I throw the Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster into the corner, hard and fast enough that it wobbles on Quebec’s pavement chop. This will pass, but sometimes a little active intervention helps – we throttle on out of the apex to a scrape of the peg. A long straight and the little Sportster’s needle brushes 160kph, this Harley-Davidson/Best Western press tour hasn’t been going to plan, but thundering down the straight and setting up for the next corner I can’t help but crack a smile.
Category: Adventures
New Zealand: The 309
Boxing Day. For some it means sales, others a hang-over and a general feeling of “I ATE TOO MUCH YESTERDAY!!!”, others it’s the annual Boxing day races, for us its picking a route that will avoid the most holiday traffic possible while still showing some stunning Coromandel Peninsula scenery.
New Zealand: To The Cape & Back
Friday afternoon, the sun was out and it couldn’t get any stiller. In a bit of a last minute decision we decide on doing a 2-1/2 day ride to the tip of the North Island of New Zealand. To Cape Reinga and the lighthouse there.
New Zealand: Waitomo, Waterfalls, and the West Coast
The alarm chirped at 7:00 AM, the sun blasting through the dark curtains won’t help if we pull the covers over our heads. Without much hesitation, we climb out of bed and perform our wake-up rituals. The previous night we had done the bulk of the packing, which made the morning start less ominous.
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Alberta
It’s the West, home’s backyard, and Alberta feels like an old friend. The border between provinces continues to be startlingly accurate. Behind me is the wide sky and roll of the prairies, ahead the dinosaurs, oil and ranches, the Rockies, British Columbia and finally home.
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Finding Forget
The sign for Saskatchewan is a harbinger of prosperity. Pump-jacks line the roadside fellating like 50’s cartoon mosquitoes pulling congealed crude from the earth. David & David’s “Welcome to Boomtown” drifts through my mind. If there is a place to let your mind roam while riding, this is it, a wide openness painted in blue…
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Holland… Manitoba
Pickups charge down side-roads towards the highway, plumes of silica fog hanging in their wake. They are driven with the impunity of those who know they will never come across an unexpected corner. Those drivers are right. Welcome to the prairies.
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Finding the North Star
My original plan was to push through Winnipeg, but my blind servitude to the Garmin Zumo GPS carries me into the downtown core. Then architecture grabbed me, the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Bank, the Via Rail station. A rail hub and the former central point of the fur trade Winnipeg has maintained a sense…
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Jennifer and Joezs Dream
Just for reference, Ontario is large enough that when the provincial government decided to protect 222,000 square kilometers (56 million acres) of boreal forest from development in July of 2008, comparisons were drawn. For example, 222,000 square kilometers is equal to the entirety of the U.S.’s road-less areas, half the size of Texas, or the…
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Signs of Travel
That’s the last Inukshuk, Highway 17 has been lined with them the past two days. These human forms, some classic in design and others more avant-garde, have been my constant companions as I cross Ontario. Whenever I’ve been feeling a bit low I glance up the highway’s stony embankments, and there is an Inukshuk. My…
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – Marathon
Sometimes a ride is just a ride, there’s no deeper meaning or context to be provided. These are the rides magazines never show you, the hard slogs. Magazines are all about peak experiences, not the troughs. Leaving Sault Ste. Marie, Highway 17 hasn’t been what I expected. I was told to brace for mind numbing…
Ducati: Many Roads of Canada – The Man in the High Castle
Mattawa, Ontario – At the Valois Restaurant and Motel, in Mattawa Ontario, churchgoers have flowed in, nearly filling the restaurant. Worship done they sit at tables craving cold meats on over-processed bread, served with a side of fries and consumed with a dash of Sunday morning righteousness. They are looking askance at the stranger in…
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