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Rain, was the theme of the day. Along with construction on my route from Dryden, ON to Marathon, ON. Today was a rather shorter ride; 629Km. I had planned to have longer days at the beginning of the trip, since I’d still be fresh; expecting for the fatigue to starting kicking on day 3-4, which is right about now.

Spending the night in Marathon, ON. Oh, upon my arrival at the motel, I had discovered that my side-stand has lost a bolt, and now it has only one bolt left holding it to the bike. That’s too much pressure for one bolt. I’m using the center-stand for now. But, I need to replace that lost bolt; soon. I can’t put the bike on center-stand every time I pull at a gas station! But, that’s what’s going to happen unless I find a fitting bolt. An intermediate solution would be just to get a screw/bolt that is thick yet would fit inside that bolt-less hole. This way, when I stop, I can just shove this “temporary” bolt; to help off-load some weight from the one remaining bolt.

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!

I’ve been on the saddle for 929Km today. That’s my new record on a motorcycle, or in a car; for a matter of fact, in a single day. The original tentative final destination of the day was to spend the night in Wolseley, SK. However,  since the prairies are straight and flat, with not much to see, I didn’t book any rooms in advance, as I thought I might be able to ride a little longer towards the end of the day, and perhaps spend the night in one of four towns that are 25Km, 50Km, 75Km and 125Km East of Wolseley, SK. Finally, I’m spending the night in Whitewood, SK. And I didn’t have much choice, I’ll explain later!

In the morning (late start!), before leaving; I swung by downtown Calgary, to snap a couple of shots, I fueled up, then off I went.

Once I got on the Trans-Canada Highway, I encountered relatively little traffic, and it’s straight and flat as far as I can see (most of the time). So, I slowly start to increase my speed, while keeping an eye for radar traps, in particular when approaching or leaving small towns. At one point, I did pass by what appeared to by a white cruiser parked on the side of the road, so I immediately slowed down. I thought the cop surely would have clocked me already. However, as I passed by, I didn’t see the old red & blue in my mirrors. That’s two cops dodged so far, since the start of the trip three days ago! Anyways, I continued ahead, and started to speed again. Later, while I was riding and enjoying the time I’d be saving, because of the extra speed, my bike tells me that I must switch to the reserve fuel! I’m like crap! As I would be ~100Km short on my regular tank mileage. Nevertheless, I switch the lever to “reserve”, and as I started looking for the nearest fuel station on my GPS, I see in my mirror what seems to be a black sweater or something in my side rear view mirrors. I found that odd, as I didn’t recall passing anything on the road. Then I guess that sweater must’ve fallen from my luggage. Again, I found that odd as all my tail & saddle bags are zipped, and have rain covers on them, and its unlikely that even if they got undone, only one item of clothing would fall, nevertheless I started to slow down, and what do I saw in the side rear view mirrors, one of my 2 1.5L spare fuel red bottles hits the road! Luckily, the vehicles behind me were quite far, and the bottle rolled to the side of the highway into the ditch! I stopped on the side of the highway, I looked at my saddle bags, and realized what had happened.

I usually put the rain covers on my saddle, tank & tail bags, even if there’s no rain; for three reasons: I won’t waste precious space by storing the rain covers inside my luggage. If it starts to rain, I won’t have to stop on the side of the road to put the rain covers on my bags. And lastly, the rain covers also help protect my luggage from dirt, dust and sand from getting inside my soft cases. So, what has happened is that those rubber (elastic) bound, fitted rain covers came off. This has never happened to me before, well because I never rode at such high speeds on previous trips, as I was doing today. So, I walked back ~100ft, and grabbed the rain cover. I started looking around for the red spare fuel bottle (which I didn’t see get damaged in the fall in my mirror) but I couldn’t find it! I start walking up and down the highway covering distances of ~200ft, on both sides of the highway. The ditch had very long grass, and some sections were filled with water. Being very low on fuel, and that the one spare fuel bottle left won’t be enough to get me to the next fuel station, I was determined to find that lost spare red fuel bottle. As I would walk up and down, the moment I would see something red, I would think that I’ve found it. But no, it would be either a coke can, a cigarette pack, or some other junk. Finally, I found it. I inspected the bottle, and even though the bottle sustained some damage from the fall at high speeds, it was still functional. The cap was not broken, and there were no leaks. I head back to the bike, empty both fuel bottles in my tank. I grabbed a cargo/bungee net I had, and placed it over one saddle bag (so to not get a repeat of the incident). I had some rubber bands, so I used them to secure the bottle & cover rain on the second saddle bag, hoping for this solution to hold until I make my pit stop in Montreal in a few days, where I would buy another cargo/bungee net. What I’ve learned from this incident: If you drop something on the highway, as you’re coming to a stop, keep an eye on the object in question to see which side of the highway it rolled towards (left or right), as this would cut your search time in half. Also, try to see if there’s some land mark (or anything) that might help your get a rough idea of where the object fell. As I was about to take off (to the next fuel station), I noticed that I had forgotten to turn on my GoPro camera mounted on my bike in the morning! I have been recording all the way on my trip, hoping to edit some montage, someday after I complete my cross-Canada trip!

