because the pesky little bugs where biting me every little chance they got! Shortly after White River we encountered fog and dreary weather. Time to layer up again. We saw moose, a total of eight on this stretch of road. The fog kept getting worse and as the darkness fell it was getting creepy. At times you could not see more than a foot in front of you and we were doing no more than 20 miles per hour which slowed us down quite a bit. Having a hotel reservation in Thunder Bay and our destination to qualify for the Saddle Sore 1K had us moving even if it was slow.

We were happy to find a gas station open late somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And that coffee at Tim Hortons some time after midnight was a god sent! We arrived at the hotel about four hours behind schedule. It had started raining. All I wanted to do was sleep. We agreed on a minimum of five hours of sleep to get re-energized again. After hours at end riding in fog and darkness it was a blessing to lay down on a bed. I don't think I counted to three before I was out!

Woke up to pouring rain and very gray skies. Had a quick breakfast and back on the bikes. Headed towards Duluth which is another required stop. The border crossing went smooth and we were back on US soil.Weather was not improving and there were parts of the ride along this shore line of Lake Superior where I couldn't see the lake at all due to low hanging clouds. Had to stop and tighten my chain. In Superior, Wisconsin we stopped at Thundersports so Marco could buy new gloves. They stayed open for us. That is GOOD customer service. Thank you John! Much appreciated.

A selfie in Duluth

Everyone warned us about the deer in Wisconsin. Thankfully and sadly we only saw a few dead along the road. In Madison it stopped raining for a short while and the sunset was gorgeous. We got treated to a double rainbow and rode through it. The ride towards Chicago was uneventful. We couldn't help but to laugh as we sat in bumper to bumper traffic in Chicago - at 1 am in the morning!!! Marco said something about sending the bill for a new clutch to the highway department :) The rain increased and we were wet and did I mention, wet? We needed a break so we stopped in South Bend, IL. Every hotel was booked. I never found out why. We finally got a room at the Super 8 and at that point I could have laid down on pavement, if it wasn't raining so hard! Marco found out that one of his panniers was leaking. I was wet all the way to my underwear. The joy of long distance riding in wet conditions... It is amazing how tiring it is to ride in conditions less than ideal and I go my taste of what it means to ride long distance in more adverse conditions. 

Cleveland

After roughly three hours of sleeping like the dead we were back in the saddle and heading towards Cleveland, our next mandatory check point. We got a short break in the weather with no rain for an hour or two which was nice. It wasn't like my gear had dried out from the previous day of wet weather. Everything was damp and was starting to get a musty smell. We arrived in Cleveland and got our required gas receipt. Marco needed a power nap and I had to work on my chain again. Sprockets looked rough.  Motor on. 

Sunset in Wisconsin

We steered our bikes east. The rain kept falling, harder and harder. I must admit it was starting to feel a bit old and wearing on the patience just a tad. But we weren't about to give up! Well, that was until Marco's bike had other thoughts. Suddenly his bike just stopped working! It stopped on the New York Thruway, about 60 miles west of Buffalo. Yikes. It was pouring buckets and traffic was intense. Here we were stuck on the side of the road!!! Marco did some quick trouble shooting an realized he could not fix the bike right there, right then. On the phone with his insurance company just to find out that the insurance company could not send a tow truck because the only tow companies allowed to pick you up on the New York Thruway has to be approved by the Thruway authority. Seriously???  A nice man on his motorcycle stopped to see if he could help and then finally a state trooper stopped to assist and called for a tow truck. A Scottish guy in a minivan also stopped to see if he could help. It is nice to know that some people care because I can't tell you how many vehicles just flew by at high speed!

About an hour and a half later the tow truck showed up to help Marco and tow him to Erie, PA. Marco and I had agreed that I would continue on towards Watertown to finish the ride. We said goodbye and I left Marco with the tow truck. The rain had not let up one bit as I rode on. One of the things Marco and I did during our ride, when it rained the most, was to joke about the rain by saying "What a great day for a ride. Why aren't there more people out riding today. The weather is so beautiful."  So I did just that to entertain myself. Cause let me tell you - by now - the rain was really getting to me! I was thinking of Marco who was so close to the finish line and had to end the ride due to mechanical issues. That is never fun.

My final gas receipt

I had to stop for gas right outside of Buffalo. Taking off my gloves to pump gas and about 1/4 of bucket of water came rushing out. Yay! Suck it up butter cup. Back on the bike and point Blackie east. 200 more miles to go to Watertown. Rain was not letting up, quite the opposite. A little thunder and lighting too. But I wasn't giving up this close to the finish line! At one point it was raining so hard I had to look down on the pavement to try and follow the stripe in the road as it was too hard to look straight ahead! About 10 miles outside of Watertown I saw my first deer just standing there by the side of the road. Stand still Bambi! I'm in no mood to tango with you tonight! 

 At about 11.35 pm I rolled in to the same Mobil station where we first filled up when left 68 hours earlier. I took gas and went in the store to see if anyone would sign my form. Both of the Mobil employees were glad to help out. Since I was drenched and soaked to the bone I decided to take a motel room for the night. It was with great relief that I entered the room, cranked both heat and A/C to dry out my gear and fell in to bed with a smile. 

The next day I rode home to Vermont. Had to stop a few times to adjust the chain. When I rolled in to my driveway I gave Blackie a big hug and I was thankful that the chain and sprockets made it all the way back! All in all from door to door I rode 3,045 miles. The Great Lakes Classic was 2,450 miles in 68 hours - I'll take it :) 

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