Today was the first real ride on the trip. The planned daily mileage for the trip was about 400 miles, so here it where the trip really began. The route took us up I-81N through PA and NY into Ontario. We got our first rain as we rode through NY state. This was also the first day to pay serious attention to the GPS system. I did not know to recalculate the route, so I ignored it for the morning. In the afternoon, we got slightly separated and I had to guess at an intersection. I guessed wrong, and it that were not bad enough, everyone behind me dutifully followed me off course. After some quick maneuvers, we were back on track and met up with the lead group some 30 minutes later. At the next gas stop, the routes were recalculated to avoid another problem. Once the routes were corrected, navigation was a breeze.
Obviously the big news of the day was that we left the USA and entered Canada. Despite some apprehension on my part about the border crossing, I crossed the border without incident. The two biggest changes I noticed immediately were the sudden and complete appearance of the metric system. All distances on road signs were kilometers and all gas prices were per liter. At first glance, the distances appear much larger and the gas prices appear much lower. Until you get used to it, this can cause some confusion. For example, a typical price per liter was $1.09 for regular unleaded. This looks pretty good until you discover that this equals $4.13/gallon.
Another shock was the transition from rural to urban environments. Ottowa is a city very similar in size and population to Washington D.C. The shock was that a close as 7 km (4.3 miles) from the city, we were still in the countryside. Ottowa appeared very suddenly and in less than 5 minutes we were downtown. We stayed at Webb's motel,an older unit that looked a little rundown from the outside, but turned out to be very nicely redone inside.
The first Canadian I met was wearing a Jeff Gordon baseball cap, and he asked where we were going. When I told him that we were riding to James Bay, I received the first of my common reactions to our trip by Canadians, when he said "Why?" We talked NASCAR, drivers, and races. Just like being back home.
In this shot, Mike Kramer and myself are unpacking the bikes for the night just outside the hotel room in Ottowa.
This is a shot of Dusty's Gold Wing. Note the dangling additions to the rear of his bike. These would disappear the next day somewhere in Québec.| Trip Stats | |
| Date: | Aug 19, 2006 |
| From | Frackville, PA |
| To: | Ottowa, Ontario |
| Miles Today: | 404 |
| Total Miles: | 604 |
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