Greg's Motorcycle Adventures

It was a long and uneventful ocean crossing. The ship was beautiful but after so many days of riding I slept through most of the voyage. We had met several other motorcyclists on journeys of their own while on the ship and we waved goodbye as we continued in our own directions.

Our next stop was Woodstock New Brunswick some 740km or approximately 8 hours away, not including stops for fuel and food. The highway through Cape Breton was well maintained, very scenic and heavily travelled.   We were only 50km into our journey when a red pickup truck made a left turn in front of me. I hit the breaks hard and just missed a collision. Not a good start to the ride home. Another 100km later we encountered four vehicles travelling at a speed too slow for a major highway.  When the road opened up I took the opportunity to pass. I knew I could pass two of the vehicles safely and could enter my lane in front of another red pickup truck. I prepared to pass the other two vehicles when it was safe to do so. Signal on, I geared down and accelerated, passing the first vehicle quickly. As I approached the front of the red pickup truck I put my right signal on and began to enter my lane.  The pickup truck sped up, cutting off my ability to safely change lanes. I panicked as I realized that I was stuck in the lane of oncoming traffic! A car was heading straight for me and was flashing his lights. I could not stay where I was; the pickup truck was blocking me to the right. I veered off as fast as I could to the left hand shoulder of the road, I saw the look of fear in the face of the driver of the oncoming vehicle and I was sure it must have been just like mine. It was a split second decision but a lifesaving one. I eventually made it in front of the red pickup truck in the proper lane and continued down the highway. What is with red pickup trucks?

Until this day we had not encountered poor drivers or near misses. There would be another two other incidents on this highway, one involving a jerk of a tractor trailer driver and another with a car full of ladies.

Once in New Brunswick the drivers were much more considerate and shared the road. We made it to our hotel, tired but in one piece.  The following day would be full of laughs, mostly at David’s expense. More to follow.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/The_correct_way_to_pass_a_vehicle

We have arrived in St John’s, enjoy some of the photos taken on the way.

There is something rather scary yet cool at the same time about driving onto a ship. The realization that “you can’t get there from here” without  crossing an ocean, the tales of tragic ocean crossings and the unique sounds of engines echoing in the steal hull all play with your mind.

We secured our motorcycles in place quite easily. David’s jovial mood and the realization that I am on the adventure of a lifetime push all ominous thoughts aside. These ferries cross from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and back hundreds of times a year and this is just another crossing. I started laughing and joking with David and the other passengers as we made our way to the deck. It started to feel more like an episode of Gilligan’s Island than the tragic tale to the Titanic. I went in search of Mary Ann and her coconut cream pie.

Links

Gilligan’s Island  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilligan’s_Island   Mary Ann http://www.dawn-wells.com/

 Titanic http://www.titanic-facts.com/

 Marine Atlantic Ferry – http://www.marine-atlantic.ca/

A few photos for you to enjoy.

Nobody ever grows up dreaming of becoming an Accountant.  

Accounting was never my dream, yet here I am.  Accounting is how I paid for my education, my mortgage, my daughter’s education and how I save for retirement. I no longer enjoy my career choice as I once did and continually ask myself why I keep doing it. I don’t eat foods I don’t like. I don’t like being scared so I don’t watch horror movies. So why do I get up and day after day, week after week do something I don’t want to do?

On June 15^th 2011, I will stop doing what I no longer enjoy, and spend the next year doing the thing I love – travelling by motorcycle. I am quitting my job and taking a year off to enjoy my life. Riding across the Americas, I can stop when I want to stop, explore what interests me, and choose when to stay and when to leave. And once in Ushuaia Argentina, the end of the Pan American Highway, I will decide whether to come home, continue travelling or start a new life elsewhere.

I have spent the past eighteen months, relentlessly pursuing my dream, saving money, de-cluttering my life and pouring over maps. It has been liberating. I have a new zest for life, travelling the world gives me entrepreneurial ideas. I have had a sense of adventure for as long as I can remember and decided to stop fighting it and start living my dream; my dream of travelling the world in an interesting way without a defined schedule or defined end.

 “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine

Today I went out searching; searching for a road with many curves. But alas, I found only a few curves and they turned out to be most disappointing. Ontario roadways seem to be designed with efficiency in mind and obviously not designed by a motorcycle enthusiast.  

 Frustrated with the lack of fun turns on this ride the focus was turned to spotting wildlife.  One does not have to drive too far outside of Toronto to find nature. Turkey vultures have to be ugliest of all the birds, and I spotted two of them at the roadside feeding off some fresh road kill. A hawk circles above an open field, a little further up the road is a small pond with Canadian Geese and a couple of ducks. It is not until I stop for gas that I spot the wildest of all the birds, the “biker chick”.

 This “biker chick” was on a 250cc Suzuki Marauder. The bike may have been small but the biker chick commanded a large presence on the road. Somehow I knew that even though my motorcycle could easily overtake hers, it would have been unwise to do so. I eased off the throttle and sheepish followed her until I came upon side road that allowed for a quick detour.