It all started at 5 am, when the alarm went off. I wasn’t ready for it. I’ve been sleeping in 4 hour increments for a couple days and my body was craving rest. I reset the alarm for 5:30 and was kickstand up by 6. My plan was to make the 12:30 ferry across Lake Michigan and avoid Chicago. The GPS showed a 5 and a half hour ride in front of me. With an initial fuel stop and then another along the way, I thought I’d pull in around 11:45. The ride was nice. I managed to get through Minneapolis and St. Paul before rush hour got under way and was on open highway before the sun even came up. It was a low, solid overcast and the roads were wet; but, it wasn’t raining during my ride. It looked like I missed it by an hour or less.
Along for the ride were these new, custom fitted ear plugs with the speakers wired right into them. I really like these. They cut the wind noise right down to nothing; sound quality could be better though and the connection to my Sena kinda looks like a 3rd grader did it. I will try to fix that. All in all though, I’m really happy with it.
I arrived on schedule, even though my GPS thought I’d like to take a couple minutes to visit downtown Milwaukee. As I approached the terminal, an older gentleman with a white cap on asked if I had a reservation. I said no. He said, “Well we should be able to get you on. Are you on the motorcycle?” My mind drifts to Bill Engvall - Here’s your sign. I’m standing in front of him, helmet in hand in full gear. I digress. The ticketing agent was very nice; but, didn’t have a clue what to do with a motorcycle, so she rang me up and looked at my receipt and said they must be having a special because the motorcycle goes free today. In fact, if I were taking a car, they wouldn’t have had any room for me.
Boarding couldn’t be easier. Motorcycles ride up the passenger lane (they asked me not to hit anyone). They board the motorcycle to the front, and turn it sideways by a bulk head. They use pretty much every inch of the ferry to load things.
They have tie downs of every size available. I chose to use 2 of my own; but, I borrowed 2 of theirs so I didn’t have to unstrap the bag on the back seat. I opted to tie it down on the kickstand because there was nothing to stop the front wheel, like the head bar of a trailer. This made me a bit anxious because I wanted to tie it down securely; but, not have too much pressure on the kick stand. The new crash bars I had put on during the rally came in handy because it was easy to tie the bike down without getting tangled up on any plastic parts.
As I came up from the vehicle deck, I noted the sign that said I couldn’t go back down. Ughhh. I always like to check my tie down work and adjust things. Bumps cause things to move and loosen. I asked about it when I got upstairs and one of the mates said they checked my bike already. It was strapped in well. He said they’ve transported many a motorcycle and know what to look for. While that made me feel a little better, I didn’t feel completely better. I’ve tied down many a bike and know for a fact that motion can cause slack in tie downs.
The captain came on to let us know that Lake Michigan was going to be pretty choppy today. Something about those damn Canadians sending down another cold front. I’m hopeful that this isn’t the beginning of more polar vortexes coming our way.
Time across the pond will be 2:30. One thing I’ve noticed so far is that there are both dancers on this ferry as well as drunks. It seems like nobody was walking in a straight line. The captain indicates we’re doing 39 miles per hour; but, we’ll probably slow down when we hit the choppy water. As long as my motorcycle is upright in one piece when we get there, I will be very happy.
Very surprising is the severe lack of cellular reception on the lake. How are people supposed to call for pizza delivery out here?
[From Port Huron] On arrival at the dock, the captain gets on the intercom and invites all drivers to go to their cars and the motorcycle rider to begin untying his motorcycle. So, I did that. The way they had me parked, I was perpendicular to the door, so I did a standard 88 point, 90 degree turn in place to get aligned, only to find out that they weren’t going to use those doors, so I did another 88 point, 90 degree turn in the other direction to get back to where I was. Getting out was going to be a bear. The deck was stainless steel and it was wet. The crew has done this many times and gave me a wide turn so I could approach the ramp straight on. Bravo guys! Once out, I set my sights on Niagra Falls and planned to make it across Michigan before I stopped.
Along the way, I was in the left lane, passing a car in the right lane. When my front tire was parallel with his rear bumper, he decided to come over. I happen to see him look up at his inside rear view mirror and had a feeling he would do that, so I grabbed a fist full of clutch and covered the brake. Sure enough, he came over without looking. In an instant, I switched lanes with him, pulled up along side the passenger door and let him know I was there. It was some kid (18-23). His dad knew what happened; but, the kid seemed clueless. Within a couple miles, someone else pulled out in front of me without looking. It’s inexcusable to not look over your shoulder! Come on drivers!
So, I arrived in Port Huron around 7pm. I saw a Best Western right next to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Perfect. I checked in, got a quick meal and got out of my riding duds. A check of the map shows 10 hours to NJ tomorrow. I can do that and make dinner. Game on! Forecast: Rain. Somehow, I’ve been riding in between the rain drops all day. I don’t think I’m going to get through without getting wet tomorrow though.
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This morning's radar:
I can either stay in the rain all day, or I can go through sporadic showers. I'm opting for the latter. The hourly forecasts indicate that some of this should be clearing as well; but, buffalo, syracuse and the whole route from London Canada into PA will be rain all day.
[From Hackettstown, NJ] Leaving Port Huron, the temp was 42 degrees. It was also dry. I was expecting to stay dry until I got past Toledo; but, that didn't happen. I was starting to get mist and really light rain by the time I hit Detroit. I was in that kind of rain all the way until I was mid-way through Pennsylvania. There were a couple of showers. I stayed dry the entire time. I know my rain gear pretty well and to ride in the constant driving rain, I need the hood up and inside my helmet, which is unconfortable and I usually get some water inside anyway; however, my gear can handle this kind of rain without any problem. My boots got wet though. I was wearing hiking boots because I could not, and still cannot find my riding boots! In real heavy rain, this could have been a disaster because the temps were low; but, by taking this route, I was able to keep my feet mostly dry, and when they did get wet, I was able to put them out in the wind for a quick blow dry. When I got about mid-way into PA, the temps all of a sudden started to rise, and I was seeing mid-fifties! By the time I got to Buckhorn, PA, it was 60 degrees..
I think the defining feature of this ride was the fall foliage. Minnesota, Wisconson and Michigan were all at prime, or maybe just a touch past prime. Western PA was right at prime, and was gorgeous. It wasn't until I got about a third of the way into PA that I started to see that the foliage was definitely past prime. It was was an amazingly colorful ride and had the weather cooperated, I would have liked to see the leaves in NY and Canada. I'm sure they were spectacular.
Before leaving Port Huron, I ran into a couple of Canadians. I always seem to run into the nice Canadians. Anyway, as the conversation between American's and Canadians seem to go, the conversation started about the motorcycle and my trip; but, quickly got into guns; but, then, somehow, we got onto 9/11 and he was telling me that on 9/11, when the airspace was shut down, planes on the cross Atlantic route to the US were being diverted to New Foundland. He was living there at the time and said that there was such an overload of planes that people started bringing travelers from the airport to their homes. I had no idea. This was a dimension of that moment in history that I did not know. I knew there were stranded travelers; but, now, I'm wondering how those folks got back home, who covered the cost, etc. I thanked him for doing that and he said that people pull for each other when bad things happen. My faith in humanity was restored.
Here's all the pics from the trip:
The route:
Bike tied down on the ferry:
Check out the wake from this high speed ferry:
Map of all the rides I've done on this K1600 that were over 250 miles in length:
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