2013 Eastbound & Down - Ontario to Prince Edward Island

In which I ride the Versys with a fully loaded top case, a canoe bag, a tank bag, and a loose nut behind the bars from Oshawa Ontario to Prince Edward Island via a poorly plotted route, but with great fun.

The roads past Lake Placid NY

Poorly plotted route you say? Yes, I have to admit that I didn't do my customary pre planning and routing for this trip, nor did I do it for the Pennsylvania trip that Corinne and I just got back from the previous day, and what with packing and easing sore muscles in a lovely bathtub full of hot water, the best I got was a picture in my mind of riding through the mountains in Stowe Vermont, and the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire.

So here is what actually happened:

Day 1: Oshawa ON to Bethel ME

Start mileage. Oops, someone should have filled up last night!

Er, yeah. So here I was leaving in the foggy morning during rush hour, and I had an empty tank. Joy! That little side trip cost me twenty minutes I bet, for I detoured along Taunton Road instead of heading south and directly onto the 401 Eastbound.

It looks small, but it feels so much bigger than the DR650E that I traded for it

 Okay, so a little misadventure, and when I looked at the Garmin GPS that suggested to reach Stowe Vermont I ride the boring super slab all the way to Montreal and beyond... I rebeled and rode across the border at Ganonoque just three hours after I'd left Oshawa. Adirondack mountains, here I come!

I've ridden this route many times, so check my blog for more pictures if you really need them.

Route 3 enroute to Lake Placid. Picturesque and fast sweepers

Yep, that's Whiteface in the distance. I think. A mountain anyway. What do I look like? National Geographic? It's beautiful, you weren't there and you want to be. Now keeping reading...

Leaving Lake Placid NY you get to ride through this.

Yeah, it was worth taking that many shots. Simply magical. 

See this road? It's five hours away from my friends in Toronto.

Vermont awaits!

I told you so!

It looks like the glacier scrubbed bits of Vermont sort of flat...

Am I riding into rain? At least I know the mountains await me.

These mountain streams are just so beautiful.

The ride up to here is well worth it. Damp roads, twisty corners. Brilliant!

The occupants of the car laughed when they saw me taking this shot, but when we get to the nursing home, I can back up my stories with proof. :P

I rolled another grand on the odometer

I made it! The Kancamagus Highway awaits!

Well, I was losing my light fairly quickly and the roads were damp, the speed limit 35 mph, and my deer fear started to set in near dusk. *sigh* so I wimped out halfway and got my butt onto the highway to head for Gorham New Hampshire and then Bethel Maine. What follows is the best my camera could do in the light available.

Yes, it was this breath taking. It reminded me of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina

And now it was largely a night ride to Gorham New Hampshire on good ole Route 2, and once past Gorham, Bethel was my destination to find that my favourite fast food place, Smokin' Good BBQ was closed, so I stayed at the Rostay Inn located next door, and headed over to the pub for a burger and a cider before heading back to the "Bear Room" at the Rostay.

Yep, the Bear Room

Clean and nicely appointed, but the rates had increased since my last stay here a couple of years ago, and I found that $80 US was a bit much.

Day 2: Bethel ME to Borden-Carleton PE

I awoke to a fog so thick that i made sure I applied some anti-fog wax to my visor before setting out that morning, and found that I fogged up in spite of it at a faster than usual rate, and my Respro Foggy had not made it into the trip bag, an oversight that I regret, as riding at this time of year can be uncertain, and the foggy does a magnificent job of keeping your hot breath off of your visor. One year I'd like to try the pinlock system and see if it is worth it.

The sun breaks through

One of the few stops I made for a photo. It was worth it.

Calais Maine. They pronounce it Calis.

And I'm almost across the river and into St Stephen New Brunswick where my lunch awaits me!

Greco Donair with extra sauce! Yummy!

The coastline is beautiful, but the new highway routes you away from it and into the interior much of the time, but travel is considerably faster as a result.

More fog?! I must be near St. John

Sussex NB. The photo doesn't do it justice.

And now Confederation Bridge. It's late, mu butt is sore, but not much further to go.

Selfie!

And I roll another 1000 on the odometer.

 New Brunswick, the drive through province. I made excellent time on it's highways, and as I rode through thick fog much of time, can't say a whole lot about the St. John area. lol. That fog was so thick in fact, that my riding gloves were soaked completely through and I donned extra layers due to the five degree drop in temperature.

Anyhow, that Versys is a brilliant touring bike that needs a few niggles ironed out, like a Corbin seat, some hard luggage and racks to make it perfect. I'm very happy with it at the moment, having rode it four days straight at this point, and clocking over 2500km during that time.

Cheers!