[RoadDust]

Tomorrow morning Galen (ThatFixedIt) and I will be leaving for Newfoundland.

The original plan was to ride the Labrador Loop, but we were also wanting to spend some time exploring on The Rock. Due to time restrictions we decided to forgo the Labrador Loop and spend as much time as we could on The Rock. Time permitting we may try to make a short ride up to Red Bay in Labrador.

My intention is to update this Ride Report on a daily basis whenever I can. Generally I do not post pictures until after I get back home, so those will have to wait unless I get some down time on the road.

Galen will also be adding his post to this Ride Report, so you will be getting two for one.

The bikes:
Galen will be riding a 2009 DL650 in hi-viz Orange.

I have retired my DL1000K3 from long distance trips and put the ole gal out to pasture and will be limiting her to shorter trips. There is now a nasty rumor going around that I have recently purchased a Wee. Once and for all to completely dispel this myth, check out the panniers on my bike. It clearly states DL1000 on the panniers. However, I can understand the confusion on the part of some people thinking that my new bike is a DL650. Just because my new bike is an Orange K9, does that really mean that it is a Wee and not a Vee?

If anyone is interested in tracking us, my SPOT Shared Page is:

SPOT Shared Page

 

[RoadDust]

Saturday
July 23, 2001

Woodstock, GA to Carlisle, PA

Miles today: 731
Time on the road: 11 hours 30 minutes.

Not a lot to say about today. It was one of the “getting there“ days. We left this morning around 7 am after breakfast at Waffle House and a send off from the wives. The whole day was on the slab. I-75 up through North Georgia and into Knoxville, TN. I-40 out of Knoxville then I-81 through eastern TN, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and into Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow's ride calls for more of the same.

 

[Bahill]

Looking forward to your report and I hope y'all have a great ride! :thumbup:

Hummmm, I smell new foot pegs and windshield.:yesnod:


.

 

[RoadDust]

July 24, 2011

Carlisle, PA to Lincolnville, ME

Time on the road: 11 hours 45 minutes

Miles today: 642
Total miles: 1,373

General description of today is slab and traffic. However, the last hour or so was an improvement.

We left this morning around 8 am and the temperature was already 80 degrees. That is still better than yesterday's high of 99.5, We took I-81 from Carlisle and up to Scranton, PA. No shortage of traffic. I-84 out of Scranton through New York, Connecticut, and into Massachusetts. Still plenty of traffic. I-90 east in MA to I-495 to I-95, with a little extra traffic to keep us from getting bored. I-95 through New Hampshire and into Maine.

In Brunswick we picked up Hwy 1 and started working our way up the coast. Traffic was not that bad and the pace was much more relaxed. We made our way into Lincolnville with still a little daylight left to spare. We got our motel room for the night and then found a restaurant that had outside seating overlooking the water. Great seafood, great view, temperature nice and cool around 70, ate way to much, then finally made it back to the motel room.

Tomorrow we plan to continue along the coast on Hwy 1 and hopefully will be in New Brunswick by tomorrow night.

 

[RoadDust]

Looking forward to your report and I hope y'all have a great ride! :thumbup:

Hummmm, I smell new foot pegs and windshield.:yesnod:


.

Nope. The windshield was on the bike when I bought it.

Besides, you can't tell from the picture that I put new pegs on the bike last Thursday before I left. Next you will probably be trying to say that they are the same pegs that you have on your bike.

 

[568v8]

ferry to Labrador

I've just returned from a loop all around the St Lawrence rive rand gulf.
I'd suggest that you make a reservations for the ferry from St Barbe NL to Blanc-Sablon QC and back. It’s easy to spend 2 days exploring museums and historic sites and riding on decent pavement between Old Fort Quebec and Red Bay Labrador. A good central location and a reasonably priced B & B is the old nursing station now The Grenfell Louie A. Hall B & B in Forteau, QC call Peggy 709 931-2916 to reserve.
If you’ve time in St Anthony check out the Grenfell Interpretive Centre.