I got to the fuel station, I filled up the tank and the two spare fuel bottles. I was trying to keep myself calm, as I had a late start, wasted time when I dropped the fuel bottle, and it was getting freaking hot!

As I passed through Medicine Hat, AB, I took some shots of the world’s tallest teepee. At this point it was ~1PM, and I was a couple of hours late on my schedule!

Not too far after, I rode into Saskatchewan. I stopped at the small rest area, to take a shot of the sign (and with my bike in front of it), and to remove the jacket liner I was wearing, as it was really hot! Now, my Bluetooth headset is a little different; that it has wired headphones. This allows me to have the Bluetooth module somewhere on me, while still being able to use the wired headphones under my helmet. As I was removing my jacket, I had forgotten that the Bluetooth module was still clipped to the inside of my jack, and that I still had the headphone mounted in my ears. So, the little spring holding the clip onto the Bluetooth module goes flying and lands somewhere! Crap! Today is not a good day!

So, now again I found myself searching for a lost item. The little spring is ~0.5cm in size. As I’m busy looking for it, a family (SUV) stops in that rest area also to take pictures of the Saskatchewan sign. However, I was so focused in my search I didn’t realize that they were too shy to ask me to move, so that they can take some pictures. It’s when they got back into their car (after walking around, and me unable to take a hint!) I said to myself “that’s funny why did they stop here, and not take a picture in front of the sign?” DUH! I felt so stupid, as I called on them, and started moving my bike and myself out of the way! Anyways, they took their pictures, go their way, and I go back to looking for that darn spring! Again, a couple of young ladies stop for some pictures. They asked me to snap some for them, then they asked me what am I looking for. I explained, and they started helping me look for it. I urged them not to waste their time! They wished me good luck, and off they went. Sometime later, I managed to find the stupid spring, I placed it back where it belongs, I removed the jacket liner, took some more photos, and off to Regina, SK I went.

While on my way to Regina, SK, I made a fuel stop somewhere. As I was fueling up, I saw another rider grab the squeegee (used for cleaning cars’ windshield) and just rub it against his helmet’s shield/visor! I was like “whoa!”, wondering to myself how could he do that? Risking scratching the shield/visor. Well, let me tell you why he did that. Later during the afternoon, as I rode through Saskatchewan, one would go through a shit load of gigantic flies, mosquitoes and all sort of bugs! There was this giant bug that hit me in the helmet, and my head swung back a little from impact! By the time I stopped for my next fuel-up, I too grabbed that squeegee and started rubbing off the dozens of bug splattered across my shield/visor!

I reached Regina, SK ~6PM. I hadn’t had lunch yet. I was hungry and tired (of the mishaps of the day, not to mention the bugs!). I headed towards downtown, looking for a quick bite. Most places seemed be closed for the day. So, I did a little ride around downtown, and off to my destination of the day I went.

Now before the start of my cross-Canada trip, I had already booked all my hotels for the duration of the trip, with the exception of three days/places, where I thought I might be able to do a little more riding in those days, as the roads were straight and with nothing much to see around. The first of those three places was in this stretch of the Prairies. Even though I hadn’t made any bookings, I still had with me a map/listing of the motels/hotels within ~100Km of the final stop area. Initially, I had planned to spend the night in Wolseley, SK. However, as I got closer to that town, I figured I still had enough time before sunset, and that I could make it to the next town over to Grenfell, SK. Now, Grenfell is a very small town. As I was riding through the town, everybody would be staring at me. I went to the first of two motels in that town, and they had no vacancy. I went to the second motel and it was a very shady bar-restaurant-motel place, with loud drunk people outside. No way! Now, it was getting dark, and my visor was full of bugs. I turned around, and I headed towards Broadview, SK ~25Km East.

