The 1752 Relay Ride

Day 2
woke up around 645 mark calls around 7 to make sure im up
make some coffee get a shower consider breakfast and stay with coffee instead
they offer to make me a lunch to bring with me and i decline
i really have no room for anything but a bottle of water
sitting out front having a java and a smoke
mark shows around 830 we set the bikes up for some pics and a girl from the inn takes a few
we fuel up and hit the 401 east
marks got the fuel stops mapped
heading down the 401 im following mark his bikes sounds awsome and im glad im wearing earplugs
swap the lead a few times
marks riding with his feet up on the engine guards(pretty funny looking)
riding along in the lead im keeping him in my mirror
and then it happens i see him pulling off to the side in my mirror
i pull over and he rolls up behind me :dry:
im thinking gotto be a quick fix we find the fuse burned to shit off comes the tank(nice quick coupler setup) and start searching for a short..... nothing. off comes the headlight..... nothing there either.
now im thinking ahhhhhh fuuuuck
we hum and haw about the situation and mark makes the call home to his wife dianne
weve no idea what caused the blown fuse i can see that its game over for mark and this is gonna be a solo ride for me
a cop shows up and asks are you guys gonna be able to do this?
"Ill stay until your wife shows up"
"no man I ll be fine go and get the flag.pauls gonna be waiting in malone"
i make a call to paul and leave a message to let him know I ll be a bit late and what happened
i take a pic and tell mark "im not gonna post it" he says"go ahead those guys all know shit happens"
he gives me the map and shows me the fuel stops he had planned
im feeling very conflicted about leaving him on the side of the road and have a feeling of VERY BAD JOO JOO
never the less i gear up and for lack of a better term fuck right off outta there
now riding alone to malone first time ive crossed the border on the road in about 20 yrs on a 28 year old bike ive owned for about 3 months and never taken a long ride on
all i can think to myself is "I must be a fucking mental case. oh well here i go lets see what happens"
I ll write more shortly

So now im bombing down the 401 heading to the thousand islands bridge crossing at the border
im surpised to see that everyone on the 401 drives at 140kph to 160 kph (90 to 100 mph)
but it feels good. thinking about mark and how it happens to be his wedding anniversery today(hope its not his last)
i make it to the border only to find it closed you can ask why but you still get the same answer
cant tell ya why
so i wait it out for about 45 min then it opens and im on my way
ive crossed the burlington skyway bridge before but never a suspension bridge 2 of em in a row!!!
what a beauty thing to do on a bike the veiw is fantastic
the guy at the border wants the whole story so i tell him what im doing
he looks at me in wonder and laughs and says "good luck man go ahead"
i cross get on 81 south stop for fuel and hit 12 north
hammer down and run into 37 which goes right into malone
i stop in messena and check my phone see that pauls called give him a ring and hear
"ya we're at moes but we dont really like it here left you a message to meet here but lets just meet at donovans like planned"
OK no problem im about 20 min away ill see you there
roll into malone around 330 or so find donovans and paul comes walking out to meet me
we shoot the shit and have a smoke
(see some other folks smoke too not just me)
walk out back to the deck its a beauty place and a hot hot sunny sunny summer day
I go get a brew and sit down with paul and alona(hope im spelling that right dear)
we're all happy to see and meet each other and sad to speak of marks problems
we eat i ask the waitress about a good place to stay in malone super8 or holiday inn
there are other places but i dont even go in them and neither should you nuff said there
paul and alona tell me about moes where they were put in a room full of stuffed monkeys and alona has a fear of monkeys(im like wtf? stay away from moes) and they both agree its the correct thing to do.
I go to my bike to get the map to show them were i just rode from when i get back my dinner has been paid for by alona THANK YOU
we talk some more do some pics and we head out each in different directions
pauls on a 92 zx1100 and alonas on a new 500 ninja
i go to the holiday inn looking for some shelter only to get we're full same at the super8
so back onto 37 heading for messena.
I ll finish this shortly i need a brew

