2013 Pennsylvania Bound

Pennsylvania Bound... Or it might have been a wild weekend in Niagara Falls, but thankfully my passenger was adventurous and wanted to see the sights on a two day ride...

Pennsylvania's "Grand Canyon" as seen from the Western rim

Ordinarily I do some research and prep before riding down, but in this case I wanted to cruise some roads that I'd traveled a number of times in the past, namely Route 44 and 872 out of Coudersport PA, while taking in the view from Hyner View State park. After that? Well, We would be leaving on a Sunday, so I figured we would be able to find something in the area without too many troubles.

Oshawa ON to Coudersport PA to Renovo PA to Williamsport and return

Crossing the border on Fort Erie's Peace Bridge

I've always thought of the ride down the Fort Erie as the worst part of the ride, coupled with some necessary Interstate on the opposite side of the border, until you get onto Route 219 south bound and stop at the Springville NY's Tim Horton's. After that, the ride gets interesting.

Sunday morning border crossings are fairly short, and saw us both across in no time flat.

My passenger enjoying herself on the ride.

Coffee stop! I tried the pumpkin flavoured coffee, not bad if you like it that sweet.

You see Olean NY on the map? It's a place that experience has taught me to avoid. The best way I found was to have a look at Google Maps in Terrain view, and take Route 305 down and avoid the city entirely, mostly due to the large number of traffic lights and slow 30mph speed limit through much of the city. Well, Garmin plotted me right smack dab through the middle of it, and I rebelled and stayed on the highway only to find the detour was more than I could take and would put me out of position, so I doubled back and braved the big city to head further south in Pennsylvania on the Portville road.

Usually what I do is plot a route in Mapsource on my laptop, or on Google Maps then convert it to a track, load it onto my GPS and follow the blue line that will take me on exactly the roads I wanted to travel on. Well, not this time. Garmin do your thing and get me to Moshes Tavern in Coudersport PA in time for lunch.

And we are here, next stop, the Alleghany mountains! 

Corinne enjoyed herself snapping pictures of the countryside as we ambled along.

Prime Rib on garlic bread at Moshe's Tavern in Coudersport PA

Okay, when I ride solo, I tend to move around a lot more, so I thought of this trip as one where I could be in Renovo after lunch in the afternoon. Believe me, I've done it in the past, but why wasn't it working for me today? We didn't hit Coudersport until about 1400 in the afternoon. The stops, as I was making more of them because Corinne and I needed to rest our aching butts, and just because I wasn't in a terrible hurry, so the stops went longer than they usually do, so I have to remember that when you have a beautiful passenger, you need to add 1/3 more time to the trip. Right? Okay. On down Route 872 and onto Renovo Road Route 120...

The scenery along PA Route 120

What a lonely little bike abandoned by the roadside

That thing dangling under the topbox? Read about it below.

Corinne packed like a trooper, and stuffed all her gear less a rainsuit into her backpack, then I thought to myself, OMG, that backpack won't work with the top case! What if she can't sit on the bike? She unloaded some more stuff from it, and packed almost nothing but some socks, underwear, and some toiletries along with a sweater and some thermal pants to wear under her jeans if necessary. While I was waiting for her, I found that I could strap her backpack on the top of the case, and if she wore my camelbak with 2 litres of water, we were good for the trip. It took a load off her shoulders, and I was glad that it worked out for us both, for it allowed her greater freedom of movement, and a much more pleasant ride, allowing her to concentrate on how painful her monkey butt was.

This doesn't need a caption. :P

The road leading up to the lookout on Hyner View is probably the closest thing I've found to those in the Alps that I did last year, and found myself rather a bit surprised to find how fast we were ascending the mountain this time on the slightly larger than a lane road that switchbacks it's way up the mountain. While it has not a tenth of the views of a true alpine road, it was thrilling and beautiful. Corinne trusts me enough that I tried to behave myself and keep it fun, but overall safe.

She's got the prettiest neck warmer you'll ever see.

They hang glide off of this when the wind is in their favour...

I would have loved to stay atop the lookout and watched a sunset with her, but we needed to find lodging and eat dinner, so off through Lock Haven to Williamsport we went.

It's golden hour as the sun begins to set, and the photo just doesn't do the colours and aura justice

After a misfire with a hotel that wanted $144 US dollars a night, we found a place opposite our favourite restaurant, The Olive Garden, and settled in after a wonderful dinner. Corinne quickly found that a day in the saddle means that you're not up to much in the evening other than getting everything all charged up for the next day, and falling asleep in the hotel room. Well, perhaps a bit more than that, but I want this thing to have a PG rating. :)

We had a mission. Corinne wanted to stop at a Dress Barn near Buffalo before we crossed over the border, and I located one in Cheektowaga, but had a huge conflict as I wasn't sure if I should do the fun route up Route 144 and over, or the fastest route, so I chose compromise, and went up Interstate 15 which turned out to be a lovely two lane divided highway with nice views and sweeping corners as it winds its way through the river valleys and foothills, until I turned off and headed via secondary roads north west towards Route 20A and the highway that would take us to our shopping destination.

The sky is incredible

The courthouse. A bit of Americana on display in every town, but this one was rather imposing.

