Alamode
Well-known member
I'm posting this now because I was asked about it. I did this trip right around this time in 2013.
I took 16 days and rode from Milton to Seattle and back. On the way there I went through Canada: North over Lake Superior, west into Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, took the south pass into BC and headed south out of Vancouver. I came back east through the states: South and east out of Washington into Oregon and Idaho, east through Wyoming then south into Colorado. East through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, then north and east through Michigan and back into Ontario.
I moved at a pretty relentless pace. 800-1000 km every day. I did not have any destinations planned except to visit my sister in Calgary and my aunt in Waterton. I laid out landmark towns before I left so I would know I was going far enough to make the trip in the time I had, but I made sure to plan 2 days as fluff so I could do whatever I want and not fall behind, for 2 days. That meant riding another 800-1000km, but being only 300-400km from where I started at the end of the day.
I camped most of the way. It was late may/early june when I left so it was easy finding places to sleep. Tourist season doesn't get into full swing until late June. Caming is easy as long as you're not picky about where you set up a tent. I stayed in a lot of RV parks that were mostly empty. They usually have a handful of spots you can set up a tent. I was riding so much that I had zero night life. I put my head down as the sunset and woke up again before sunrise. That reminds me: If you ride after dark, you're going to have a bad time. Except maybe in the plains, where you ought to be able to see a deer coming for days. Everywhere else, DO NOT RIDE AT NIGHT. I was in a great many places around the great lakes and in the mountains where a common word of caution was that there were more deer than people. I saw them. I didn't need to in order to believe it, but I saw them and it made me nervous when I could. On a somewhat related note, I almost hit a bald eagle. Can't say that happens every day.
Weather was good; a bit cool on the north side of Lake Superior, but blistering hot through western ontario and Manitoba. Saskatchen was wet but mild. Rain rolls across the plains in thunderheads that you can see coming for an hour. Eventually you just hit one, plow through it for 10-15 minutes and come out to sunshine on the other end. It's violent, heavy and blinding rain, but I didn't feel it necessary (or safe) to stop. Alberta was wet, and riding in a wet Calgary was miserable. Wet Alberta was much more tolerable when I got out of the city and could enjoy wet rolling hills in the south of the province. Southern Alberta is beautiful, but don't tell anybody.
I'm sporting a Klim Latitude jacket, which is Cordura with Gore-tex. My pants are something by Tourmaster, armoured but not waterproof at all so I have rubberized nylon that I can wear over top when I have to (I hate having to, and the Latitude pants are on my wish list). I saw a lot of rain, but I never got wet beyond my hands. Gore-tex is the ****. I'm not sure I will ever bother with Gore-tex gloves again, however, because nothing can stop rain from getting into your cuff, which soaks the liner from back to front. I think I would have been better off with well ventilated summer gloves so they would at least dry out faster. Waterproof boots are also nice. For this trip I had high-cut work boots by Original Swat. I have since replaced them with similar boots by Royer. Both are waterproof and both have kept me dry while riding in the rain. I hate having wet feet. They're also nice for walking in, should you choose to do so, and suitable for a construction site, should you need that (I do).
BC was also wet, but a better wet. I took highway 3 through Crosnest Pass. It's stunning, but there is heavy truck traffic so you can't gawk too much. This is also where I destroyed my visor from having wet dirt from the roads kick up in my face. Having to constantly wipe it off scratched the hell out of the plastic so it was like looking through a cloud. Pack a spare, or suffer for three days like I did until you can find a replacement in the middle of the desert. Stop and enjoy the little places you come to in BC. There are tonnes of bike enthusiats who have to tell you the best roads to take. It might be the law there or something. I had no set plans for riding in BC, I just wanted to get there and ride through the mountains based on what I found. I had no less than a dozen riders tell me which roads to take for the sake of the ride, and they were so entheusiastic about it that I couldn't help but take their advice. The roads I hit were amazing, stunning, terrifying, mind boggling and fuuuuuuuuuuun.
Washington was also beautiful. It's got mountains and passes and things that bikers tend to enjoy. I enjoyed it, but not as much as BC. I certainly didn't come across any riders who were dieing to tell me which roads to take. I didn't veer too far from the interstates for the remainder of the trip because I was basically lost every day and the interstates pointed me in the right direction. There is no reason to get off of the interstate as you're going back across the plains. The landscape is different in that it's very dry compared to Saskatchewan, so it was still very interesting to see.
I got cheated in Colorado, by the weather and by my electrical system. It was wet, but worse it was foggy. I had hoped for a day to ride through the mountains, but the fog was so thick that it was extremely dangerous to be on the road, let alone in the mountains. I did some canyon carving but not as much as I would have liked. The charging system in my VFR showed it's first symptoms of going south when my battery was failing to hold a charge like it should. It wasn't critical, but it meant having to bump start a few times in Denver, which was less than ideal.
After Colorado it felt like a long ride home. Demoines was nice, but beyond that it was just doing miles on the interstates. It's beautiful country, but in the same way that Ontario is. Illinois, Indiana and Michigan all felt like Ontario. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm getting bored of writing, so it's time to post pictures and call it a day.
