Cross country trip with covid? | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cross country trip with covid?

jdmsteR said:
Is September too late for a trip of this sort? Thinking of renting a cargo van and throwing the bike in the back along with camping gear etc and making this trip over a span of 3 weeks. Will stay in the occasional motel/hotel when needed.

Mainly would like to ride around BC/Alberta rockies
Click to expand...
I don't think you'll have a problem with it. I was originally going to do this between Sept 12-Oct 14 and asked some riders who live in central BC what they thought and was told I would be fine as long as I dressed for cooler temps. Depending on how late you get over there, you could ride around central BC/AB in September and then take the southern BC/AB Rockies home. North shore of Lake Superior can get pretty chilly in early October, but you'll be in a cargo van anyways.

I'm doing this in 28 days including spending 11 days with my sis in Vancouver. Otherwise 3 weeks would have been easy to get out to the Rockies and back, with at least a week of riding the Rockies.

Now looks like I'm doing this between Aug22-Sept20, so get in touch if you do and we'll enjoy some mountain roads.
 
Well there were some minor glitches, some mean clouds followed me around and rained, but I'm 200km away from thunder bay now, started today. Tomorrow crossing provinces and need to breeze by Manitoba.
 
Exhaustion set in at 550km today. Didn't even want to pass a truck going 110. It's ok, there was a speed watching cop sitting top of hill. I'm glad it warmed up cause 9 last overnight...
 
nyx said:
Exhaustion set in at 550km today. Didn't even want to pass a truck going 110. It's ok, there was a speed watching cop sitting top of hill. I'm glad it warmed up cause 9 last overnight...
Click to expand...
Do you have a windshield? Was it super windy out? Do you have heated gear?
Good call to stop when you know you are done.
 
nyx said:
Well there were some minor glitches, some mean clouds followed me around and rained, but I'm 200km away from thunder bay now, started today. Tomorrow crossing provinces and need to breeze by Manitoba.
Click to expand...

guessing you were around Terrace Bay?
from there to the other side of Manitoba is ~1,200 km
a pretty solid day for any of us

nyx said:
Exhaustion set in at 550km today. Didn't even want to pass a truck going 110. It's ok, there was a speed watching cop sitting top of hill. I'm glad it warmed up cause 9 last overnight...
Click to expand...

Ontario is deceiving
getting out of it you're half way across the country

and no shame in a 550 km day
on a bike they are all good days

enjoy your trip !
 
Last edited:
Tried to call ferry today
"you are caller number 70....you have an estimated time of 128 mins to wait"
lol
think ill try first thing in the morning.
 
My vacay request got denied for next week, so am hoping to push it to August 15/16th as the leave date, only thing is I may have to do some work on the road so camping may be out, and motels/hotels with wifi to get the job done. I'm hoping its not going to be too cold out west by then, I hate the cold lol
 
shanekingsley said:
If you have a few extra days to ride around, then you may like to visit the island and explore a bit. As you can see it's only around 1700km to do a full circuit, but there are amazing places to get off the bike and enjoy. I've been before, but never out to Port Hardy or some of the interior.
View attachment 44318
Click to expand...

That looks awesome! Not sure I'll have the time, next year I would like to do an Alaska trip, so maybe do the island and then that, I know the Island has lots of gravel routes too
 
kiley said:
Tried to call ferry today
"you are caller number 70....you have an estimated time of 128 mins to wait"
lol
think ill try first thing in the morning.
Click to expand...
hope it’s better for you, both times I’ve called for reservations since the restrictions were lifted this year it has been over a 1.5 hour wait.

Not sure why they can’t fix or adjust their website so that the online booking system works under the current limitations, even if it require a real persons oversight occasionally- sure seems that would be a heck of a lot easier than doing every single booking manually.
 
Today been so far the worst. Left first town in Saskatchewan (18 degrees and cloudy) but by Welcome to Alberta sign had to pull over due to heat exhaustion. Checked the weather, heat warning.
First time that it happened so was not expecting it. Cooling off in Timmies at Medicine Hat, and already downed 3L of water. Debating if I should check in here for the night, or wait few more hours til sunset and push for Calgary. Unfortunately with covid the indoor hotel pools are closed.

Edit: starting to feel better after water splashing and even freezing at timmies.

Don't do what I did, and drink water in the hot flat lands everyone.
 
Last edited:
shanekingsley said:
Do you have a windshield? Was it super windy out? Do you have heated gear?
Good call to stop when you know you are done.
Click to expand...

