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.
.
Right: Old Lighthouse on Pelee Island
New birds seen on Pelee Island...
Black-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
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.
.
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!
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
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