Dave and Redbone invaded Canada...

[davesax36]

So this summer (I know, it's been a while) I met up with Brian-- Redbone-- and went on a totally epic journey through Maine, Atlantic Canada, and Newfoundland. We went to Miles Long's house, hung out, rode with him through New Brunswick, then moved on to Newfoundland for another ten(ish) days of riding and hanging out with my wife's family. I'm starting this thread as a sort of ride report/cool story drop/travel ideas thread.

SHORT VERSION:

Brian and Miles are awesome guys. If you get a chance to hang with them, you should do it. Also the Maritime provinces of Canada are very fun, and you should go there, too.

LONG VERSION--

I gotta say, if you're gonna meet up with some V-Max guys, Brian and Miles are tops. Yes, I've hung out with Traumahawk and Sean, and spent time on the phone with Danny, and bought parts and things from Kyle, but for actualy hanging out for more than a couple hours -- just Miles and Brian.

Anyway. Brian and I had planned to meet up near Bangor Maine in the second week of July. I was on my Super Tenere (awesome), and he was on Redbone. We were in loose contact in emails for the last couple days before the meet. I'd already done about 7,000 miles of my trip before we met up, which happened on Route 2 in Maine. If you haven't gone up to ride around New England, you should definitely hit this road. It winds all over the place through VT, NH, ME and is just a nice ride. So we met up at a little Motel Brian had stopped at after a crazy day of terrible rain and sleeping on a picnic table at a permanently closed motel the night before. He'll have to fill in the details, but that's a pretty good story. I was on the road a couple hours behind him, so I went to the place he was staying for the night to meet in person. What a cool guy. We hung out and talked for a while and did a bit of troubleshooting of his foot peg and windshield which had shaken out the bolts from at least two of the mounts. He'd had a pretty rough start to the trip. I went on to my campsite east of Bangor, and we met up the next day to head for Miles's place.

Border Crossing... Do not attempt this with Brian. We both got the third degree from the guys in the booth in Calais. They let us in, though, and we headed onto the TCH to go to St. John, NB. The weather was fantastic, and I was wondering how long that would be true. Sure enough, we come over a hill about 12 miles into New Brunswick, and we go smack into this super thick and chilly fog. Welcome to Canada, Redbone! The fog was so thick coming into the city, that I almost missed the turn to go to Miles's place. We made it, though, and Miles and Marie came out to meet us. You know how it is... we spent probably a half hour standing in the street just talking and hanging out before Marie made us go inside for dinner. She took great care of us! We all sat around the table telling stories and having a good time for the next few hours.
That was June 18th. We had a cabin on the Argentia ferry booked for the 20th (check the schedule) so we were going to take only one extra day on the way over. We decided the schedule would not permit us to leave in the morning and make the early ferry crossing, so Miles rode with us and we left in the afternoon of the 19th to go as far as Antigonish that night so we didn't have a really long ride the next day. We stayed at this cool (maybe haunted) B&B in Antigonish. I had to sleep on the floor because I was the youngest. Of course I was right next to this creepy closet and a freakin' full-lenght mirror so I spent the whole night wondering if I was going to wake up to see the ghost of this little girl who apparently is still a little active in the 100 year old house. I made it through the night without any paranormal activity, and awe headed out for the next day. Miles stayed with us to Cape Breton, then turned around to go visit a friend before returning to his place. Brian and I headed on along the south side of the Bras D'or lake. Great road, great scenery, and only one really slow old man in a Kia made the next few hours plenty of fun.

Ferry Terminal Reached! We got to the ferry in North Sydney, NS pretty early, and pulled in behing and BMW R1200GS Adventure. It looked immaculate, and we both stood and looked at it for a bit. (more coming)

 

[davesax36]

So this is where me met the guy who makes all the BMW adventure bike stereotypes come true. He was from Illinois. He was a douchebag. He immediately started talking to me, but wouldn't even acknowledge Brian. He was sort of making fun of us, but not really. Just a condescending guy who I did NOT want entering Newfoundland as a representative of the US in any way, shape, or form. Anyway, we met him, and went into the terminal to do some stuff. When we came out there were guys looking at the bikes. A few of them were really impressed that Brian had ridden so far on his V-max. Others were looking at my aux tank setup and asking if it was beer. We met and talked to a guy whose family owned a big fish factory in Baie de Verte that had burned down some years ago. He was really keen on telling us how much his truck cost and trying to get through some Newfie jokes. BMW guy was not impressed, and made some slightly rude comments during all this, but whatever.

