There and back again - a Cablebandits' tale.

[Cablebandit]

I bet the humidity was very low when the 70's felt cool. To me it can be 70 degrees and 80% humidity and feel terribly hot and miserable.  OTOH- 85 degress and 20% feels great, especially in the shade or when moving.   Doesnt that fancy C14 have an RH gauge too?   

That was my theory.  It was very dry (sub 30%) humidity much of the way across Canada and upper Michigan.



No RH gauge but you can cruise fast enough to get condensate to form.  

[ConPilot1]

Nice pics Beth

Looks like a great trip....

[MrsCablebandit]

Nice pics Beth

Looks like a great trip....

Thanks, Tim! We had a great time. You really ought to make the trek next year!


Day 3 has been updated, y'all! (No conference call yesterday afternoon, so I had to wait until last night to write it.)

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72392.msg1680824.html#msg1680824

[viffergyrl]

Ah... memories.... My folk all came from Michigan. My father grew up in Clare and my mother was born in St. Joe county (Three Rivers). In fact I have a cousin in Clay's neck of the woods. Hmmmmm......

Traverse City is a great place to visit, but my best memory is my aunt and uncle's cabin on Green Lake (near Interlochen). Going fishing with my uncle is as clear in my mind as if it happened yesterday.  Then there was my grandmother's house in Constantine - the old barn, the cornfields, and the fireflies! (Don't have those in California.) If I close my eyes I can hear the cicadas, smell the earth, and see all the green things growing.

I like that route 119.

[sammyseaman]

The times I've had to deal with American and Canadian border crossings are always the same:
Go into Canada and receive a very pleasant welcome.  
Go back into the good 'ol U.S of A. and deal with a douche-nozzle fuckwad.
Every single time and most of those were before 9/11. It's pretty embarassing and really fuckin' annoying  

On a less grumpy note, I'm glad you guys were able to hit Leggs Inn and the Tunnel of Trees. Both are must dos if'n one is anywhere near Cross Village  

[bungie4]

I love seeing other ppls trip reports from my home turf. Glad to see you enjoyed Central Ontario. I was really hoping you guys would've given me a buzz, but I understand.

(truth be told, I just wanted a pic of me 'n chilli )

[MrsCablebandit]

Day 4 - BBQ DAY! - has been updated. Two posts in one day...I'm on a roll!  

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72392.msg1680826.html#msg1680826

I love seeing other ppls trip reports from my home turf. Glad to see you enjoyed Central Ontario. I was really hoping you guys would've given me a buzz, but I understand.

(truth be told, I just wanted a pic of me 'n chilli )

Sorry! I meant to make a note of which Canadian ST.Ners were where to shoot y'all a PM when we were in town, but I forgot.  If it's any consolation, we LOVED our time in Ontario and I suspect we'll be back to rent a cottage and enjoy some time on one of the many lakes! In the meantime, come on down to ESTN this fall and/or next Spring's Region 6 Meet...I'm sure Chili will make it to one or both of those!

[sleazy rider]

Stuffed Beaver!  

 

[R Doug]

R Doug has his own road in Canada?

Well, I am an honorary Canadian, don't cha know.


Great report... Keep it coming.

[Mastros2]

Great report so far! Keep it coming Beth!

[st2sam]

 
Mary Mother of God Beth what a awesome report...
Looking forward to the rest of the trip!  

 Did you (Chris) notice any difference in MPG running on Canadian gas?  (no ethanol?)
One more, did you switch over to KPH when in Canada?

[Cablebandit]

Sam, I reset the average fuel consumption on the way out of the garage just to see how we would do over the long trip.  When I reset it it read 42mpg average since new.  (it now has over 30K)  On the trip we averaged about 46.5mpg.  I don't really think it had anything to do with the gas.  It had more to do with the flat terrain (no real elevation change for hundreds of miles), and riding two up on fairly straight roads with lower speed limits.  I tend to ride quite a bit slower two up.

I did change to KPH once we hit Canada.


Just a sidebar: All the COG guys that claim crazy mileage out of their tires obviously live toward the middle of the country.  I left with about 800 miles on the rear.  I came home with about 2700 miles on it and ZERO change in tread depth.  I measured it the day before we left and the day we got home.

[st2sam]

 42mpg average since new.
 All the COG guys that claim crazy mileage out of their tires obviously live toward the middle of the country.

Thanks...

I get 40.7 since new (2009 stock map, no flies, K&N) with over 40,000mi..
TIRES! Ha, I'll bet you two ta one you are correct.
If I could get 3,500mi. out of a set I'd be tickled pink..........

[MrsCablebandit]

Day 5 has been updated. I know it sucks that I can only update one day at a time...it's not my usual M.O. I like to be able to post everything all at once, but it's been a crazy busy week. Thanks, all, for bearing with me!  

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72392.msg1680827.html#msg1680827

[Skee]

Gawl Almighty that's a lot of photos - I had to stop halfway through for artificial  tears - though I enjoyed viewing all of them.

[Spanky]

Awesome ride report! I wanted to go. The pics just prove that I missed a great trip -   for you two,   for me.

[Rincewind]

I did a similar trip a few years ago, though we did it clockwise around Lake Huron.  I loved the Georgian Bay area.  Thanks for all the pics!    

[canban]

Great report!!!!

I too love reading about my own backyard. For a cottage vacation Muskoka or Georgian Bay are both fantastic.

One bone to pick. Lots of hockey content on Day One , yet when you get to Parry Sound no mention of its favourite son Bobby Orr .

Hockey was around before Mario and / or Sid took over Pittsburg  

[MrsCablebandit]

One bone to pick. Lots of hockey content on Day One , yet when you get to Parry Sound no mention of its favourite son Bobby Orr .

Hockey was around before Mario and / or Sid took over Pittsburg  

Touche! Chris can vouch for me...I tried to get a picture of the sign that said Sudbury was Bobby Orr's hometown and I did point out the Bobby Orr museum to Chris when we were down on Bay Street for lunch (it was about two blocks down from the cafe).


And, Day 6 has been updated. That's all she wrote. Literally.  

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72392.msg1680829.html#msg1680829

[bungie4]

Touche! Chris can vouch for me...I tried to get a picture of the sign that said Sudbury was Bobby Orr's hometown and I did point out the Bobby Orr museum to Chris when we were down on Bay Street for lunch (it was about two blocks down from the cafe).

Correction: Bobby Orr's home town is Parry Sound (or more specifically, Orrville).

It's a shame  you didn't have time to explore some of the backroads in the area. VVG. I found a great new one just east of Port Carling that was freshly paved. I was riding with a lady friend who rides 1000RR. Sure enough, first pass at it, we got stuck behind gramma doing 40km/h and couldn't pass (safely) anywhere. So we did a U-Turn at the end and gave it a good sampling. Twice

If your in the area, BrackenRig road should be high on your list!