Gulf of St Lawrence pictures by windtogo - Photobucket

 

[RoadDust]

July 25, 2011

Lincolnville, ME to Quispamsisn, New Brunswick, Canada

Time on road: 11 hours 30 minutes

Miles today: 310
Total Miles: 1,683

Today was the definition of why we ride. Lots of sunshine with the temperature starting off in the low 60's and going up to the mid 70's. Perfect day for riding.

We continued up the coast on Hwy 1 with light traffic. In Elisworth we went south on Hwy 3 and did a short tour of Acadia National Park. Lots of great scenery and some fun roads. Pictures will be posted later. Returning to Elisworth we continued east on Hwy 1 until we reached East Machias where we turned off onto Hwy 191, a small country road. In many places Hwy 191 was running along the coast and offered not only a fairly good curvy road, but many spectacular views. This proved to be the best riding of the day.

Reaching the end of Hwy 191 we stopped by Quoddy Head State Park. The eastern most land point in the US is located at the park After getting pictures of the Light House and the tiny little rocky island just off the coast that was the further most eastern point we headed a few miles north up to Lubec, ME and crossed over into Canada. Customs put Galen through the usual question routine. My turn, two questions and I am allowed to enter Canada. One of my easiest border crossings ever.

We took the bridge over to Campobello Island and headed for the ferry landing to catch the 4:00 ferry. We got there at 4:04. Just in time for everyone on the ferry to wave bye-bye to us as the ferry was leaving. The next ferry was not for another hour so we decided to spend the time exploring the island. We took a tour around some of the roads and even found one short section of gravel road. This time we even made it back to the ferry landing before the ferry left.

The road to the ferry was hard packed gravel and the ramp was concrete. This was a major improvement over the mud and soft dirt ramps that I had last year when I was riding further up north. We boarded the ferry and about a 30 minutes ferry ride we rode off the ferry onto Deer Island. After a 15-20 minute ride to the north of Deer Island we reached our next ferry crossing with 10 minutes to spare.

20 minutes later was were were riding the bikes off of the ferry into New Brunswick. After a short ride north we headed east on Hwy 1 going through Saint John and stopping for the night in Quispamsisn.

Tomorrow we plan on going up the coast of the Bay of Fundy and then heading into Nova Scotia.


Leaving the motel.

Acadia National Park:

Along the coastal road:

West Quoddy Head - Easternmost point in the USA:

Campebello Island:

Ferry off of Campebello Island to Deer Island:

Ferry off of Deer Island to New Brunswick mainland:

 

[RoadDust]

568v8,

Thanks for the info and suggestions.

If we get the time to cross over into Labrador it will be a quick one day turn around. Most of our time will be spent checking out Newfoundland.

Hopefully before too much longer I will get a chance to ride the Labrador Loop and have more time for that area.

 

[helotech]

Welcome to the Rock! (soon...)

Roaddust,
I was just about to post for the start of my first long distance trip on my Wee and came across your post. The first thing that caught my eye was your bike, and the fact that your riding partner has the same awesome color (yes, I have one too).

I currently live in Gander NL, right about in the middle of the island. My friend is riding her bike from Winnipeg, Man, and I am meeting her at the Port Aux Basques Ferry tomorrow afternoon. I will then give her the grand tour of the island, eventually making our way to the George St Festival in St John's which starts this weekend.
If this is your first time on the island email me at [email protected] and I can tell you a few good places to hit.
Have fun!

 

[RoadDust]

Roaddust,
I was just about to post for the start of my first long distance trip on my Wee and came across your post. The first thing that caught my eye was your bike, and the fact that your riding partner has the same awesome color (yes, I have one too).

If this is your first time on the island email me at [email protected] and I can tell you a few good places to hit.
Have fun!

They make them in colors other than orange? Why would anyone want one if it was not orange?

We just boarded the ferry in N Sydney. Will send you an email after we get settled in and get a little better internet connection.

 

[RoadDust]

July 26, 2011

Quispamsisn, New Brunswick to Oxford, Nova Scotia

Time on road: 10 hours 15 minutes

Miles today: 212
Total Miles: 1,895

Today started off with cloud cover and in the mid 50's finally getting up to around 60.

