That would be Terry Fox, his cross Canada run ended in Northern Ontario when his became sick again with cancer, which quickly took him. His run was to raise funds for cancer research and to date has raised over $400 million. More about Terry Fox hereOriginally Posted by JimVonBaden1
Who can name this guy?
Jim
Dave...
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05 R1200 RT
83 XN85 D Turbo
A truly excellent adventure. Enjoying every post.
Hi Guys,
Yes, of course I knew it was Terry Fox, and his story, but you get more responses asking the questions, and different perspectives.
Here is today's segment:
Day Fourteen, July 24, 2008.
Let me start with a little commentary on construction in Ontario, Canada. It seems that of the over 400 miles we rode today that not one road did not have construction. One road was construction all 21 Kilometers of it. Who pays for this? It looks like maybe 20% of adults 20-40 work on construction during the summer (lots of cute flag girls though), what do they do in winter (assuming no construction)?
That said, the roads not covered with orange cones are nice, and the traffic outside of Toronto is incredibly light. Were it not for somewhat slow speed limits, usually 90 Kph (62mph) this would be the ideal traveling country. Beautiful vistas, great scenery of all kinds, and very friendly people al along the way.
The views along even the most mundane roads in Ontario are very cool!
Kermit always hanging tight.
I love the cut rock on most every road.
We saw this at a gas stop in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Cool!
From Iron Horse to ÔÇ£IronÔÇØ Horses.
Kermit caught a bird, about the same as the one I caught in ND! Damn things seem to be suicidal!
In the end, we covered another 400 miles plus, and are nearing the US Border.
Lastly, the sunset from our room window!
Jim
Home at 12:30 with a 300 mile final day for a total of 7275 miles in 16 days for me, and a few more for Kermit.
I'll be posting the last two day's pictures later.
Great ride, with a great friend!
Jim
And thanks for taking us along! Neat rides. Wish I could learn to stop for those photo ops.
Dan
It is hard when the ride is such fun!
Jim
PS When are you heading my way Dan?
Day Fifteen July 25, 2008.
From Toronto to Scranton, PA we rode, from beautiful areas such as the Thousand Islands region to the industrial region of the US.
The ride from Toronto was uneventful and quick, just 110 miles or so.
We crossed over the bridge onto Hill Island, which is split with Canada on the north side, and the US on the south side.
To get the shot above we scaled the Skydeck tower on the Canadian side. It is only 400 feet high, but great views of the Thousand Island area.
Well, we actually took the elevator.
A view of the bikes from the tower.
Here is a shot of us crossing the bridge, and
The bridge after we crossed. The American side has an identical bridge crossing the St Lawrence River.
But, before we could cross that bridge we has to go through US Customs. There was a little line, but it was pretty fast. The only delay was talking shop with one of the officers that I know from my Customs training days.
After crossing the river we entered Alexandria Bay.
I have spent several months here from my training days, and knew a great place to have lunch. This is a great place to eat, with excellent food, and a nice view of the bay.
Alexandria Bay Sign, from the pier.
LotÔÇÖs of famous people come to Alexandria Bay in the summer, and this town hops on the weekends!
Some very cool ships in the little harbor. There are several more, with even bigger ships around the bay.
Another attraction is the Bolt Castle is a great example of early 20th century American opulence. Check out the history here. Though tragic, the castle has some interesting features, and is worthy of visiting.
If I remember correctly, this ÔÇ£outbuildingÔÇØ is the bath house.
The region is called the Thousand Island Region for a reason. Many of the islands have small to large houses on them. Very cool, and in winter you can sometimes walk to the houses on the ice.
A very cool lighthouse on a tiny island.
Alexandria Bay is one of my favorite places in Upstate NY.
Heading out we rode on towards home, expecting to stop around Scranton, PA. We did, but found this guy pushing his cool Purple Sportster along I-81. (Cool, right Tina?)
Not a safe place to be, we stopped and offered help.
Turns out he had run out of gas. So I popped off my side panel and my return fuel line and donated half a gallon to get him down to the next station. We followed him to make sure he got there and headed on.
Turns out Pennsylvania has itÔÇÖs own traffic issues with construction, and after several delays, and GPS guided detours, we made our destination nearly two hours later than we expected.
Dinner at ArbyÔÇÖs and a crappy Super 8 Motel, and an anticlimactic last night on the road. We had a much better hotel and bar in Toronto!
Jim
PS Stay tuned for the wrap-up post, maybe tonight.
Not sure, Jim, but no later than the next national rally!
Dan
Day Sixteen, July 26, 2008.
Last day of our trip, and fairly uneventful, just a short 300 mile ride home, with a stop for lunch!
