Ride To The End Of The World – Fin del Mundo (Part 2)
Villarica’s peak still puffed white smoke into the chilly early morning air as we prepared our bikes for the first real riding of the journey to the Fin del Mundo; the end of the earth. Both Kim and I were quite excited to get under way and I was quite impatient to get started. Gear sorted on our rented BMW F650GS twins we rolled out of the parking lot, puffs of steam from our mouths in the cold Chilean air replicating the puffs of smoke from Villarica. Today we would have a short hop on pavement but would soon be on the gravel and headed towards our first border crossing into Argentina. Our trip would take us across the Argentine and Chilean borders several times, but that was part of the fun for this trip.
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture and then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
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- Villarica smoking in the chilly Chile morning air.
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- Villarica smoking in the chilly Chile morning air.
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- A small monkey puzzle tree
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- A large monkey puzzle tree splits the road
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- Dusty traveling
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- Dusty traveling
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- Lanin lying in wait
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- The town of San Martin de Los Andes
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- Lanin awaits
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- Lanin in scale
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- Lanin shows off its omnipotence.
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- Made it into Argentina
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- Aurelia, 3rd generation empanada chef
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- Aurelia’s daughter cooking our empanadas.
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- Ready to eat empanadas. Mmmm…. goood.
As we made our way on smooth pavement, we were greeted by green scenery and farms of various sizes. Flowers and plants were in full bloom even though it was November. Getting used to all the rich colors of flowers took some getting used to. Where we had come from, the bright color palette of many different flowers and plants had long since dwindled to browns and greys in anticipation of the upcoming cold New Hampshire winter. But here, the flowers and plants were just reaching their stride, full blooms with bright colors reached towards the sun as if summer would never end. Already, our surrounding environment had us wishing this journey would never end.
The day took on a bit more overcast look as we approached the Argentine border. To match the darkening skies, the road conditions changed from smooth pavement to rough and loose gravel. It became quite apparent that we were approaching some mountains and we’d be riding through the mountains on gravel roads. The surface was fairly good but quite dusty. Clouds of dust rose quickly and obscured vision if we rode too closely together. We decided to give each other a fair amount of spacing since we wanted to be able to see the sights as we trundled along the gravel.
After about an hour of riding, we found our first new experience in the form of the Monkey Puzzle Tree. A cross between what appeared to be a cactus and a Douglas Fir tree, the Monkey Puzzle tree was indeed a bit of a puzzle. Thick spiny needles protruded from branches and trunk of the young trees. Mature trees were over 75 feet tall with very large green spines. They were indeed puzzling, were they cacti or trees? Well they were trees and they were quite cool. Apparently the locals thought so as well since the roads were sometimes split by them with each lane going on either side of the tree.
Riding sometimes steep climbs and descents, we winded our way over and around these gravel mountain roads. Beautiful scenery passed us by on both sides of the road. Mountains surrounded us as we wended our way through forests in uninhabited areas for many miles.
Having ridden three hours on gravel, suddenly, as if someone had just turned on a pavement machine, we were off the gravel and on pavement. It was not long before we began to see small farms with livestock and signs of people. It was not long before we arrived in the town of San Martin de Los Andes. San Martin de Los Andes sat near the base of the Andes and the rim of a large beautiful lake. It had a bit of a tourist feel to it and as a result, had all the amenities of a small city. Stores, restaurants, banks, cars, busses etc. were all present. It had a true hustle and bustle feel. A tiny city connected only by gravel roads on both ends. We made use of the ATM to pick up some Argentine currency and were quickly on our way.
Before we knew it, we were off the paved roads and back on the gravel and in the isolation of the Andes. Once again climbing and descending, we rounded a corner and entered a flat area and there it was in front of us, Lanin, another active volcano. Capped in snow it appeared as a stone giant dominating the skyline. As Kim rode by, I could see just how big and powerful Lanin was. Although Kim projects a strong and powerful presence, her form was overwhelmed and overcome by the sheer size of Lanin. As she got closer to the monolith, Kim appeared to quickly vanish into the background of Lanin’s might; it was a quick lesson in humility of humankind versus nature.
Shortly after passing Lanin we arrived at the Argentine border where we met with a somewhat of a delay. We spent over 3 hours at the border straightening out paperwork, but ultimately were able to clear the Aduana (Customs) and get underway. This was to be our only delay at Customs for the entire trip, so we considered ourselves very lucky to cross as many borders as we did with only one significant delay.
With the border crossed and three hours lost, we had made it into Argentina with a wide open eyes and empty stomachs. Happy faces searched the roadsides for signs of civilization and a place to eat, because by this time we were pretty hungry. As we rode along, we noticed a string of roadside stands. Hmm… could this be a place to eat?
We pulled off the road and did a little investigating. Yes indeed, some of the stalls had food and we were in for a treat. One of the stands sold empanadas. If you have not had an Argentine empanadas, you are really missing something. They are pastries filled with meats such as pork, beef and chicken as well as cheese. They are amazing!
In addition to this delicious food, we were treated to even more. It turns out that our cooks consisted of three generations of women who had been cooking empanadas at the roadside in this very stall. The matriarch of the family was Aurelia and although my Spanish is poor, we chatted a bit about her empanadas stand and how long she’d been there. She even brought out a magazine article in which she and her family were showcased for their longevity and the deliciousness of their empanadas. Well we’re here to tell you that they deserved every bit of print they received and we’ve yet to find empanadas anywhere near as good as the ones we had at Aurelia’s little roadside stand in Argentina.
We still had a fair amount of riding to do for the day, but we’ll tell you about that in Part 3.
Ride To The End Of The World – Fin del Mundo (Part 1)
New Hampshire’s winter snows make for fine skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, but not exceptionally good motorcycling. With autumn over and the real winter rapidly settling in, our motorcycling would be relegated to our anxious dreams awaiting the spring. It is always a funny feeling knowing that our thoughts would be similar in nature to those of the hibernating wild animals tucked away in their dens awaiting the new growth fresh berries with the coming thaw of spring. Each year, to both of us spring couldn’t come too soon.
But this year would be different. We were traveling to a place where at this time of year it would be warm and there would be no snow except very high in the mountains. It was time for me to bone up on my Spanish because this winter we were going to ride to the Fin del Mundo, or translated into English, to the “end of the earth”.
We were flying from Boston, Massachusetts into Santiago, Chile where the following day we’d hop a short flight to Pucon, Chile to start our riding adventure. Our route would ultimately take us from Pucon, Chile a ski resort with its own volcano to Ushuaia, Argentina at the very tip of South America. In fact, it’s the furthest south you can get on any land mass on the planet. Antarctica is composed entirely of ice, so it does not count.
So as the days of November increased, instead of padding around in small circles worrying that the NH snow would soon blanket the roads and trails ending riding for another season, we were actually quite spry, gathering all our riding gear and stashing it in our luggage for the flight to Chile. No sitting about for us this year, we were ready to ride!
So when the appointed day came in mid November, we boarded our flight in Boston and after a quick stop in Dallas for a bowl of some rather spicy chile and nachos, we once again boarded another plane, our destination once again Chile, this time the country, not the kind you eat. The flight was crowded, loud and the lavatory on the aircraft overflowed, but other than that, the flight was uneventful. Upon landing, we cleared customs and grabbed a cab to our hotel which was quite nice.
It was warm and sunny outside so we decided that since we only had an overnight in Santiago, we’d better make the best of it and we went for a walk to take in the sights and grab a quick lunch. It immediately became clear that Santiago was an alive and bustling city. Traffic moved chaotically, people walked on the sidewalks and went about their business, while others sat at the sidewalk cafe’s enjoying lunch, espresso or just good conversation.
But as we walked around, we found that we weren’t apparently all that far from home. As we rounded a corner, we came to none other than a Dunkin’ Donuts shop. Complete with a sign in Spanish that read “Energiza tu vida!” or Energize your life! Jeez, I didn’t know that Dunkin’ Donuts did that. I wonder what different stuff they put in the donuts in South America? We continued walking around for a couple of hours, bought dinner and returned to our hotel to get ready for tomorrow’s flight to Pucon where our journey to the end of the earth would start in earnest.
When we awoke the following morning the weather was excellent and after breakfast we headed to the airport for our hour long flight to Pucon. That flight was indeed uneventful and we arrived rested and ready to go. We were picked up by a van for the brief ride from the airport to our hotel. Immediately we began to see signs for the ski resort there as well as Pucon’s own volcano. Ultimately, we were dropped at another hotel at the edge of town with an excellent view of Pucon’s own volcano, Villarica. It is indeed a majestic peak, with smoke slowly but consistently puffing from its crest. Villarica is in fact an active volcano and a fairly active one at that. With all that molten roiling fury below, you can just imagine the strength and power that an eruption would unleash. It would be a disaster as the town of Pucon sits almost directly below the towering dragon that is Pucon.
Wiped out would the quaint town in which we now ate gigantic steaks and drank local beverages like Pisco Sours. Gone would be the vendors that sold their hand made wares and the restaurants that serviced all the visitors. There’d only be empty streets to show for all that man had accomplished in that area for years to come. But for now, we were content to watch the sun go down on Villarica and enjoy the increasingly bright and magnificent glow that was now emanating from its face and sides. So as the sun went down, it was time for some Chilean beef. We ordered steak and a platter arrived which could feed an army. One thing that Chilean and Argentine people do not do is skimp on the beef and when our beef arrived for inspection prior to being cooked, it looked as though 3/4th of a cow had been brought to the table for early dinner. In any event, we ended up scarfing down a gigantic meal for dinner and we were ultimately chauffeured back to the hotel for a bright and early start of the journey on the following morning.
We’ll tell you about the beginning of the real journey in the next part.
Glen Heggstad
It seems almost fitting that we start off with a rider, world traveler, motivational speaker and one of the most amazingly strong hearted individuals I have ever met; Glen Heggstad. Glen has led a life of significant twists and turns that could have led him down a patch of destruction. However, Glen was able to convert all of this adversity into positive influences for himself and the people he met as he circumnavigated the world.
Two separate books, Two Wheels Through Terror (a title he dislikes but was demanded by his publisher) in which his motorcycle trip from California to the tip of South America was interrupted when he was kidnapped and held hostage, and his second book One More Day Everywhere, chronicle his motorcycle circumnavigation of the planet. Both books will hold you spellbound for different reasons.
Two Wheels Through Terror for Glen’s ability to deal with adversity and his will to continue and One More Day Everywhere for the excitement of navigating the entire planet on a motorcycle and visiting people and places that some would not dare. All in the quest to meet the people of the planet.
Glen has been so touched by the people and places he’s visited, he donates 100% of his book royalties to charitable organizations. You can puchase Glen’s books from the Ride2ADV Gear Store by clicking HERE or at his website directly.
From Glen’s website @ www.strikingviking.net:
For half a century, it’s been a rocky road of contrasting lifestyles for Glen Heggstad. Growing up in San Francisco and influenced by Jack Keroauc’s novel On The Road led to hitchhiking across the US at the age of sixteen. Toggling between living in the streets and foster homes, a rebellious Glen followed the sentiments of his high school teachers who warned of winding up behind bars—he did: handlebars. And then into life of an outlaw biker. By age twenty-seven he had retired from the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
In 1979, Heggstad committed to full time martial arts training, eventually earning Black Belt teaching credentials in: Chinese Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate, Japanese Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. During thirty-three years of devoted practice, he’s earned numerous titles in International championships while training troubled youths to believe in themselves via similar paths in martial spiritual development. But because of his Norwegian heritage, a lust for travel runs deep in his Viking blood.
Looping the planet four times over the last three decades, Heggstad has sought unique adventures wandering through fifty-seven developing countries via chicken buses, riverboats, by foot and even by elephants. From twice trekking the Himalayas to the jungles of South America where he was taken prisoner in the Colombian civil war, Heggstad’s crowning achievement became a multi-year solo motorcycle odyssey around the earth as chronicled in his second book One More Day Everywhere. From the wilds of Siberia and the Mongolian Gobi Desert to zigzagging the Middle East through the West Bank, Israel, Pakistan and India, to the length of Africa, Heggstad rode into one challenging experience after another.
