Reflections

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I have taken time to reflect on what I have done and where I have been this summer. Some memories seem to be embedded and reappear regularly, while others return involuntarily, in short flashes. It is all part of my story and I want to put it down before I forget too much.

Recently, I was asked to try to sum up, in one or two words, my feelings on the trip as a whole. That stymied me for a minute, but then I realized what it is - accomplished. I accomplished my goal of travelling by motorcycle across the country and back, but I also accomplished six weeks of learning about our country and our neighbours. I saw the beauty as well some of the ugliness of this continent, but have come away with the overall feeling that we live in a pretty wonderful place. I confirmed that the visual part of touring is only part of the value, with the other and often more significant part associated with the people you deal with and meet along the way. Travelling on my own and on a motorcycle, I believe I had more opportunities to experience the people and cultures than I would have had travelling in a car and/or with others.

This was a trip that I will never do again without a specific purpose other than just doing it, but it is a trip that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. I thought one of the key outcomes would be the bragging rights that come from making such a journey on a motorcycle. Although that exists, for me the key outcome is the knowledge I have gained about this country of ours. Even now, I find myself listening to the news on the radio with a new ear for places that were but words in the past, and a new realization that the people going through the events reported are people who are more like me than I used to think.

I have many memories locked away in my mind, but the hospitality of old and new friends like Jim and Barbara, Ron and Caddie, Sylvain and Manon, Bob, Ken and Salina, and Heather and Pat are special memories that will remain as highlights for me. In a different way, places like Halifax, Fredericton, and Antigonish were highlights of the places I visited and hope to return to in the future.
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Statistics:

Travel days - Planned: 48 Actual: 44 Variance: -4
I took one less day in Maine for no particular reason, lost a day in PEI due to weather, and stayed one less day than planned in both Winnipeg and Regina.

Distance- Planned: 12600km Actual: 14200km Variance: +1600km
I basically travelled the planned route. I put down the variance to the error estimating using the Google Maps to estimate distance, because I jumped from one major centre to another without accounting for the actual routing of the road. Over 14000km that adds up.

Total Cost- Planned: $8100 Actual: $5000 Variance: -$3100
It is always nice to be under budget, but this difference is excessive. Some of the key reasons are:

• I travelled 4 fewer days than planned
  
• I stayed at Mom & Pop motels exclusively, other than in Halifax and Winnipeg. Although these are typically a bit rougher than the chain motels, they are significantly less costly. They don’t have the frills like pools or waterslides, which I wouldn’t have used.
  
• The motels in the US cost much less than I expected and they were not rough at all. In fact I never found a motel in Canada to compare favourably with those in the US for the same money.
  
• My food costs were less. I didn’t scrimp on the quality of food, but I was conscious of the fact I wasn’t burning much energy, so I kept my intake down. I bought a lot of suppers at grocery stores and then took the food back to the motel or out to a park to enjoy. This was typically half the price of a restaurant and there was no one I had to tip.
  
• Fuel costs were slightly less, but close to my estimate.
  
• Road and ferry tolls were less than planned, because I didn’t take one ferry that I thought I would at Tobermory, ON
  
• I didn’t spend anywhere near the money I thought I would on film. I just didn’t do much serious photography on the trip. My record shots were all digital.
  
• I budgeted much more for entertainment and exploring than I needed; nevertheless, I didn’t leave out anything I wanted to do on the trip.

Touring on a Motorcycle

I have done a fair bit of touring on a motorcycle in the past, but never anything of this duration or distance. My motorcycle, the ST1100, behaved perfectly for the whole trip. The heavy loading had an impact on handling on the twisty roads, but none on the high speed highways. I knew that would be the case, so it didn’t affect my riding enjoyment.

I like the freedom and adventurous feeling I get when travelling on my motorcycle. It is quite unlike anything I feel when touring in a car. There is something special about packing in the early morning, donning my leathers, pulling on my helmet and slipping on my gauntlets before swinging my leg over the seat to pick up the foot pegs as I start the motor between my legs that will carry me wherever I want to go during the day ahead. My guess is that it is not unlike what a rider on horseback experiences at the start of every day while travelling in the outback. There is that little thrill I get each morning and often other times during the day when, for example, I ride off under the scrutiny of the eyes of another man who wishes he was riding alongside me. Oh yes, I hear everyone’s horror story of the motorcycle accident of all times that claimed a friend of theirs or left them crippled for life, and those are all frightening. But those who don’t ride can’t hope to grasp the thrill and fun of the ride itself - the thrill that makes the risk worth it. Like everything else in life, managing the risk is important. I always remember the words from the first motorcycle safety class that attended when I was learning to ride, “The motorcyclist has no right of way,” (not the law, but a good rule) and “keep your ego in your back pocket.” Those two points have helped me form riding habits that minimize some of the risks I face as a motorcyclist on the road. One of the challenges on such a long trip is not to become complacent and be lulled into a sense of safety just because everything has gone well up to that moment in time.

I was continuously reminded of the economics of motorcycle travel as I travelled amongst the RVs, fifth wheelers, and motor homes on the highway. In five to seven days of travel one of those vehicles would use what I did for my whole trip. Still, they didn’t seem to mind pushing their foot to the floor in order to pass me travelling at 120 kph, as they pushed a dam of air in front of them that slammed into my helmet as they passed.

Next Time

There won’t be a next-time like this one. I don’t think I will ever make such a long trip on a motorcycle again. This trip was a lot about the ride, so it was worth the effort, but I missed some other aspects of travel. If I really want to do serious photography on a trip, I need to be able to bring more equipment, be able to stop at almost any place along the road, and be able to take off on a gravel back road to get the shot I want. That means I need to travel in a car.