Route 6 gave us the opportunity to visit the western rim of Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon, and let me tell you, the road to and from was another trip highlight that I'll add to subsequent travels in that state. It was perhaps 30 minutes out of our way, but well worth the time.

Colton Road will get you there...

Fun, turns, and more fun

The view from the top

The Western rim of Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon

Add caption

The view from the Colton Road Bridge

This next series of photos I have to thank God for looking out for us, as I was watching my GPS to see that we were about to cross a state line, and I wanted Corinne ready with the camera to catch a shot of the sign welcoming us to the Empire State. She did a superb job, but as she was readying the camera, I rolled off the throttle to give her time, so from a speed limit of 55mph, I was perhaps doing 35mph, when the deer vaulted the guard rail and ran in front of us.  Those of you who know my past can understand my fear of animals, especially deer. Three months recovering from a collision with one can do that to a person. I have deer fear, and it gets much worse at dusk and at night. Perhaps you will understand...

The doe is down by the guardrail past the green sign

Now it's vaulted the rail and about to move out in front of us

Yep, there she is right in front of us

And there she goes up the hill

Corinne says she saw two, and I believe her, as they like to travel in a herd, but the only one I saw was on a collision course with the bike, and because I'd slowed down to let Corinne get a photo or two, I was able to keep the bike under control. Had we been doing 55mph, I might be typing this from my hospital room in New York State.

Whoot! I roll another thousand onto the odometer! This bike just makes the ride easy!

Oh yeah, she sees the need for that Corbin saddle now, poor girl.

Pushing the bike up to the border, we're almost home!

Check out the passenger.

Getting there! Another thirty minutes or so!

And that's it folks. Just a bit over 1200 km I think.

What a great ride, and even in spite of the butt burn and sore shoulders, we both had a great ride and saw many beautiful things, without a drop of rain in two days. The weather was perfect as was my companion, although we both agreed that I had underestimated the length of time we would be on the bike to get to Williamsport, so next time around, we take a few days and take our time.

Cheers!

2013 The Versys on the 507, 503 and Monck Road

It was my only day off that week, and I woke up early and excited for a ride on the bike with my fiancee, unfortunately for her, for I didn't let her sleep in very long, whilst puttering around the house getting everything sorted out for the ride.

We'd done a short trip on the bike prior to this, and she felt as a passenger that bad shifts and throttle inputs made her feel as if she had to hold on all the time, and this put pressure on me for silky smooth handling, so I bought the SW Motech Alu-Rack for the bike so that I could mount my old Givi top box that used to perch on my 2004 Kawasaki KLR650. I ordered it in from A Vicious Cycle and received it in time for this ride to mount it, and the top case.

Previously, the clunky transmission between 1st and 2nd gear, and the throttle snatch of the Versys caused her to hold onto the grab rail and me constantly. Smooth shifting on this bike in the low ranges became my goal, and I always felt her presence on the bike as she would get close to me, sometimes uncomfortably close, causing me to to lean forward, cramping my back and shoulders...

What a difference that top box made! It increased her confidence to the point that if I hadn't known she was back on the pillion seat, I would have thought I was riding solo at times! Not only that, I could now go shopping and wheelie with take away in the top case. lol.

Oshawa ON via Gooderham ON to Ramara Township

The bike was brilliant on the roads, although I did keep my speeds down as I had no desire to have it impounded on the roadside and my license removed by the constabulary.

This bike really made me think that with the right luggage options, we could go the distance and enjoy the ride.

A sheepskin on the seat made a great deal of difference to the OEM saddle, although I can see the need for a Corbin saddle upgrade in the future when I can afford it. :)

Now I need to convince SWMBO that heated grips are a necessity, not a nice to have. :P

Rotten gets a new ride

So after selling the KLR I had a ligther ride more suited to off road, and how many times last year did I suit up and ride it that way? About five times, so it seems to me that I spend far more of my time on the asphalt and gravel. Further, my fiance and I on the DR650E had to use a shoehorn to get onto the seat riding two up, so after having piloted a Kawasaki Versys 650 in the Alps, when an ad came up for a swap, I contacted Joshua who was kind enough to pull the listing off kijiji until I had a chance to visit and let him see the bike.

Setting out with the DR650E in tow to it's new home

The proud owner of a 2009 Kawasaki Versys 650

And now to plate and insure this beast!

2013 Breaking the Versys...In?

What started out as a lovely summer's eve ride, turned into a bit of an off road test of the Versys. 

When Corinne and I left the driveway for a spontaneous summer evening ride, my thought was to head north until the scenery improved, that is, where the farms and forests began. I didn't really have a destination in mind, although I thought perhaps we could meander our way up into Port Perry and stop in at the Tim Horton's there, as well as see what the two wheeled traffic was like that evening.

Boundary Road and back again, sadly not in one piece

Of course I had to turn the ride into an adventure when I saw the "unassumed road" heading north... And for what it's worth, my 2009 Kawasaki KLE650 Versys handled that portion well, although the rear suspension delivered a few jolts when I rode through the pot holes.  We stopped to take a few pictures of a spectacular view, then a few of each other around the bike, then headed north to where my Garmin 60cx GPS told me a road ran east to west in the distant treeline.

