And I’m in Ontario now, in my motel room having my tuna Subway sandwich (on flat bread). Today I covered 758km; for trip total of ~2765km so far.
Let’s see how may day was. Well, first of all my previous night wasn’t that great. Which was the logical follow-up to an exhausting day, I suppose; in a Murphy’s law kind of way! In the middle of the night, I’ve awoken to yelling coming from the adjacent room. It kept going for a while, before the screaming girl sounded like she started packing her stuff, then ended up leaving the room. Shortly after, quiet resumed, but I struggled to fall back asleep. Fast forward a few hours, and it’s morning.
I get up, and try to pack my stuff as fast as I can to get away from this place/town. It hasn’t been a good day/night. I take all my stuff down to my bike (I really need to get some lockable hard cases. Bringing all my stuff and soft cases (worried they’d get stolen if I leave them on my bike, with my clothes in them) to my room, every evening is getting tiresome. I usually require like three trips to my room to get everything. Then another three trips next day to mount everything back on! Hard cases would save me a lot of time and effort. I’d take only what I’d need for the night, and leave everything else locked in the hard cases. Why I don’t have hard cases you say? Well they’re expensive. A good set would set me back ~$1000. Whereas soft cases cost ~$200-$300. Also, I’m relatively inexperienced with very long trips (more than three days), and how little things that one may tolerate otherwise (many trips to the room) could become easily aggravating after a few days on a long trip, especially if you didn’t get enough sleep!!!!!!!!). So, I get my bike on its center-stand; to lube the chain. I put the key in the ignition, start the bike in neutral, (I’m not sitting on the bike) and just as I was about to shift gears into first, (to have the chain circulate; for fast & easy lube spraying) I remember that I hadn’t taken off the U-lock on the back wheel. Too late! Boom! The wheel turns, then the bike immediately stalls, as the U-lock gets stuck under the seat, in the rear wheel well.
The U-lock and the wheel are stuck. Unlocking the U-lock isn’t working, because I can’t dislodge the U-lock from its locking latches. I put the gears back into neutral, and try to roll the rear wheel backwards to free the stuck U-lock. After a few attempts it works. It’s getting hot in here! It’s a hot and sunny day, I’m sweating. My hands are black and dirty, from handling the rear wheel. My day isn’t off to a pleasant start. I mount my gear on the bike, get on my bike, and head to the nearby gas station. I take off and don’t look back!
Less than an hour later and I’m making my way into Manitoba. I continue my way to Winnipeg, MB, where I plan to have lunch at The Forks. I get there around 1:30PM. The Forks, is a historical site, which has the typical fresh produce market, food court & restaurants, artisans, some music band(s) playing, street artists, etc… You have kids running all over the place, eating ice-cream, and chasing ducks on the nearby river. You hear the laughter of near-by people. If it wasn’t for the loud music band, it would’ve been relaxing. Nevertheless, I grab myself a lunch, and sit down and enjoy the sun, and the fresh air.
Back on the saddle. The rest of the ride through Manitoba, was rather uneventful. Which is really great, considering the day before. The weather also isn’t too hot. I had planned to pass by West Hawk Lake, MB. While planning for my trip, I had looked at popular destinations along my path. I’d visit the ones that aren’t much of a detour. And West Hawk Lake, MB seemed a popular destination, which is just before the Ontario border. As I was getting closer to Ontario, I could see the landscape change. The trees are starting to change, the opposing traffic is getting heavier. I suppose everyone is making their way back home (from West Hawk Lake maybe) at the end of this Canada Day long weekend. I arrive at West Hawk Lake, MB. I could see this being a popular place. It’s a rather nice beach. Considering that in Canada, beaches aren’t one of its selling points! It was late afternoon, so the place was rather empty.
Anyways, I get back on the road. Now, I can see that the traffic that was behind me has caught up with me. It’s funny how I have shared the road with other vehicles, either for the day, or from BC. They’d pass me. Then, I’d pass them. We’d give each other this awkward hey how you doin‘ look, when we make pit stops. It oddly makes those strange roads, more familiar.
I cross into Ontario, and I continue on Highway 17. It’s rather very isolated, with virtually no traffic at all. I kept checking my GPS to make sure I didn’t make a wrong turn somewhere, but I was on the right path. It sure was a very scenic segment though. Lakes everywhere, with trees and all, going through twisty roads, through hills and rocks. Finally, a road segment fit for a nice afternoon motorcycle ride! I was enjoying the ride so much, that I didn’t think to stop and snap a few pictures.
I hadn’t booked a hotel for tonight either, as I thought I may get further ahead. For all my two-week trip, I have all my hotels booked, except for three nights. Last night being the first, today would be the second, and the third’s somewhere in New-Brunswick, on my way back. However, I do have a list of accommodations per area, so I know where to go. My options for tonight were Kenora, ON, which was not far away coming ahead. My two other options were Vermilion Bay, ON, which was another ~100km, or Dryden, ON which was an additional ~50km. Since it was just a little before 5PM, I figured I would go the extra 150km, to Dryden, as I still had some energy left in me, and sunset wasn’t for another four hours.
I passed by another speeding victim, intercepted by a LEO. I think this is the third or fourth (one in each province I think) cop that was hunting for speeders crossing into provinces as the speed limits, and the laws would change. Going on long trips, you are bound to speed, as a simple 10km extra per hour on a ten-hour day would give you an additional 100km covered in your day. If you go more, then obviously you cover more distance in the same time frame, and you’d recover time spent/lost for rest stops, snacks, fuel, taking pictures, etc… I accept that I’m bound to get at least one speeding ticket on this trip.
The rest of the day goes by very quietly. Which I really love. Very nice weather, the sun is falling down behind me. There are nice empty twisty roads. And I finally reach Dryden, ON. I make way to the one motel that I had planned on the itinerary. It’s a very nice motel on the highway. The rooms are on the ground floor, where I can park my bike right by the door to my room. Very convenient considering I have to unload/load my luggage. I should look & book for more motels like this. The motel’s owners are from Europe. The gentleman and his wife used to live in the BC Interior. They found this motel on sale, and decided to buy it and run it. I say they’re doing a great job. Best stop so far. The owner did reminisce about the Interior, and said he’d love to go back there and live there.
And that’s the end of today. Today’s expenses were $66.25 for fuel, $20.12 for food, and $100.57 for lodging. The motel is excellent so far. It’s very quiet. I should be able to get a full night’s sleep this time!
