It was broken into two chapters: 4 days Vancouver to Calgary (could be done in 1 day), and 4 days Calgary to Toronto (suppose it could be done in 2-3 days).
I was somewhat nervous about this ride, because this was the first long ride I'd done with my R1200RS, specifically because of my grief with its seat and seating position.
13 years ago or so, I was rear-ended on my 1992 Katana 750, which had the effect of damaging my tailbone. Within the year, I went down in a heavy snow storm, landing on that damaged tailbone. And I never had it looked at. Heck, I never even told my doctor until this past May, 13 years later. He laughed at how stupid I am. Seriously, he laughed. Then he told me to find a convenient physiotherapist.
Physio has been helping, but I've built up enough scar tissue over the years that I am by no means fixed. And here I was doing what became a 7000km September ride, on the bike that was excruciating to ride over 2 hours mere weeks beforehand when I finally started physio.
Chapter 1, Vancouver to Calgary, Thursday Sept 28 - Tuesday Sept 4
I committed an extended long weekend to get from Vancouver to Calgary. A direct ride is as little as 1000km across the TransCanada, so I knew I could have lots of time to go off the usual route, if the BC wildfires let me.I started off on Thursday after work, heading north to Whistler. From there, I aimed for 100 Mile House, but ran out of sunshine as I hit Lillooet, so I stopped at the first hotel I found, the Reynolds Hotel. In retrospect, I'm really glad I did. But first..
I'd only ever been between Vancouver and Whistler, never beyond on BC-99 up to 100 Mile House. Beautiful road, beautiful scenery, no traffic. Incredible. I had no idea!
Anyway, Lillooet. The Reynolds was a fine hotel. Not plush like the Hiltons I usually stay in, but more than acceptable. Variety store by the lobby, restaurant next door (with stupid early close at night, but food across the road) but handy for breakfast. Nice.
But it was the morning where I realized where I was. Lillooet is in the middle of the mountains, mountains on all sides. Breathtaking. Hit the link to read about the history of this town. Highest recorded temperature in BC, lowest rainfall, couple hours from Vancouver. Awesome. I want a cottage on a lake up there, where I can land a float plane. Mmmm.
On Friday, from Lillooet, I continued up BC-99 and BC-97 to 100 Mile House, then BC-24 and BC-5 to Valemount BC for the night. Stayed at a pretty disappointing Super 8. Expensive, miserable breakfast. Nice dinner at the Caribou Grill though.
Saturday had me cruising through Jasper towards Banff by BC-16, AB-16, AB-93 (the Icefields Parkway) to the TransCanada. I think the fee to ride through the parks was around $10. Amazing ride, though chilly; temps down around 4c along this stretch.
Once I got down to the TransCanada, I turned west, hoping to sleep in Revelstoke for the night. My favourite part of the TransCanada has always been the stretch between Revelstoke and, let's say, Canmore, basically the east end of the Rockies before you hit Calgary.
The entire time I was in Alberta this day, the skies were clear, mountains perfect, but the temps were down around 5c.
Stayed at the Revelstoke Lodge. It was okay. Good sleep. No breakfast, but I had leftover pizza from dinner at Emo's.
Sunday was my day to get into Calgary, backtracking a bit on the TransCanada and through Banff. Nice day, but the sky was largely obscured by smoke. :(
Came to rest at my Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport. This had the huge benefit of both being near the airport, has free parking and a free shuttle to the airport, and is a 3 minute walk from Sentinel Calgary North, the storage facility I was storing my motorcycle at for the next 1.5 weeks.
I had Monday "off", in that I got to Calgary a day earlier than I needed to, in order to avoid a lot of spirit-dampening rain. Dabbled with the bike, sorted my clothes, did laundry (I was leaving a bunch of closed behind for my eventual return), and relaxed. Flew home Tuesday, went back to work.
Chapter 2, Calgary and around. Friday Sept 14 to Thursday Sept 27
I flew back to Calgary from Toronto after work on Friday, Sept 14. Bee-lined to the Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport again, and despite the rain, I retrieved my motorcycle from storage and left the locker unlocked.Spent Saturday and Sunday riding around the area. Went to Lethbridge, to sleep in Medicine Hat, then Sunday slept in Lethbridge. Monday, went to work and stayed at the Homewood Suites Calgary Downtown for the rest of the week.
