70-Year-Old Guy Out-Rides Me In His Trike (Can Am) | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

70-Year-Old Guy Out-Rides Me In His Trike (Can Am)

GreyGhost said:
On the Ape, the best day was 2300 km in 24 hours (gas ~every 4 hours).
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You an I need to do some riding together....that's my kind of **** right there. I'll need gas every 2.5-3 hours or so though, my new bike is a bit of a gas whore I'm discovering. ;)

I'll dig out my tank bag for easy access food while on the go. Speaking of which...I have a funny story about a bolgna sandwich that was consumed on the go while doing my very first Iron Butt.
 
To me "Out-Rides Me" refers to performance, not endurance. The guy is on a snowmobile on wheels so of course he was more comfortable than you were at the ends of the day. Better to say "Out Lasts me". Also, could be wrong but I don't think you see many new 70 year old guy riders out there. This guy probably has decades of riding experience on 2 wheels and moved to a 3 wheeler due to a health or comfort issue, so long days could be a norm for him and no big deal.

I've done a number of 1,000+ km days over the years and I find the last couple of hours to be unpleasant. I'm not sore or aching, and my ST is the perfect bike for this as have an RDL seat, but 12+ hours on the road with gas and meal breaks is just too long IMO. For me, riding is 100% recreational and pleasure, if I'm not enjoying it then why bother.
 
ReSTored said:
if I'm not enjoying it then why bother.
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What constitutes "enjoyment" varies a lot in the rider community.

Some enjoy a few hundred KM and call it a day. Others thrive on the endurance aspect.

I love the endurance thing. I lose myself in the miles and completely zen out.
 
PrivatePilot said:
What constitutes "enjoyment" varies a lot in the rider community.

Some enjoy a few hundred KM and call it a day. Others thrive on the endurance aspect.

I love the endurance thing. I lose myself in the miles and completely zen out.
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I went on a multi-day bike trip once with co-workers (one on a standard, one on a vstar). It was their trip, I was just tagging along. After 200 km, they were looking for a place to stop for the day. omg. I think the three day trip was 700 km. I learned a few things on that trip. 1)I don't travel well with others, I would rather do my own thing 2) looking through a paper map on the highway does not go well. You think the windscreen is providing enough protection but the map will tear itself apart. This also dates the timeframe of my last trip with others.
 
GreyGhost said:
I went on a multi-day bike trip once with co-workers (one on a standard, one on a vstar). It was their trip, I was just tagging along. After 200 km, they were looking for a place to stop for the day.
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This is why, aside from day trips, I struggle with longer trips with many/most of my riding club buddies...because I'll post what I want or intend to do for daily mileage and 99% of them are "Well, I'm out!".

There's a very select segment of the rider population that love the endurance thing. I get it. Unfortunately the one guy (who was even more crazy than I when it comes to endurance) that I used to do some of these rides with had a falling out with the club and has sadly distanced himself since. Another buddy moved a few hours away so aside from a 2+ day trip somewhere (we did Sturgis last year together, 6500KM in 7 days) so the "lets just do a 1000KM day trip" type stuff is out the window as well. Most others will do 500KM-750KM in a day and are done.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I do (and enjoy) the 500KM riding day thing with friends when we're doing 2-4 day trips, IE...upstate NY (Lake Placid, Lake George, etc) but it's usually a much slower pace because of the size of the groups, so 500KM day constitute a 9-10 hour day at which point we kick back at the motel and enjoy some grub and beers. That's cool.

But a few times every season I just need to get on and do some big miles. I crave it.
 
If you fellas like long rides, allow me to ask you one question: how close to reality is the potential of relocating to somewhere with more "2-wheel friendly" landscapes? Or how often do you visit friends in those states with 2-wheels?

I've been on a pretty steep "depression" for the state of 2-wheeled destinations in Ontario after coming back from visiting California/West Virginia/North and South Carolina in the past two years. I find myself switching from "exploring aimlessly" in Ontario to just riding out to a quiet beach/jetty and suntanning. I can do both types while listening to podcasts, so that takes care of the mental engagement, if the scenery is less than inspiring and lacks elevation, I'm finding myself to lean towards relax and unwind instead.

I'm also trying to convince my solo/nomatic friends to setup shop in Cali/Texax/east coast somewhere so I have a good basecamp to ride out from.. If that pans out, I might consider selling the excess bikes here in Canada and buying a new one to register down there..work in progress.

