Day 13: Medicine Hat to Calgary

I rested up and looked over the bike checked the tire that had been patched and headed out to Calgary. The Alberta Special Olympics were going on and had the pleasure of meeting Josh and some of the other athletes over breakfast. It was 33° and sunny it was not pleasant in full gear and had to shed a layer in the city core as the stampede event had traffic backed up. Jenny overheated so it was an effort to get in.

Over the next few days I'm staying with a friend from home, Lorianne and her fiancé Rob to host me and help me navigate the stampede grounds. I went down to the grounds, met Robin a Motorcycle track guy then proceeded for an evening show with Chuck wagon racing with Troy Dorchester riding a Carstar Chuck wagon with Cystic Fibrosis Canada being featured. A Fireworks show and Jan Arden who doesn't look like Jan Arden anymore but still sings like Jan Arden. I will be going back tomorrow for more food!

291km 2:41 on the Motorcycle

Day 12: Moose Jaw to Medicine Hat

I got up this morning and headed back to the base to see more of what Scott does. It was an amazing display of proficiency coordination and skill. Had a blast seeing the Harvard Hawk and Snowbird jets. I met John Scott's wing man as well as Mario an emergency seat instructor and received pins to wear on my jacket, Braydon a fellow motorcyclists as well as many other staff who work tirelessly to serve us Canadians. Was definitely an eye opening experience to see the day to day operation.

Another long day (as per next paragraph) as I was feeling deflated.

Day 12

: continued.

As I was pulling out of CFB Moose Jaw Scott mentioned he saw something white on my tire from the night before. We rolled it out as I was leaving and found a screw embedded into the tire. Pressure was good but after some pondering I found a shop. Jim at Action Cycle had a Honda Supersport and other old KZs and CBs in his shop. He was an amazing guy to talk to and he patched my tire lubed the chain as we talked bikes. He was an amazing mechanic and was kind enough to fix it as a donation to the trip. An incredible human being and saved me a day or two off the road. Claude thank you too as well for helping me along the road. I needed an expert opinion and you helped me yet again. I'm indebted to you as well.
Scott-thank you so much for the tour of the base and for dinner and the conversation. Ultimately you saved me from a nasty fall had that screw set into the tire. When we pulled it the air deflated in a few seconds and going the average non listed speeds they do in Saskatchewan I would have lost more than just a few days.

400km 3:48 on road.

Day 11: Winnipeg to Moose Jaw

I woke up Wednesday Morning to meet with the Cystic Fibrosis Canada team from Winnipeg. Andrea and Dawn and Jean treated me to a delicious breakfast and got to speak with them about the trip. Honestly it was nice to sit and chat with people who have the same passion, thank you so much for making the time to see me on my sporatic schedule.

After gassing up I headed out towards Regina. About mid where there an old friend Scott Meaden, who I grew up with, messaged me to see if I'd be coming to see the base in Moose Jaw. I took advantage of the straight away silky smooth pavement (except Regina-your constuction protocols perplexed me) I met him and did the flight simulator and went out and was treated (I am spoiled waay to much) with a steak dinner and then had some beers and reminisced and caught up, was even abel to speak to Andrew his brother by phone where he lives in Edmonton, felt like the good old times when we were kids. Scott also let me take his ride for a rip! Nice to try out some major horsepower!

Hot 34 degree driving. 642 km 6:34 on the bike

Day 10: Thunder Bay to Winnipeg

Thunder Bay commute wasn't as scenic as my first day but still was quite beautiful until Dryden where construction and thunder showers left me a little damp. Kenora I'm sure you're a great city too but when you don't have a gas station unless you drive 10km into town it makes it less appealing. Clearwater Bay thanks for figuring this out.

I arrived into Winnipeg and met up with my brother in laws sister Katie. She was an awesome energetic and generous tour guide, we went to Jollibee to have some Filipino fast food and then hit the city, visiting St. Boniface Cathedral, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, The Forks (an awesome spot for food culture dance and the like!) and Manitoba Plaza. We even went for ice cream and saw some of the inner city and spoke on the challenges and successes of programs there. It was a complete look at the city and by car (thank you Katie again for driving me around) and I left really informed and happy to have visited.  I headed back to the hotel as my head was hitting the pillow I think I fell asleep!

Long day 703km 7:33 on Motorcycle

Day 9: Sault St. Marie to Thunder Bay

 One of the best riding days I have ever had was today!

I knew I had a lot of ground to cover yet again but the weather conditions were prefect and the scenery was unreal.

If the sun hadn't of went down I probably would have kept going, so many great sights right off the road. I would travel this route again, as there were perfect rivers and creeks set with lush green background. As someone who likes to drive and take photos this was just to perfect to pass up when I drove by some spots. Little pic river, Terrance Bay, Wabikoba creek were all amazing. With the only hiccup spraying gas in my eyes at an old pump in Wawa it was a really great day. Route 17 West is the ultimate Northern Ontario route, the pavement was superb and even though I travelled a lot I was not ready to get off the bike. I finished the night off eating at a BP but realized I can't eat hot food as the wind had burned my lips from having anything spicy haha
Lastly to Bruno Charlie and Richard have an excellent drive East through Canada and hopefully we can meet up when you're in Nova Scotia in August!

719km 7:09 on the bike

Day 8: Toronto to Sault St. Marie

After a great long evening I woke up and hit the road on a long 700km trek to northern Ontario. With not much time for stops, I hit the road and stopped minimally for gas and snacks. I was able to meet Oliver, another bike enthusiast travelling with his family who was nice to stop and talk about the trip with me (if you do head to NS please reach out and let me know!) It was really nice to meet you.

Also, on another gas stop around Spanish I met a guy named Terry who was travelling by Harley from PEI visiting Calgary. He was originally from Calgary and visiting the Stampede before heading back to PEI. Nice to meet you too!

I want to thank the guy I met at the comfort inn in Peterborough for recommending taking route 17 west for this part of the trip, very scenic!

I drove and nearly frooze to get to Sault. St Marie, splurged on a nice hotel with a hot tub and warmed up before calling it a night while updating posts.

Distance 700km 7:08 on the road

Day 7: Canada Day and Blue Jays!

After an awesome fireworks show and a few drinks we went back to rest. I woke up in the morning early, the Blue Jays game was at 1:00 pm but I wanted to get out and enjoy the city and all the Canada day festivities. Hannah helped me with instructions to weave my way down through the city.

I started by grabbing a coffee and heading to Kensington Market, a very hip and unique area of Toronto. Most things were closed but the artwork and scenery was amazing. From there I walked through China town, visited the Eaton Centre and then met with Terra for the baseball game. Terra works for CF Canada in Toronto and I was able to take her to the game and catch up, it was great to meet her in person as she does so much through social media for Cystic Fibrosis Canada!

From there I walked around downtown. Chris from Adrenaline Tattoos and he hooked me up with some gear to wear and purchased a pin. Chris was an awesome very generous guy and merely did it because I had briefly talked about the fundraiser. I wasn't in the market for a tattoo that day but it was a fantastic shop and I'd go again!

I walked back much the same way I came, first seeing graffiti alley but stopping in for craft beer at different pubs, a pub crawl of sorts, had some wings (Alana nice to meet you and thank you for taking such interest in the fundraiser, you were very kind). Brayden the comedian from Saskatchewan I wish you the best of luck man, was also nice to meet you. Andre your artwork was amazing in Kensington Market, I will wear the shirt on the trip, glad we were able to talk real on some things. Toronto had lots of friendly and talkative people.

From there I finally got back to Hannah's apartment and conked out but not before having a VERY great piece of home made cake she made!

no bike, walked more kms than I can remember!