We stopped at Front Royal, VA at the Mexican restaurant Jalisca and I realized we had not one obligatory food shot, so I added a couple.
KermitÔÇÖs California Burrito.
My excellent beef chimi!
I thought Tina might like this sweet purple Duster!
Two happy, and surprisingly unsore guys at my house where we started.
We actually did the route we started to do, but added a dip down into ND because Kermit had not been there before, and I had not on a bike. (Hopefully Kermit will post the updated route showing some minor deviations.)
By the time we had 2000 miles on the trip, with 5000 to go, we thought we might have a tire issue. KermitÔÇÖs rear, and mine to a lesser degree, were showing a lot of wear. However, in the end, we both got home with stock tires and a few thousand miles left on them. Once again, the Avon Distanzias held up great, and rode exceptionally well.
My tire, and my 500 mile take-off from before the trip.
KermitÔÇÖs rear tire, still with some life on it.
As a matter of fact, we had nearly no mechanical issues at all. My GPS power wire broke after I adjusted my seat, and Kermit lost a low beam, and a Hella FF50 bulb, and that is it. I added half a quart of oil at 3500 miles, and it is still good. My bike has always used a lot of oil, but I guess at 53K miles it is finally broken in!
Both our bike are over 50K, KermitÔÇÖs over 60K, and neither of us hesitated a bit to take off with NO spare parts, antenna rings, or anything but the kit I usually carry. The bikes were absolutely flawless as far as we are concerned.
A few stats from the trip that I found interesting:
?À 7300 miles (each)
?À 17 states
?À 6 border crossings
?À 6 Indian reservations/reserves
?À 5 national parks
?À 4 Canadian provinces
?À 2 countries
?À 2 conformed bird suicides (a 3rd unconfirmed)
?À 2 bazillion bugs killed
?À 1 ride done, hundreds of ideas for more.
A few observations:
The best drivers are in the Midwest of the US and Canada, with Canada being better overall. The Canadians are generally more courteous, though we had nothing but great experiences with people everywhere we went in both the US and Canada.
Canada is a beautiful country! I have been in every US state, and several countries in Europe, and none are better than Canada in the West. As you go East it becomes harder to tell Canada from the US. The Canadian roads are good, if slow, with construction and low speed limits, but CanadaÔÇÖs short summers make for huge construction projects everywhere in summer.
Highway 101 north of Tillamook is one of the best roads I have ever ridden. Clean, fast, twisty with sweepers and light traffic!
There were bikes everywhere in the Midwest and Canada. Totally amazing to see the volume of bike traffic in the middle of nowhere, with cruisers covered in the same bugs as our bikes, and representing better than 80% of all the bikes we saw!
If you have never done a trip like this, you should try hard! It is amazing the things you see, the fun you have, and the feeling of release from everyday worries.
Here is the GPS for the end of the trip:
And for our Metric Friends:
Jim
PS I am missing Canada already, anyone up for a ride?
Great Job! I enjoyed the pictures and the comments. Thanks again for all of your work.
Jim
Thanks, and thanks to everyone who commented.
We had a great time, and our only regret is riding past the MOA Rally two days before it started. We really wanted to go, but it did not fit our schedule!
Jim
Day 11, Back into Canada
Up and early at 6, or was it 7? Kermit and I headed out towards breakfast. I told him to stop at the first McDonalds he saw for a quick and easy. He took me literally. Little did I know there are no McDonalds in all of North Dakota Kermit rode, and rode and rode, for 216 miles, tank to tank, forcing him to stop eventually for lack of gas.
Now I like to ride distance like the rest of you, but I rarely like 3 hours on one stretch! (NO, I am not Iron Butt material, though Kermit apparently is!)
After fueling at nearly empty, emptying a very full bladder, drinking a large bottle of water, and eating 4 mini-burritos for breakfast, we were on our way again
....
In the end, not a lot of miles, but good ones, and now we start the last push past the Great Lakes. Expect some good pictures from this part!
Not bad for a wimpy day!
Jim
PS For you ADV fans, I thought you might find this amusing
Here is some irony for you, my friend at work took this picture on the border of SD and ND:
Not only does it say no McDonalds forever, it is 205 miles!
Jim
Just to say that really was a big adventure. I enjoy it.
I haven't been any northen than NY city and I hope I can visit those places soon.
Regards
Ricardo
Hi Ricardo, next time you come near the DC area I'll show you some great roads here too!Just to say that really was a big adventure. I enjoy it.
I haven't been any northen than NY city and I hope I can visit those places soon.
Regards
Ricardo
Thanks,
Jim
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