/sad.
 
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PrivatePilot said:
What constitutes "enjoyment" varies a lot in the rider community. Some enjoy a few hundred KM and call it a day. Others thrive on the endurance aspect. I love the endurance thing. I lose myself in the miles and completely zen out.
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Absolutely correct. I just saying what I like/do not like doing. What you and others do is completely your business, just not for me.

Finding a compatible rider(s) for day trips and, even more challenging, multi-day trips can be very difficult. There are many many variables such as start time, time of breaks, meals, gas stops and duration of same, stop time, type of accomodation, pace of the ride etc....... You also have to be accomodating to some extent as the perfect match is extremely unlikely and can you find enough points of alignment to make the ride enjoyable vs. an ordeal.
 
MSRP said:
If you fellas like long rides, allow me to ask you one question: how close to reality is the potential of relocating to somewhere with more "2-wheel friendly" landscapes? Or how often do you visit friends in the states with 2-wheels?

I've been on a pretty steep "depression" for the state of 2-wheeled destinations in Ontario after coming back from visiting California/West Virginia/North and South Carolina in the past two years. I find myself switching from "exploring aimlessly" in Ontario to just riding out to a quiet beach/jetty and suntanning.

/sad.
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Relocating to the US is hard. You need to be sponsored by a company and you have to meet certain requirements in education, work experience, and the field you work in. If it was easier I'd probably do it. And you still won't be a real citizen, you'll just have tn or h1b status which means your stay is temporary and you can be kicked out any time.
 
1200 kms in a day is my limit, maybe 1300 tops. Anything more than that, and you're probably riding in the dark which I hate doing due to wildlife.
 
MSRP said:
If you fellas like long rides, allow me to ask you one question: how close to reality is the potential of relocating to somewhere with more "2-wheel friendly" landscapes? Or how often do you visit friends in those states with 2-wheels?
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I think I'd relocate to Western Canada in the foothills somewhere before the USA.

We have expat family in Mississippi right now so we have all sorts of "real world" experience about what it's like to live in the USA and it's not as rosy as many envision. My wife used to actually work in the USA when she first got her degree and I know we could move back there in a heartbeat (and I could be a permanent house husband) if I wanted.

But I just can't stomach the USA aside from being a tourist, especially in the Trump era. The racism (don't kid yourself, it's still rampant down there, especially in the south), the partisanship, and the gun culture...just isn't for me.

The totally chill attitude out west however, and good roads to boot...are appealing. I also have a friend who moved to east Vancouver 15 years ago and has never looked back.

ReSTored said:
Absolutely correct. I just saying what I like/do not like doing. What you and others do is completely your business, just not for me.

Finding a compatible rider(s) for day trips and, even more challenging, multi-day trips can be very difficult. There are many many variables such as start time, time of breaks, meals, gas stops and duration of same, stop time, type of accomodation, pace of the ride etc....... You also have to be accomodating to some extent as the perfect match is extremely unlikely and can you find enough points of alignment to make the ride enjoyable vs. an ordeal.
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100% agree. When you find that person who is flexible on all of it but still likes doing the big miles, it can certainly be enjoyable.

I try to be that person when it comes to riding long and hard. Choice of food/restaurants? I don't care. Want to stop for 10 or 15 minutes to stretch and have a butt instead of "gas and go", all cool. Choice of hotel/motel? Budget, clean, and bug free and I'm cool...I don't care about fancy or anything else. What kind of bike you ride or what you wear while riding it? I don't care...it's all the same wind.

Want to stop for an hour at Tim Hortons every 2 hours? Well, now...we may have a problem. ;)
 
danp said:
Relocating to the US is hard. You need to be sponsored by a company and you have to meet certain requirements in education, work experience, and the field you work in. If it was easier I'd probably do it. And you still won't be a real citizen, you'll just have tn or h1b status which means your stay is temporary and you can be kicked out any time.
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My brother was on an L1 visa IIRC. Company sponsored. Married a murican and became eligible for green card. Company paid for green card as it was similar cost as renewing L1 (and it costs double if my brother wanted to do it privately). They moved to Canada after Trumpy got elected as they didn't like how things were going. That was it's own mess as they hired an immigration consultant to help with the process and he was incredibly dirty and told them to do illegal things (false tax returns etc). Permanently moving over borders as a private citizen is harder than I would expect.
 