I actually only stopped for an hour. I don't have heated gear and now feel unnecessarily suffering because I don't have a touring windshield. I'm out of luck finding one instock for the fz6. Already called a shop in Calgary. Will buy one for sure.
 
nyx said:
I actually only stopped for an hour. I don't have heated gear and now feel unnecessarily suffering because I don't have a touring windshield. I'm out of luck finding one instock for the fz6. Already called a shop in Calgary. Will buy one for sure.
Click to expand...
Electrolytes will be better for you if you are getting dehydrated from the heat. Not sure if you can get some.

I can do one long day a shorty windscreen, but long days back to back can cause some serious hurt in the neck back and shoulders.
Also check Kijiji for some of the cities you will be passing through for a used windscreen.
 
shanekingsley said:
Electrolytes will be better for you if you are getting dehydrated from the heat. Not sure if you can get some.

I can do one long day a shorty windscreen, but long days back to back can cause some serious hurt in the neck back and shoulders.
Also check Kijiji for some of the cities you will be passing through for a used windscreen.
Click to expand...

I feel like if I paid enough, and online searched, I can get one FedExd from States. But kijiji is a good idea.

It's a small town here (Medicine Hat) but they have a small mall, so I can probably find some Gatorade.
 
nyx said:
but by Welcome to Alberta sign had to pull over due to heat exhaustion. Checked the weather, heat warning.
First time that it happened so was not expecting it.
Click to expand...

I've experienced it. Had a really bad experience with it one day while riding long ago, despite trying to stay hydrated.

It's one of the biggest reasons I will fully admit I'm not an ATGATT guy and do occasionally shed gear - it's a calculated risk in extreme heat for me when the alternative is wrecking because I blacked out or something, or I end up in a hospital hours or days from home. I just do NOT handle heat well, point blank.
 
Last edited:
I will drop the jacket if it's much above 30 tho the mesh does a good job especially if I wet my shirt.
You can dehydrate on a bike even when it is cool. Left Rouyn-Noranda on a long loop down the northern TC to Ottawa ....it was chilly 9C when I left and only got to mid teens ...bright sun and very dry air and I had very little to drink - by the time I turned the corner to get to Ottawa I was in trouble and really did not know what was wrong. Finally pulled into a little parkette that had a water fountain, slurped lots and then needed to nap for an hour before I could function ...apparently you need to stay hydrated ...it's very difficult to catch up in any short time.

Got to my daughters and slept some more and felt okay in the morning ...left for home and forgot to do my rain jacket up well. Pulled in Timmies on HWY 7 at Madoc a soggy mess. Two lessons learned that trip - hydrate even on cool sunny days and take the time to do rain gear up properly. So a liter bottle sits in my cupholder and I sip some at every light or anytime I feel the least bit thirsty even on local rides. Like hypothermia, dehydration sneaks up on you.

I am getting REALLLLLLY restless for another ride. Kid is trying out the CBF tomorrow if he feels okay. If he does then will stay around and do local riding with him.
I think Gaspe might be practical doing a long loop up to Rouyn Noranda on the way back ...Blitz to east coast in two days and then meander back via a northern route. Have not done the east coast solo and last time with the kid was not quite as successful as I'd like. Solo has some advantages...I'm just shy of spending money on accommodations but I have a lot of travel points built up so might be able to do it cheap....the CB500x is very cheap on gas and Timmies and A&W cheap eats. Got some good audio books for cheap thanks to Cherp.com.
 
PrivatePilot said:
I've experienced it. Had a really bad experience with it one day while riding long ago, despite trying to stay hydrated.

It's one of the biggest reasons I will fully admit I'm not an ATGATT guy and do occasionally shed gear - it's a calculated risk in extreme heat for me when the alternative is wrecking because I blacked out or something, or I end up in a hospital hours or days from home. I just do NOT handle heat well, point blank.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this ^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't handle the heat well either.
I love my leather jacket and on the freeway or interstate i have it on.
But once it gets past 29c i gotta take it off.

6 more sleepless nights them I'm outa here.
Thurs 23c and sunny....perfect long distance weather.
Debating on weather to start a new thread or just post to this one.
 
woooo hooo
Finally got through to the Ferry.
Website said the date and time I wanted was full (Thur Aug 06 1pm) but because its just me and Charlotte they can squeeze us in :)
Keep this in mind for future bookings...bikes way smaller than cars :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom