Ride is over - Facts are In

Now that the trip is over, I'd like to thank Donna, Al, Geordon, Carly & Amber for such a great trip. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, we all got along super well. We all enjoyed each others company and doing things together. Not one bad moment! Thanks again! Where & when next time?

I rode 10853 miles on the trip. I used 207 gallons (786.5 litres) of gas at a cost of $752.60. That works out to 52.4 mpg and the average cost of a litre of gas $.957/litre. Not bad, except for Muncho Lake Resort where gold was cheaper.

Things I'm glad I did/remembered:
- Full face shield to protect against hard bugs. Many bugs hit and splattered the face mask. If I only had glasses on, I'd be bruised.
- Micro-fibre cloth to wipe my face shield as it rained...worked extremely well.
- Micro-fibre cloth to wipe the windshield down each day and remove bugs.
- rain gear
- clothing for cold weather: gloves, layers of fleece, neck dickie, lined bluejeans, mosquito jacket, more layers
- needed more socks, undies and less walking shorts
- kashi bars to eat along the way
- bag to hold camera while riding so I wouldn't have to dig the camera out of the trunk each time.
- sunscreen - remembering where I stored it.
- more CD's
- portable CB worked well when required, but once we got our signals straight, we did not need it too much.
- Netbook to connect to internet for emails and update blog
- maps, books from CAA

It was a great trip. Weather was cool and overcast a lot, but that only deterred the quality of the photos I could take. I guess the crappy weather actually sped things up because if the weather was clear blue skies and warm, I would have stopped at every corner wanting to take photos and never would have finished the trip. Thanks, Al for waiting for the photo-ops along the way.
Thanks to all that followed the blog and contributed to a great trip! I had many special moments and experiences along the way that I will always treasure.

Doran

Day 33 - Final Ride to St. Catharines

Day 33 -Saturday, Aug 1/2009
Starting Location: Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Ending Location: St. Catharines, ON
Distance Travelled: 522 miles or 864 km
Distance Travelled to date: 10853 miles or 17582 km


Gas:
Sault Ste. Marie, ON $0.951/li 18.34 litres $17.44 total
McKerrow, ON $0.969/li 13.721 litres $13.30 total
Nobel, ON $0.949/li 12.438 litres $11.80 total

Whoever ordered the clear blue skies on the day I left Thunder Bay, I thank you as I had a great day for riding...THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I LEFT THE SAULT!
For the grand finale ride of the trip, the weather also decided to have it's grand finale. I hit, by far, the worst weather of the trip.

When I left for St. Catharines, there was a gentle rain and a slight southerly breeze. As I filled up in the Sault, the rain was coming down harder, so I decided to put on my rain gear. About 20 miles from the Sault, I hit torrential rain and could not keep my facemask clear. Coupled with that, I was being hit by very strong, gusty crosswinds that were throwing my bike all over the road. It was raining and blowing so hard, that cars were maintaining only 80kph and were not even passing each other on the four lane sections or passing lanes.
What am I complaining about...it only lasted for 2 hours. By the time I got to Serpent River, the rains started to subside, but the gusty Southerly crosswinds persisted. Once I headed south from Sudbury, I was now facing the wind and the ride was fine. The sky was still turbulent until Parry Sound, where I got just a small amount of rain. Once in Barrie, the wind died down and the ride much easier. The traffic in both directions, from Barrie to Hamilton, was very heavy as it was the long weekend.
It was nice to get home after a pretty tough day of riding....but it was part of the trip!
I'll put in one more post when I get a chance to total the gas bills.

Day 31-32 Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie

Day 31-2 -Thursday, July 30-31/2009
Starting Location: Thunder Bay, ON

Ending Location: Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Distance Travelled: 591 miles or 957 km
Distance Travelled to date: 10331 miles or 16736 km


Gas:
Thunder Bay, ON $1.029/li 10.969 litres $11.29 total
Marathon, ON $1.009/li 17.08 litres $17.24 total
Wawa, ON $1.055/li 9.479 litres $10.00 total

Left for Ouimet Canyon just east of Thunder Bay,under overcast skies, to do the zip line. It's a 1/2 mile zip line that goes along the canyon which the suspension bridge crosses. Zip line cost $50/person and takes about 40 seconds with speeds up to 85kph. Was a lot of fun for the quick ride. The suspension bridges, which we walked earlier is also a good experience.
I went to visit a school friend in Thunder Bay for an hour and it started to pour for hours and as a result, I decided to stay overnight as I was unsure about the night-time gas situation between Thunder Bay and the Soo. It's also a very dangerous highway at night as moose are found a lot along the highway and they fair much better than bikes in moose/bike rendezvous.
Ride along Hwy 17 to the Sault has to be one of the best routes for riding. There was no construction at all and the roads are in perfect condition. A lot of great curves, hills and open stretches. The scenery is amazing along the route as you see the huge mountains with large red rock cliffs, the rocky shoreline of Lake Superior and the many small lakes along the way. Just a beautiful ride on a clear day.
The bike has enormous power to quickly get past any slow traffic. The problems with the route are limited gas outlets that are about 100 to 200km, so fill up when you can. You have to be aware of wildlife at night, especially moose and bear.
In Wawa, the fog was rolling in from Lake Superior making for some spectacualr views but really cooling down the air.
What a great ride on a clear, warm day.

Note: There are 24/7 gas bars in Wawa and Marathon (SPG- Swipe-Fill-Go) so if you are late at night and need gas, these are available anytime, 24/7 by credit card. Very convenient in a pinch but about $.05/litre more than other gasbars in the area.

Temperature started at 60F or 14C and got up to about 72F, but cooled off to about 55F while driving past foggy Wawa. Skies were cloudless, and bright blue.