We continued NE on Hwy 1 and then went south on Hwy 114 into Fundy Nation Park. We took the tour through the park and then stopped for lunch and lobster rolls in Alma.

After lunch we continued NE on Hwy 114 with a side trip on Hwy 915 along the coast. To me the little two lane roads along the coast have actually been more interesting on the bike than the parks that we went through. Next stop was at Hopewell Rocks. I thought that this was the most interesting park that we have been too so far. Rocks or small tall (50-100 feet high) islands on the beach. At low tide you can walk along the beach among the rocks. At high tide the beach may be as much as 50 feet underwater.

After spending a couple of hours walking on the beach we headed north on Hwy 114 up to Moncton, Picked up Hwy 2 heading SE into Nova Scotia (turns into Hwy 104 in Nova Scotia) and stopped for the night in Oxford.

Tomorrow we should be in North Sydney to catch the midnight ferry over to Newfoundland.


Wolf Cove in Fundy National Park

Along the coast of New Brunswick:

The Rocks Provincial Park:

 

[RoadDust]

July 27, 2011

Oxford Nova Scotia to North Sydney, Nova Scotia

Time on road: 9 hours 45 minutes

Miles today: 399
Total miles: 2,294

Today was cloudy with light rain on and off, heavy fog, and a couple times we had sunshine. Temperature stayed around 55-60.

We continued heading east through Nova Scotia and crossed over to Cape Breton Island. We headed north on Hwy 19 up the western side of the Island to the Cabot Trail. We had a few rain showers and our only sun for the day. It made for good riding and we were able to make some stops for pictures. Got to see a few whales playing off of the coast. Rounding the northern tip of the Island the weather made a definite change for the worse. Heavy fog, mist, and rain. No more pictures for the day. If you have seen one picture of fog you have pretty much seen them all.

We continued down the western shore line until we reached Hwy 106 and continued to the ferry terminal in north Sydney. We got checked in and waited until it was time to load the bikes. Around 10 pm all bikes were allowed to board. After strapping the bikes down for the voyage we found our way to our cabin. The ferry sailed at 11:30 pm and we are now on our way to Newfoundland. We should be arriving in Newfoundland late tomorrow afternoon, giving us a few hours of riding time to find a place to stay for the night.


Cape Brenton Highlands National Park:

Ferry to Newfoundland:

 

[Bahill]

:rockon::bigear::hurray:

.

 

[RoadDust]

Thursday
July 28, 2011

North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Argentia, Newfoundland

Ferry

Time on ferry: 14 hours
Distance: 322 miles

Argentia, Newfoundland to Clarenville, Newfoundland

Time on the road: 3 hours

Miles today: 94
Total miles: 2,710

The ferry landed in Newfoundland around 3:00 pm. Took the straps off of the bikes and soon we were rolling across the Newfoundland country side. All that I can say is that “The Rock” really rocks. Gorgeous lakes, rivers, mountains, and vistas. This is what we rode over 2,000 miles for. Of course we had cloudy skies, occasional pea soup fog, and light mist, but who was notcieing? When the temperature dropped down to 50 degrees it did seem a little cool for July to a couple of Southern boys. Winter riding gear really made a big difference in the comfort level. Gotta love heated gear and grips.

An hour's drive up the road to the Trans-Canadian Highway and we stopped for a late lunch. An hour later after riding through some more gorgeous scenery we found a motel in Clarenville.

Tomorrow is looking like we may have a chance of seeing some sun after chilly temperatures tonight. Our goal for tomorrow is Twillingate.


Arriving in Newfoundland:

 

[Black Lab]

July 25, 2011
We continued up the coast on Hwy 1 with light traffic. In Elisworth we went south on Hwy 3 and did a short tour of Acadia National Park. Lots of great scenery and some fun roads. Pictures will be posted later.

It would have been nice to meet you. I live on Mount Desert Island. You passed right by where I work. TWICE!!

 

[Media Weasel]

I live on the Calais ME/St. Stephen border. Drop me a PM if you come by. Have tent space, etc.