Glen has encountered generous hospitality on nearly every level imaginable from Gobi Desert Nomads, to the cannibals of Indonesia and Middle Eastern Bedouin tribes, to later surviving for weeks on cows blood mixed with honey on the Ethiopian savannah. Being equally at home with city folk, simple villagers and primitive tribesmen, enhanced his empathy for those still struggling. This compelled him to donate 100% of his book royalties to international aid organizations committed to building schools in the developing world.
Now channeling energies into motivational speaking about achievement and goal orientation, he uses lessons gleaned from the martial arts competition arena and adventure travel to encourage others to better their lives and enhance their careers.
Books
We’ve found that books nourish the mind and spirit. They can inspire you, give you courage, thrill and frighten you. Skillful writers can convey sights, sounds and experiences while transporting you to places that you might never have the opportunity to visit. While your physical being may not have arrived, your mind has and you are a more fulfilled person for it. In this section, we’ll offer a few words about books and authors whose writing skills and abilities will bring you to new places or teach you a thing or two about yourself or others.
Enjoy!
Stuff I’ve Learnt from Motorcycles
Just read an interesting little article about lessons learned from motorcycling. Take a look and see what you think. This is a pretty extensive list of learning, but I think you will be able to add to it.
Thanks to David at Observations of a Perpetual Motorcyclist
Enjoy!
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Final Chapter)
Seward’s spectacular ocean beauty and sea life had left us slack jawed with amazement. It seemed that each time we went to a new location in Alaska, there was another gorgeous scene ready to unfold directly in front of us. But this day, there was another reason for our slack jaws and now droopy pouts. Today, we were to head back to Anchorage to end our Alaskan and Canadian Yukon adventure.
We had seen so much and met so many wonderful people, that we were indeed quite sad to be beginning the end of our journey. So with really heavy hearts and quite furrowed brows, we packed the bikes and headed northwest towards Anchorage. I can honestly say that the pace was purposely slow and the bike to bike communications between Kim and I were at an all time low; each of us lost in our thoughts and remembrances of the journey we had just experienced.
As we made our way to Anchorage, we took a meandering route to extend our time a bit more. The roads slowly and quietly hissed under our tires, interrupted only by the crunch of gravel and slight wobble of handlebars as we made our way over several sections of road under construction. Each time I was almost immediately returned to the hundreds of miles of gravel we had just covered. Soaring mountains capped with snow, glaciers creaking, groaning and calving new icebergs into a churning sea, wild animals roaming free and unafraid of man, soaring birds and amazing scenery could have conspired to effortlessly lift me from the bike and forever transform me from an itinerant observer to a permanent part of the landscape. I’d just become another part of what is the amazing natural life force that is Alaska. And if it had, I would have welcomed it.
But Alaska did not reach out and grab either Kim or me and we rolled into Anchorage late in the evening, very tired and each upset that our adventure was over. We’d get up leisurely in the morning, grab breakfast and ride over to the shipping agent. There we would unload our gear from the bikes and pack it in our suitcases for the plane ride home. We’d grab a cab back to the hotel and the following afternoon, catch a flight back to Boston and then drive home to NH. The agent would then crate the bikes up and send them home to NH.
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- 2,430.1 miles covered on pavement and gravel
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- 2,430.1 miles covered on pavement and gravel
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- Our trusty steeds at the shipping agent. Dirty, but none the worse for wear.
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- Unpacking the bikes at the shipping agent.
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- L to R – MaryLee, Tracy, Kim and Mike overlooking Eagle River, AK
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- Mantanuska Valley Horse Farm
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- On the road to Hatchers Pass
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- Tracy (rider) and Mike (pillion) going to pick up a bike in Hatchers Pass
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- Musk Ox
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- Kim and Mike on Chuck’s Ural
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- DeHavilland Beaver at Ft. Hood Seaplane Base
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- DeHavilland Beaver at Ft. Hood Seaplane Base
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- Super Cub waiting its turn to take to the skies at Fort Hood Seaplane Base, Alaska
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- Display at Fort Hood Aviation Museum
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- F-15 Display at Fort Hood Aviation Museum
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- Display at Fort Hood Aviation Museum
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- Display at Fort Hood Aviation Museum
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- Cessna 182 at Fort Hood Seaplane Base, Alaska
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- Valdez Harbor Merged Photo
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- Dempster Highway Merged Photo
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- Outside Cantwell Merged Photo
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- Outside Cantwell Merged Photo
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- Denali Highway Merged Photo
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- Denali Highway Merged Photo
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- View of Alaska from our jet on the way home.
The following morning dawned with decent weather and we walked to the Golden Corral near the hotel for breakfast. Believe it or not, Kim loves Golden Corral. Really! She had a hearty breakfast and I enjoyed seeing her enjoy it so that brightened the morning a bit. Well I thought to myself, that’s going to be the highlight of the day.
We walked back to the hotel and jumped on the bikes for the ride over to the shipping agent. We offloaded the bikes and took a few moments to take stock of our situation. Our two little trusty steeds had indeed done an excellent job and performed admirably. Kim’s Suzuki DR650 and my KTM 640A never missed a beat in over 2,400 miles of pavement and gravel riding. To be precise, they covered 2,430.1 miles with over 900 (almost 1,000) of that being on gravel. They hauled a pretty heavy load including the riders, their riding gear, survival equipment and camping equipment.
Not once did they sputter, stall or break down. They carried us through torrential rains, deep mud, asteroid sized gravel and did not so much as cough. The were filthy, covered in dust, mud, and the Denali and Dempster Highway’s calcium chloride. If you are not familiar with it, calcium chloride, is sprayed on dirt roads as a dust preventative. It is slippery as snot when wet and almost impossible to remove once dried. In fact, years later, there’s still traces of it on Kim’s DR’s exhaust.
Nonetheless, these two trusty machines carried on without complaint. The least we could do was give them a quick wash before boxing them up for the long journey home. So we did. The cleansing process helped ameliorate some of my dour mood and washed away some of my angst. The physical contact with the machine and the slow rubbing, scrubbing and rinsing that was necessary to remove only the top layers of grime was like a balm to my raw feelings of having to leave; and in some way, I got the feeling that the bikes felt better too.
Rinsed and ready for crating, we rode the bikes back to the agents and got a taxi to the hotel. There we sat in the room wondering what to do with ourselves until the following afternoon. It was not more than twenty minutes when the phone rang. It was Tracy, the gent who sought us out in Dawson City and whose acquaintance we had made only as a result of a conversation we had with a couple we met in front of Mt. McKinley.
Tracy lived in Eagle River. a town just outside of Anchorage. He knew we were headed out of town the following day, but wondered if we would like to go for a ride with him and his wife MaryLee today. Damn! We had just dropped the bikes off at the shipping agents and they were probably already well on their way to being crated I told him. I think Tracy could hear the despair in my voice because he immediately said, “That’s not a problem, my brother Chuck has plenty of bikes and he can lend you both one!”
Well I don’t smile with my teeth showing much, but in this case Kim immediately knew something was up and asked what was making me smile so much. I told her and almost immediately her expression matched mine. Two Cheshire Cat grins coming right up! We immediately jumped into the rental car and drove to Tracy’s house. We got the nickel tour and headed over to his brother Chuck’s house. He had a fine collection of bikes. Chuck said, “Choose one.” Yikes! It was difficult to choose, but ultimately, I chose his R100RS PD and Kim chose his R/65GS. They were great machines.
Before we knew it we were off and riding as a group. We rode through beautiful mountain scenery and some awesome horse country in the Matanuska Valley. Then we headed over to Hatchers Pass where we took a brief ride into the pass but were forced to turn back due to poor road conditions. We then headed over to a most unusual Alaskan farm. What’s unusual about an Alaskan farm you may ask? Well how about if the farm grows musk oxen? They are indeed unusual creatures. Raised for their fur which is very warm, they are quite large, sound like tigers when they vocalize and can be quite aggressive when provoked. They were very interesting animals.
We spent an excellent day just wandering around Alaska and before we knew it, it was time to return the bikes to Chuck. Little did we know it, but he had one more surprise waiting for us. When he arrived he showed us his beautiful Ural sidecar rig and literally insisted that we take it for a ride. Who were we to argue? So we jumped on with me as the “driver” and Kim as the passenger. It was a blast for me. As for Kim, I don’t think she was as amused as I was. I had never piloted a sidecar rig and with changes in power, the bike changed direction somewhat. So as we made our way down the road, we also made away across the road. While I had the huge grin, Kim had the worried, I hope I survive fake smile on. But she is a trooper and came through with flying colors (and uninjured I might add).
More quickly that we could imagine, the riding day was over and we had to say goodbye to Tracy, MaryLee and Chuck. They had made our last full day in Alaska a wonderful day instead of a downer. We still cherish our friendship with Tracy and MaryLee to this day and even went on another trip with them which you’ll hear about in another article. After many goodbyes, we got into the rental and drove back to the hotel to catch some sleep and get ready for the next day’s flight.
When the following morning dawned, we had reconciled ourselves to the fact that we were leaving Alaska. We grabbed breakfast and Kim was once again in her glory at the Golden Corral. Tracy and MaryLee knew that I was a pilot and mentioned that there was a seaplane base and an aircraft museum next to the airport that we could visit if we wanted to kill some time before our flight home. So off we went and we watched seaplanes taking off and landing for a while. While I have several “ratings”, I do not have a seaplane rating and watching them only increased my desire to get one. Watching the bird get up on the sponsons and then break contact with the water was exciting as was watching them glide easily and smoothly onto the water’s surface, some more smoothly than others.
We then walked over to the museum and learned a bit about Alaskan aviation history and how much a role aviation plays in Alaska. Not only did they have historic displays, they also had static displays of various aircraft from fully restored and flying to in need of restoration and in pieces. It was all very interesting and a great way to spend the morning and early afternoon.
But before we knew it it was time to head to the international airport for the flight home. We had spent the morning with small aircraft which do the day to day job of ferrying everyday Alaskans and their goods from point to point. These aircraft are literally the lifeblood to many remote Alaskan communities. It was similar to our small bikes on our journey. They had carried us and our gear from point to point and provided us with the marvelous opportunity to observe some of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. We hope that someday we will be able to once again journey to Alaska and the Canadian Yukon and like Alaska’s small aircraft travel all over Alaska on our little motorcycles that can.
Over The River And Through The Woods To Adventure Ride We Go
It was a lazy weekend day in more ways than one. The temperature outside was warm and the sun was in and out of the clouds. Not too sunny and hot and not too cold, it was just right. I too was lazy in more ways than one. It was about 10:30 AM and I was still in my sweats and a t-shirt padding around the house planning how I might round out the rest of the day doing nothing.
That plan however, was soon to go astray, to my good fortune. For coming up the road, first softly but then more insistent was the sound of single cylinder motorcycles heading up our gravel road. Hmmm… I wondered. Who was going to go play on the class four road at the end of my gravel road? There were lots of downed trees and mud, it would be quite a challenge to run that I thought to myself. But as I daydreamed about who might be taking on the challenge, the sound of the bikes became louder. Not just louder as in closer as they passed my house, but louder as in they were coming up my gravel driveway.
It must be Fredo I thought, and as I scurried to the windows at the side of the house, I found it was indeed Fredo and another friend Joe. Fredo on his KTM 250 XCF two stroke and Joe on his KTM 690E four stroke. Awesome was my first thought. So as I semi-ran down the stairs to greet them, my second thought was, I think I may be going for a ride today! And ride we did. It was great, I’ll tell you all about it shortly.
But first let me tell you about Fredo. If you’ve ever wanted a riding buddy, someone who you could ride with just to go out and have fun, it would be Fredo. That definition doesn’t extend just to the riding times either. On and off the bike, Fredo’s the kind of guy that just hanging with is a joy. Always with a smile and something good to say about everyone, Fredo is the epitome of the guy you want as your friend.