It was a road, if you are used to foot deep ruts, root branches, mud holes and rocks littering your thoroughfare, but the Garmin was optimistic that there was a road heading north a short distance down this "Road", and I assumed that it would be in similar shape, and navigable to take us north to the highway that I knew was there. Never "assume", for it makes an ass out of u and me. But we were making it, by riding the sides until the road closed in and I was in danger of falling into a rut, at which point, I slowed things down and rode in the rut itself, as I knew once my street tires fell into one, it was game over, or rather, tip over. We did alright riding in 1st gear in the rut, bounced over a tree root, and I was surprised to find the rear shock protested by bottoming out. Not much "adventure" travel there. *sigh*

Shortly afterwards, a little further down the trail, for it could no longer be called a road, I hit a rock larger then a softball, and while the front end bounced up over it, as well as the front pipes, it smacked the large exhaust can which bent backwards, breaking the weld and completely pulling out the pipe. Now I had a 1/4 inch gap between the front pipe and the can, so now we sounded like a V-twin rolling down the street in search of a Timmies. Wonderful!

The Garmin insisted there was a road just up ahead, but the trail was now turning to sand, and the Conti Motion tires did not like it, and protested by wallowing sideways on the front end, but a little throttle straightened her up to fly right.

That road heading north? It was there alright, at the top of a hill that I would have been able to make 'just', if I were on my DR650 or KLR650 with TrakmasterII tires, but with Conti Motions? Not a chance. Now the Garmin was saying that Old Scugog road was about a kilometre and a half further down Boundary "Road". But now the sand on the trail was getting deeper in the valleys, and I was constantly adding throttle to keep us upright, until I hit a long section of whoops that had me lose the front, correct, lose it, correct, lose it, correct, lose it, lose it, lost it! And down she went, a second gear tip over that had the two of us lying with our left legs under the bike, and wondering just how to kick this big bugger off of the two of us so we could extricate ourselves. My boot has an ankle strap that got hung up in the fairings, but I managed, as did Corinne. We made sure each other was uninjured, looked at each other, then began to laugh our asses off, and I said to myself, "This girl is a keeper!"

Did I mention it's a heavy bike? It lay on it's side leaking a bit of gasoline from the overflow pipe, and I tried to get underneath it and heave it upright as if it were a clumsy KLR or nimble DR650, but alas, it outweighed both of them, so I enlisted the aid of my Fiancee to heave the pig upright and get it back onto the kick stand, where it dribbled here and there while I walked around the bike and assessed the damage. 

I was still smiling when I located a scratch on the plastic fairing on the left hand side of the bike, and a similar scrape back on the subframe on the rear of the bike, but I was very happy to note that I still had a right hand mirror and both turn signals. (See my Trans Labrador Highway adventure).

Okay, now I was worried as I had at least another kilometre to go, the sand was fairly deep, and I had lost some confidence, and was afraid that I'd dump the bike again and injure Corinne, so I apologised for the suggestion, but kindly asked if she would mind walking the rest of the way out on this hot summer evening? She laughed and said "Okay". She is a keeper. I'd see her walking through the sand, trudging along after me as I rode in first gear with my feet dragging on the ground for balance as I wrestled it east along the trail. I'd stop when I lost sight of her and wait for her to catch up, feeling guilty the whole time that I'd brought us to this...

An "Adventure Bike" that was too heavy, poorly suspended, and incorrectly shod to ride on these trails, and Garmin was lying to me! It was three kilometres to the road! I'd misjudged the scale of the map. Bugger!

Hokay, the trail turned back into hard pack, and I asked Corinne to mount up behind me, and we precariously made our way past the mudholes, sand pits and ruts to find fences appearing on either side of us, then graded gravel, and low and behold, was that tarmac ahead of us? I remember feeling this way after riding 1000 km of gravel in Labrador! Have I turned into a wimp or was I mounted on the wrong steed for this terrain? Sadly, while the Versys is a brilliant touring bike, and can hang with the sport bikes on the side roads of Ontario, the new rule is, if I won't take a Honda Civic down the road, I won't take the Versys down it either.

Now the bike was in it's element, tons of torque to hurl us down the road past the homes, the farms, the horses and cows... All while running on straight pipes, the roar of the parallel twin engine reverberating from the trees and homes to assault our ears. and trying to build up speed respectfully, pulling in the clutch and coasting past those homes, farms, horses and cows to begin our circle home through Blackstock and on  to the Blue Heron Casino to try and change our luck.  Later on we snuck into Port Perry for a well deserved cup of coffee and chatted with a group of bikers that were enjoying the beautiful weather.

So, at the end of the day I have a scratched bike, a busted can, and a beautiful fiancée who had a good time and won't stop laughing and poking fun at me, all the while telling me that I did a great job handling the bike in those conditions.

It wasn't such a bad ride after all, and the dollar signs are all off the bike, and I can hold my head up while parked next to those expensive adventure bikes that never leave the asphalt, and on another good note, the exhaust can was welded and put right by a local shop for $20 cash in hand. Sweet!