 

[ThatFixedIt]

I'm on the trip with Road_Dust. Since this is my first post about the trip, I'll start with some introductory comments and a comparison of our gear choices. I upload pictures each time I find WiFi to smugmug. These are the raw pics uploaded mostly for safe keeping if the camera is lost, but thy are shared for anyone who is interested.

My SmugMug page is here: Newfoundland 2011 - ThatFixedIt's Photos

My SPOT shared page is here:
SPOT Shared Page


Road_Dust has already shared pictures of the bikes: two orange 2009 Vstroms. Both have been farkled for adventure travel and long distances, but in different ways.

Both have skid plates with highway pegs and crash guards, mine are givi bars and a narcosis-junky skid plate with home made pegs; Road_Dust has Pat Walsh Designs bars, pegs, skid plate. The PWD stuff looks better, both seem to work well.

Both windshields are aftermarket with Madstad brackets. I have a Windstream windshield, Road_Dust has a more traditional design. The Windstream oscillates side to side at any speed above 50 mph. It gets thrown away or sold when I get home. (Although it does provide a clean bubble of air and a quiet ride, the side to side wobble drives me crazy... not that it is a long drive.) I had a windshield from CalSci.com that I liked better, but cracked it in a minor crash just before leaving for the trip. The Windstream was available locally from another VStrom rider.

Both have Givi topcases with Admore light kits... Highly recomended. You can actually pack everythingt you need in the motel or tent in one and use it like an overnight case. Just carry in one case and the tank bag. Easy.

Both have heated grips by symtec. I use an electronic cruise control by Rostra; Road_Dust uses a throttle position device similar to a cramp buster. The cruise control is simply the best money I spent on farkles. It gives steady speed up hill, down hill, tail wind, head wind, whatever. It will even hold a very low speed in a lower gear while creeping though some of the "tax collection zones" in small towns.

Panniers are very different. I went with Jesse luggage, Road_Dust has givi. Both are waterproof and durable. His easily come off and have nice suitcase style carry handles; mine don't. Mine have extra gas cans attached, his don't. Road_Dust uses the side cases as luggage, carring them into the motel each night. I habitually cut it close on gas and NEED those extra cans.

Speaking of gas, Road_Dust is getting about 5% better fuel milage than I am. We stay a few car lengths apart at the most, so I don't think it is speed related. My wind screen is wider, especially at the top; and my side cases are both taller and less aero than the Givi's Road_Dust uses. So, I think it is simply the differences in frontal area and aerodynamic shape.

There is one other important difference. Road_Dust has a Russel Day Long seat. Mine is a stock seat with a Spenser "upgrade." It sucks. Although better for me than stock, I haven't found it to be a long distance seat. I rode the first day (700+ miles) and about half of the second day on it and was in considerable discomfort. I just couldn't get comfortable for more than a few minutes at first, and eventually not at all. Fortunately, I brought a Freedom Air pad and packed it in a side case just in case. It is much better than the Air Hawk I tried on the last trip. In fact, when using the Freedom pad, I can almost forget about my sore butt. I just wish I had remembered that I had packed it earlier.

More later

 

[Nova Scotia Strommer]

I also have an orange 09 set up for touring with the Jesse luggage and noticed an increase in fuel consumtion over the OEM luggage especially at highway speeds. So much for Orange being the fastest color.
You may want to reduce the habit of continuesly running your gas tank low as the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel and could fail prematurely.
Enjoy your trip to the "Rock". I will be going through NFLD on my way to Labrador next month and plan on touring NFLD next year so I am enjoying your reports.

 

[supernewf71]

I wish I was there riding along with you guys. Beautiful province and fun place to be. Have a excellent ride. take lots of photos. enjoy the icebergs .

 

[RoadDust]

Note from Mrs. RoadDust

July 29, 2011

RoadDust and ThatFixedIt are camping tonight on the north central coast of Newfoundland. They will post ride reports when they again have internet access. Hubby assured me that they are having a great time and that the scenery is spectacular.

Bye from Mrs. Road Dust in GA, USA.