Clearing the books. This is probably the most expensive trip we've had to Canada. Let's just say gas and chow ain't cheap at the end of the universe. But supply and demand curves will prevail.

The pre-trip SWAG

The actual was closer to $154/per person/per day. The breakdown was 42% hotel, 27% cash for ancillaries, 24% fuel, 12% food, 1% visa exchange fees.

Final mileage: 5328

I think I fell in love with I-81 today. Look what we found:


This bridge is close to I-81/I-83 intersection:


We got to Centrailia, and realized we hadn't done enough research to find the iconic photos. But the town aint that big, and soon we find this:



Which leads to this steaming hole!


Then back to the main road for another 400 yards, you see the diversion to the old road:








Centrailia has that Armageddon feeling to it. It's really creepy in its' own sort of way.

Tires did really well:

TKC80-21 inch on the HP2 (looks even better than the F650 does, despite the bigger Hippo bike weight, but the lugs are a bit closer to each other)


TKC80-19 inch on the F650Twin:


Both rear Heidenaus' are ready to rock for another 6K miles... They unfortunately now have the center stripe on the 140s, as well as the 150s.





I'll keep this RR open for a bit longer. Need to gather my final thoughts, and "best of" photos before button up.

Thanks for the ride!

A little update on Keith.

First his maladies don't seem to have runied his appetite at all.



Since he ended his vacation with a bit of fishes from the ocean (those would be "saltwot" fishes), we also partaked. Is this like the move in chess where your rook takes a knight?



Secondly, I swear we didn't get into a boxing match

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw

Have you ever seen the beginning of a homing pigeon race? The cage open, the birds step out, and thrust towards home. It seems that Blaster has this affinitivy to home once he is within a 500 mile radius. However, much like a child cannot rush Christmas morning, home will also wait.

We set off as the fog is lifting off the White Mountains:


Today, we road the last 180 miles of the PuppyDog Dual Sport Trail. The trail actually has a very dismal dog density. I think we only counted a Burmese Mountain Dog, a black lab, a weimaraner, and an Australian cattle dog. None were even puppy aged! Worse yet, we only get a good tire chase from the Aussie.

However, the track is was less than 1% of tarmac, just nice illdylic country roads. We road over RxR tracks, and under them:


Old car:


Most of the homes on at the start were being sold by Sotherbys. Not too shabby. If you were an architectural nut, you could spend days in the first 1/3. Many barn renovations and lovely homes,











With all these ritz homes and dirt roads, what a better place to have a carriage horse. This one just finished their dressage test:


It took us most of the ride to figure out why the trees had this reinforced tubing strung through them. Our ideas were whisky distillery, animal fencing, utilities....until we have a Eureka moment. It's a multiple tap maple syrup operation!




Apples trees in full season:


No lack of covered bridges either:




We just through our last $5CAD on the floor as we wheelied through




This bridge also comes with it's own dam:






This sign reads like a call to arms for an ADVer:

(and the GPS was correct, and the road does go thru!)

Tree lined roads. This route would be fab for Fall colors!


Pastoral overlooks


Bald Mountain Forest:


Blaster looking into the overhang:




There are only 330 miles remaining on this trip. I am out of Canadian cash, nearly out of US cash, nothing but dirty clothes. We have but two way points remaining--Centralia then home sweet home

We departed North Conway for gas a 1/2 mile north. We weren't convinced we were going to summit again, but the weather was so crisp it would almost be a sin not to! So off we went.


We learned that the best viewing always follows a cold front. In fact, Lakota reported that he was shut down earlier this week trying to summit. Today, was almost magical:


The grail:




With over 100 miles of visability, we could actually see Portland, ME and the Atlantic Ocean!


The weather isn't always this cooperative:


Since the late 1800s, many have perished on this summit. About 1/3 to hypothermia, 1/3 to falling over a cliff and one one in the last 10 years to a moto accident. God Speed.


We've been searching for stickers this entire trip, and now we've hit a buffet of them:


Even found one for Lakota:



Too Soon?

We also went T-shirt shopping as Keith is going to teach us the art of Ty Dying. Too bad this one was only in kid sizes..


This place is electrifying: 12K volts, but whose counting!






You could also take the cogway up here:










Found this neat covered bridge:










Then off to the Kagamungus Highway. The road was a bit crowded for a mid-Friday..seems we are following the sypders that were also on the summit.


We somehow always seem to drive by the big towns then get hungry. No worries, we find this gem:


Missile anyone?




So since we left Conway late, we've decided to end the day earlier at 1500. Tomorrow is the puppy dog dual sport ride.

