Great Lakes Challenge Group Ride Report
Five Riders including myself did another IBA Great Lakes Challenge ride the first week of August, 2022. It was the first GRT LKS Challenge for one Rider and the second or third for the balance of the Riders. Instead of us all meeting at a location the night before the ride started, we all started and ended the ride near our homes and met up at the Wyandot Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike which is just east of Toledo. Or at least that was the plan……
I had a little problem departing my home Monday morning and wasn’t able to meet the Riders at the plaza. I finally met up with them at our Night #1 destination in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Day 1 was a hot one with temps most of the day of at least 85 degrees F. I needed a shower bad by the time I reached the motel. I did 884 miles on Day #1.
I had to stop before getting out of Smiths Falls Tuesday morning. Something was nibbling on my left ear. It turned out to be a fairly large spider. I took my helmet off and it jumped off my ear. Good thing I had my ear buds in or it might have crawled into my ear canal.
Tuesday was a decent day as far as the weather and temp was concerned. We did get some very light rain at times, but I didn’t need to use my rain gear. The plan after leaving North Bay was to continue to Sudbury and then to skirt the south side of Sudbury on Hwy 17 and then go north on Hwy 144 to Timmins and then up to Hwy 11 to our Day # 2 stop in Hearst. However I left Pembroke a few minutes later than the other Riders and they missed the gas stop east of North Bay and went into North Bay for gas instead. So we got separated and the balance of the Riders decided on the fly to go north at North Bay instead of proceeding to Sudbury. That was the little shorter route to Hearst. Hwy 144 north of Chelmsford is one of the best roads I have ridden on: low traffic, beautiful geography, almost one sweeper after another, and the road surface is excellent. I got into Hearst about 45 minutes after the other Riders. And when I stopped at the Timmies in Chelmsford, I met the local EV 3-wheel Scooter Gang ( pic attached ). I did 669 miles on Tuesday.
Early in the day on Wednesday it was on the cool side, but I’d rather add a layer than have to deal with really hot temps like we had on Day #1. We all rode to Thunder Bay and had lunch at Timmies. Then Justin and I left the others and instead of riding south to Grand Portage and crossing into the States, we rode due west to Ft. Frances / International Falls. I have never been to that area before and wanted to check it out. Between T.B. & F.F. , we did hit some intermittent local showers several times but dried out quickly in between showers. I bet the border crossing gets only several dozen customers a day. And we made out on the bridge toll : only the north bound traffic pays the toll ! We then road to our Night #3 stop in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. I met Justin in Rice Lake after we split-up in Virginia, MN so he could do some more Tour of Honor stops. I did 798 miles on Day #3.
Thursday started out nice, but then it started to warm up. It was 90 F before I reached Chicago and stayed at about 86 F for most of the balance of the ride. I did one TOH stop with Justin in Bloomer, WI shortly after we left Rice Lake and after that stop we split-up and he did several more TOH stops on Thursday. I did catch up to him on I-196 not too many miles from his home in Holland, MI. I finished my ride just after 7 pm. I did only 549 miles on Day #4. So I did a total of 2900 miles in less than 84 hours. A Rider has up to 100 hours to do this IBA ride and the shortest route is about 2475 miles.
The guy second from the left said he rode a H-D before he had his stroke. BTW, I did some research on the scooter on the left. It will go up to 80Km's on a charge, has a 60 volt battery and has 3 speeds available. They are sold at dealers all over Canada but not in the US ( ?? ).
Five Riders including myself did another IBA Great Lakes Challenge ride the first week of August, 2022. It was the first GRT LKS Challenge for one Rider and the second or third for the balance of the Riders. Instead of us all meeting at a location the night before the ride started, we all started and ended the ride near our homes and met up at the Wyandot Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike which is just east of Toledo. Or at least that was the plan……
I had a little problem departing my home Monday morning and wasn’t able to meet the Riders at the plaza. I finally met up with them at our Night #1 destination in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Day 1 was a hot one with temps most of the day of at least 85 degrees F. I needed a shower bad by the time I reached the motel. I did 884 miles on Day #1.
I had to stop before getting out of Smiths Falls Tuesday morning. Something was nibbling on my left ear. It turned out to be a fairly large spider. I took my helmet off and it jumped off my ear. Good thing I had my ear buds in or it might have crawled into my ear canal.
Tuesday was a decent day as far as the weather and temp was concerned. We did get some very light rain at times, but I didn’t need to use my rain gear. The plan after leaving North Bay was to continue to Sudbury and then to skirt the south side of Sudbury on Hwy 17 and then go north on Hwy 144 to Timmins and then up to Hwy 11 to our Day # 2 stop in Hearst. However I left Pembroke a few minutes later than the other Riders and they missed the gas stop east of North Bay and went into North Bay for gas instead. So we got separated and the balance of the Riders decided on the fly to go north at North Bay instead of proceeding to Sudbury. That was the little shorter route to Hearst. Hwy 144 north of Chelmsford is one of the best roads I have ridden on: low traffic, beautiful geography, almost one sweeper after another, and the road surface is excellent. I got into Hearst about 45 minutes after the other Riders. And when I stopped at the Timmies in Chelmsford, I met the local EV 3-wheel Scooter Gang ( pic attached ). I did 669 miles on Tuesday.
Early in the day on Wednesday it was on the cool side, but I’d rather add a layer than have to deal with really hot temps like we had on Day #1. We all rode to Thunder Bay and had lunch at Timmies. Then Justin and I left the others and instead of riding south to Grand Portage and crossing into the States, we rode due west to Ft. Frances / International Falls. I have never been to that area before and wanted to check it out. Between T.B. & F.F. , we did hit some intermittent local showers several times but dried out quickly in between showers. I bet the border crossing gets only several dozen customers a day. And we made out on the bridge toll : only the north bound traffic pays the toll ! We then road to our Night #3 stop in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. I met Justin in Rice Lake after we split-up in Virginia, MN so he could do some more Tour of Honor stops. I did 798 miles on Day #3.
Thursday started out nice, but then it started to warm up. It was 90 F before I reached Chicago and stayed at about 86 F for most of the balance of the ride. I did one TOH stop with Justin in Bloomer, WI shortly after we left Rice Lake and after that stop we split-up and he did several more TOH stops on Thursday. I did catch up to him on I-196 not too many miles from his home in Holland, MI. I finished my ride just after 7 pm. I did only 549 miles on Day #4. So I did a total of 2900 miles in less than 84 hours. A Rider has up to 100 hours to do this IBA ride and the shortest route is about 2475 miles.
The guy second from the left said he rode a H-D before he had his stroke. BTW, I did some research on the scooter on the left. It will go up to 80Km's on a charge, has a 60 volt battery and has 3 speeds available. They are sold at dealers all over Canada but not in the US ( ?? ).
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