The "other" 2011 Trip

[derf]

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We are planning on 18 days for me, he would break off in detroit and head into the dakotas to visit with family, he is gonna take a whole month. Gonna camp the whole time, preferably without having to pay for it, and switch from street to dirt tires when the road conditions call for it.

I actually have no clue how much this whole thing is gonna cost. I'm figuring $500 for gas, another $500 for food, and $500 for incidental expenses (ferries, chachkie, and whatever else I buy along the way), does that sound right for a 5000 mile 18 day trip?

anyway the unruly fools who want to undertake this endeavour:

Ebbs on his DRZ



he can be a dick




And me and my KLR




Any other takers?

[snobuny]

I would add two/three days and go around lake superior.....that trip is well worth taking.

I would also increase the gas budget.....canadian petrol is alot higher than in the US. Last time we were in nothern ontario gas was 1+ a liter......thats 4+ a gallon. The more remote up there the higher the gas prices, I have seen 2.50 a liter in some areas.


http://www.bankofcanada.ca/fmd/exchange.html will get you the most accurate currency rates of exchange. I usually get the best rate from using my ATM/debit card. Credit cards will hit you with a foreign currency fee that my credit union does not.

Have fun....looks like an awesome trip!

[derf]

Originally Posted by snobuny

I would add two/three days and go around lake superior.....that trip is well worth taking.

I would also increase the gas budget.....canadian petrol is alot higher than in the US. Last time we were in nothern ontario gas was 1+ a liter......thats 4+ a gallon. The more remote up there the higher the gas prices, I have seen 2.50 a liter in some areas.


http://www.bankofcanada.ca/fmd/exchange.html will get you the most accurate currency rates of exchange. I usually get the best rate from using my ATM/debit card. Credit cards will hit you with a foreign currency fee that my credit union does not.

Have fun....looks like an awesome trip!

There is only so much you can keep adding. It went from TLH to TLH plus Niagara Falls, to plus detroit, plus Hudson Bay, plus RI, plus VT, plus Mt Washington, plus cabbot trail, plus State welcome signs, funny signs, police, and the whore down the street.

[Trip]

I would increase your budget a lot. Especially if you are switching tires. If you either of you can't, I would also learn how to spoon a tubed tire on and off properly.

[snobuny]

skip detroit....the riding sucks! Other than that it look like the trip of a lifetime! Wish I could make that one happen!

Detroit is too much traffic, construction and the roads are straight and full of potholes thanks to our crazy weather. The ride up 75 to the "soo" is straight and boring......300 miles of 4 lane nothing except state police. You would be better off staying in ontario and going up the east coast of Lake Huron but I'm from here so I see it all the time.

HWY 129 across ontario from Sault Saint Marie is twisty but some of the pavement is in poor condition (rode it this summer). The locals use ranger lake road which is dirt but much straighter. Not sure what you prefer on the dual sports.

Your ok with dirt right? Many roads in northern ontario/quebec are not paved, have little traffic and you may need to arrange for fuel, especially toward Hudson bay. We snowmobile up there and there is nothing....I repeat nothing in some of these areas....100's of miles of nothing. But the wildlife and scenery is amazing.

I would check fuel stops with you range prior to making that trip to be safe. Also there is very little cell phone coverage up there! Definately no 3g service and no roadside either We always make sure someone knows our nightly destination and call from the campsite/motel at the end of the day.


I also would not plan on riding at night...moose and caribo are very big to a motorcycle. The good news is that being that far north you have daylight in the summer to 10-11 pm.

Oh, they also get snow in July sometimes. Dress warm. Not winter snowstorm snow but flurries are not that uncommon.

Sorry for the book, Hope this helps and make sure you take tons of pictures.

[derf]

Originally Posted by snobuny

skip detroit....the riding sucks! Other than that it look like the trip of a lifetime! Wish I could make that one happen!

Detroit is too much traffic, construction and the roads are straight and full of potholes thanks to our crazy weather. The ride up 75 to the "soo" is straight and boring......300 miles of 4 lane nothing except state police. You would be better off staying in ontario and going up the east coast of Lake Huron but I'm from here so I see it all the time.

