US Trip

Day 1: rode down to Milton for the ZRX BBQ. Met some great folks, won a Tshirt from Kahuna Cycle. Rode from Milton down to Michigan to stay with my brother and his family. Of course, the line at the border that I chose was the SLOWEST one due to a chatty border guard.

Day 2: Had a really long and interesting ride to Louisville Kentucky. Got an upnod from a bunch of guys in a Georgia plated pickup, rode through a wicked lightning and thunder storm, and met a bum at a gas station in Ohio and gave him $10 for a meal. I told him to buy food and not booze and he agreed to do that but who knows for sure. I ended up in Louisville at the end of the day and it was 95 degrees. Then in the evening a big storm started to roll in. The hotel room, while reasonably cheap, was musty due to a wet carpet near the bathroom.

Day 3: Had a terrible sleep last night but at least woke up to reasonable weather - overcast but not raining. After checking the bike over for any tire damage etc, I noticed that the chain had some significant sag to it. At first I thought that the swingarm eccentrics had slipped but they were in exactly the same place I left them set at when I left home. So, off I went with trepidation. I didn't get too far when I passed a giant Lowes store on the highway sidewise and took the next exit. Along the way I found an AutoZone store and bought the necessary ratchet and allen sockets to resolve the situation.

When I was turning onto I65 to head down through Tennessee along the two lane ramp, a tractor trailer rig had a chunk of metal drop off and careen across the road in front of me - spinning like a 2ft plate.

Most of the day was spent under threatening weather.

When I arrived at my friend Joe's place, he was not home and had to wait. After looking the bike over again, I had to readjust the chain slack one more notch but did it up too tight and it made a terrible grinding noise. I put it back to the eighth notch again and it was much better. I also had to add some oil to the engine as there was none showing in the window. The guy (Richard) at the Auto Parts Advanced store ended up buying a ParkingPuck as well.

After looking for a hotel, I checked into a 'Quality Inn'. After unloading the bike and carrying the bags and gear to the room, in 95 degree heat, the room key did not work. I was already exhausted and soaked in sweat. GRRRR

So I went to the desk and asked for my money back and left. I then plugged the ‘Comfort Inn’ and missed my turn adding to my frustration so I pulled into the ‘Baymont Inn’, checked in, and found that the room stunk like cat piss. Then Joe finally called and I decided to just leave the room and stay at Joe’s place.

Rushed to pack stuff into his car because of an impending storm and followed him on the bike, in the rain, while trying to do up my helmet strap that I had forgotten to do when we left. Must have looked pretty funny, riding one hand on the bike, the other under my helmet.

My instrument gauge lighting had stopped working and Joe and I searched through the ZRXOA forum and believed that since I had locked my steering it may have broken a wire somewhere since all of the fuses looked good.

Things I noticed today - Tennessee does not have any rest stops on I65. Gas is WAY cheaper here. I think Kentucky or Tennessee have the nicest highways to ride on.

Day 4: Left Joe’s (thanks Joe for the hospitality – You Rock!) and headed over to the Barber Motorsports Museum. Great place to visit with some amazing machinery there, all in pristine condition.

Then I headed north as he suggested to avoid going through Atlanta. I headed up 411, then 231, and believing I had gone far enough north, decided to head east along 174 or 177 (can’t remember exactly which one it was). I then I realized I was lost so I had to put my trust in the GPS. And guess what? It took me back to I20 to Atlanta. On the way I saw a squashed Armadillo on the side of the road and when nearing Atlanta, I saw 6 state troopers had pulled over 2 cars and were busy cuffing the Latino girls who were driving them.

The traffic and heat in Atlanta was stifling (as Joe had said it would be) and it added a good delay to my progress. When I finally arrived in Dahlonega Georgia I had had enough and decided to call it a day. I grabbed a room at the Super 8 that was clean, smelled fresh, and well priced.

There was a young couple outside talking with some older guy and when I was getting my gear off, the young dude came over to chat. 'Nice ride' he opened up the conversation with. Then he went on to say 'i see you're from Canada, and I don't mean to stereotype but.......do you know where we can get some weed? You Canadians grow some serious stuff up in BC.' He told me that they were hiking the Appalachian mountains and saw tons of bikes on the roads up there.

Then he asked me 'Do you burn?' making reference to his previous question. I told him no and after a short chat, bid him good night

I even managed to squeeze the Rex into the hotel room to keep me company.

An early night tonight was called for to get ready for the long and winding road of the Tail and then start heading home.

Day 5: Started my ride at 7:30am. First thing I saw were some young jailbirds in Dahlonega – they were doing some roadwork in their grey and white pinstriped suits. Rode up Hwy 60/68 to the Tail. It was a great ride although it was super foggy at times hindering my viewing distance. I did have a couple of sphincter-tightening moments because of it.

When I got to the Tail, I was having a great ride until I got behind some Hardleys and a Wing. Thankfully they stopped at the main observation point and then I got to enjoy a spirited ride for the rest of it.

Rain threatening in Georgia turning into torrential rains for all of Tenneesee and most of Kentucky. I stopped in Kentucky at a truck stop to get a break from the rain, get some gas, and have a hot cup of coffee. As I got underway again, my GPS did not remember that I had put my destination into and I stopped to program it again. I also remembered that one guy in a pickup told me at a previous stoplight that my brake light wasn’t working so I got off the bike to look at it. Stupidly I had stopped on a downgrade without thinking and the bike rolled forward and tipped over. I frantically reached for the kill switch and stopped it, stood it back up (embarrassingly) and no damage.

I saw a major car accident in Kentucky that closed the highway down to one lane. There was a compact car that was cut in half with all of its contents (oddly enough I saw a battery, golf clubs, clothes, cooler, etc) spewn all over the road. The front half of the car (the only piece on the highway) was covered in a sheet so I knew that people had died in the crash.

One guy gave me the finger since he believed I was blocking his entrance into the middle lane of the highway but I was not.

I stopped at a rest stop with dusk approaching to change my tinted shield to clear, and on a hunch, checked the fuses again over my concern about not having instrument lights or a tail light. Sure enough, the fuse to the tail light had blown but my only spare was the 30A fuse so I put that in and got my gauge lights and tail light back just in time for the evening ride.

By the time I got to Michigan, I realized how bad roads in Michigan were. I was aching and sore and the bumps and road condition, along with the darkness of night, was not helping. I ended up missing my turn on I94E. I had to look for a return route and some gas At this point the two through lanes lights turned green but my left was still red and got stuck blocking two of the three lanes to get to the left hand turn lane. Just then a cop pulled up behind me flashing his driving lights provoking me to do something. Since I wanted to turn left, but couldn’t because it was red, I motioned to him that I was waiting for the red light to change to green. That’ when he turned on his police lights and got out to talk to me asking for my licence. As I explained my situation he just let me go. I got back on I94E, got gas on 10Mile road and made it to my brother’s place ending days ride in Macomb at 12:10pm. I had ridden from Dahlonega Georgia, through the Tail, through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and, most of Michigan in one day!!!!

Day 6: Returned home from Michigan today. The crossing at the border was uneventful. The customs officer didn’t even ask to see my passport. Ran into some rain and construction work that forced me to take some sideroads.

Total mileage for the trip from start to finish: 4116.4km