Oh, and Fredo can ride, FAST. Although he claims there are other guys much faster than him, Fredo is one speedy and accomplished muchacho. For example, I was at the KTM shop where we both bring our bikes for service. I was talking to one of the techs about how Fredo kicks my butt each time we ride in the woods and he quickly added, “Hey, I’m in my 30’s and I can’t keep up with him.” Well dear reader, I’m here to tell you that I’m in my 50s and I can’t even stay near him when he’s on the gas. The truth be told, when I’m quickly vanishing in his mirrors, he’s probably not really on the gas for him. But he’d never say so. Oh well…
But that brings me to the point of this little article. I’ve been riding with Fredo for about 3 years or so now. We’ve ridden some pretty cool terrain. We’ve done wide gravel roads, we’ve done single track woods, we’ve done mud, water crossings, rutted hills, ridden in snow, over rocks, leaves, you name it we’ve ridden it. In riding with Fredo, I’ve learned a lot. More than I would have learned riding by myself in many, many years.
Sometimes, it hasn’t been very easy and frankly, I’ve fallen off quite a few times trying to keep up. In fact, on this particular ride, I had my first inadvertent off trail excursion. Coming down a hill with the speed up (for me) trying to stay with Fredo and Joe, I somehow managed to lose the front end and off the trail and into the woods I went. It was one of those moments when you get religion real fast. They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and I can now add another place. There are no atheists on careening motorcycles headed off trail into the trees.
Luckily, I did not have communion with any trees and the only injury I received was a severe bruise to my already battered ego. But once again Fredo came to my rescue. Noting that I was not in sight, he turned right around and found me off trail in the woods. He wouldn’t even let me ride out. Noting that I was pretty winded, he basically took my bike away from me and hand manipulated it back onto the trail which was no easy feat since I had gone down an embankment several feet.
What all of this leads me to is to tell you that you need not go a long distance to get adventure in your riding. The single track, woods riding, water crossings, mud, rutted hills, all the different and challenging terrain each present various forms of adventure. Take advantage of it when and where you can. This particular ride only lasted 3 or 4 hours but gave me a significant sense of adventure. It will do the same for you if you let it. Get out on some terrain that challenges you. Make it a bit of work and learn some new skills. You’ll be better off for it and with your new found skills, you’ll be able to conquer that kind of terrain when you go on that long “cross-country” adventure ride, or find yourself on terrain that you hadn’t expected. Bring a friend along who hopefully has better skills and learn together. It will be fun, you can count on it.
I would say you could ride with Fredo, but he already has enough of a challenge with me.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink the Planet, One Ride at a Time
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 10)
The captain moved the throttles full ahead and once again we were motoring towards our next destination, Aialik Glacier the largest glacier in Kenai fjords. Unfortunately, we found that the ice was too thick in the bay to enter so we motored on towards the Holgate and the Surprise glaciers. Along the way, we would be on the lookout for whales and if we found any, we would stop and observe them for a while.
It wasn’t long before we spotted our first pod of whales. A small group of Humpback whales rolled and dived in front of us. The captain pulled back the throttles and put the boat into idle. We were now floating free and the whales seemed to enjoy the throbbing of the boat’s engines. They slowly and easily swam over towards the boat and appeared to be as curious about us as we were about them. Some swam right alongside the boat and rolled on their sides to view us as we leaned over the side of the boat to view them.
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- Seward Harbor and the Kenai Fjords Boat (2nd one in) that Mike drove
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- Humpback Whale Pectoral Fin
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- Humpback Whale Belly
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- Humpback Whales
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- Humpback Whale Pectoral Fin
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- Humpback Whale
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- Humpback Whale
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- Humpback Whale
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- Humpback Whale Tail
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- Humpback Whale Tail
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- Humpback Whale Tail
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- First of the Bergy Bits
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Surprise Glacier
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- Surprise Glacier
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- Holgate Glacier Chunks Falling
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Holgate Glacier
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- Canadian Maple Leaf Design in Snow
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- Ships Wake
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- Ship’s Wake With Full Power
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- Orca (Killer) Whales
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- Orca (Killer) Whales
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- Orca (Killer) Whales
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- Orca (Killer) Whales
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- Orca (Killer) Whales
They seemed to revel in our wonderment of them. They showed us gracefully sweeping and flowing tails that slowly rose and then glided below the surface. Long white and barnacled pectoral fins slapped the water and rolled from side to side as they showed us their ribbed and streamlined undersides. With slow dives they vanished from view and came back to us with blasts from their blow holes. We watched their display for half an hour until they became bored with us and decided that something else was more interesting and they slowly swam away leaving us wanting more.
Showtime over, the captain again brought up the throttles and we were once again on our way towards the Holdgate glacier. This boat had real power and we were moving with all due speed toward our destination. A wide and churning white wake was left in our stead as we motored along. Soon land and mountains came into view. The mountains were snow and ice covered and before long, we started coming across small chunks of ice floating in the water. They were of many different shapes and sizes called, from a foot or so to ten or so feet in diameter. These smaller chunks of ice were affectionately known as “bergy bits”.
This could only mean that we were getting close to glaciers. We didn’t have to wait much longer as a white wall of ice and snow known as the Holgate glacier came into view. Far from smooth and stark white, it was a jagged, multi-colored sheet that seemed to have a life of its own. It creaked, cracked and groaned. Huge chunks fell and crashed off the sides creating gigantic splashes sending birds scurrying for cover and creating new icebergs or bergy bits.
As we got closer, a cold stiff wind blew directly off the glacier and straight at us. It was bone chilling. It was also continuous and steady causing us to bundle up if we wanted to stay outside and view the Glacier. The wind seemed like a river of water flowing directly off the glacier and that was exactly what it was. It was the trapped super cooled air that literally flowed from the top of the glacier over the edge and down to the ocean, just like a waterfall.
Bundled up we stood at the boats rail while the captain maneuvered us around to get a better and closer look at the Holgate glacier. Up close, we could see veins of different colors running through the glacier caused by the rocks and earth it had accumulated as it had scraped its way to the ocean’s edge. There were also caverns and cracks of significant size, large enough for people to enter if they could walk on water. It was truly an amazing force of nature.
Before we knew it, the captain told us over the loudspeaker that our time was up and we would have to head back to Seward. He also said if he saw anything interesting we’d stop to take a look. As he was turning the boat around, we rounded a part of the bay and lo and behold… there was another glacier. Aptly named Surprise glacier it had gotten its name because it was only visible from certain angles such as the one we now had as we exited the bay. It was not as mighty as the Holdgate glacier, but it was indeed exciting to be surprised by a glacier. It was not something that one normally imagines could sneak up on them, but the Surprise glacier had done just that. We roamed around the Surprise Glacier for about ten minutes and then the captain said we would be leaving for Seward again shortly.
Kim and I were getting cold and we headed back from the bow of the boat to the cabin to warm up. Just as we were passing the pilot house, the captain who I had been chatting with earlier about my Kindle and our Alaskan adventure ride opened the door, said hello again and…
Asked me if I wanted to drive this 7,200 horse power twin engined 95 foot long boat back to Seward for a while. Would I? Would I? Well hell yeah! He then calmly told me that the power quadrant and thruster controls were all mine and to go for it. He just said, “Don’t hit any of the big bergy bits, OK?” Wahoo!!! To say the least, I was thrilled. And so it was for about twenty minutes of cruising back towards Seward. But all good things must come to an end and in what seemed like just a few seconds, the captain asked for his ship back and I begrudgingly gave it back to him.
About 40 minutes later, we spotted more whales. This time it was a pod of three Orcas. It looked like two adults with an adolescent. The merrily breached and blew their way along the ocean’s surface, moving fairly quickly and paying little attention to us or to the other boat that appeared to enjoy them as well. It was great to see these wonderful creatures in their natural environment instead of in a captive setting. The Orcas seemed to have a destination in mind and they had little time or interest in us so our time with them was quiet short. They quickly were getting out of viewing range since it is illegal to chase the whales in Alaska. But we were good with the time we had with them and this time we were heading back to Seward for real.
The remainder of the trip was a bit of a blur since we had enjoyed the day so much. Before we knew it we were back at the dock and disembarking. We were thrilled with the days events but a bit sad for it to be over. The overwhelming feeling was one of thanks for having the means to go on such a wonderful adventure for we knew our time in Alaska was growing short. Before we knew it, we would be heading back to New Hampshire. But lucky for us, there were a few surprises to go and we’ll tell you about them in the final chapter.
Shrinking and Sharing The Planet Through Adventure Travel
A new private message arrived in my ADVRider email account and I opened it with unbridled anticipation. You see, the message was in response to our listing on the “Tent Space” thread where we offer food and lodging in our home to adventure riding motorcycle travellers. We’ve hosted travellers in our NH home from as far away as Australia and we’ve enjoyed every minute. We’ve generated new friendships and been able to share a bit of our country with people from other parts of the world.
It turns out that this traveller was not from very far away, in fact he was from Brooklyn, NY. He was finishing up a three week sortie of the Trans Labrador Highway, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Awesome! The Trans Lab loop was one of our favorite rides which we had last ridden 2007. We were anxious to meet the rider, hear about the Trans Lab and what he experienced during this trip.
We emailed our potential guest back and told him that we would be delighted to have him come and stay with us. We had a few back and forth contact emails and around 10:00 PM as we sat around the fire pit of our little VT getaway home, we could hear the familiar sound of a single cylinder motorcycle coming up our gravel mountain road.
We left our little fire and greeted our guest Ben Recchi. What a great person. We fed him some dinner since he hadn’t eaten in quite a while and had been on the road since early in the day. We stayed up and chatted until well past midnight talking about the Trans Lab, his and our travels, where we’d been, what we’d seen and where we’d like to go.
It turns out that Ben had been to many other places on a bike, including Central America more than once. To do so, he learned Spanish and was capable of communicating with the people he met. This made his journey more enjoyable and helped him share a little about himself with the communities he came in contact with. He really enjoyed Central America and said he would be happy to return.
We told him about our experiences and where we had been and a little about what we had seen. We briefly discussed our trips to Ushuia, Iceland and the Trans American Trail and we all agreed that riding to different parts of the world was an excellent way to learn and share. We probably could have talked longer, but it was getting late and Ben had to get back to Brooklyn and we were pretty tired. So we all adjourned for a good night’s rest.
The following morning, we chatted some more over breakfast and found that we were all also MotoGP and Formula 1 fans. Wow, another thing in common. Ben had planned to leave fairly early in the morning but when I told him that I had DVR’d the MotoGP race, I was able to convince him that he should stay a while longer and at least watch the race with us. With the remote and the skip commercial button, we could get the race watched and done in less than 45 minutes.
So we sat in the living room and watched the race together, commenting on what was happening in the race and the championship, who was going where at the end of the season and all the fun things that fans discuss when they are enjoying their sports of choice. It was like having a long term buddy in our living room, not just someone we’d met the evening earlier.
So after the race was completed, the victor announced and the trophies handed out, Ben started to pack for his final leg of his three week journey. We helped him load up his bike, took a few pictures of our new friend and wished him safe travels on his way home to Brooklyn. It was with real regret that I watched him motor down my driveway and onto the gravel road down the mountain back towards his home in NY.
We had made a new friend and shared some mutual experiences. We found much in common in the less than 24 hours that we shared together. We broke bread together and learned about each other, all in the spirit of friendship and sharing that is brought about by adventure motorcycling. What a great way to learn about other people and shrink the planet. Although in this case Ben was not from a far away land, we did share and we did make a new friendship. We were invited to come and visit him in his home when we came by his way.
So even though the distances between our respective homes was not great, I believe that the sharing that we did together did indeed…
Shrink The Planet, One Ride At A Time.
Get out there and shrink the planet a bit, please.