My opinion of the Homewood Suites is mixed. No free parking, only valet, and $36/day at that. Remarkable. I talked them down to $25/day (their weekend valet rate), but having to go inside every time I wanted to park to beg a valet to open the garage was a PITA. The valets only met me outside once without me having to go inside. Meh.
The room was okay, functional. Fully fitted kitchen though, which was nice; real stove, microwave, full fridge, full set of dishes and silverware, etc.
For the second weekend, the weather around Calgary was turning miserable, wet and cold, so I went down to Lethbridge again, if only to get a nice ride. It was, like 10c warmer and dry in Lethbridge for the weekend.
Spent the next week to Thursday at the Homewood Suites again. Nicer room (top floor has big windows).
Curiously, my door cards never could open the coin laundry facility; had to beg a steward to open the laundry for me. Some random occupant verified that their cards could indeed open the laundry, just mine couldn't. It was annoying.
On Wednesday, I boxed up one collection of things I wouldn't need for the ride home (old tank bag, clothes) and shipped them home using Canada Post, for about $36 with a bit of insurance.
Chapter 3, Calgary to Toronto. Thursday night Sept 27 through Monday Oct 1
After the class finally let out around 17:30 on Thursday, I got into my riding suit, boxed up the rest of my clothes that I wouldn't need for the ride, shipped it all using CP again (about $42 I think), then got on the road.Throughout the previous two weeks, I'd been watching the weather reports pretty closely, trying to figure out my route options. I really wanted to ride through Canada, but that really depended on the weather. Though the Fall had just started, Calgary's weather was decidedly approaching Winter conditions, and by the end of the week, I knew the rest of central Canada was not going to be great. In particular, mornings starting at -4c, which would necessitate late starts and early ends each day, which my schedule could not support. Through the US!
It was raining and as low as 2c as I left Calgary. I bee-lined for Great Falls, Montana, through Lethbridge and down I-15. Rolled into there nearly 23:00 or something. Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Rained the whole ride. It wasn't a wonderful ride, but I was generally comfortable. Curiously, I was unconvinced that my gloves were heating properly, but my heated grips on full kept my hands content.
Of note; I stopped just north of Great Falls on the side of the road, to book the hotel room. In the 30 seconds I was stopped, someone stopped on the highway (like, didn't even try to pull over), to see if I was okay. I didn't stick around, waved, said I was fine, rode around him and hit the hotel.
While I was in the hotel room, I discovered that my right glove lead from my heated jacket liner was broken and shorting out. That would explain why my gloves weren't heating, as they share the one controller lead, and I have to assume the controller shut the entire circuit down to save itself.
On Friday, just after I left the hotel, I decided I wanted to find somewhere to buy bits to fix my glove lead. Pulled over to search my phone for auto parts or a Radio Shack or something. Within 30 seconds, a guy pulled over to check if I was okay! Twice in one stop in Great Falls. Very nice town, very motorcycle-conscious.
Anyway, I aimed for Gillette, Wyoming for the night. However, as I neared Gillette, I discovered I still had lots of life in my day, and pushed to Rapid City, South Dakota. Turned into a 1000km day! First long day on the R1200RS! I was very happy to be doing long days on this bike, and my tailbone really wasn't giving me grief, at least while I was on the bike. Stayed at the Hampton Inn.
As for scenery, yeah, no. There's really no scenery along this entire route. Yeah.
Saturday, I started the morning by fixing my heated glove lead, then did Rapid City to Waterloo, Iowa. An 1100km day! I wanted to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, but the rate jumped while I rode, so I cheaped out and stayed at the Hampton Inn.
Sunday was a shorter day, taking me to the Hilton Garden Inn, Detroit Metro Airport, for about 900km. For note, it was almost non-stop tire shrapnell on the highway, with several trucks and cars on the shoulder with destroyed tires. It was weird!
Monday had me rolling into Canada, visiting mom near Chatham, then getting home, a day early! Cancelled my extra vacation day, saving it for some better-weather ride.
Reflections
This was my first long ride on the R1200RS, and it was a huge success.I LOVE its cruise control. It was comfortable enough. It doesn't leave me in a passionate heat like my K1300S, but it performed its role flawlessly.
The segment from Vancouver to Calgary was incredible, even despite the overcast-like smoke. I'd love to do that a dozen more times.
Calgary to Toronto was a long uninteresting push, but it went by fine. Listened to several audiobooks through the ride, some new books I'd never heard before.
