Happy Canada Day – The Last Post

Canada Day - July 1, 2010

Happy Canada Day to everyone and an early Happy Independence Day to my American friends (As Obi Wan Kenobi always said – may the 4th be with you!).

I am well rested, have a new hair cut and my sores are healing – well except for the bug bites I got in the last hotel I slept in. I don’t think I slept alone that night. I now have a bad case of raccoon eyes.

As I reflect on my travels a number of words come to mind but I think the one that best represents my overall and most powerful memory of the trip is “JOY”. The joy of the people I met, of the places I saw, of the freedom of the ride and of the bounty that we have in our two great countries.

I admit to some apprehension when I set out on my Vision Quest. People warned me about all manner of un-pleasantries that could befall me in my travels. None of these materialized. Of course no one warned me about Blind River Bed Bugs.

I want to thank all the people, named and un-named who brought joy to me on my travels. Everyone from the impromptu tour guides to the men and women who stopped to ask if I needed help when I looked lost or in trouble. From the old men on the street corners in small town America to the Amish boy on the buggy who waved to me – just because! And to all my friends and family who sent me messages along the way to remind me of home and those closest to me.

My blog got close to 1000 hits and I received close to 70 comments. What a great way to stay in touch. I hope you all enjoyed my ramblings.

So bye for now – I will not be posting anymore messages here until the next trip. I will still receive any posts that people make. Enjoy your respective country’s birthday’s and take time to reflect on how lucky we are to live in a country that is mostly peaceful, filled with mostly nice people, and have a vast bounty of beauty to see around every corner. I hope we can all take some moments out of our busy lives to experience the JOY of what we have.

Warmest Regards

Saltmanbob

P.S. For the bikers – here are some lessons I learned:

LESSONS FROM THE TRIP

• A neat trick I learned from the Internet is to put your clothes into ziplock bags and then sit on them to expel all the air as you zip them up. They pack really flat. At first I put each shirt in a bag, all my underwear in a bag and all my socks in another bag. The trouble was that I had to open 3 bags to get a new outfit. After my laundry I put a shirt and underwear in each bag – one for each day. I kept my socks separate so that at the end of the day everything including the dirty socks go back into the bag. That way I know that if there are socks in the bag its a dirty outfit and not a clean one. This works well even if you are one of those people who gets 4 days out of a pair of underwear.
• Keep your sunscreen (lotion and lip-balm) handy.
• Stuff I took that I didn’t need. A towel – I stayed in hotels so didn’t need one. I thought I might stop along the road and swim naked under a remote waterfall. So many fantasies that didn’t come true. Bike lock – I never felt a need to lock my bike. There were times I wished I could lock my packs so I didn’t need to haul everything into the hotel room at night but then again – I probably still would for peace of mind and a good night’s sleep. Bug repellant – I didn’t run into any bugs so never used it. Maybe I should have in that hotel in Blind River. Back Brace - Thanks to the exercises Aly gave me my back was fine and it was way too hot to wear anyway. Nexis Card - The card was good for going through the border but I had my passport anyway and the speedy Nexis lines were never open. Novel and Soduko – Never took time to read. I am sure others would.
• Stuff I took and didn’t use but didn’t want to be without. Toilet Paper – there is a rule – if you don’t have it you will definitely need it – so carry it so that you never need it. Tools, Bike Manual, Extra Key, First Aid Kit, Extra Pair of Sunglasses, Flashlight - The toilet paper rule might apply here too – since I had them I didn’t need them.
• Stuff I wish I had taken. Warmer Pants and Gloves – for those last few days in the cold. More cotton t-shirts – They are much cooler riding in the heat than those supposed wick-dry golf shirts.
• My Electronic Gear. The stuff I had, kept me on track, in touch and entertained. My Garmin Zumo 660 GPS has a MP3 player and syncs with my phone and bluetooth headsets so I can listen to music as I ride and still hear Emily nagging at me. It really helped to see the hard turns ahead on the windy roads so I wasn’t caught off guard which let me look around and enjoy the scenery more. In the evening I would plan my route on the computer software and upload it to the GPS for the next day. That didn’t mean I didn’t vary the route but I knew I would get to my end destination eventually. The mug holder, which sucks as a coffee holder, worked well as a camera holder. I tied the camera to my mirror with a shoelace and had it at the ready when I wanted to snap a picture. The Scala Solo Rider headset (see the microphone on my helmet) worked well for syncing to my GPS/MPS/Phone. If need be, I could easily take a phone call when riding and the caller could hear me well. The single speaker was sometimes an issue for me to hear. I carried my phone bluetooth headset as well for when the battery on the Scala died. The battery lasts a long time if you aren’t listening to music, but won’t last a day with music playing. The pouch in front of the tank was handy for keeping all those things you need to access quickly. My netbook worked well for maintaining the blog and handling emails at night.
• Always think about what you will need out of your main bag before you strap it down. Invariably I would want something like more money, warm gloves, or a sweater and it would be at the bottom of my pack. It is best to move these to your saddle bags when packing the bike in the morning.
• Take the time to talk to people. You never know what neat story you will hear or new friend you will make.
• Things I am glad I had. Clear Glasses – for those cloudy, rainy or dark rides when sunglasses don’t cut it. Zip-off pants with lots of pockets - I wore these most of the time. Jeans were too tight and too hot during those really hot, humid days. The zip-off pants were lighter and cooler. If I put my feet on the high cruising pegs air would blow up my legs woooohooo. I could easily zip them off and back on when I was stopping for a long time, and I had no trouble getting at my wallet and stuff. Full-faced Helmet – I didn’t like the fit but was happy to have it for the rainy weather. Old packing net from a car – This worked really well for holding down my extra helmet and allowing me to make a helmet change fairly easily.

Safe Riding

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