I got to Broadview, SK, and again it’s a very small town, with both motels in this town being shady restaurant/bar motels. There were some teenage girls outside the motel that asked me if I’m looking for a room to stay. I said yes, regretfully. After which she attempts to call someone over her cell phone, so that they can come and show me the room. During which I tell her, to not worry about it, and that I’ll head to the next town over. There was no way I would have spent the night there! I got back to the bike, and I hurriedly swapped my visor with my clear one; for night riding as the first visor was dark-tinted and full of bugs, with only a very small clean area left that I was able to see through (all this while a bunch of teenage girls talking loud, where one of the girls crying and another telling her that “he doesn’t deserve you. You’re better than him. He’s just jealous ’cause you’re pretty” outside that bar/motel!). I got on my bike and headed to Whitewood, SK, ~25Km East. When I got to Whitewood, I went to the first of two motels. The first had no vacancy! So, I headed to the second one; hoping they would have a room. They did! I got the last room. I got into my room (where I’m sitting now) and it stinks of vomit. It was late, dark, and the next town over is 50Km away, so I decided to stay! Someone previously obviously got sick on the carpet. Even though they cleaned it, it still smelled very nauseating! There were multiple fans in the room to help clear the stench. After I got all my gear & luggage to my room, and having cleaned my helmet, jacket and shields/visors from the dead bugs, I headed downstairs to get a small bag of chips and a bottle of fruit juice. That would be my only meal for the whole day!

This was indeed a very long day, and not so much fun! While researching for this trip on several motorcycle forums, people have warned that going through the Prairies is hot, boring, and filled with bugs! And that you’d want to go through it as fast as you can. And that you’d never want to go back through it again. They were right! I’m glad that I got most of it done, with a little bit left for tomorrow.

Today’s expenses were $69.03 for fuel, $5.00 for food, and $87.95 for lodging. The motel was acceptable, if it wasn’t for the vomit smell. If I’m ever passing through this area again, I would plan to spend the night in Moosomin, SK, which would have been my last option for the night, had it not been late/dark, and that I hadn’t had a meal for the whole day, and that it was ~50Km away. Then again, what would’ve guaranteed me a room once I’d’ve gotten to Moosomin, SK! Moosomin, SK is a bigger town, with wider selection of motel/hotels though!

I hope tomorrow is a better day!

I’m in Calgary, AB right now. And, I’m tired. I was on the road for 12 hours today. It was a very fun day though. Cold, in July!

I passed by Lake Louise, AB, Moraine Lake, AB and Peyto Lake, AB. All three lakes are beautiful. However, Peyto Lake, AB is just breathtaking.

Today, I covered ~ 680Km:

I’m glad that I had that early start yesterday evening, it allowed me to get ahead of the traffic, heading from BC to Alberta (there was traffic heading the opposite way as well); being the Canada Day long weekend. It also allowed me to get way out of the radar traps. The RCMP had a couple of speed traps, catching the Albertans as they made their way into BC, on this Canada Day morning; the first day of the long weekend. I’m sure there was even more radar traps catching Vancouverites leaving this morning.

So, my first day was to be quite eventful. I had pre-planned to visit some beautiful lakes that I had seen pictures of; on the web. The pictures looked so magnificent, that I had to see these lakes with my own eyes. And, of course take my own pictures. Oddly, even though it’s July, while checking the weather this morning before heading out , I saw that the temperature at the time; in my first stop: Lake Louise, AB was 0C! And that it was going to be 8C in the afternoon! So, I put on my heated jacket liner, and off I ride away. BRRRR!

I get to Lake Louise, AB, and it’s packed with tourists. Cold tourists. They were wearing scarfs, tuques and mittens, with red running noses! Yes, it’s July! I think I said that already! Luckily, I was so layered up, and with my motorcycle leather jacket, I was rather comfortably warm. Also, luckily with my motorcycle I was able to find a nice little spot very close to the lake; in the parking lot; where it was jammed-packed. Lake Louise, AB is kind of Whistler, BC (well the latter doesn’t have a lake as a main attraction) in that it’s also a ski resort/village.

There are shops, grocery stores, bars, hotels, well at least one hotel, the Fairmont. So the area is a very popular tourist attraction in the Summer, as well as in the Winter; for skiing. The lake is very beautiful. As you can see in the pictures, it’s still pretty cold in there, so there is still some snow on the mountains!

The lake has this light greenish baby blue colour. Quite beautiful, but not as beautiful as Moraine Lake, AB. Moraine Lake, AB is about 14Km South of Lake Louise, AB. So, if you go to one you have got to go see the other. I strongly suggest to start with Lake Louise then head to Moraine Lake. As the latter is even more beautiful!

