It's The No Passport Tour 2020! | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

It's The No Passport Tour 2020!

Did your hackles rise when it looked at you??

Not really, I did want to stop, but the wolf was only about 20' away from me and I thought it best to keep moving.............. As a kid I had a very large german shepherd latch onto my right calf when I was riding by on my bicycle and leave a number of nasty puncture holes, so I'm a bit gun shy on large 4 footed canine carnivores..........
 
wouldnt happen to have any pics of the working girl by any chance?

For research purposes...

Some don't have enough excitement with the China Flu. Research says you are playing with fire on something that was relatively safe a couple of hundred years ago. Experience says the fantasy is probably more rewarding than the real thing.
 
Rather than making a completely new ride report, I'll tag onto this one. Back Sunday evening from 2200km - we did do the big loop - Manitoulin, Sault Ste Marie, Wawa, Chapleau, 129 south, Sudbury, home.

Came within about 10 minutes of missing the ferry - too late of a departure time (my fault, I agreed to it with the group), too many backroads on the way up (again, my fault, I planned the route), and then an ill advised sit down lunch at a GREAT little restaurant that should have been a fast food stop instead. It all cascaded, bad. Arrived to the booth to check in and pay literally as the horn was sounding on the ferry that it was docking. By the time we paid and got in line we barely had our engines turned off for 2 minutes and we were loading. Ugh.

Spent the night on the island, stayed at the Huron Sands motel. Decent, but not fancy by any stretch. Prices high for what you get in that area.

Day 2 we only went about 350km which was welcome by all after the festivities of the day previous. Tried to check out Bridal Veil Falls but it was "closed". Well, partially - you couldn't go down the stairs to the base of the falls but the upper observation platform was open...all in the name of Covid. Seemed silly as people were just jamming on the observation platform instead where if they'd been allowed to go down to the bottom they'd surely have been more spread out.

Trucked on with a few other scenery stops. Stayed at the Clansmen motel on St. Josephs island - not my first time here but first time for the rest of the group and probably our favourite motel of the entire trip - it's a nice little place tucked away in the woods on a quiet little road. Kitchenettes in all rooms plus 1 room we had included a full kitchen. Hit about 20 minutes of heavy rain in the last 30 minutes of the ride but the sun came out as we arrived, so all good. Highly recommended - dated, but clean, and great location..a huge pool, too, which for a motel, is certainly uncommon.

Day 3, to Chapleau. Beautiful day, great scenery. Stayed at the "Chapleau Motel" in Chapleau. Nearly whacked a yearling black bear that ran across the highway in front of us - the only real wildlife sighting for the entire trip, sadly aside from all the usual small stuff. The motel was a $100 room that honestly should have been a $60 room, but options are slim up there in the north. Had pizza from a local joint as we missed the closing time for the grocery stores. Pizza barely made it as they'd rolled up the sidewalks too.

Day 4, the fabled Highway 129. Mixed feelings on that whole experience - the first 100km out of Chapleau were boring. Flat and straight. And then, suddenly, for an amazingly brief period, it became amazing. Like, better than Tail of the Dragon amazing. My friend and I on his FJR tore it up. But seemingly as fast as it happened, it was over. Stopped at the Tunnel Lake Trading Post for gas (really the only option on the 129) and a stretch, had a coffee, got photos with the dragons there (they are smartly playing up the "Ontario's Tail of the Dragon" thing), and continued on. The stretch from there down was decent, but couldn't get that amazing stretch out of my head, as could several others. Plans are already hatched to go back up there next year perhaps (or who knows, maybe this year LOL), base ourselves out of the trading post, and run that stretch of road back and forth. Stayed in Lively at a motel on the main stretch of road passing through - another "looked better on the internet than it was in real life", but the staff tried hard and were friendly, so it was was it was. They didn't charge us extra for the kitchenette room either, so all good.

Day 5, basically Sudbury home. All was going well until it wasn't - my wife wrecked...pretty bad. Ambulance ride to the hospital after laying on the road for 20-25 minutes waiting for it to arrive. Friends hung back with her bike after we left (her in the ambulance and me on my bike) and saw it off to the impound yard and then headed home themselves as I told them there wasn't any need to come sit at the hospital with me..in the the parking lot, nonetheless. Amazingly no life threatening injuries but the whole experience sucked, especially not being allowed into the hospital with her due to the Covid restrictions. She's recovering albeit on some pretty heavy paid meds and nearly crippled in pain - needless to say the rest of my vacation week is hardly turning out to be a vacation. I need to go pickup the bike from the wreckers Thursday and see if it's salvageable or a part out/scrap. I will say no more on the topic as we are pursuing the matter legally for reasons I will not discuss.

I made it home solo Sunday at around 11PM. Rode through 2 thunderstorms once I got south of Beaverton. I don't mind riding in rain but the winds and the debris blown onto the road from the heavy cells, plus being dark, well, that sucked...but I needed to get there.

Anyhow, as mentioned, I'd like to get up to 129 again - next summer for sure, but if time works out, maybe before this season is over. It's only 650km each way, easy day trip...and then spend a few full days there - the road was *that* fun, just too short.
 
So sorry to hear about that - hope she heals up properly.
Good luck dealing with the bike and other things.

If you are looking for an excellent personal injury law firm, I have one that I can personally vouch for.
 
Sending wishes for a speed recovery to your wife...hope she heals quickly and is able to get back in the saddle sooner rather than later...
 
I'm heading to Timmins via 144 on Friday. Anyone done Sudbury 84 from Capreol to 560?
I was on it a few weeks ago. The intention was to ride from 560 to Sudbury via gravel but I never made it. At about the halfway point (60 kms) the road was washed out and there was a water crossing. It looked pretty difficult and as I was riding my expensive new adv bike and didn't feel like dropping it I decided not to attempt it and went back. Even if it wasn't for the water crossing, several sections of the road were pretty rough, including one steep section of hill with lots of large loose rocks where I nearly lost it. I wouldn't recommend doing this road unless you are comfortable off road, or have people with you to help you if you crash. If you're looking for easy gravel, the road from hwy 560 to Timmins (Grassy rd) is a nice easy gravel road the entire way. There are several forks in the road and it's not obvious which way to go so make sure you have a gps or phone with offline maps.
 
Terrible news, PP. Very sorry to hear. Best wishes to your wife for a full recovery.

Bike is back is back on the road and she went out for a few hours with me this afternoon. All well, seems no worse for wear...still singing away in my ear over the intercom to her music, as usual. :)

May very well be her last ride of the year (fuelled up with no ethanol and added stabilizer on the way home), but back in the saddle regardless.

Thanks for everyones thoughts. In the grand scheme of things, a positive outcome.
 

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