[ST] (Long) IBA Great Lakes Great Circle Tour(Part 1) or "Don't Laugh at Mother Nature"

["Bailey, Doug" <DBailey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

During the winter to survive my motorcycle withdrawal I plan the next
seasons motorcycle trips.  Last winter I eyed the three days of the Labor
Day weekend and decided a trip around the Great Lakes would fit the bill.
Then this summer the Iron Butt Association added the Great Lakes Great
Circle Tour, a continuous circumnavigation around the lakes, and their
finishers list showed that no one had completed it yet.  Now I could justify
to everyone the 2500+ miles in two and a half days by telling them I get
another Iron Butt Association certificate. 

A check of the weather channel before leaving home showed all the rain had
passed over night.  A big Canadian high would control the whole Great Lakes
area all three days.  Fantastic, no rain, but lows in the upper 40's.  So I
left the rain gear home (you just know this was a mistake) and packed
thermals.  I started out Saturday morning at 4:56 am EST.  Starting and
finishing in Williamsport, PA isn't exactly the shortest route, but since
there appeared to be no time limit it was the easiest.  My goal was to be
finished in under 60 hours.  So off west on I-80 to Chicago.  I've been on
this section several times so it wasn't too interesting but I still like
riding it.  People think I'm missing a couple marbles when I say there is
beauty in miles and miles of cornfields, a peaceful beauty.  When you grow
up in Nebraska it is something you understand.  However, I was glad it was
at the start as straight superslabs would have really dragged the finish.  

A couple tacks around Chicago and into Eau Claire, WI, at 8:25 pm CST.  I
wanted to go to Duluth, MN, but neither I nor AAA could find a room anywhere
there and along my route Eau Claire was the closest.  A thought was to ride
as far as I could and stop someplace at about midnight and sleep on the bike
or on a picnic table at a wayside area, called an Iron Butt Motel, for a
couple hours or get a hotel room.  After a stay in an Iron Butt Motel during
the Mason-Dixon 20-20 Rally (a cold, wet, blacktop motorcycle shop parking
lot, but that's another story), I favored a soft, warm bed and shower.  An
uneventful 953 miles the first day.  I had seen some potential rain clouds
but nothing developed.  As the sun was setting the red clouded sky reminded
me of, "Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in morning, sailors take
warning."  And as I was circumnavigating the Great Lakes I was therefore a
sailor. 

Up at 3:30 and on the road by 4:15 am CST to a warm 62 degrees.  Can't say I
was disappointed the weathermen were wrong.  I usually don't eat breakfast
but after an hour my stomach was grumbling and I stopped at Perkins for 45
minutes.  I also had planned to do the IBA National Parks challenge
(visiting 50 national parks in 25 states) next year.   But I was passing
right by Grand Portage National Monument and figured I may not be back in
Minnesota next year so this was as good a time as any to start.  It also
keeps with the circumnavigation theme.  Yes, I was circumnavigating the
Great Lakes, but entirely by portage.  Hence the gas stops in Portage, IN,
Portage, WI, and Grand Portage, MN.  

A little further up the road in Nipigon, ON, the decision was to take the
northerly TC11 route or the southerly TC17 route.  TC17 is only 20 miles
further to North Bay, ON, but perhaps curvier and more scenic.  I was
leaning towards the TC17 route.  Approaching Nipigon at 1:20 pm EST the sky
became more menacing and the roads were wet.  The station attendant said it
rained for about an hour with fairly good sized hail and finished only half
an hour ago.  Remember that 45 minute stop for breakfast?  And what did I
say about weathermen?  It looked like the clouds were headed north towards
TC11.  So east and south on TC17 was the choice.  TC17 curves quite a bit
until Sault St. Marie so for the next 350 miles of wet roads I went through
emotions that changed direction as often as the road did.  When the road
appeared headed southeast toward clearing skies I smiled and laughed as
Mother Nature took her shot at me and missed.  But then when it seemed to
head back northeast toward the dark clouds I scowled and cursed weathermen
everywhere.  

Curse weathermen all you want, but never, never laugh at Mother Nature while
on a motorcycle.  I seemed to always be sliding in behind the rain, but she
hit me big with the cross-winds.  They would have been great if I were
actually sailing, but today I would have preferred calm winds.  The gusts
didn't always come from the lake side either.  The rain wet roads made the
paint lines as slick as ice.  So a primary concern while cornering was to,
as best as possible, make quick control adjustments to the gusts.  If you
were pushed onto the paint while leaned over it would make the corner
interesting at the least.  Despite being in Canada I wasn't interested in
road lugeing.  The dilemma was which track to take on the road.  If I
followed the left track the winds would push me onto the centerline.  If I
followed the right track the winds would push me to the right line.  If I
rode the center there was all the oil from the cars and trucks no matter
which way the wind blew. 

At my gas stop in Marathon, ON, I met a guy riding the other way.  We didn't
introduce ourselves but talked about the important stuff, the weather.  He
went though wind, rain, and hail between Marathon and Sault St. Marie and
confirmed a long held theory of mine.  Hail hurts when riding a motorcycle.
I hoped I continued to slide in behind the rain and it looked good until
Sault St. Marie where Mother Nature looked poised to take another serious
shot at my life.


Doug Bailey "Hound Dawg"

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