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces – Final Chapter
We awoke in our small dark room to a steady soft rhythmic drumming on the roof of our rented cottage, the “Gold Miners Dream”. Was it rain or the spirits of the gold miners of the past letting us know that they were still among us? Perhaps a combination of both? We brushed aside the curtains and found it was indeed raining again, the miners weren’t with us this time. As the sky slowly grew lighter, it was time to get out of bed and pack the bike for the relatively long ride to Brier Island.
This ride would take us roughly two thirds the distance down the length of the Nova Scotia peninsula and across its width. We’d also get a couple of ferry rides in before we ultimately made it to our destination, the Brier Island Lodge. But due to the rainy conditions, we’d have to work a bit to get there.
Because of the distance involved, we decided to put in a significant amount of highway miles, something we rarely do. So on went the rain suits and as soon as we could hit the highway we were off and running. Things were pretty mundane for the first three hours or so. Just a moderate rain and some patchy fog here and there, but nothing special. However, as we were riding down Route 103 we came across a couple of signs at the side of the road that said in capital letters; “ROAD FLOODED AHEAD” but no flag men, cruisers with flashing lights or other signs indicating a detour or any other significant hazard.
So we continued onward at about 30 MPH in a 100 KPH zone (62 MPH) waiting for the flooded highway. Boy they weren’t kidding! We found the area first as some large puddles so we slowed down to a crawl; it was a good thing. As we slowly rode onward, the puddles turned into real water crossings. Not inches deep but over a foot deep and getting deeper.
It was amazing to be on a four lane highway (two in each direction) creating a bow wave of water with the water covering two thirds of the front wheel. Luckily, the deep flooding lasted only for about 500 yards and we were able to continue on. We did have the highway to ourselves as we seemed to be the only ones on the road at the time. Perhaps everyone else was smart enough to stay off the roads? But we were due at Brier Island, and other than the flooding we experienced on Route 103, it was just a steady rain ride.
We ultimately reached Digby, Nova Scotia where we caught our first ferry. While we were waiting for the ferry to depart, the rain slackened somewhat and I was able to snap a picture of Kim on her bike under the bridge of the ferry, aptly named Petit Princess. The picture then was quite apropos, my petit princess on the deck of the Petit Princess. Nice!
Unfortunately, the wind was up and the tide was going out. Since the ferry ride was so short, there were no tie downs for the bikes and we just sat on them with outstretched legs and planted feet as the ferry’s engines spooled up to take us across the bay. The ocean across to the next landing was very rough and as we chugged our way across, waves splashed over and across the bow. Sheets of water flew above the rail while ocean spray rose from its remnants covering our Roadcrafter suits with salty water droplets. It was another of nature’s reminders; she was still the boss when it came to man versus nature.
As the ferry lurched forward, we lurched in the opposite direction and strained to keep the bikes upright. With every pitch and yaw of the ferry, we put in a counter input. It was going to be a challenge just to keep the bikes upright for this crossing. But that off road riding skill came in handy and we were able to keep the bikes upright for the first ferry journey.
The second ferry ride was much smoother and we made it onto Brier Island without much drama. Since the island is so small, there’s not much riding to be had there, but it is a nice place to hang out and explore. There are walking trails right from the lodge that you can take to the other side of the island as well as to the lighthouse on the island.
If you like to look for beach glass, it has the most remarkable beach glass beach we have ever had the opportunity to search. Within a couple of hours, we had filled up a coffee can worth of quality beach glass and other beach baubles. We found rusty gears, pottery, chains and other interesting brick-a-brack.
It was also fun to go for a walk through the downtown area. On the day that we went, it was drizzling and foggy. But it just gave the scene a bit of a soft, ethereal feel, like a soft cotton swaddling. We were wrapped and comforted by the misty shroud. Pictures we took had a soft fuzzy texture, the hard edges of day to day life erased by nature’s weather made cocoon.
While we were out and about, we found some sights to be enjoyed. Some fishing boats nestled together in the fog, almost as to huddle closely together to share each others warmth, their brightly colored buoys hanging over their sides giving them each a different personality. Then there were a stack of lobster pots, stacked as if waiting their turn to re-enter the sea and play their role in the cycle of nature.
Finally, there was evidence of mankind’s shortcomings. As we walked back to the lodge, we passed a pickup truck. Inside was a sign advertising its status for sale. Unfortunately, the sign read, “House for Sale”. Hmmm….
We walked back to the lodge and got a good nights rest. When we awakened, the weather had cleared, but it was time to head home to NH. Yes, our Trans Labrador and Atlantic Providences Adventure was truly coming to an end. We grabbed a quick breakfast and took the two ferries back to Digby. From there we headed to Yarmouth and caught the catamaran car ferry called The Cat. A huge water jet ferry it could make the overnight crossing back to Portland, Maine in about 4 hours. In so doing, it sent rooster tails of water 25 feet into the air. It was an impressive sight, but it did indeed mark the end of this most excellent adventure.
Thanks so much for coming along on this ride. We hope that you have enjoyed coming along with us and that we have inspired you to…
Shrink The Planet – One Ride At A Time
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Part 8)
Before we could make it to Lunenburg, we had an intermediate stop in the small seaside town of Charlos Cove. We were headed to a little inn called the Seawind Landing. Right on the water with great places to beach walk as well as grassy lawns to sit and stare at the ocean it was a wonderful place to hang out. To top it off, they had an excellent little restaurant with home cooked food and a nice wine selection. This was definitely going to be our “high-end” stop for the trip.
Traveling over the very bumpy and sometimes grass filled roads, we made our way towards Charlos Cove. The sky was bright blue with white puffy clouds seemingly racing us as we made our way to our destination. Some were fairly low and as we made our way up and down ridges and hills, I could see their shadows as they floated and squirmed their way across the pavement. They looked to be in a hurry to get somewhere but were relegated to moving in a straight lines. Although they can fly, I wondered if they wished they could traverse the twisties with us instead of flying straight. Were we clouds, it would a be a wonderful but tragic fate; to fly with the wind but be doomed to an unchangeable course set by it.
(By the way, if you click on any one of the pictures, a full size picture will open and you can then scroll through the entire gallery of pictures in full size in any direction.)
It was a long and bumpy ride, and by the time we reached our destination, we were pooped. Saddlesore and tired, we were more than ready to get out of our gear and have a nice quiet dinner and grab some shuteye. We unloaded our bags from the bikes and Kim normally quite resolute about long rides, said that the ride was so bumpy and filled with grass filled cracks, she’d almost have preferred to have ridden her dirt bike.
We were however, rewarded with a wonderful dinner, a room overlooking the ocean and a spectacular red sunset. Thoroughly satiated, we hit the rack for a great night’s sleep and a lazy rest day. We generally lay and sat about doing a bunch of nothing, reading, lounging in the Adirondack chairs in a grass covered field while taking in the sun and enjoying the day. But it couldn’t last forever and around 2:00 in the afternoon clouds began to gather. Shortly thereafter, the sky became grey and dark and a heavy rain shower began.
But it was just another beginning because it seemed like as suddenly as it had started, the skies began to clear and we were treated to a double rainbow and freshly scrubbed salty ocean air as the sun began to set. In doing so, its light cast a warm golden glow upon a nearby island and we sat and watched the end of a lazy perfect day.
The following morning we packed the bikes and headed towards Lunenburg for our actual destination, the Ovens Natural Park. Owned by the Chapin family, (yes if you know of the singer Harry Chapin, it is indeed his family that owns the Ovens) the Ovens is a combination campground (with rental cabins available), nature walk, sea cave exploring, and music wonderland. Right on the ocean not far from Lunenburg, the Ovens allowed us to get to know a bit of Canadian life, enjoy the ocean, walk the beach and explore several caves that run right out to the ocean.
We took half a day walking the nature trails which wandered among the sea cliffs and led to the entrances of the sea caves. There were beautiful views and paths that led directly into the caves for exploring. The caves are called the Ovens, which is what they look from the outside from the sea; hence their name.
Around noon, we headed into Lunenburg and were lucky enough to arrive just in time for the arrival of a Canadian national icon, the Bluenose. She was arriving into port with a full cannon salute and bagpipes piping. A crowd was anxiously waiting on the dock for her arrival and many camera were raised to take photos of the Canadian icon returning to its home port.
We quickly parked the bikes and joined the crowd. It was evident that there was a lot of pride in the Bluenose and it was great fun to be part of the crowd. With the Canadian flag proudly flying from her middle mast she majestically glided into the dock to great fanfare. Up close we could see that she was indeed a beautiful vessel, trim with sleek lines, a true portrait of the speedy racing ship that she was known and loved to be.
We took a few pictures of our own, chatted with a few people and decided to take a walk around Lunenburg to experience its sights and sounds. Lunenburg is known to be a bit of an artists colony and it did not disappoint us one bit. During its history, Lunenburg was a fishing town. Although the fishing industry is no longer its main source of income, its heritage has not been forgotten. As we walked down one of its main streets, we looked up at the street lamps and saw that they had been decorated with large, hand cut and hand painted metal fish of the Atlantic. They were great. Each light post had a different fish and they were in the fish’s actual colors. It made us want to walk the length of the street just to see the different fish!
Wandering along the streets of Lunenburg, we were treated to many galleries, shops, restaurants and even a museum. It was a grand afternoon of walking, visiting and just plain enjoying the sights, sounds and people. But the sun was rapidly sinking and it was time to get back to the Ovens before dark. We jumped back on the bikes and enjoyed a sea side setting sun ride back to our cabin. It had been a great day and we were looking forward to tomorrow. We had a fairly long ride to the tiny island off the coast Nova Scotia named Brier Island where we’ll take you in part 9.
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Part 7)
We awakened to falling rain and fog. Our foggy heads cleared quickly, but the fog and rain outside refused to do the same. We resigned ourselves to more riding in the rain and reduced visibility, but that is part of the adventure isn’t it. We were more disappointed that we would be missing scenery along the way to the ferry at Port Aux Basques. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much for most of the ride, but as we approached the ferry, the rain did stop and visibility did increase somewhat.
Although the weather obscured the traditional scenery, we were in for a treat when the ferry arrived in port. Out of the fog, a giant ghostly shadow appeared. Moving slowly, it glided silently towards us with a nearly imperceptible rocking motion. We knew it was a ship, but we couldn’t clearly make out any detail. As it approached, it blew its horn and there was no doubt it was a large vessel. Then out of the gloom we made out the blue, white and gold of the MV Caribou. Although it was a very large vessel more than 565 feet in length, her impressive form glided more like giant kayak across the calm harbor waters than a ferry capable of carrying 1,200 passengers, 370 cars and 77 trucks.
Just as we thought she would pull into the dock and tie up, she gave us a special treat. What we hadn’t noticed was that the vehicles entered and disembarked from the rear of the ship. The Caribou was headed straight into the dock, so how would she unload her cargo. Ahhh…. A 270 degree turn would be necessary in the very narrow harbor.
So as easy as pie, the Captain of the Caribou turned his gigantic vessel around in the middle of the small harbor with very little clearance. It was an awesome display of seamanship. You want to see it? Well, OK…..
After a successful docking, we were able to load the bikes onto the Caribou for the ride to Nova Scotia. It was a smooth uneventful trip and before we knew it we were being discharged on the shores of Nova Scotia around midnight local time. Of course it was raining again and finding our hotel was a bit of a chore, but find it we did and we dropped into the rack to sleep the sleep of the dead.
Viola! We awoke to bright sunshine with only a few clouds dotting the sky. What a wonderful change! Having heard about the beauty of the Cabot Trail and the twisty roads that surrounded it, we made a beeline for the reportedly smooth pavement running along side the mountains and ocean. We were not to be disappointed; not one iota.
On narrow, bumpy and mostly deserted roads, we passed many small towns which seemed to have one thing in common; wonderful people. During our brief stops, or our overnight stays, it seemed that everywhere we went people greeted us and wanted to chat. All the greetings were warm and welcoming, we often felt like lost relatives. They wanted to know about us and they often told us much about their families and themselves. This give and take is in our opinion what true adventure riding is all about. We were really not all that far from home, but we were learning much from the folks we interacted with and I think we got a true feeling of what it was like to live in the Canadian Atlantic Provinces.