Our expat family was 100% sponsored by a Mississippis largest car dealer in the state who needed his skillset as a licensed mechanic. In the USA a Canadian licensed mechanic is the equivalent of a rocket scientist given as how they have very little formal training for being a mechanic down there. "ASE Certified" means that you have a pulse, a crayon, and know how to change oil. Not much else.

They paid for everything and his wife and kids came "along for the ride" and all got their green cards (and citizenship) after the fact.

But there's whispers they are thinking about coming home. The kids will probably stay as Murica is "home" now to the ones that were super young when they moved down there. But him and her are not doing well in the realities of increasing unemployment (particularly now), lack of proper health insurance, low pay for unskilled workers (I think I'd heard she was making $3/hour doing in home childcare) and a variety of other reasons.

Is it appealing to be down there where "winter" means lows of 10c and daytime highs in the mid to high 20's, the motorcycle roads are good, etc etc etc.. yes.. But I would not move there simply for that. There's places in Canada that can offer all that without all the downsides.
 
What's mississippi like for riding? I've been to florida but not mississippi. Seems pretty flat on google street view. It's also the poorest state so I'm guessing there's a lot of crime.
 
danp said:
What's mississippi like for riding? I've been to florida but not mississippi. Seems pretty flat on google street view. It's also the poorest state so I'm guessing there's a lot of crime.
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Mississippi itself? Not so good. I was referencing the VA/TN/GA area south-ish (where the good MC roads are plentiful) in my “down there”.
 
danp said:
What's mississippi like for riding? I've been to florida but not mississippi. Seems pretty flat on google street view. It's also the poorest state so I'm guessing there's a lot of crime.
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the deep south is flat as a pancake, from Florida all the way over to Texas
it's part of the Coastal Plain that runs all the way up to New England

can still be some nice scenery to ride though outside of the populated areas
can't expect much in the way of twisty roads as there's no need for them

crime levels are generally higher
need to exercise common sense like any other place with disparity of income
areas of Toronto are just as risky as bad areas of the South

one tip is look at the hotels in the area you are in
if the property is fenced in and check-in area has bullet proof glass
keep riding
 
J_F said:
areas of Toronto are just as risky as bad areas of the South
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Not even close.

There are areas in some states that you don't even DARE go into unless you're the right ethnicity, colour, or "association". When my wife first moved to MS for work she was befriended by a black fellow who lived in the apartment across from her. He pulled out a map of Jackson and drew a line denoting "White Jackson" from "Black Jackson" and was strictly warned that despite being a "Colour blind Canadian" she'd best not cross into areas she shouldn't be in. It goes both ways.

There is nothing even close to any of that in Canada. Anywhere.

My job has taken me to a lot of areas most Canadians would have no idea even exist so far as "I do not feel comfortable here as an unarmed white Caucasian".
 
cool

valuable minerals tend be located in shitholes
so yeah I've seen a few places, lived/worked on 5 continents
did a 3 week motorcycle trip across the deep south 2 years ago

but hey, you've talked to somebody that talked to somebody
and I've never driven a truck

so I'll defer to your grander understanding of the world
 
PrivatePilot said:
Not even close.

There are areas in some states that you don't even DARE go into unless you're the right ethnicity, colour, or "association". When my wife first moved to MS for work she was befriended by a black fellow who lived in the apartment across from her. He pulled out a map of Jackson and drew a line denoting "White Jackson" from "Black Jackson" and was strictly warned that despite being a "Colour blind Canadian" she'd best not cross into areas she shouldn't be in. It goes both ways.

There is nothing even close to any of that in Canada. Anywhere.

My job has taken me to a lot of areas most Canadians would have no idea even exist so far as "I do not feel comfortable here as an unarmed white Caucasian".
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Agree. I had a bathroom emergency south of chicago and a McDonald's employee physically blocked the door and told me I wasnt welcome and should leave right now. Unfortunately, that wasnt an option.

One of my brothers Puerto Rican friends from the wrong side of the tracks explained how it was acceptable to rob anyone that entered the hood who didnt belong there. Nile crocodile attitude. If you were unlucky enough to stumble into their territory, it was expected that you would leave with nothing. No hard feelings, just the way of the world. The friend could not understand why anyone would think that that approach was wrong.

There are some places in TO that are less safe than others, but I have no problem going anywhere in TO even at night with little concern that something bad will happen to me.
 
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