We got up a little earlier today and got on the road about 7:30. It was an absolutely beautiful sunny morning, a little brisk in the low 60's. I decided to just wear a sweatshirt over a t-shirt. As we left the hotel and started back out on the TCH I thought to myself I maybe should have put on a jacket but the TCH heads northwest out of Thunder Bay and away from Lake Superior. Within 5 minutes of getting away from the lake the temp warmed up to about 70 and all was good. About 15 minutes out of Thunder Bay we're going through a small village and there's a policeman sitting on the side of the road, As we go by Pete waves to him. Seconds later he's following us with lights and sirens pulling us over. I'm thinking this isn't a very good start to the day. Turns out by Pete waving to him he notices that Petes wearing his small non DOT approved helmet which is why he was stopping him. Well, you remember yesterday I mentioned that Petes trailer harness got melted by his exhaust and the trailer lights weren't working. Bingo for item 2 that he had for Pete. After a few minutes of he and Pete talking and Pete having the right type helmet in the trailer he let him go with a verbal warning and Petes word that the lights would be fixed immediately. We got the lights fixed in about 20 minutes and we were back on our way. As we continued west on the TCH the skies started looking unfavorable. We felt a few drops and saw some lighting in the distance. We were close to needing gas anyway so we stopped to gas up aand put on our rain gear which was perfect timing as it was raining before we got out of the station. This station turned to be a story about a small world. If you read the day article from Sunday about us, there was a comment posted from a Peggy from Texas. Tom, Pete, Joe & I pulled out of the station and started up the road. Mark has been riding sweep and we quickly realize he's not with us. As we were pulling out Peggy managed to stop Mark to ask if he was Evert or one of the guys from the NLMC. He said that he's Mark and Evert and the other's just pulled out. She wished and a safe trip and to tell us the same and maybe we'd cross paths again as she was headed the same way. Well about 2 hours later we had lunch at Subway and when I got done I was first across the street to fuel up. I'm filling up and this fella on a Harley is parking to go inside and have something to eat and sees the Alaska or Bust sign that's identical to Marks. he says your one of the guys from the NLMC group and I said yes and asks if I'm Evert. He's Ray and Peggy is inside. Turns out Peggy is originally from Salem and now lives in Texas but keeps a link for the Day paper to keep track of whats happening back home which is how she found the story about us and then went to both the NLMC website and my blog. They have a website at groups.msn.com/lifeonaharley There post today talks about our meeting and Peggy says she may join the club!!!!! They ride a 07 Heritage now but did 175000 miles 2 up on a 98 Sporster before this bike.
Back to the ride. Tom has been having occasional power issues and we're not sure if it's carburetor, the weight of the gear he's carrying or the head winds or a combination. Well in typical Tom fashion, during the rain today his bikes running good and we are screaming down the road, later when the sun comes out he can't get out of his own way. Tonight he and Mark adjust the float level to make sure there's plenty of gas available when he gets to a hill or into a head wind (we've had fairly strong winds and with all the gear we're carrying the bikes are getting pushed around) and we relocated the spare tires onto Petes trailer to see how much difference this will make. We crossed into Manitoba today and ended our day in Winnipeg around 4:30. Manitoba is the begining of Canada'a prarrie so we'll have straight flat road for a while. Also the TCH has now become a 2 lane divided highway supposedly all the way to Calgary and is now numbered Route 1 instead of 17. By the way gas here in Canada has been about $1.54 liter which makes it close to $6/gallon. So far gas has been our biggest expense each day.
Back to the ride. Tom has been having occasional power issues and we're not sure if it's carburetor, the weight of the gear he's carrying or the head winds or a combination. Well in typical Tom fashion, during the rain today his bikes running good and we are screaming down the road, later when the sun comes out he can't get out of his own way. Tonight he and Mark adjust the float level to make sure there's plenty of gas available when he gets to a hill or into a head wind (we've had fairly strong winds and with all the gear we're carrying the bikes are getting pushed around) and we relocated the spare tires onto Petes trailer to see how much difference this will make. We crossed into Manitoba today and ended our day in Winnipeg around 4:30. Manitoba is the begining of Canada'a prarrie so we'll have straight flat road for a while. Also the TCH has now become a 2 lane divided highway supposedly all the way to Calgary and is now numbered Route 1 instead of 17. By the way gas here in Canada has been about $1.54 liter which makes it close to $6/gallon. So far gas has been our biggest expense each day.
1 comment:
Thanks for keeping us up to date. Glad to hear all is well and the weather so far has been good to you. Evert how is the foot doing? Hugs to you all.
Love,
Tree
Treesa63@comcast.net
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