Cape North - across Canada 2025

[bigjohnsd]

Try Royal Distributing in Sudbury. They're a power sports store. I doubt they'd have gaiters though. Ramakkos is a well equipped outdoor store that probably has them.

Thanks for the advice.
Closed Sunday, Algonquin Outfitters in Brace bridge shows them in stock and open Monday.

We are riding local and doing laundry tomorrow, several options show stock available. We'll see.

[bigjohnsd]

Sunday - May 18th
Sault St Marie to Huntsville ON
400 miles


We left a chilly Sault St Marie in windy but dry conditions. A few heavy showers before Sudbury where we stopped for gas, a snack, and coffee.

Quite a bit of holiday traffic on 17 to Sudbury and again on 69. ON 141 was a hoot.

Camera still taking pix but no way to get them off.

Covering pants to boot interface with stretch wrap temporarily solved the wet feet issue. Tested in drizzle and one real frog strangler. Looking for Leg Gaiters tomorrow. Several leads.

We are doing laundry and riding a local loop tomorrow, thanks RAZERMAN for your suggestion.

Not certain where Tuesday will lead us.

A few pix courtesy of JREW - John Wilson





Breaking Scott's Timmy's virginity


Terry Fox Memorial

[CollingsBob]

Canada should sell their water.

No, we shouldn’t…and we won’t.

[escapefjrtist]

Late to the party...safe travels for you and the motley crew BigJohn!

~G

[Hppants]

Take your time getting rolling the next couple of mornings. Frost warnings are up.

I literally had to read that twice. Overnight low here was 75 Deg F. We won't see a "sixty something" or lower overnight low for about 5 months.

Time to go.

[bigjohnsd]

Light snow here this morning.

[El Toro Joe]

Light snow here this morning.

Just looked at the temps...38 degrees, feels like 33.

[FJRoss]

Light snow here this morning.

As I mentioned, the weather around Lake Superior can be spectacular or awful at any time of the year. My experience last year with near freezing conditions in the early morning on the east side (in late August) may be unusual, but not unprecedented. (Warmed up substantially by the time I got on toward Sudbury - chilly, but sunny and not hypothermia territory.) An absolutely beautiful (but long) ride when conditions are good. 700 km from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie.

[wgharper]

Looks like you may be tracking through Bancroft. If you're looking for a place to grub there I'd highly recommend For the Halibut, a fish and chips place right on the York River. Bancroft Brew Pub is also a solid option.

Also thanks for the details and the tracker link! I'm running part of this route in the reverse direction next month, and have been planning a similar pace. Good to see that you guys made good time, even for a holiday weekend.

EDIT: Also seeing now that your speed shows up in the pings from your inreach. I'm gonna have to figure out how to obscure that in the link I give to my wife lol.

[fontanaman]

Light snow here this morning.

I wonder what Don Stanley would say! I miss that guy.

[FJR NorCal]

Enjoy the trip, John. I will be following.

[FJRoss]

What's with the weather in Canada this spring? It has been far more variable in terms of temperature swings than I can remember. Currently, they are seeing temperatures in the vicinity of 7°C (45F) around Lake Superior. Frost advisories for northern Ontario for tonight. Current high temperature in Canada is 21.8°C (71F) at Hay River in the Northwest Territories. That's way up there!

[wheatonFJR]

Light snow here this morning.

I wonder what Don Stanley would say! I miss that guy.

No need to wonder, you know he'd say, "What is that white shite?!"

[fontanaman]

Light snow here this morning.

I wonder what Don Stanley would say! I miss that guy.

No need to wonder, you know he'd say, "What is that white shite?!"

Yeah and there would be some comment about being a Frostback and more humorous insults.

[bigjohnsd]

Monday - May 19, 2025

First good WEAX day of the trip!
After a cold start, the snow quit, the laundry got done, the skies cleared, the temp came up to mid-50s, we found a pair of Gaiters, and an adapter to hopefully tie the camera to the tablet.

It was just a great day to be alive and riding a motorcycle.

We rode a big 200 mile loop through the local area.



A few pix from the day -










Scott does love his dessert!

Tomorrow we head East through Algonquin Park, thru Calabogie, up and around and over Ottawa, and end up at Mont Treblanc for the evening. 740K - about 8 hours or so. WEAX looks to be cool but sunny.

[bigjohnsd]

Tuesday - 20 May 2025

As planned, we headed East through Algonquin Park, down thru Calabogie, up and around and over Ottawa, and end up at Mont Treblanc this evening. 740K - about 8 hours or so. WEAX was cool, windy, but no rain.

A few pictures from the long held captive camera in no particular order






On our way to Calabogie JREW got his daily dose of gravel



not much soil on these rocky places - impressive rocks everywhere.



Tomorrow we head to Quebec City - our hotel tells us we can park there - hop they are right. We plan Wedneday and Thursday in Quebec City as none of us have been there.

More tomorrow

[El Toro Joe]

hope you speak French...

[wheatonFJR]

hope you speak French...

Oui Oui bonjour!

[bigjohnsd]

Departed Mont Tremblant about 0830, spent an hour avoiding a traffic accident as we moved South. Coffee along the way. Had a nice ride up the St Lawrence Seaway on QC 138. We are in an apartment in Quebec City, just outside the walls. Our bikes are in a secure parking garage a block away. P,We had a Thai/Vietnamese dinner and then walked the streets for several hours before stopping in the Hotel Fountainbleu for a drink. We were befriended by a local fellow, "Carl" who is taking us touring in the area tomorrow by car. We are now planning the next few days of riding. Ferries are a PITA to plan around.

The St Lawrence is "Big Water"





Lots of quaint little villages along the St Lawrence Seaway, some date from the early 1600s


Our lodging


Food Porn - A fine Vietnamese sampler





PS - we all agree that Quebec roads are the worst we've ridden so far. Many many big potholes. Ontario was much better!

[Hppants]

Don't like hearing about the road conditions in Quebec.