This mornings ride in Canada started off a bit grey again but I got a great nights sleep last night, and felt ready to face the world. When reentering the U.S. they wanted to know if I had any weapons on me, I could see them being so precise going into Canada but I thought the US liked that sort of thing. When entering Canada I was asked about four different ways if I had any weapons, weapons even for personal protection, knives, guns, pepper spray, mace etc. Both sides were concerned about booze and smokes, and the question of food came up just the once.
The sun had come out by the time I hit Manistique, Michigan and it was proving to be a wonderful day, I fired up the grill (a gift for Christmas) which worked very well, and I actually spent some time hanging out at a lake and relaxing just across from a “Big Boy”.
As I continued south I began to notice that a grain silo in the distance was a warning to hold your breath, I guess they must be used for animal feed now as the reek of manure follows very closely behind seeing one. The big surprise was one of the times in the middle of the smell beside a silo was a BMW Motorcycle dealership. Not quite the same feeling as Bobs or Morton’s.
I always suspected that fire trucks were made somewhere, but a little after seeing Lambeau field I rolled by the headquarters of Pierce Manufacturing. That in itself was pretty cool with all the firetrucks out front, but I chuckled to myself for some time given the sound fire tucks made that they are made just outside a place called Nee-Nah. … Ouch, sorry.
I also had the ABS make my life much easier today, I was rolling along and saw the field in the image above, I didn’t have much room to pull over and get the shot, so I yanked on the breaks and rolled over to the shoulder. What I learned was that more then half the shoulder was gravel, I noticed this when I was already committed and the ABS did a nice smooth job of wiping off the speed. Without ABS that would have been a lot uglier I suspect.
Today will be my last day of proper 2-3 lane roads, tomorrow morning I hit the super-slab which is great from a mileage consumption standpoint, but I will loose much of the character. I think it will be good as the usual pains are setting in , knees, right wrist etc. so a day of easy high speed cruising should be good.
Today was a short travel day totaling only about 407 miles. I suspect tomorrow will be another story.
Cheers
Brian