As welcome and comfortable as we were, we hightailed it towards Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail. The blue skies, clear blue ocean and sinuous mountain roads beckoned to us. As we rolled along the road that paralleled the bright blue ocean, we passed the tiny town of Wreck Cove and immediately the mountains which mark the beginning of the Cabot Trail became visible.
We could see the steep and twisting road immediately in front of us. A sharp hairpin turn led to the steepest part of the road that clung to the side of the mountain as the ocean lay calmly hundreds of feet below. There was only one thing left to do and it was to ride that road. And ride it we did. The road was steep enough at the beginning that we used first gear for the a significant portion of the climb. It was a bit interesting to be riding this twisting road only a couple of feet from the guard rail that was the only barrier a several hundred foot drop to the ocean below. But nonetheless, the view was spectacular.
As we crested the first ridge of the mountain, we lost sight of the ocean, but the pavement became very smooth and we were able to enjoy some twisties on a smooth surface. We both hooted and hollered into our communicators and told each other how spectacular the riding was and how much we were enjoying Nova Scotia. Although we were enjoying the twisties, we did take the time to stop and enjoy some of the spectacular mountain views along the top of the mountain pass.
Later as we began our descent from the top of the mountain, we were treated to another set of twisties, this time even more exciting than at the beginning of the day. Hairpins and decreasing radius turns awaited our eager throttle hands and wide open eyes. But this wonderful steeply descending road presented us with a significant dilemma. The problem was that the twisties were so technical that we dare not take our eyes off the road while navigating each corner. So you say, why would that be a problem? The problem was that just beyond that guard rail were the most amazing views of the north Atlantic you can imagine. The bright blue sea met an equally dazzling ocean and where they met at the horizon, it was as if the two were merged into one. The decision as to which to look at was mind rending.
But as we laughed to each other over our communicators, “someone has to do it,” we started down quickly scanning from road to sea, road to sea. If you know anything about instrument flying, it was an exercise in scanning. Don’t stare at anything, keep moving your eyes, soak it all in to your brain and make the correct control inputs. It was a test, but a wonderful one at that.
As the road straightened out a bit, it still provided awesome views of the ocean and of itself as it undulated up an over little ridge crests alongside the sea. To your left, green trees sprouted from the sheer mountain walls while to your right, the ocean vied for your attention. It was an amazing test of willpower just to stay on the road.
The mesmerizing ride took away all realization of time for us and before we knew it, we had completed the Cabot Trail and were headed back inland across the peninsula towards Lunenburg. A very lovely town with an artists flair, we were treated to more local sights and flavor. We’ll take you there in Part 8.
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Part 6)
With significant regret we left our roadside whale watching motorized perches and rode on towards Blanc Sablon. I was somewhat gloomy leaving such a sight, and the darkening weather matched my mood. Overhead clouds were gathering and the skies brooded and darkened. By the time we reached our hotel, a cold misty fog surrounded us. We were looking forward to a nice warm room and a hot dinner. We were able to accomplish both and fell into the rack for a good nights rest.
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- Iceberg on the way to Newfoundland
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- Outside Gros Morne National Park
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- Gros Morne
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- Gros Morne
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- Moose at the side of the road
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- Approaching Rocky Harbor
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- Snow on the mountains outside Rocky Harbor
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- Entering Rocky Harbor
We awoke to overcast and heavy rain. It seems like each time we visited Newfoundland it rained and it looked like this visit would be no different. I dressed and we packed our bags for mounting on the bikes. It was while I was mounting the bags on our bikes that an older gentleman approached and quietly watched for a while. I clearly remember him. He was wearing a clear raincoat and a yellow Gloucester fisherman’s hat. I noticed he was wearing a Cessna belt buckle and he had the pilot’s wrinkles around his eyes from squinting into the sun. Just by looking at him, I could tell that this man had had some adventures of his own. Nearby, a tour bus idled its rough and slow diesel drone and he looked at it disdainfully. He would then watch me packing in the rain with a look of longing and desire. It truly appeared like he was ready to jump on and ride
After a while, he walked a bit closer and asked where we were headed and where we had come from. I told him that we had ridden from our house in New Hampshire and we were headed to Newfoundland. We chatted a bit about the trip so far and what the Trans Labrador Highway had been like. While we stood there in the rain, he looked me in the eye and looked over to the bus he would later board and he said, “I wish I was traveling with you.” You know what, if I’d had the space on the bike, I would have taken him along. Pilots have to stick together you know.
Before we knew it we were in line for the ferry getting ready to ride churning grey misty seas. Finally this signal was given and we rode our bikes aboard, tied them down and made our way to find some seating for the trip. Even though the trip started in the morning, the entire ride was dark and rainy. A few ghostly icebergs silently passed in the distance their silhouettes a grainy shadow against a backdrop of white-capped grey and green. A few whale and dolphins passed, breaking the water’s surface, spouting and seemingly pointing out the way. It seemed that in no time, we had arrived in Newfoundland and it was time to disembark and start our Newfoundland part of the trip.
Unfortunately, for most of this journey through Newfoundland, poor weather surrounded us and we decided to make a beeline to our first destination near St. Anthony, the Glacier Manor Resort. Now closed, it was a wonderful little place being built by a couple; John and Edna Simmonds using their own two hands. Dinner was home cooked by Edna while John literally serenaded us on the guitar while we ate. It was terrific. We sat and chatted and discussed the US and Canada and before we knew it we had transitioned from acquaintances to family in the breadth of a few short hours. Together with John and Edna, we’d been able to shrink the planet a little more on this trip. Wonderful!
We went out for an early evening walk in an attempt to see some moose. As the sun set, we came across a pair of very large great horned owls. One flew off quickly and the other stayed for a while and watched us watching him. We remained very quiet and did not make any quick movements or loud noises which might scare him off. Finally he had had his fill of watching us and as he flew away. But as he did, he left us a gift of one of his large feathers which we still have to this day. It was if he were saying, thank you for not disturbing us. For doing so, I leave you a part of me to remember us and Newfoundland by.
As the sky grew darker, we walked towards the more open fields and waited for the moose to come out. They did not disappoint us. They came out in fairly large numbers and quietly and calmly walked across open fields looking for some snacks. We watched in amazement wondering how such large animals could move about so silently. We watched for an hour or so and headed back to the resort for a good night’s rest.
Come the morning we made our way towards Newfoundland’s table top mountain National Park Gros Morne. It was green and gorgeous. Sheer walls of green with bare spots of rock shot straight up. Not to points, but to vast flat table tops that stretched for miles. Surrounded at the base by trees, as they rose, the mountains lost their leafy cover and instead were covered in huge patches of velvety green moss. The moss often undulated up the sides of the mountain giving the slope a wavy texture until reaching the table top. They were extraordinary sights.
While we stared at the table topped mountains, we were also treated to ocean view stretches. We rode alongside twisty two lane ocean roads with clouds racing perpendicular to our course. Fresh air treated our senses with variety. When the wind blew from the sea, it was sweetened with the brine of the deep. When if came from the land, it was pungent with pine. This ride had turned into a truly sensory delight.
We made a brief stop for lunch in a small town called Port Aux Choix. It was a charming place and it was clear that we were in Canada. One of the locals had hand carved a Viking statue and outfitted him full hockey gear including stick and shin guards. Of course, because he was cool, he was also outfitted with some rather trendy shades. Of course, we had to take a picture with him.
Continuing our southward ride, we made our way towards Rocky Harbor. To get to there, we again found ourselves on narrow twisty mountain roads with mountain and ocean views. At the higher elevations, snow was still on the ground and it was mid June! Along the way we spotted moose grazing and running alongside the road during the day. Beautiful to look at, but also an important reminder to be alert when rounding corners.
Rocky Harbor turned out to be another small town surrounded by mountains and the sea. When we arrived they were having a local regatta, and the townspeople were out and about in all sorts of small craft plying they way all over the harbor. It was a day of community on the water. We enjoyed the festivities for a while, but we really had to get going for our time was running short. The following day we had to be in Port Aux Basques to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia.
Arriving at our little hotel, which consisted of several separate little cottages and a restaurant, we caught a quick dinner and turned in for the night. Before we fell asleep the rain had begun to fall and tomorrow looked to be a damp ride to the ferry to Nova Scotia where we’ll take you in Part 7.
Marc Coma Takes A Poduim in the Baja 500, Honda Winning Streak Broken
From Ultimate Motorcycling
MRW rider Marc Coma has added another achievement to his already impressive resume, taking third place in the Baja 500 team competition held in Ensenada, Mexico, this past weekend.
The 450 mile (724km) rally pitted three-man teams against one another. Coma’s KTM USA squad was completed by Mexican rider Iván Ramírez and US representative Mike Brown.
Marc Coma (MRW Repsol KTM) says: “I am very happy with the experience; riding in a team event has been really positive for me. Discovering new things always allows you to improve as a rider and I had a really good team behind me: Both in terms of machinery and personnel.
“We had problems with the bike due to a crash and couldn’t take any risks after that, because we needed to conserve tire life and finish the race. In any case, the result is a good one.”
Owing to a big crash during Ramírez’ first stint, the team’s sole bike was badly damaged and they were only able to trail the leading outfits. An exhaust pipe of the KTM 450 enduro machine used had to be changed as a result of the fall. The bike is a smaller and more simple version of that used by Coma in the Raids World Championship.
Marc Coma’s expertise in navigation was not needed for this event, as the Baja 500 features markers along the course and not the road book typically used in Raids and rally competition.
Mike Brown was the rider for the second stint and he managed to cut the gap to the leader, whilst also gaining positions in the overall standings. The crash had affected the bike severely, which created some constant mechanical issues right up to the end of the race.
The final stint was undertaken by Coma, who started at a speedy pace but resisted the urge to take risks with tire preservation such a key factor. The MRW rider rode the coastal route which was divided into two very different sections: The first was a tricky, mountainous run, the second a quicker, wider route similar to familiar competitions like the Dakar Rally.
The trio of Robby Bell, Steve Hengeveld and David Pearson were the winners of the Baja 500 onboard a Kawasaki, completing the race in a total time of 9h 10m 03s. Two minutes and twenty-eight seconds behind were Honda riders Cotton Udall, David Kamo and Timmy Weigand. KTM USA and Marc Coma rounded off the podium, close to seven minutes off the winners.
The next event for Marc Coma will be the fourth Raids World Championship race, held in Sardinia from June 23-28. The Spaniard currently leads the series.
2012 Baja 500 Final Results: 1. R. Bell, S. Hengelveld, D. Pearson 2. C. Udall, D. Kamo, T. Weigand 3. M. Coma, I. Ramirez Jr., M. Brown
Forced Marriages – Do they work?
Forced marriages? What does the topic of forced marriages have to do with motorcycling or adventure riding? Have they lost their minds over there at R2ADV? Not really, for the most part. But what brings this topic to mind is the recent purchase of motorcycle manufacturer Ducati by automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen, AG through their division Audi for a reported $1.13 billion USD. Many financial analysts have questioned the purchase as making no business sense, saying that there is no concrete business case for the purchase.
So why would Volkswagen/Audi (let’s just call them Audi for now on) a German automobile manufacturer known for precision engineering, spartan, efficient, and practical transportation want to purchase Ducati, an Italian, motorcycle company known for beautiful design (sometimes at the expense of functionality), passion and racing prowess? Can the two heritages be aligned and successfully combined into one big happy family in this apparent shotgun marriage?
Well the conjecture is that Audi wanted a trophy in its cabinet and its purchase of Ducati certainly represents a big shiny one. Huge racing heritage, cutting edge styling and maker of perhaps the most iconic motorcycle ever to be manufactured, the Ducati 916. In addition, prior to the purchase, Ducati had been recently leveraging its racing heritage and begun moving and promoting its brand image to and even wider audience.