There is a reason for detroit

Originally Posted by snobuny

Your ok with dirt right?

I have slightly more experience on dirt than Paris Hilton. Seriously i've done like 50 miles on gravel roads on my CBR and like 5 on the KLR. yeh its gonna be a trial by fire, but I have a year to learn.

Originally Posted by snobuny

Many roads in northern ontario/quebec are not paved, have little traffic and you may need to arrange for fuel, especially toward Hudson bay. We snowmobile up there and there is nothing....I repeat nothing in some of these areas....100's of miles of nothing. But the wildlife and scenery is amazing.

I would check fuel stops with you range prior to making that trip to be safe. Also there is very little cell phone coverage up there! Definately no 3g service and no roadside either We always make sure someone knows our nightly destination and call from the campsite/motel at the end of the day.

I would carry either one or two 3 gal gas cans or a built in aux fuel tank

Originally Posted by snobuny

I also would not plan on riding at night...moose and caribo are very big to a motorcycle. The good news is that being that far north you have daylight in the summer to 10-11 pm.

Oh, they also get snow in July sometimes. Dress warm. Not winter snowstorm snow but flurries are not that uncommon.

My sleeping bag is good to 0F, thats also why I'm looking at buying a new textile suit

Originally Posted by snobuny

Sorry for the book, Hope this helps and make sure you take tons of pictures.

Yeh i can take pictures

Originally Posted by Trip

I would plan for more money needed just in case still. I would worst case scenario it and see what you need just in case and lower the budget from that some. Heck, you are only planning $27 a day for food. I would up that just in case you eat/drink more.

When are ya'll planning to go?

I would have more money on hand, but thats what I want to spend on average. I'm guessing cook one meal and eat out one meal each day, with something small for breakfast each morning. Beer and liquor is a seperate factor. I doubt i would drink that much, I'm not really a drinker, my last serious drinking was at the rally a few months back

The current plan is to meet at my house labor day weekend and come back home around the 20th

I have less vacation time available than ebbs so I may have to break off early and head home if we take too long. My go no/go decision points are Quebec, the trail to Hudson Bay, the return trip from Hudson Bay, and Detroit. At any one of these points I can break off and head home if we are falling behind on the schedule. Ebbs has his own, and I wouldn't venture up north without him.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by derf

The current plan is to meet at my house labor day weekend and come back home around the 20th

I have less vacation time available than ebbs so I may have to break off early and head home if we take too long. My go no/go decision points are Quebec, the trail to Hudson Bay, the return trip from Hudson Bay, and Detroit. At any one of these points I can break off and head home if we are falling behind on the schedule. Ebbs has his own, and I wouldn't venture up north without him.

Seems like a bad idea to plan on hurricane season with what Amorok said about hurricane duty. Hope it goes through.

You should be able to do the mileage up there. The dirt roads don't look to terribly challenging from what I have seen on ride reports from advrider.

[OneSickPsycho]

Take your budget and double it. Then you'll be prepared. Fuck, on my long trip I had to buy another bike. THAT was an expensive trip.

[derf]

Amorok chose to ride through a hurricane. They dont get hit too bad by hurricane season, usually buy the time storms get up there, thats all they are, windy 1 day storms. if a hurricane hits I would pack it in for a night and either pick up the males later in the trip or cut off a section. We would travel counter clockwise so we do have the option to shave places off.

Also the map lies, it's laid out flat so the northern sections are way stretched out, if you look at the distance legend in the bottom right of the screen it changes distance depending where on the map you are. the distance from my house to RI is roughly the same as the distance up to Hudson bay

The dirt roads are pretty good, except for the freshly graded sections where they get real soft, but ride reports even folks who are new to dirt wind up doing 60mph (possibly 60kph), and slowing down to 30 for the graded sections.

[derf]

Originally Posted by Trip

Seems like a bad idea to plan on hurricane season with what Amorok said about hurricane duty. Hope it goes through.

You should be able to do the mileage up there. The dirt roads don't look to terribly challenging from what I have seen on ride reports from advrider.

This is the reason for september, black flies are monsters and will eat you alive, but start dissapearing in august and are mostly gone by sept.