Finally, they start loading the ferry. The ferries to and from Newfoundland are pretty great. Since they're the only way on and off the island with a vehicle, they fill up. The line of bikes was not as long as the last time I'd crossed, so we had time to meet most of the people who were on our boat while waiting in line. Lots of good guys on this boat, including a father and son riding GL1500 and a Road King with these sweet fat-spoked wheels. Very nice guys, who actually lived only a few minutes from where my wife grew up. We hung out with them on the boat a bit, ate some, stared at the bartender girl, and headed to bed. No sign of mister BMW. I thought this was a bit odd because there really are only about three places to hang out on the boat, and the guy was very proud to have not made any plans including getting a cabin or a seat in the reserved areas. He didn't take anything with him from his bike, either, and this is a 16 hour ferry ride... Whatever.

Morning came. We ate (we did a lot of eating), and watched the shore get closer as we came into the port in Argentia. Once off the boat, we headed for Cape Spear. The lighthouse at Cape spear is the eastern most point in North America. It's a cool place with a lot of history, and some awesome road leading up to it. Have I mentioned that those Marks pipes on Redbone sound awesome? They do. Even though I was leading the ride most of the time, those pipes made me want to come home and do the trip again on my V-max, just like I'd done last year. They sound so good. And let me tell you, when Brian says his bike is dirty... He's lying. That thing was so much cleaner even after four days on the road in terrible rain and some crappy, unpaved roads than my bike has ever been.

Cape Spear checked out, we headed back in through St. John's to Cabot Tower up on Signal hill. It had gotten super windy (totally normal) and we only stayed up there for a little while before heading back down through town to my in-laws' house in Mount Pearl. So that's the end of day 4.

 

[Fire-medic]

Glad you're having a safe trip. Sounds like Miles Long is a great resource when you're on a trip, and the hospitality of his family is something not always found. The itinerary sounds like you've had a good time planning things, w/a bit of flexibility to make things work OK if issues arise, or if you want to spend a bit more time somewhere you find fun or interesting.

I'll be waiting for your continued trip stories. Godspeed.

 

[davesax36]

Well we've been back for over a month. Brian ferried off the island 8/1 from Port aux Basques, and I returned on the argentia ferry on 8/4.

So where were we? oh, right. We made it to Mount Pearl, NL, and parked the bikes at my in-laws'. There was more eating... plenty of it. I can't remember a time that I've had dessert with as many meals or more days in a row than on this trip. I've been up almost 20 times, and even at my wedding, we didn't have dessert every day. It must be because of "Scary Brian" and his terrifying biker image. We putted around town a couple days, some in cars and some on bikes. It was a good rest-up opportunity for our excursions.

Day 6 (I think), we made a run south around the Avalon peninsula on what's known as the Irish Loop. It's really interesting to see how the landscape changes. The whole island is one giant rock that fell off the end of the Appalachian mountains and rolled over in the ocean, but the sourthern shore has barrens that just appear. After riding about an hour south of St. John's on some pretty great roads, you come off a hill, the trees disappear, and you're just riding on a ribbon of asphalt that follows the path of least resistance. The road has little sticks on the sides so you don't drive off into the ditch during snow storms and what not, but there didn't even used to be a ditch. You could just ride off the road and be on the grass with pretty much no warning.

We took the route down the East side, towards Trepassey, past a UNESCO heritage site. That's a spot about 3Km from the road where they discovered some of the oldest fossils on record about 5 years ago. They's just gotten their UNESCO status about two weeks before. I went there on another trip, and it is super cool, but we were there to explore roads on this trip so no stopping that time. We did stop at the "beach" just past that corner to watch the humpback whales eating caplin (little tiny fish) and fooling around probably no more than a couple hundred yards off shore. A couple were practically right up on the beach, which is really just tumbled 2" rocks and sandy dirt. We finished that loop and returned to Mount Pearl for, you guessed it, more food and dessert!

 

[scuff]

sounds like a great trip, love reading about it but where's the pics man !!!! LOL

 

[maleko89]

Good stuff. How many Hooters restaurants did you visit?