With the introduction of the Streetfighter, Hypermotard, Multistrada (version 2) and most recently the Diavel, Ducati had moved from a racing company to a full market motorcycle company. But, and this is a big but, styling has always been a HUGE priority with Ducati even over cost, functionality and dare it be said, winning races.
But the question remains, how will Audi reconcile this styling priority with its engineering practicality philosophy? Can/will Audi listen to the Italians when they say but this design is beautiful, you shouldn’t change it? Will process and engineering controls overwhelm passion and styling at the new Ducati?
This brings me to question what the new Audi/Ducati might do to their adventure bike; the Multistrada. Ducati, so fixated on performance, installed the engine from their world class superbike, tuned for torque, and fit it between excellent suspension. Based on all this power, suspension adjustability and perhaps styling, Ducati decided to mount a solid cast 17 inch front wheel. This is not an optimal wheel for off roading, but it certainly looks swoopier and handles better on pavement and at high speeds. Ducati just could not force themselves to fit a 21 inch front spoked wheel which probably couldn’t handle the projected power of the Multistrada, nor does it look especially nice. Especially limiting is he fact that no tire manufacturer made a “knobby” tire in 17 inch rim sizes. In fact, Ducati had a tire made by Pirelli especially for the Multistrada that they hoped would fit the adventure mission.
It was not a hit with the off road community. In fact, it was the reason I sold my Multistrada. It just really didn’t want to be an off road bike. It was an awesome machine on the pavement, but anything more than wide gravel roads were a chore for the bike. I should have known that from the start with the 17 inch front wheel.
So what will the new Audi/Ducati do? Will the new company use the Audi approach and fit the engineer’s choice 21 inch front wheel or stay with the 17 inch wheel. Recently, Continental Tire came up with a true “knobby” for the 17 inch rim so now the Multistrada has a knobby tire available. They are “low profile” knobs, but they are knobs. Will that be enough, or will the new Audi/Ducati start anew with a new design and a fresh sheet of paper, throwing away the Italian legacy?
Interesting question eh? I did find that Wunderlich, a german motorcycle accessory and tuning company had been working with Continental and developed this machine based on the BMW S1000RR. (picture from Motorcycle USA)
It’s an interesting looking machine to say the least. Wunderlich has no relationship with Audi that I am aware of, but does this impart an idea of German thinking? Such a comparison is pure conjecture, but it’s interesting to think about.
Well the jury is not only out, it’s yet to be selected. But once selected, it will be interesting to see whether this forced marriage betweenVolkswagen/Audi and Ducati is given the thumbs up of survival or the thumbs down of business failure.
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 9)
Wild animals, humans and motorcycles thoroughly mixed and mingled, it was time to make our way towards Seward. On our way out of the wildlife park we came upon a rather wheezy looking caribou. With his head hanging low in an apparent weakened display of age and surrender, his impressive rack still was over the top of my head. I stopped my bike beside him to take a picture and to give him the “oh you poor old boy” condolences when suddenly his head popped up. He stiffened, snorted angrily and took a quick step towards me as to say “get lost or I’ll trample you into little pieces of Alaskan tundra.” I was really started, nearly dropped my camera and almost fell off my bike. OK then. Note to self, old Alaskan caribou can still kick butt. Give them a wide berth because they can be quite cranky. Got it. Oh, and luckily for me, Kim was behind me a fair bit and she saw nothing. My dented male ego was to remain somewhat intact.
With that, we (actually I) expedited our exit from the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and set course for our next stop, Seward. We were quite psyched to be headed there because it is a seaport town and we had planned to go on a full day marine mammal/bird/glacier boat tour while we were there. Continuing south and traveling along Turnagin Arm we were greeted with more ocean views and twisty roads. The weather was good and in no time we made it to Seward and our hotel for the next couple of days.
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture. Then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
Now the hotel was not much to write home about, but it did offer some surprises. As we entered the hotel’s lobby, we were immediately surrounded. Surrounded? Yes, as in surrounded by wild animals. Completing our entrance through the one person revolving door we were immediately confronted by two bears, a musk ox and caribou! In the hotel lobby! This just after my run-in with the cranky old caribou. Further in, we found moose, arctic fox, mink and pheasant. Ge’ez, didn’t we just leave the conservation center?
Well what really happened is that all these animals were indeed in the hotel lobby but they were stuffed. Perhaps they had been cranky with someone else and then they paid the price? Oh well, it was just strange seeing all these animals in a hotel lobby, it wasn’t like we were in a hunting lodge. We quickly “headed” to our room to drop off our gear. We opened the door there and found… no stuffed animals.
We put our gear in the room and decided to walk around the town a bit and get some dinner. We found some murals painted on the sides of buildings which had been painted by the locals. They showed topics such as the settling of Seward and some were about native Alaskan culture. They were pretty cool so we snapped a few pictures for memories. Then we did the tourist thing for a while, checked out a few shops in town and finally settled in for the evening, because we had a full day boat tour with an early start in the morning.
The following morning dawned bright and mostly sunny with fairly calm seas. It was going to be a good day for a boat tour. Actually, the boat was more of a ship. It was a 95 foot vessel with twin 3600 horsepower engines. She could make well over 26 knots with a full capacity. This was no little boat. By the way, I know the vessel facts for reasons I’ll tell you about later.
To ensure we got good seating, we arrived early and plopped ourselves down in the cabin by the windows. I was sitting there reading my Kindle which at the time was a fairly new device. The Captain of the ship walked by and asked if I was in fact reading a Kindle and I replied that I was. We chatted about it and I let him look at it. It turned out that he wrote software in his spare time, and the e-ink technology was a hot topic so he wanted to see how it looked on the screen. We chatted a bit more about Alaska and the motorcycle ride we were on which he thought was pretty cool. Ultimately, he said he had to get back to work and we thought we wouldn’t see him again. We were wrong.
The boat departed on time and we headed out to sea. Almost immediately we saw sea otters lolling about in the harbor, some lying on their backs sunning themselves while others rolled lazily like tops to help aerate their fur to aid in insulation. They were as cute as you hear about and can imagine. Clear of the harbor, the Captain laid on the power and 45 minutes later we arrived at two islands, one of which was a Steller Sea Lion rookery. We laid up appropriately close and we could see the females with their cubs sunning themselves while the very large bull males made themselves know with loud vocalizations. Every once in a while, there would be a bit of a dust up between the sea lions over space, but all in all, they seemed quite happy to lie in the sun and take an occasional dip in the water. We watched for a half hour or so and it was time to move on.
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at two more islands, the Beehive Islands which were appropriately named because of their shape and one other thing. The were bird rookeries for many species birds and they flew and swooped all around the islands making them seem like beehives inhabited by bees. As we got closer to the islands, it became apparent that the islands were crammed with birds. It looked like every tiny ledge, crevice and crack had a nesting bird or its partner sitting or standing on it. The walls to the island were quite sheer, so they’d stand or sit on very narrow precipices to be used as nesting areas. There was very little free space by the time the birds had found all the spots they wanted to use. It was quite amazing.
We watched the birds wheel and soar in the air around and above the island. Had there been air traffic control, it would have been a controller’s worst nightmare! But they all seemed to be able to navigate and fly without crashing into each other. We humans aren’t so lucky.
After about thirty minutes of watching the birds act like bees it was time to find some whales and check out some glaciers. Both of which we found and saw in abundance. We’ll tell you about them and the little secret in Part 10.
Sidi Adventure Goretex Boots – Mid Term Update
It’s been a little over a month since I wrote my initial impression of the Sidi Adventure Goretex Boots. In that time I’ve had easy pavement and gravel rides lasting for hours as well as some fairly spirited single track woods riding with friends and can say that the Sidi Adventure goretex boots have come through with flying colors. Smooth tarmac, loose gravel, mud, rocks, water crossings small fallen trees and hidden obstacles have all been easily dispatched by the watertight armored boots that can.
So what do I mean by all of this? Well on the pavement, smooth gravel and just plain walking about where outright boot performance is not put to the test and comfort is the deciding factor, the Sidi Canyon goretex boot has been up to the task and the more appropriate choice. On the other hand, the Sidi Adventure goretex with each wearing, seems to become more and more comfortable. I would not rate it as comfortable as the Sidi Canyon goretex, but comparing the two is like comparing an armored car and a tank. Both can do protective jobs, but you’d only really bet your life on the tank in all out war.
The Sidi Canyon is the armored car, protecting you from small arms fire, like light gravel roads and the average rain storm. The Sidi Canyon gortex is the M-16 tank, capable of securing the troops from all sorts of mayhem, such as big rocks, trees, water crossings and the like. The trade off is that you are a bit more cramped in the tank than in the armored car, but when you need to protect yourself at all costs, bet on the Sidi Adventure goretex boot.
One thing I really like about the Sidi Adventure goretex over the Sidi Canyon goretex is the stiffer sole. Not that noticeable while walking, it is immediately noticeable while standing on the pegs, especially when taking any hits. Far less jolt is transmitted to the feet and to my 50+ year old feet, that is a godsend. For some, that may represent a tradeoff in “feel”, but if you’ve ridden in motocross style boots, there will be as much if not more feel in the Sidi Canyon Adventure than in a pure motocross boot. However, if you’ve only ridden in street boots, you’ll notice the extra stiffness and that may take some acclimation time. It should be no big deal.
There have been reports of squeaking with walking but I’ve yet to experience it which is a good thing. I’ve read reports that if it does occur, WD-40 or such lubricants will stop the noise, but the downside is that they generally dry up and would require reapplication. However as I said, I have not experienced any squeaking in over 3 months use to date.
The Sidi Adventure goretex boots are also fairly heavy, significantly more than your average street boot. But if you are going to buy the Sidi Adventure goretex boot, you should be a more off road oriented rider, otherwise you are wasting your money. You’d be better served buying the Sidi Canyon goretex which is less expensive and more on road oriented.
So when all is said and done, are the Sidi Adventure Goretex boots worth their significantly lofty price? For those people who spend a good deal (i.e. more than 50% of their time on gravel or off paved roads, but still want a boot that is comfortable and usable on the street; the answer is a resounding yes. They can be the single pair of boots that do it all for you. On road, off road, woods, walking about, these boots can do it all.
But if you do more than 50% of your riding on pavement, you may want to look at less expensive alternatives. The Sidi Canyon being one since they can do 75% of what the Sidi Adventure can do and is signficantly less expensive. In any event, you can’t go wrong with either of these boots; it’s just that to me, a more off road oriented rider, the Sidi Adventure Goretex boot represents a very smart choice.
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
SENA SMH-10 Bluetooth Motorcycle Communicator Eval
Communications are probably one of the single most important topics on trips that are undertaken that are not solo. To ensure that everyone understands what is intended, we must all communicate the plan and we must do it well. Well Kim and I have used a number of the two way motorcycle communicators and we’d like to tell you about our experience with the Sena SMH-10. Overall, we’re pretty pleased.
By way of background, the Sena SMH-10 is the first Bluetooth communicator we have used. Previously, we had used the Collett series of radios the last being the Collett Platinum 900. While we found the communicators to be good performers, we did not find their reliability to be so great. They do have a 3 year 100% warranty and Collett does honor their warranty well, but who wants to have the down time associated with yearly repairs which is what we experienced.
So back to the Sena’s. Overall we’ve found the range performance of the Sena to be pretty good especially considering that it is a bluetooth device. Sena claims a reception range of “up to” 980 yards (900 meters). We’ve found that the distance in unrestricted terrain to be somewhat less, perhaps 500 – 700 yards at best. Frankly, if you are riding with friends, how often are you more than a quarter mile from them? If you are going to be that far away, perhaps you should call them on the phone, eh? For us however, the real world test of performance is in more restricted space such as in the woods or around corners in twisty terrain. Here, the range of the Sena varies significantly.