Total mileage: 4412

Today's theme is Pointy Palaces and Moose training

When traveling in multi-language towns, symbology is very important. Have you ever in your wildest dreams seen signage like this:


Where good bikes go to die:


We set off after our wingmate catches his ride to the Aerofloat base:


We pass big lakes:


Then we do the absolutely most important thing of the trip (again)..


We pass no less than a 1/2 dozen of these pointy palaces today. I'm guessing we need some "saving" However, they do like them big and pointy!




lead roof?










Next on the list was Moose training. Apparently, moose strikes are quite popular on the roads entering Quebec City. Miles of 8 ft fence line the road. Every couple hundred yards, they make these shoots to get errant moose back into the wilderness.

This one requires the moose to push through the one-way wires


This one requires the moose to drop 4 foot down. I guess moose don't jump?


Lots of silage hay readied for a long winter. Silage is an interesting hay product. It is baled wet and actually ferments. Since it is anaerobic (e.g. in the absence of oxygen), it needs to be eaten quickly once the plastic bag is opened. It is also not uncommon for the cattle to get drunk off the bales, should the process fail (e.g too wet, too much oxygen in the bag, bag not sealed etc).





The best looking corn we've seen in Canada. It was 4 ft tall, miniature by southern states standards.


Christmas Tree farms


Then another stop at Timmies for Lunch. I am down to $5.22 in CAD, so it must be time to depart Canada. We find the world's smallest XCing in VT.



This must be longest time we've spent crossing the border. The guy is fascinated by the bikes! Slow day I guess. We are only in VT for a handful of miles, then in NH. Yeah, two states in 10 mins!

Neat bridge!


Dinner a bit south of Mt Washington, at Red Fox. We waddled out of there, it was soooo good!


Get the calamari!

While we've noodled through every train, plane and automobile option, it looks like we have a solid plan to repatriate the team.

First order of business was to find the illusive passport, which had missing since laundry day 72 hours ago.


Time to start assessing the carnage:
The jacket which surprisingly looked better after the crash than after the hospital




Then another ride for the GS




She'll bunker down for a few days until Medjet picks her up for transport back to Bob's BMW. Meanwhile, let's see what we can trade the GS for:

Super T?




Maybe a kids snowmobile


Or a tracked Yamaha snowblower


Keith is doing really well. A bit more stiff/aches, but all in all, he's going to live to fight another day. Tomorrow, he'll catch a flight home from Quebec.

Originally Posted by joints4sale

We left Chibougamou to start the last 3 days of dirt riding. I had loaded a trackset which the RR indicated was very riedable by big bikes.

We'll it didn't go so well. The first error of the day was I has mislabeled the alternate. The easy alternate was a groomed gravel road you could drive a truck on. Then there was the track we were on. I think the real reason for diversion was so that B4 (Blasters' HP2) could get in her element and shine. Shine did she!

The trail quickly begins to narrow, and the panniers are now trimming the foliage as there is tracks. It's either an ATV or a snowmobile track, so you can't ride the center berm. However, the track has Blaster welling up thoughts about his trip back to Esker which was great fun.



It passes some nice rivers on good bridges


It passes some questionable bridges


Then we get to a washout. There is a diversion, but it will be tricky as it has a deep decent and hill climb on sand. Blaster gallops off with the HP2 and makes the trip look easy. Dorito machine not so much. After turtling twice, Blaster gets a free ride to the top on Dorito. Next up was Keiths R1200. He does well enough though the bottom of the sand trap, but then augers her in pretty good about 10M before rejoining the track. Infact, the bike is sitting on the telever and the skidplate but the time the rear tire augers in.
So, we push the bike over, turn it 90 degrees, fill the hole and she is free.


Joyed that we are now having a hoot, Blaster goes down the trail about 200 M, and thinks he is joking when he says :"ha, there's is another one". Well, damned if the next turn didn't have this bridge..


So we walk the diversion:


Then HP2 struts her stuff:


And Dorito makes Blaster work for it.Notice the signature butt wiggle at the top of the hill


And the R1200 wallows in the dirt again..




Soon enough the alt rejoins the main track. We follow the track for about another 20KMs, until we miss a turn. However, we all wonder why/how we missed it. It seems the good track now diverges into a billy goat track. We decide not to follow it. We try to find a alternate track, when we run into this cabin. It's somehow the only people we've seen all day.


Being in Quebec, they speak French. They invite us in to look at their wall map. They map is very, very detailed but it doesn't show any tracks that would get us into Giardarville. So we head back the way we came, on the logging fire road.

As we are heading back to civilization the rain begins. However, for the most part the high sand road it draining well. We've got about 30KMs before we'll need to dump in the extra fuel.