I took 16 days and rode from Milton to Seattle and back. On the way there I went through Canada: North over Lake Superior, west into Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, took the south pass into BC and headed south out of Vancouver. I came back east through the states: South and east out of Washington into Oregon and Idaho, east through Wyoming then south into Colorado. East through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, then north and east through Michigan and back into Ontario.
I moved at a pretty relentless pace. 800-1000 km every day. I did not have any destinations planned except to visit my sister in Calgary and my aunt in Waterton. I laid out landmark towns before I left so I would know I was going far enough to make the trip in the time I had, but I made sure to plan 2 days as fluff so I could do whatever I want and not fall behind, for 2 days. That meant riding another 800-1000km, but being only 300-400km from where I started at the end of the day.
I camped most of the way. It was late may/early june when I left so it was easy finding places to sleep. Tourist season doesn't get into full swing until late June. Caming is easy as long as you're not picky about where you set up a tent. I stayed in a lot of RV parks that were mostly empty. They usually have a handful of spots you can set up a tent. I was riding so much that I had zero night life. I put my head down as the sunset and woke up again before sunrise. That reminds me: If you ride after dark, you're going to have a bad time. Except maybe in the plains, where you ought to be able to see a deer coming for days. Everywhere else, DO NOT RIDE AT NIGHT. I was in a great many places around the great lakes and in the mountains where a common word of caution was that there were more deer than people. I saw them. I didn't need to in order to believe it, but I saw them and it made me nervous when I could. On a somewhat related note, I almost hit a bald eagle. Can't say that happens every day.
Weather was good; a bit cool on the north side of Lake Superior, but blistering hot through western ontario and Manitoba. Saskatchen was wet but mild. Rain rolls across the plains in thunderheads that you can see coming for an hour. Eventually you just hit one, plow through it for 10-15 minutes and come out to sunshine on the other end. It's violent, heavy and blinding rain, but I didn't feel it necessary (or safe) to stop. Alberta was wet, and riding in a wet Calgary was miserable. Wet Alberta was much more tolerable when I got out of the city and could enjoy wet rolling hills in the south of the province. Southern Alberta is beautiful, but don't tell anybody.
I'm sporting a Klim Latitude jacket, which is Cordura with Gore-tex. My pants are something by Tourmaster, armoured but not waterproof at all so I have rubberized nylon that I can wear over top when I have to (I hate having to, and the Latitude pants are on my wish list). I saw a lot of rain, but I never got wet beyond my hands. Gore-tex is the ****. I'm not sure I will ever bother with Gore-tex gloves again, however, because nothing can stop rain from getting into your cuff, which soaks the liner from back to front. I think I would have been better off with well ventilated summer gloves so they would at least dry out faster. Waterproof boots are also nice. For this trip I had high-cut work boots by Original Swat. I have since replaced them with similar boots by Royer. Both are waterproof and both have kept me dry while riding in the rain. I hate having wet feet. They're also nice for walking in, should you choose to do so, and suitable for a construction site, should you need that (I do).
BC was also wet, but a better wet. I took highway 3 through Crosnest Pass. It's stunning, but there is heavy truck traffic so you can't gawk too much. This is also where I destroyed my visor from having wet dirt from the roads kick up in my face. Having to constantly wipe it off scratched the hell out of the plastic so it was like looking through a cloud. Pack a spare, or suffer for three days like I did until you can find a replacement in the middle of the desert. Stop and enjoy the little places you come to in BC. There are tonnes of bike enthusiats who have to tell you the best roads to take. It might be the law there or something. I had no set plans for riding in BC, I just wanted to get there and ride through the mountains based on what I found. I had no less than a dozen riders tell me which roads to take for the sake of the ride, and they were so entheusiastic about it that I couldn't help but take their advice. The roads I hit were amazing, stunning, terrifying, mind boggling and fuuuuuuuuuuun.
Washington was also beautiful. It's got mountains and passes and things that bikers tend to enjoy. I enjoyed it, but not as much as BC. I certainly didn't come across any riders who were dieing to tell me which roads to take. I didn't veer too far from the interstates for the remainder of the trip because I was basically lost every day and the interstates pointed me in the right direction. There is no reason to get off of the interstate as you're going back across the plains. The landscape is different in that it's very dry compared to Saskatchewan, so it was still very interesting to see.
I got cheated in Colorado, by the weather and by my electrical system. It was wet, but worse it was foggy. I had hoped for a day to ride through the mountains, but the fog was so thick that it was extremely dangerous to be on the road, let alone in the mountains. I did some canyon carving but not as much as I would have liked. The charging system in my VFR showed it's first symptoms of going south when my battery was failing to hold a charge like it should. It wasn't critical, but it meant having to bump start a few times in Denver, which was less than ideal.
After Colorado it felt like a long ride home. Demoines was nice, but beyond that it was just doing miles on the interstates. It's beautiful country, but in the same way that Ontario is. Illinois, Indiana and Michigan all felt like Ontario. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm getting bored of writing, so it's time to post pictures and call it a day.