If you are in the city and are several turns ahead of your riding partner cut off by buildings, range is signifcantly decreased. The same goes for being in the woods. The more dense the terrain, the shorter the range of the communicator. However, we can say with confidence that with all our adventure riding in non-densely wooded terrain, the Sena has given us totally acceptable reception. This is really important to me as I like to know how Kim is doing when we are in the woods and I don’t always have her in sight. I believe the same goes for her wanting to keep tabs on me. As far as range goes, we’ve seen as little as 100 yards in the woods, but frankly we were really buried in there. If you’re looking for a communicator strictly for the woods, you probably do want to look elsewhere though.
As you can tell from R2ADV, we have ridden all over the world and we ride in all sorts of weather and conditions. We are constantly riding in the rain. Pouring rain; as in downpours for hours. We continued to use the Senas in these conditions and we can report that the Sena did not suffer an water related failure in 2 years of use. That’s something that the Collett couldn’t claim. We ended up returning the Colletts 3 times in 3 years for repairs.
We also ride a lot of gravel and in very dusty conditions. Both in South America and during last years Trans American Trail ride, we rode extensively in very dusty conditions where visibility was almost nil due to the bike in front or an ocassional vehicle we caught up to or passed coming from the opposite direction. We literally were covered in thick dust at the end of the day and the Senas still worked flawlessly.
The Sena’s charge fairly rapidly. Ours are the V3.0s and the V4.0s are now widely available. The V3.0s will fully charge in 3 – 4 hours. Sena claims that the V4.0 will charge in 2. We can’t confirm that claim since as we said earlier, our experience is with the V3.0. but it seems a bit strange to this non-engineer that a firmware update would reduce the full charging time. Perhaps an EE can comment in our comment section and voice an opinion.
Ultimately, after two full hard years of use, we have experienced some problems with one of the Senas. One unit must be positioned just right to receive a charge. It seems that there is a poor connection inside the unit. In addition, the audio has become extremely distorted and has almost become unuseable. It transmits well, but the receive audio is so bad it is almost impossible to understand the incoming communication. Since the Sena comes with a 2 year warranty and these units are out of warranty. Unfortuately, we won’t be able to test Sena’s warranty support on the older failing unit. However, we do have a replacement pair that were shipped to us new in non-working condition, so we’ll let you know how Sena handles their warranty service as this plays out.
So when all is said and done, would we recommend the Sena SMH-10. The answer is a fairly enthusiastic yes with a couple of caveats. As long as you are not depending on the Sena SMH-10 for 100% woods riding, or very long distance communications, the Sena is a pretty good tool. Our experience has been with these kind of electronics, a couple of years use is about what you can expect to get for service. Priced at about $300 for a pair, they are not inexpensive, but for the communications, added bit of safety and overall communications, we think they are worth it.
We hope you found this review helpful.
Mike and Kim
Ride2Adventure – Shrink The Planet One Ride At A Time
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Part 5)
The ferry Sir Robert Bond effortlessly cruised up the bay so as to deliver us on time and early in the morning in Cartwright. The short overnight cruise had been uneventful and we slept heavily until the morning arrival announcement awakened us. Offloading was a cinch and we found ourselves deposited in Cartwright hungry and in need of fuel. First things first, we immediately made… breakfast the priority.
Not being a very large town, not too far from the ferry dock we found a small diner where the locals were busy getting ready for the day. We joined them, munched down some good local fare and inquired about obtaining fuel. They told us the only gas station in town would open around 8:30 and it was now 7:30. Kim and I looked at each other and decided that with the extra fuel I was carrying we would head on towards Port Hope Simpson where fuel was available and where we planned to stay for the night.
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture and then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
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- Somewhere on the TLH.
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- Dave Noel and his sons.
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- Just outide Red Bay. If you look closely, you can see the icebergs floating in the harbor.
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- Look closely and you can see the mist from the whale spouts.
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- Look closely and you can see the mist from the whale spouts.
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- Look closely and you can see the mist from the whale spouts.
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- Look closely and you can see the mist from the whale spouts.
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- Icebergs in Red Bay Labrador
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- Icebergs in Red Bay Labrador
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- Icebergs in Red Bay Labrador
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- Icebergs in Red Bay Labrador. Notice the whale spout in the foreground.
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- Icebergs in Red Bay Labrador.
We meandered along the TLH enjoying ourselves and the scenery, just soaking everything in. It was decent weather, we were in no particular rush and in fuel saving mode. We’d been traveling a couple of hours. Cruising along, I looked into my rearview mirror and saw a dust cloud and two headlights coming our way at a high rate of speed. They weren’t spaced evenly so it wasn’t a car or truck. As I stopped to see what was coming, my guess was confirmed. It was our friends Roy and Jeff from the ferry. They had waited for the gas station to open and were high tailing it to try to make the ferry at Blanc Sablon. They had covered in one hour what we had in two. They were moving!
We chatted briefly and they decided to get going so they didn’t miss the ferry at Blanc Sablon. We wished them well and their bikes and their dust cloud soon vanished in the distance. Their bikes having disappeared over the horizon, it was time for us to make our own headway towards Port Hope Simpson to get the fuel we needed and obtain respite from the black flies which had recently made themselves known in full force. In fact, for one photo stop, Kim refused to open her faceshield lest she immediately be swarmed by the nasty little critters. She was right, it was better to keep moving.
After some beautiful riding and some very abbreviated photo stops, we arrived in Port Hope Simpson and found the General Store that also sold fuel. To our surprise, we found some familiar faces. Yes indeed, it was our friends Roy and Jeff from the ferry once again. It seemed that the power was out in town and therefore, the fuel pumps were not working. We chatted and walked into the General Store to find out if they knew when the power might come back on.
The clerk there told us not to worry, that the power should come back on in an hour or so. She told us that this always happened when the guys down at the saw mill turned up the power without calling first and it trips off the breaker. That puts that part of the town out of power until the circuit could be reset. So we waited around for about an hour and sure as the sun rises the power came back on and we were able to fill all our bikes.
Unfortunately for Roy and Jeff, they were now truly under a time deadline and they REALLY had to make a beeline for Blanc Sablon if they wanted to make the ferry before it left the dock. (We found out later that they did make it but only by a matter of minutes.)
Fully fueled, we headed to the only accommodations in town and settled in. We were sitting in our room relaxing when the phone rang. Kim and I simultaneously looked at each other with bewildered looks. Who would be calling us in a little tiny hotel in Port Hope Simpson in northern Labrador? I walked over to the phone and picked it up wondering who might be on the other end.
A unfamilar voice said “Mike”? Yes, I replied warily. The voice on the other end said, “Hi, it’s Dave Noel. We’ve been corresponding on the Ride The Rock forum and I thought I’d come over and say hi.” I was shocked but really pleased. Dave and I had been chatting on the excellent Ride The Rock forum (you can find the link on our links page) when I was planning the TLH ride and Dave had been following my postings on ADVRider.com (you can also find their link on our links page) He took it upon himself to ride over 25 miles on gravel from his home town Mary’s Harbor, just to say hello to someone he had never met. In what other community would that kind of hospitality be shown? I was amazed and pleased to no end. I met Dave in the “lobby” and we went back to our room for a chat and we decided that the three of us would ride together tomorrow for a while. We would meet at Dave’s house and ride from there.
The following morning we easily found Dave’s house and met his family, his wife and two sons. Soon we were on the TLH headed towards Red Bay. The trip had been cool, and along the way we found how cool it had been. It was mid June and we found large patches of… SNOW! More than enough to make snowballs and enough for Dave to try to sneak in a couple of sneaky snowball attacks! However, I am pleased to report that he was unable to connect any either of these New Hampshire natives.
As we approached Red Bay we stopped for a couple of pictures. We were on an elevated portion of the TLH with a partial view of Red Bay. In the distance we could see the bay and I could see white specs in the water. I was somewhat speechless. I told Kim to look closely behind her and look in the bay. Did she see what I saw? Were there really icebergs in the bay? Now we were really excited because neither of us had ever seen icebergs in person. Dave humored us and we descended into Red Bay.
As we approached, it became clear that the specs were indeed icebergs and they were majestic. Sparkling white and huge, they floated silently in the bay. We did not sense any motion, but they floated there like barren white islands of various shapes and sizes, daring you to describe them. Some were gigantic, towering monoliths of ice, jutting out of the water. It amazed us to think that fully two thirds of the berg lay under water. Others were smaller and flatter, still white almost silver in color, again defying description.
We stopped at a small restaurant in town and had lunch with Dave. He needed to get home so we wished him the best and thanked him for taking the time to come and meet us and share this journey with us. We remain friends to this day.
After we said our goodbyes, we rode closer to the bay to gain the best view of the icebergs and yet another magical thing happened. As I was sitting on my KTM staring, I noticed a spray of water in front of the iceberg. Then another, and still another. My mouth dropped agape. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There from the side of the road, right in front of me, were several icebergs and in front and around the icebergs were several pods of Humpback whales feeding! They were breeching and if I listened carefully, I could even hear them blowing. It was a spectacular sight. One that I will probably never experience again. There must have been more than 100 whales feeding.
As I sat beside the road, a local came out of his house and said, “Pretty good show huh?” They were here all day yesterday and today.” I was dumbfounded. All I could mumble was, “Yes, it’s a great show, I am so happy to be here to enjoy it.” So everyone, I was lucky enough to have my little point and shoot camera with me which had a video mode. Because it’s a little point and shoot the video isn’t excellent, but I think it’s worthwhile. Therefore, I am indeed pleased to share with you the best whale watch I’ve ever been on, (including those on boats hehe) that was taken from the side of the road on my KTM motorcycle. You can find it here:
We sat there for an hour watching and listening to the whales. It was an amazing experience. Words just can’t describe it, it’s one of things that you just have to experience for yourself. We could have watched for hours, but we too had an appointment with the ferry at Blanc Sablon and it was time for us to make our way there. So with significant regret, we mounted up again and made our way towards our next stop at Blanc Sablon and the ferry to Newfoundland where we’ll take you in Part 6
Motorcyclists – Who Are Those People And Why Should They Share?
Having written R2ADV for a couple of months now and expounded on the virtues of recording your journeys so that you can recall them yourselves and also share them with others, a comment on a recent post has gotten me to thinking. After telling you all to do so, an anonymous poster commented that all the scenery etc. pictures were nice, but the one Kim and I would always allow us to remember the journey and the good time we had. Thank you anonymous poster!
So with that bit of wisdom, I had to think I failed to reinforce how important those recordings are to the person who takes the picture as well. Stopping to take the picture is not only for sharing with others, but for sharing with yourself later. OK you say, so what? Well, you might not look at that picture for years or you might look at it regularly, but if it re-kindles the passion for the ride that you took, then you have succeeded. Succeed in getting yourself out to ride and perhaps getting someone else excited enough to get out there as well. So that’s a big deal on two levels, that’s what!
It also dawned on me that we’d never properly introduced ourselves, or given you a taste of how we share our adventures. Frankly, we always ride together on journeys of any significant length, and almost always on shorter journeys. What could be better than traveling with your best friend eh? It’s with this thought in mind that I thought that I would share with you on two levels; the first level is an attempt to show how important taking pictures for later enjoyment and sharing can be. The second level is to act as a brief introduction into who we are. I think you’ll get the idea. We hope you like these pictures and the inspire you to do the same on your travels. Perhaps you’d be so kind to share some with us here?
We hope you enjoy these. If the response is good, we may even put up a second set.
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture and then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
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- Somewhere in Vermont, USA
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- Somewhere in Vermont, USA
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- Baie Comeau, Quebec, Canada
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- Near Mt. McKinley, Alaska, USA
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- Near Mt. McKinley, Alaska, USA
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- Somewhere on the Trans Labrador Highway,
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- Chicken Creek, Alaska, USA
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- Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, Canada
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- Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, Canada
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- Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
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- Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
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- Root glacier, McCarthy, Alaska, USA
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- Greenland Maine, USA
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- At the helm outside Seward, Alaska, USA
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- Kim and Mike at Rocky Harbor, Newfoundland, Canada
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- Dinner and too much wine at the Fresh Water Inn and Bistro, Gambo, Newfoundland
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- In line for the ferry, Argentia, Newfoundland.