and...? and..? the suspense is killing me

K so im heading towards messena with no idea where im gonna stay
stop for fuel on the outskirts and ask about a nice place to stay around here
im tired and just wanna have a beer and a meal
the guy at the pumps says around here? id go to bobs motel ive stayed there before and theres a nice steakhouse right beside it
"can i get a beer there?"
oh ya you can get what ever ya want there
so i fill up the bike aint liking this ethenal fuel but what choice do i have?
down the road to bobs motel he says i have 1 room left its $70 wanna look first?
does it have a bed and a shower?
yes
I ll take gotta be better then sleeping in the bush
you sure you dont wanna look?
yes can i get some beer around here?
1/2 mile down the road.
heres my credit card
credit card dont work try again same thing
thank god ive got some cash on me bob gives me the tour of the facilities and tells me that his dad got killed on a motorcycle and wasnt wearing a helmut
pay for the room and through my shit in it WHAT A PALACE!!!!
down the road for beer and munchies(sure am happy you americans sell beer anywhere)
try my card at the store same thing again pay cash
back to bobs and have a few while i sort out whats up with my card on the phone for about 40mins on hold(seems if your gonna be traveling out of normal use zone you should call and let them know)
the guy on the phone has the same strange accent as bob the hotel owner
have a few brews talk to my new neiboughs then ride with NO HELMUT across the street to herberts steakhouse the kitchen is shut down but they offer to make me a prime rib on a bun and throw in some macaroni salad and say its gonna be expensive cause its prime rib
GIVE ER!! im hungry
I get to talking with the girl at the bar and it turns out she is Canadian and has family in north bay 2 beers 2 shots of whiskey a prime rib sandwich with mac salad and she hands me a bill for like $16.75
im like here try this card it was fucked but i fixed it and run it through for $30
she does and it works YAAAAAAAY!
I take my meal back to bobs and through it in the fridge and start on another brew
some folks from ottawa pull up and tell me i should pull my bike right into the room
im like really? it looks pretty quiet around here
they give me the scared travelers report and i ignore them
having a brew and a bunch of guys from buffalo pull up towing 2 beauty fishing boats theyve been fishing muskie all day and have some beauty video to show me of 50 plus inchers
one trailer has no rear lights and i troubleshoot find the problem (the plug is fucked)
give them a flashlight a knife and show them how to hook it up without the plug
everything comes to life with the lights and we have some brews together
one young kid asks have you ever seen the movie called the big lebowski and i say ya he says you look like that guy and calls me lebowski for the rest of the night
i ask you ever seen the movie papilion? he says ya and i call him pepe the rest of the night(he really does look like dustin hoffman)
after a few brews i crash after moving my bike right beside the window of my room eat my dinner and crash having left the key in my bike wake up the next day the bike is still there with the key in it all the guys form buffalo are gone and im not really surprised some folks get a little overwhelmed but i dont this is not downtown detroit its messena NY in the middle of nowhere. next stop Cobourg ontario

update

oh yeah i forgot that i nearly hit the first wild turkey i ever saw in my life on the ride to bobs motel and dont worry i have a photographic memory so i ll add as i can

the suspense is killing me :whistle: :woohoo: !


leon

The Big Lebowski? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Was that supposed to be a complement? :laugh: Pretty funny stuff. Hey look at it positively. Jeff Bridges is looking pretty stealth these days. Very distinguished. Best in line in the movie was when the mobster's girlfriend had her allowance cut off so she proposed to Lebowski that she will give him B@! for a thousand dollars. He responded by asking the mobsters henchmen who were escorting him where he can find the nearest ATM machine. LOL, great movie.

jeffasaki wrote: oh yeah i forgot that i nearly hit the first wild turkey i ever saw in my life on the ride to bobs motel and dont worry i have a photographic memory so i ll add as i can

Jeff's turky siteing #1




Jeffs 2nd turkey siteing

awesome to read this old ride report

Great story
Great ride
Good to see you here.
You did'nt kill yoursel on that new H2 after all :woohoo:

no im alive loving the h2 ....have to say its a bit fucken crazy but in a good way
just fired up the turbo today and thought of this ride i did on it
i think i wrote more in canadian relay
still ride the old 78 now and then
its all good
nice to be able to look back