2. The Trip Going. Day 1
I
told you already it’s hot?
We
are wearing boots, socks, long armored specialty pants, that have reinforced
knee and hip protection. We are wearing a riding jacket that is equally padded;
elbows, shoulders and the spine are protected with super efficient, tested and
certified armor, too.
Then
there is the helmet, only the best will do, we only have one head. And I know
from experience that this part MUST be covered. I walked away with just a
bloody nose once; it could have been a lot worse. The helmets we have each has
an intercom, a face shield and sun visors. We wear gloves every time we swing
our legs over the saddle.
Yes,
we look a bit like space men (woman) but so what, I’d rather have a riding suit
damaged than my body. I have seen some ghastly pictures of people who slid
along the asphalt, their skin peeled off them.
We
are adamant…….ATGATT…..all the gear all the time.
When
we left on Thursday morning it was already hot. All the zippers and vents built
into the riding suit were open, the wind, when riding, helps cool us off. The
tank is full, bladders empty and off we go; going west. Within a few miles out
of Toronto the temps move towards the 30 C mark.
Our
first target town is Sarnia (Port Huron for you U.S. guys) and as we had
experienced most of the time, the border has a waiting line. It is one thing to
stand in line in a car, the A/C blows in your face and you just inch forward.
It’s totally different on a bike. On a bike, stop and go is a real pain.
Literally! Your left hand has to operate the clutch; you need to squeeze it in
and hold it, and then let it softly go when you ride forward. You do this over
and over in slow traffic and after a while your wrist gets sore. After
squeezing the clutch for 10 minutes or more you want to just relax your left
hand, but… there is no way you can do that…you are in line, you move onward, an
inch at the time.
Oh!
Did I forget to tell you, you have to balance this forward movement carefully?
Remember, you are only on 2 wheels. I do not like stop and go traffic,
especially when riding on a bike. Border crossings are always a pain, are
always inconvenient, are always exasperating when you have to fiddle with
gloved hands and show your paper work. The border officer talks to you and you
cannot hear well because you are wearing sound cancelling ear plugs under your
helmet. Ah, the whole shenanigans of border crossings are pure bureaucracy and
it irks me no end.
We
made it through customs but now we also have to wait in line to pay the bridge
toll. Every bridge I know today uses EZ pass, an electronic toll device that
makes it easier to collect tolls. But of course! … Not at the Sarnia Bridge,
the Bridge from Canada to the U.S. You need to pay in cash, which means you
ride up to the booth, stop, put your side stand down, remove your gloves, flip
up your visor and give the collector money. I usually pay in U.S. dollars; I
have tried using a small bag with just some dollars in them and then give the
bag to the person. But they only look at
you funny and have no clue, even if I tell them take the money out; put the
change back and so forth. If they were brainy folks they would not sit in a
booth and collect tolls. So, I just do my dance, make a full stop, turn off the
engine, remove my gloves, etc. I take my time; I want them to see how much of a
hassle it is to charge motorcycles toll. In Norway all motorcycles are exempt
from paying tolls. I like that! Good for you, Norway!
We
ride for another 3 or so hours and then, usually between 3 and 4 PM we stop.
How
do we find a hotel? Almost every exit on
an American Interstate has a hotel.
So,
it’s easy to just ride up, book a room and that is it. Yes, of course we like a
bargain, yes, of course we like a restaurant near the hotel, etc. but we usually
find what we are looking for, if all fails we just ride to the next exit on the
Interstate.
We
have developed a system for finding hotel rooms, it depends where we are, what
we drive, ride or whatever. I rarely make reservations when riding a bike. I
never really know where I will be, so I start looking for hotels around 3 PM. I
like to be settled in by 5 PM if I can. We made it as far as Battle Creek, MI
this day, about 350 miles from Toronto.
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