The top photo was taken this in my driveway moments before I left for my trip. The middle photo shows the rainy coastline of Southport Island on the coast of Maine...my first stop. The last photo was taken this morning in the far north of Wisconsin. The common thread....it's raining in all of them.
This post is being written a week after two of these photos were taken. My route took me from Cape Cod, to Maine, and from there to Vermont (Burlington) and then on to Ontario (Brockville on the St. Lawrence, North Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie). From there it was over to the US edition of the "Soo" and along the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Ironwood. Today was a relatively short leg from Ironwood to Madison, WI.
I have had rain each and every day. Most of it persistent, some of it heavy. Saw some impressive thunder and lightning storms too. The temperatues fluctuated wildly. At the beginning of the week, the rainy spells/days were consistently in the 60's. When the sun came out the temperature would shoot into the 80's. The first and second day in Canada were on/off affairs with numerous stops to put on and take of layers. Annoying doesn't quite describe it. On the last day in Canada (for this leg of the trip) as I approached the Soo, the temperature was dropping steadily. I was using my heated jacket and glad for it. The morning I left Ontario and headed toward the UP the temperature was in the very low 50's. It stayed that way all day...and it stayed rainy all day. This morning when I got up in Ironwood, preparing to leave for Madison, it was 47 degrees and still raining.
The weather experts say there is/was some kind of blocked front over northern Ontario that was causing it all. Whatever the cause, it was not pleasant. Aside from a few hours of sunshine on the second and third days I have had only rain and cold. Yuk.
A bright spot (psychologically, not physically) came yesterday morning as I was riding through the rain in very isolated part of the UP. A good-sized black bear loped (yup) across the road in front of me. At first I thought it was a very large dog, or a very small pony, but the shape and the gait was all wrong for either of those... At only 20 or 30 yards (and me closing at 60mph) I got a pretty good look at it. Brightened up a very unbright day.
For those of you who knew of my planned itinerary, you have noticed that I did not go north into Ontario and come down through Thunder Bay into Duluth where I was to have met Shane. The weather was even worse farther north, so my re-routing was a modest attempt at some self-preservation.
The bike has performed well except that my left HID driving light only works when it feels like it. I also had to replace the low beam headlight bulb, but that was a small thing.
And today, against all odds, Shane (clocking almost 2,500 miles from San Francisco) and I (at around 1500 miles from Cape Cod) arrived at the same motel within ten minutes of each other. It was great to see him. I got to meet and ride Chaim (his new bike, Honda Hornet 599). Seems tiny after riding mine...but a lot of fun. Tomorrow is mostly unplanned. Some time around Madison and then off to the north for our adventure. The weather gods suggest things should be drier for the next little while. I can only hope.
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