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- Getting in line for the ferry. Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
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- Side car fun in Eagle River Alaska, USA
Transiting The Trans Labrador Highway & Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Part 4)
We awoke to light drizzle but with an increasing outlook for sun. We were headed for Goose Bay, but we’d have an intermediate stop in Red Bay and it was to be an exciting experience, one that we’d not soon forget. We left our combination hotel, restaurant, supermarket, high school building and packed the bikes. Soon we were off the paved roads of the town of Churchill Falls and back out on the gravel of the Trans Labrador Highway.
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, so did our spirits as the clouds parted and the temperatures rose. Today was going to be a truly nice ride and we were about to reach one of our milestone places, Goose Bay. From Goose Bay, we were going to take the ferry to Cartwright and the final run through Labrador to Blanc Sablon where we’d take another ferry to Newfoundland. Goose Bay was to be , the beginning of another adventure in our adventure. We were psyched!
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture and then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
During the day’s trip, the gravel was to transform many times. We were had been impressed with the overall condition of the TLH, the stories we’d heard of how dangerous it was for bikes hadn’t seemed to be true. Caution was indeed necessary as was demonstrated by Kim’s get off outside of Labrador City. But overall, the gravel had been fairly uniform and other than the hazards presented by the road graders, the road condition had been pretty good.
Today however, was a day of road and sky transformations. It seemed that the road condition changed with the sky. The clearer the sky became, the deeper and looser the gravel became. Later in the day as it began to cloud up again, the road firmed up and became almost like pavement. It was truly strange. But enough about the road conditions. We were headed for Goose Bay!
We traveled over and between verdant forests. Many shades of green contrasting on the same hill or mountainside. It was an irregular patchwork of greens, a pattern chosen by nature into a decoration of magical proportions. All the while, we swooped and dived between the mountains on a path of stone and sand. It was a symphony of nature and music for my ears was unnecessary because the music of nature before my eyes played in my head as I rode.
Time passed very quickly even though by this time we were in and out of rain showers. Before we knew it we made it to the greeting sign for Goose Bay and Happy Valley. It had stopped raining for the moment and it gave us the opportunity to take some pictures in front of the sign as evidence that we had made it. Someone had left a marker of their achievement as well and built a rock man figure to the left of the sign letting all others know that people they had been there previously. and now so had we.
Shortly thereafter, it started to rain again and we headed to our hotel for a day and a half layover since the ferry would not be leaving until then. We parked the bikes and unpacked the gear we needed in the rain. Once in our room we dried off and warmed up. It had become quite chilly by this point and the warmth of the hotel was greatly appreciated. Now all we needed was a hot dinner. Luckily for us, there was a small restaurant right next to the hotel and we headed on over.
They were serving a buffet and we passed a gentleman in the line. I guess we look like “bikers” because he asked are you the two on the bikes? We told him that indeed we were. He said that he noticed our New Hampshire license plates and remarked that we had ridden a long way from home. We told him we enjoyed the ride, especially over the TLH and that we were now headed to the end at Blanc Sablon and the ferry to Newfoundland, then on to Nova Scotia. He said he was very interested in our trip and asked if he could join us for dinner to chat about it. Of course we said yes and we had a terrific dinner discussing where we had been and were going on this trip and about adventure riding in general. In return, he told us about himself and his family. He was the local pastor in Goose Bay and had travelled there from Quebec a few years earlier. His flock was growing and he was enjoying being in Labrador where he said could be a part of a community where people were like family. After dinner, we wished him well and we returned to our hotel room feeling like we had become a bit part of the Goose Bay community, we learned about them and they about us. It was a nice feeling.
The following day, I did a little preventative maintenance on the bikes and we did a little looking around Goose Bay. But late in the afternoon, it was time to head to the ferry terminal to pick up the ferry to Cartwright where we continue our journey to the end of the TLH in Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Little did we know that this part of the trip was to become very, very special.
We arrived at the terminal fairly early and found ourselves one of the few vehicles in the lot. Parked at the pier was our ride to Cartwright, the Sir Robert Bond, our ferry. She was a sturdy looking vessel and we were somewhat impatient to get on board, tie down the bikes and get underway for Cartwright. It was to be an overnight trip and we had rented a berth so we could arrive fresh and rested to start the beginning of the end of our TLH ride.
Loading time came and was orchestrated very well. It was an easy process and we were supplied with tie downs for the bikes. Faster than we thought possible, we were on board and ready to depart. We walked around the Bond looking for some dinner and they did have a cafeteria. Well, it was a cafeteria, and the food quality merited the name cafeteria food, but it was food and we were hungry. Fed, we were ready to hit the sack and we adjourned to our berth for a good night’s rest. Along the way, we met a couple of other riders, from all places, Massachusetts, the state right next to New Hampshire. They too had been riding the TLH albeit at a much higher rate of speed. They were really zooming and had covered much more ground in much less time than we had. We had a good time joking around and having fun with them. In fact, so much fun that I guess we drew a complaint from someone and a member of the crew staff asked us to keep the noise down. Ooops!
Our partying done, now it was time to hit the rack. The last of the TLH lay in front of us in the morning and well tell you about this and the very special happenings (the pictures will knock your socks off!) in Part 5.
Alaska – Gravel, Grandeur & Goofy Grins (Part 8)
We hated to admit it, but it was in fact time to leave McCarthy. Time had passed so quickly, I was really somewhat upset to be leaving such a beautiful place. Kim as ever, was taking all in stride and had already packed our gear in plastic bags and was patiently awaiting the van to pick us up and drop us off at the foot bridge so we could walk the last quarter mile or so to our bikes to re-pack our gear. I truly was going to miss the Root glacier and the amazing sights and story of incredible perseverance of all those who had toiled at the Kennicott mine. But I knew there was more to come for us in Valdez and Seward, perhaps even better, and those thoughts buoyed my spirit as we prepared to leave this absolutely amazing place.
Sooner than we knew it, we were back at the foot bridge carrying all our gear back to our bikes to commence our re-packing activities and hit the road for the day and to head for Valdez. After about half an hour, we were ready to move on and we headed back out on the 60 miles of gravel back towards the pavement from whence we had come. It was a faster an easier ride than the previous one since we had already ridden the route but still an enjoyable and exciting jaunt.
By the way, if you don’t know, click on any one of the pictures in the gallery below and it will open that picture into a full size picture and then you can click your way through the remainder of the pictures in either direction in full size.
As we approached the pavement, the weather started to deteriorate and we began to experience the first rain of the day. Rain had become one of our friends during this trip and it was no big deal as we motored on happily and the temperature continued to drop. Further into the ride towards Valdez, we started to climb which helped the temperatures to drop even more. The wind began to pick up significantly and the temperature began to plummet. Snowflakes started to fly as they were ripped from the not too distant clouds just above us. They roiled above us and we could see them being swept up the side of the mountains but being halted at the summit by some other competing wind. The sun began to fade and the weather was truly beginning to get nasty.
I radioed to Kim over the communicators to stop so we could add some layers and check our maps for location and distance to Valdez. We stopped to check our map and found that we were almost right in front of the Worthington glacier. It rolled down the side of the mountain in extending two icy fingers in a “V” for victory having made its way across and over the top of the mountain ending right next to the road we were on. It was impressive! It had made it across the mountain where the clouds had been unable to.
After checking our maps, we found that we were not that far away and if the snow didn’t pick up, we could probably make it into Valdez in a couple of hours or less. After taking a few pictures of the Worthington glacier we were off again and headed to Valdez in the snow and rain. As we neared Valdez, the clouds continued to lower and we were concerned that we may hit some really difficult weather and intense snow. But as we entered a canyon, several blue holes opened overhead and the sun burst through in bright flashes. So there was hope to make it to Valdez and there was a sun above! Great!
The road began to twist and turn surrounded with high jagged rock canyon walls covered in greenery. If the weather were better, this road would have been the kind boy racers would enjoy quite a bit. But as nature would have it, there was another show to be viewed that would slow us down. Under a blue hole, in the sunlight, a cascade of white water crashed down from above. Bouncing from prominence to prominence, the water cascaded in a flash of white and a veil of misty fog. We had to stop to take it all in. In fact, while we were there, several folks were similarly effected and chose to stop as well. It was a feast for the eyes; a delicious sight.
After a few photos it was back onto the bikes and only a short jaunt to Valdez. The rain picked up again, but was an on and off affair for the two days while we visited. So in the on and off rain, we decided that it would be a good idea to visit Valdez and meet some of the locals and find out a little about the city.
We took the time to visit Valdez’s two museums full of information about the history, establishment and people of Valdez, as well as Good Friday earthquake and tsunami that wiped out most of the city in 1964. We saw a specimen of the extremely rare Alaskan Furry Koho salmon. It was encased in a glass enclosed case so you couldn’t pet it, or eat it. Those Alaskans, they protect their rare species carefully.
We later met the curator of the museum who gave us the opportunity to have our picture taken with an Authentic Alaskan hunting rifle saying that “everything is bigger in Alaska”. Shortly thereafter he came out with a 7 foot long rifle that you will see in the pictures here. Quite a guy that curator.
Did you know that Valdez claims to be Alaska’s snow capital? We had a chance to check some of their snow removal equipment and if it’s an indicator of the snow they get, we don’t doubt them. Snow machines 15 1/2 foot tall with 5 1/2 tall augers tell of a need to move a lot of snow; and there are several of them. When the auger of the machine is taller than my wife, you know its a big machine.
We also saw several examples of the symbol of our country flying around the harbor. Bald eagles are plentiful in the area and they can be seen quite regularly in Valdez. It was great to see them and they are just as majestic as you would think they are.
After two days of rain in Valdez, it was time to move on to Seward. By this time, the weather looked to be clearing a bit and we were anxious to be moving in some sun. We planned a full days ride with a couple of stops along the way. The first stop was to be in Girdwood at the Alyeska Tramway, a ski area that has a view of Turnagain Arm. Girdwood is also known for the Girdwood festival which has Alaskan artists, exotic foods and entertainers from all over Alaska. The ride was once again beautiful with curving roads alongside the ocean and mountains. The views were spectacular as the harbor was as placid as a mill pond and it reflected the surrounding mountains. It was a wonderful sight.
We parked at Alyeska and took the tram to the top. It was even more spectacular. From a white snow covered perch, you were witness to an amazing view of Turnagain harbor stretched out in front you. As if by some magical plan, a parasailer floated silently by us and down to the valley floor below. The water of the harbor was blue and sparkled in the sun, reflecting the surrounding mountains. It was perfect.
Again, we could have stayed forever, but we had to make Seward in one day, so we hopped back on the tram and headed down the mountain and got back on the bikes. Not too far from Alyeska, we spied a sign that pointed us to the Wildlife Conservation Center. Kim enjoys seeing “wild” animals so we set our course for the Center. It turned out that it was a drive through center where people drive through with their cars to see the animals. We were on bikes. Hmmm…. do we really want to be in a wild animal center on bikes? Can I really accelerate that hard on a fully loaded adventure bike? Do I really like wild animals that much?
Never fear we were told, all the “dangerous” animals were fenced in. So we paid our fee and visited with bison, elk, moose, musk ox, caribou, and supposedly bears which we never saw (although we saw the pelvis of some poor departed animal in their enclosure). Do you know that a musk ox makes a sound that sounds like a lion’s/tiger’s growl. I’m here to tell you that I heard it up close, and it does and it’s impressive. All in all, it turned out to be a good experience with the opportunity to get pretty close to the animals and see their behaviors. It was money well spent.
Time was indeed fleeting and we needed to get to Seward. So we said our goodbyes to the animals and hightailed it the rest of the way to Seward in clearing and brightening weather. When we got to our hotel, little did we realize that we would once again be surrounded by wild animals. We’ll tell you more in Part 9.
Ride2ADV 