To be continued...

Here's a confusing name for you...



This guy (Doug from VT) saw a convention of GSs in the hotel parking lot.




Our team extravert (Keith) is wakes from his afternoon slumber like a light switch to go converse. However, what he fails to realize it that there are also 2 more GSs parked next to ours.




It's blueberry season in town. We visit the town wholesaler market


Went down the busiest place in town for dinner. The restaurant has these rock core samples as decorations. When analyzing where to dig for metals, a 3" core sample is bored 4 miles into earth. These are the plugs that the diamond bit makes.






Fab table next to the fire:


Foodie..

We've decided about mid-point into the trip, that we'd just flop around the hotel today. Keith is notorious for not charging his iPhone more than 27%. I think it actually a gauge for his human battery. However, his kinder spirit was on a quotable quotes this morning:

Two days ago at the South James Bay point we meet this lad on his Ducati.



He must have been a sporting fellow, because he was hundreds of miles from home on really bald tires at the end of a dirt road. When I say bald, like no tread pattern on his super soft sticky tires.

Yesterday, his wingmate passes us on the James Bay road heading south. We eventually catch him at the gas station at KM381. The Ducati will not be making it home today. Seems the 20KMs back to Chisasbi was treacherous on the old bald tire and ended up shredding it. The buddy was going to fly back home and look to get the bike towed. When his wingmate left, the cost was over $3500 back to Toronto. Too bad he didn't have MedJet Assist, as for an extra $35 they would have arranged shipping of your disabled bike back to a location of your choice.

Along the Nord road Blaster and I pass this fishing net. While it is a nice net, what the heck are we going to do with fishing net 1500 miles from home..on a GS? Apparently, the entire group has different thoughts. This morning I wake up and see this on Keith's bike.


Maybe he can catch us some butterflies with it? But he's not inclined to give it up...


Alrighty, maybe the net is used to capture happiness?

Total Mileage:3670

Wowsers, what a long day! We all knew it would be long day, but it was actually grueling. About 480 miles total and 50/50 dirt tarmac. The Nord road was probably the best high-speed gravel road you'd ever see.

Since we were adventuring touring (hoteling it), we don't have any options. We need to jump from Radisson into Chibougamau, as those are the two nearest towns with lodging. It's know to the a long day. And boy does she deliver. If you were camping, this can easily been broken into 2 sections.

We had a long road to go, and a short time to get there, so not a lot of time to gaffo. However, Mr. McKenney was kind enough to remind me that if I don't bullshit with everyone at the gas stations, the day would probably go faster. In literature, I believe this juxtaposition is a called an irony.

We stopped at the corner of the James Bay Rd and the Nord Road to have a quick bite. This little guy joined us for lunch too. We'd throw chips and he'd swoop in to get them. I think he was storing them in a nearby tree.





Lots of rock that fractures on lines. Makes for good inutchuk making!


Ruppert the river upsteam. Not such a wild monster!


The geek inside me loves the look of the high power lines.


We assume that is a step-up transformer station, but who knows?


Big rivers:










I agree broadsiding a moose would be risqué!

With no less than 4 cameras snapping, we've got some data management to stay on.

Lakota (who is currently in the win for the RR section!)


Keith (who is looking to snap the top spot on the ADV front page)


We leave our humble abode for the main road in Radisson. Relais Outtfitter having recently been remodeled under new management is a quite a gem! During the height of caribou, it will be basecamp for 150 caribou hunters. We had reservations, but I am sure you could probably walk up and get a room during the summer quite easily. However, it's a gamble because there is not much competition elsewise!





Moto transport is NOT the most efficient way to traverse this beautiful land. We've seen helos up close, float planes and puddle jumpers. We not seen pontoon helos, but we see landing areas for them, so they probably show up too! In fact, there are a ridiculous amount of float plane bases and gravel runways serving this 700KMs of road.









But it looks like a GS driveshaft in the tail




flora


berries to feed the black bears


Big bears, more berries


Are you a fun guy? Fungi really.


Keith is going to need to stretch that back out...that gas can in a hour or two is going to be heavy (when he refuses to fuel at the only gas station we pass all day). He'll never make it a KTM rider




All this gas filling makes another GS sleepy. The Jesse cases did just fine, the jesse racks not so much.


Very artistic tail spin in the dirt


All smiles come off the TransTaiga!






You can't miss the transtaiga road, however, garmin doesn't have an accurate map. I highly recommend that you use tracks not routes for this road, lest your GPS spend most of the time "recalculating".

37F this am. Off to short trek to James Bay.