So, I take a last look into the surroundings, then I head back to the parking lot; heading towards Moraine Lake, AB. Again, this area is a very heavy attraction for tourists. If you’re in a car, you can try your luck in finding a spot in the parking lot. However, motorcycles can always find a little spot somewhere! I park my bike, and start walking towards Moraine Lake, AB. And, WOW! The water is simply breathtaking! It’s this deep greenish royal blue. This lake actually is one of wallpapers/backgrounds of Windows 7 Canada Themes. It’s also the background image for some BlackBerries. Anyways, the lake is really beautiful. It’s too bad it was cloudy that day, otherwise, the lake’s colour would have been even more brilliant!

It’s really too bad that it’s a cloudy day. Otherwise, the pictures would’ve come out nicer; I suppose. At this point, I return to the village center; for a lunch break. Odd thing happened. I get into this bistro type of place, I place my order (which most of the employees seem to be from Quebec, IE French-speaking. Something I had noticed in restaurants in Whistler as well) I get to the cash counter to pay; using my DEBIT card. Anyways, the transaction seems to freeze before I even enter my credentials. Then, the employee says “It went through”. I tell him that it can’t be, as I hadn’t yet selected my account type, nor had entered my PIN. But, he insists that it went through. Thinking that there is no such thing as a free lunch (or is there?), and worrying about bad karma, I tell the employee again that I didn’t pay yet, and I explain. And for the third time the employee still insists that I did pay!! So, I grab my food and head to a table, enjoying my free lunch! This day is great!

So, now the belly is full, the bladder is empty, and the post cards have been sent. It’s about 3-4PM, and I head towards Peyto Lake, AB. The last attraction for the day, before I head out to my destination of the day: Calgary, AB. Peyto lake is about 50Km North of Lake Louise. Now, Peyto Lake is inside Jasper National Park, AB. And Jasper is just North of Banff National Park, AB. There is an entrance fee to Jasper National Park, AB, which is ~$10. Since it was Canada Day, the entrance was free! Another freebie for the day!

Once you get to Peyto Lake, AB, one would see a parking lot, and just to the left of it, the road will continue up with a sign that says something like “Road restricted to bus tours, seniors and the disabled”. Now, I chose to ignore that sign and kept riding all the way to the top of the hill; where there’s another parking lot. Let me explain. There is a viewing point towards the top of this hill. If one parks their vehicle at the bottom of the hill’s parking lot (which is what the majority of the visitors are asked to do), one would have a short little hike (~20min) upwards towards the viewing point. Thus, all tourists’ buses (they don’t want the hiking trails to get overcrowded), the seniors and the disabled are asked to park at the top of the hill; to bypass the hike, and have a shorter/quicker access to the viewing point (~2min walk). So, if you are lazy like me, just keep going to the top.

Now, Peyto Lake is the most beautiful of all three lakes. I’m glad I had started with Lake Louise, then Moraine Lake, then Peyto Lake, as, they kept progressively getting prettier. I would have been disappointed had I finished with Lake Louise, as even though it’s beautiful, it’s quite dull compared to Peyto Lake. I shall let the pictures speak.

It’s strange that even though this seems to be the prettiest of all three lakes, it’s the one the least crowded. I suppose the ~100Km round trip; from Lake Louise discourages a lot of people and/or tour buses. Perhaps also the fact that one needs to pay to enter inside Jasper National Park, AB; to see Peyto Lake, AB.

So by now, I have visited all the planned sites on this day, and I head towards my final stop for the day: Calgary, AB. On the way, I had snapped a few shots of some of the Canadian Rockies.

And here I am at the end of my day in a motel, in Calgary, AB. I already had my dinner, and ready to hit the sack. Day 2 tomorrow, into Saskatchewan.

Today’s expenses were $54.31 for fuel, $32.81 for food, and $97.01 for lodging. The motel wasn’t that great, kind of old. If I’m ever stuck in this area it wouldn’t be my first choice, especially at that nightly rate.

So, my epic Canadian motorcycle trip started today. To get some distance covered, I started the trip this evening (Thursday); after work, with a relatively short ride to Chase, BC for a total of ~400Km. This little head start will allow me to spend more time in the Banff , AB area tomorrow. Today’s ride was uneventful. Cold (even though it’s practically July!)  but, uneventful.

I’m spending the night at the Overlander Motel. It’s a nice little place, it does what it needs to for a one night stay. If I’m ever traveling through this road again, I would stay in this motel again; if I needed to that is!

Today’s trip cost me $28.13 in fuel, and $72.80 for lodging. I suppose at the end of the trip, I’ll summarize all my various costs in a single post.