In spite of that conclusion, there are still a couple of relatively long motorcycle trips I want to take on the horizon. One is to ride to Prince Rupert, take the ferry down the inlet passage to Port Hardy, and ride down Vancouver Island, returning home through Sidney, Hope, Nelson and Cranbrook. The other is the well known ride down the west coast, right to San Diego. This will happen all in good time, but before my 66th birthday. I have decided I will probably stop riding motorcycles by then.

Blogging

I’ve enjoyed the outcomes of blogging. It has provided a good record of my trip written while thoughts and memories were still fresh in my mind, eliminated the need for endless retelling of my story once home, and provided some interest for my friends and relations who chose to keep up with my travels. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my writing skills as well. There is definitely something motivational about it, creating some pressure to write things down, express feelings, and relate stories of characters met. I will do it again.

Trying to keep the blog up to date was stressful, because of the lack of access to the internet on a consistent basis. In the future, if I am going to keep up to date with such an extensive blog, I will travel with a laptop and take advantage of the countless free, wireless connections to the internet that are available in cafes, bookstores, and motels.

The TransCanada Highway

Living in Alberta in the 50s when the TransCanada was built from Calgary to Banff, I remember thinking how wonderful it was to have a country connected by a contiguous road that, I thought, had one common identifier for its whole length - that being TransCanada Highway #1. On this trip I discovered that is not the case. Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, PEI, and Newfoundland have all chosen this common identifier. New Brunswick has nominally conformed and has put the #1 on one portion of the road in their province. On the other hand, Ontario and Quebec, the so called big brothers of this Confederation of ours, have retained whatever provincial highway number they previously had. Further, as you travel along these roads in those provinces you will be hard pressed to actually find the TransCanada Highway logo on a road sign. I was disappointed. Is this just an oversight? I think I will write my MP and present my little rant. My thought is that it won’t change a thing, but I’ll feel better.

Drivers

In 1999 I took a long motorcycle trip down to Bend, Oregon. During that trip I noticed that if I was travelling at 120 kph, not many cars passed me, and at 130, almost none. On the main roads on this trip if I travelled at 120 kph I was the slowest vehicle on the road. This not only applied to cars and other motorcycles, but also to huge recreational vehicles and transport trucks, whose drivers, if there had been any need for emergency evasive action at the speeds they were travelling, would have had no hope of safely controlling their vehicle.

I know, there are good and bad drivers in every province, but those from Ontario are notable. I have never travelled in anyplace, other than maybe the mainland of China, where so many drivers drifted across the centre line of the highway. I counted a minimum of a couple everyday, some with only a tire over, while others with a quarter of their car over the centre line. Each one caused a bit of an adrenalin rush inside as I quickly planned a strategy for avoiding them if they didn’t correct their careless driving. I really didn’t need that in my day.

When I was subjected to some strong side winds on the prairies and found myself fighting for control of my bike, almost all the drivers passing me took care to give me lots of room when passing. That made it easier to concentrate on my riding and not worry about avoiding others at that uncomfortable time on the bike. I was thankful for that.

Wind

I can handle rain while riding my motorcycle. Once I get my raingear on I feel like the fearless traveller trudging on through tough times, but riding with wind can be one of the least enjoyable times on a bike.

I have come to the conclusion that this continent of ours has to be one of the windiest places in the world. I thought once I was off the prairies I would have fewer problems with wind, but that was not the case. Almost every day of the trip had one or more hours of strong winds, some gale force. Thankfully, most of the time it was from the front or behind, but when it came from the side it sort of took the fun out of the ride. Mind you, the effect on the bike forced me to stay focussed on riding and I guess I should think of that as a positive thing, but I think I was well focussed without the added challenge of trying to stay on the road as the wind tried to propel me across it.

Packing

I used everything I packed at least once and there was nothing more I wished that I had taken. The only thing that I would not take again is my ham radio. The radio I took could also receive normal radio and weather radio, so that was useful, but I was disappointed when I tried to contact other ham radio operators on the trip.

Ten to fifteen years ago, I could call up the local ham repeater in any city or town I approached and someone would respond. Such contacts can be a great deal of help when you come into a strange place. On this trip, when I called, the repeater signal came up but no hams responded. There were some exceptions at Marquette, Michigan; St. John, NB; and Fredericton, NB; where I had good chats with local hams.

The End

Finally, I would like to thank those of you who sent me encouragement to keep writing and also to all of you for putting up with my sometimes poor grammar and strange spelling. Words like “hay day” instead of “hey day”; “kiyak” instead of “kayak”; “idealic” rather than “idyllic”; or "Fredricton" rather than "Fredericton" must have given a chuckle to some. For those of you that thought my first versions were alright - I’m glad to have brought you this little learning moment.

This is the last entry I will make about this wonderful and adventuresome trip. I am in a bit of a slump after so much stimulation and having a bit of trouble getting motivated to get on with the numerous projects and tasks I’ve let slide. I’m sure I’ll get into gear soon, but I’ll continue to be challenged about what my next adventure will be. Maybe ‘nothing’ for a while will be satisfactory, but that state won’t last forever.

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Comments

[Terry B]

Sum up from a reader
Jack; This was a wonderful way to rap up your blog. I know I speak for many when I say, I really looked forward to reading about your exploits, checking out the Google map to see if I might have driven the route at some time in the past etc. I especially enjoyed your stories about the people encounters. You're much more open about approaching strangers than I would have been. I hope this isn't your last trip and Blog. You have a talent for this. Keep it up and remember that 66 is the new 56 !!! Cheers your old friend Terry