BMW International Rally in Wisconsin

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Just got back from my first real motorcycle trip. One week, 2100 kilometres. I left home, crossed the Bluewater Bridge to Michigan, drove across the state 400 km to Ludington, caught a ferry, the SS Badger and took it across Lake Michigan, disembarked in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, slept in a Super 8 motel after getting soaked in the rain.

The next day, I carried on to West Bend, Wisconsin, via the Kettle Morraine Scenic Drive. I arrived safely at the fairgrounds where almost 10,000 BMW motorcycles were gathering, almost all of which would be camping.

The rally was very exciting. And astonishingly quiet! I expected a motorcycle rally to be rather noisy but these bikes all purr! The only time I heard a loud noise out of a bike was when a Harley intruder gunned his engine. BMW’s of every kind were in evidence, from vintage 1 cylinder pre-war models to sidecars to the latest 150hp speedsters and highway cruisers. Everyone was so well-behaved! No rowdyism here. Everyone seemed to be asleep by 10pm.

I signed up for a 6 hour advanced riders course where I was able to refine my driving skills on a parking lot, driving around orange cones. I also attended various seminars on safety, travel, and maintenance. The ChainGang (headed by Steve Johnson) held a wrenching seminar where we got to see a chain and sprockets replaced. Several vendors were present, as well. I splurged on new Michelin Anakee tires and bought a tall Cee Bailey windshield and a tankbag. Jackie, a dutch BMW rider and tire salesperson, posed with my bike.

After a couple of exciting days here, I moved north to Upper Michigan, through Menominee, Escanaba, and Manistique, ending my longest day of travel in cold winds (600km) at Trout Lake where my old birding buddy, Russ Bright, has a summer cabin. He was quite surprised to see me as all the local Harley riders were complaining of the cold. It was a tough drive but the thought of a cold beer and a free place to stay kept me driving on and on.

Russ and I spent a day birding the Lake Superior shoreline from Tahquamenon Bay to Grande Marais where we found a rare Piping Plover and an unusually early Whimbrel. I went swimming in the lovely cool waters of Lake Superior!

I continued driving northeast, crossing the border back into Ontario at the Soo, then along the TransCanada highway to Espanola and south across Manitoulin Island. Here I stopped to visit a guy I work with in Sarnia who has a cottage hidden away in the woods. He wasn’t home, so I continued on to the South Baymouth dock to reserve a spot on the Chi-Cheemaun ferry to Tobermory. Someone pointed out that my license plate was gone! It had broken off.

A quiet ferry crossing, disembarkation in Tobermory, then a few km drive to old friend John Haselmayer’s Bunkie on the Lake Huron shoreline. Several of his friends were visiting, so there wasn’t any room inside. I pitched my tent near the shore. Here we had good times playing guitars around a campfire with a glass of scotch and a few beers.

The next morning, I packed up and drove about six hours until I arrived at my doorstep, a week after I departed. A safe and uneventful first trip!

When I got back to work the next day, Terry, the guy who wasn’t home in Manitoulin, produced my missing license plate! It had dropped off in his driveway, 500 km away!

Birds added to List:

Common Loon
American Bittern
Common Eider
Hooded Merganser
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Merlin
Ruffed Grouse
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Whimbrel
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Common Snipe
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Alder Flycatcher
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Nashville Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Purple Finch
Evening Grosbeak

Total species observed: 120
Total Km on bike: 5,674

Pelee Island

A little longer trip this time… 150 km from Sarnia to Leamington. I left at 5:30 in the morning, right after working a nightshift. It was 12C, pretty darn cold at 100 km/hr, and it being July, I wasn’t quite prepared clothing-wise. I put on every shirt I had under my light Fieldshear coat, 6 layers in all, and was still kind of chilly. There were interesting long shadows of my bike on the golden wheatfields as the sun rose. I must be prepared to take pictures of this sort of thing in the future. I also have to figure out a way to record my brilliant thoughts on paper or tape while driving.

Two hours later, I arrived in Leamington and warmed up with a coffee at Tim Horton’s. I have to admit the drive was a bit of an ordeal. Sore ears from the helmet, sore butt, wind noise, a sore neck from getting my helmet-encrusted head blown around… I still have to acclimatize myself. How do these iron-butt riders drive 1000 miles a day when I can’t even get 150 km in without whining?

I rode onto the ferry ‘Jiimaan’ where I was told I had to fasten the bike down myself as the transportation company takes no responsibility if it falls over. I fastened Rosie down to a couple of steel tiedown rings on the deck, and rode across Lake Erie to Pelee Island. I noticed that many of the tourists on board were either beet-red from sunburn with white around the eyes from sunglasses (like a reverse raccoon) or all pasty white-skinned in the case of a group of Mennonite women who looked like they'd been shunned by the sun.

I spent the next couple of days exploring the island’s vineyards and coastal roads. While having a sunset cruise through the Merlot fields on Ruggle’s Run, I noticed the bike start to wobble. I thought it was the irregular dirt track at first, then discovered my rear tire was flat! Panic! Then I remembered I’d brought along a tire repair kit purchased recently on Ebay. With the tiny pliers provided, I pulled out an old square nail that had punctured the tire. Then I inserted a plug, and blew the tire up with a CO2 cartridge. That got enough pressure to drive the bike to a gas station air pump for a full inflation. I was feeling rather choughed.
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I headed back to my camp on the south end of the island and the bike started wobbling again. The tire had gone flat! Fortunately, I discovered this in front of Guy Lafferty’s house. Guy is an excavating contractor and motorcycle afficionado with a garage full of tools. For the next two hours, we removed the wheel from the bike, repaired the INNER tube leak (I thought I had a tubeless tire!), then reinstalled the wheel. Guy saved my ass and wouldn’t take a penny for his work. If it weren’t for him, I’d probably still be stranded there as I don’t think anyone else knows much about motorbike tire repair on the island. I got a valuable education. The tire bead was very stubborn and even with 3’ tire irons and vicious hammering with a bead breaker, it took quite a while to break the bead. I don’t know how people manage to do this on the side of the road.

The whole experience reinforced the need for more tools and emergency equipment on a road trip (as well as some basic repair knowledge). I’m looking forward to next week’s journey to the BMW rally in Wisconsin where all the territory will be new!

Right: Old Lighthouse on Pelee Island

New birds seen on Pelee Island...

Black-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo

House Finch

Cedar Waxwing

Carolina Wren

Purple Martin

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Wood Pewee

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Spotted Sandpiper

Ring-necked Pheasant

Great Egret

Species so far: 82

Kilometres:3,415