 

[scuff]

Good stuff. How many Hooters restaurants did you visit?

ikr, there's gotta be a redhead in this story somewhere, I think they're holding out on us !!! hahaha :ummm:

 

[Redbone]

The Newfoundland trip was a milestone in my life that will be well remembered, and one I hope to do again sooner than later. As far as a riding companion, I could not of found a better one in Dave. Sometimes when you first meet a person, even though it was just a few emails before I left I had a good feeling about Dave.
Well, my good feeling did not last long (nothing to do with Dave!) into the trip as on the second night I waited too long to stop to get a hotel and they were all booked. I got a little lost near Burlington, VT. but got back on track. It was past nine pm and getting dark, but I kept riding eastward on US 2, most of the way across Vermont. I ended up near Shelburne, VT. where I saw a sign to a hotel I had thought about staying at so I pulled in. By this time it was almost 1 am, so I knocked on the door but got no response, as tired as I was I just lay down on the picnic table bench and fell asleep. Figured I'd get a room in the morning since they looked pretty empty. :confused2:
Along about 4 am I get jolted back awake by the first few drops of RAIN! Luckily for me they had an overhang over the hotel rooms so I pushed Redbone mostly under this and I sit down to wait for the owner to wake up. I would have pushed on if it hadn't been raining and plus when I sat down I broke one of their plastic chairs! Could my trip get any worse at this point? Well it almost went off the rails when the owner came out and found me waiting for him in his parking lot. Apparently the hotel was for sale and closed and he was none too happy. I tried to explain my dilemma, but he was not amused and asked me to leave.
I fired up Redbone and motored on into the light rain that was falling. Then it started to rain a little harder so I pulled to side of the road, mind you that I'm in a rural part of western Maine (or eastern Vermont?), on a two lane road so I was only about 10' off the roadway when I stopped to put on my rain gear. I was just about to pull my Tourmaster rain jacket on when a car splashes me and Redbone pretty good. GREAT, what next! By this time it's about 7 am and the further east I go the harder it's raining. Being that it's Sunday morning nothing is open, until I find a gas station that tells me their are a few hotels just up the road an hour or so. I head out and find a little mom and pop restaurant all set up for the Sunday crowd and have a nice breakfast and about 5 cups of coffee. Rejuvenated I take off down the road and find a hotel just before 10 that's open but did not have a clean room yet so I went to a Mcdonalds up the road and had some more coffee then a little after 11 am I'm finally in a hotel room! WHEW! End of day 2!
I unloaded Redbone to take a look at my windshield that was coming apart on me. Dave called and said he wasn't too far away and would stop by soon.
More to come...but no Hooters stops on this trip Mark! Sorry!

 

[Traumahawk]

Sounds like a great trip.

 

[Redbone]

Dave is kind of surprising, I mean in our few emails he tells me about how he planned this little ride around 3/4's of the US before meeting up with me then embarking on what I thought was an epic 3 week trip to Newfoundland! Then he leads me on an a what I would call a personally guided trip of Newfoundland! He is a motorcycle guy and we hit it off immediately discussing each others bikes, things we've done on bikes how different mods were working for him or not. We had a lot of the same interests on topics that came up and yes we seemed both enjoy a good meal.
Unbeknown to me, he also shared his in-laws, their hospitality for the majority of the time we were there. His wife and in-laws, who by the way, were some of the nicest and giving people I've met in some time. I'm sure they had seen all these places a hundred times but were more than happy to share all their experiences with me. It wasn't long before I felt almost like one of the family. Even more surprising was the fond farewell and invitation to come back anytime! I promised them that I would return and they didn't even bat an eye! Dave has a awesome wife, who is as nice as nice can be, is also a master of the internet, finding lodging and all things Newfoundland.
Did I mention Dave was surprising!

 

[DMAN999]

Great thread thanks for sharing your experiences from this ride with us !!!!!!!

 

[[email protected]]

Great thread thanks for sharing your experiences from this ride with us !!!!!!!

I disagree.
I haven't seen 1 photo :ummm: :biglaugh:

 

[maxcruiser]

Sounds like it was a great experience indeed!

The Canadian East Coast is something special, from the scenery to the people, especially the people - they are a freaking great all around.

Mike

 

[davesax36]

 

[davesax36]

 

[davesax36]

 

[davesax36]

 

[davesax36]

 

[radley]

Wow... what an experience. Thank you for the pics. Truly awesome. If I start walking now, I'll be there in.....

 

[Redbone]

We never did see Joe Batts Arm! But we both were extremely well taken care of when we visited Professor Miles and his lovely wife at their very beautiful and well thought out home. Anyone that has seen Miles' Vmax know what a special bike he has built, attention to detail everywhere! Same goes for their home which has a lot neat ideas made to look normal but as you look closer the residence abounds with innovative ways to solve storage, comfort and convenience issues that typically a homeowner would just deal with.
As for example of his innovation, look closely at the picture of the two motorcycles in Miles' shop and pay particular attention to what Dave's bike is sitting on tell us what you think it is!