2500 miles,2 weeks,600 photos and the answer to Why We Ride:Motorcycle Enlightenment

2500 miles, 2 weeks, 600 photos of Nova Scotia and the answer to Why We Ride….. Motorcycle Enlightenment

This is my first trip report. It may be a little different than other trip reports that are off to exotic locations. It is about a physical trip to Nova Scotia that had a definite start and finish. A spiritual trip that started before and is still on the move. Writing is not my forte so I will try to do my best. I hope I can express what is in my head and have it be at least a little bit interesting.

I think I stumbled across the answer to questions like: Why do we ride motorcycles? Why do we love to read trip reports? What is the Freedom of the road ? Why are road trips so great for the soul? Why do we have to clear our heads? What do we have to clear our heads of?

Let the enlightenment begin.

OK, where's the rest. I need answers!

Rick

The planning
I was planning this trip for about 6 months. I picked Nova Scotia because it was the Biggest, closest adventure I could do. Being a noob on the motorcyle , I only started riding in 2006, so it seemed a very doable adventure for me. I had all kinds of maps and books about Nova Scotia that I was always looking at. One of the best is the Doers and Dreamers guide that you can get for free from the Nova Scotia tourism site. I also read forums from this site and others.

I planed to ride about 200 – 250 miles a day. I didn’t make any reservations for places to stay. I was just going to wing it. I figured that around 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon wherever I was I would look for a place to stay or camp. I wasn’t going to eat at any chain restaurant and stay only in B&B’s or camp. I was going in September after Labor Day, after all the tourists and all the land yachts would hopefully be off the roads.

My first leg was from Easthampton MA to Littleton NH.
Great ride. All back roads through Mass and into New Hampshire. I followed the GPS not bad after several stops I made it to Littleton NH. I have a friend there and it was in my 200-250 miles a day. Littleton is a fun artsy type town. Great little restaurants. Good place for the first day. I was feeling great beautiful sunny September day in New England.

Welcome to the Asylum!

What kinda bike were ya on - let's see some pics of your Steed

Ditto

I think us riders are more enlightened, without even trying or knowing, than people who have tried to reach enlightenment through meditation or other ways.

Now for most of us riders this only occurs when we are on our motorcycle, once off we revert back to our Neanderthal stage. Just look at the Jo Mamma thread !!!

What picture does enlightenment bring to mind . Some little bald dude sitting cross-legged, hands together with a glowing light around him?

The Oxford American Dictionary definition of enlightened is:
Enlightened:
having or showing a rational, modern, and well-informed outlook, being aware

And for us this is Motorcycle Enlightenment !!!

What is it that you think about when you are riding ?

The next stop was Bar Harbor Maine. Going across Maine from New Hampshire was a little bit of a slog. I was always on the look out for Bullwinkle and his friends. The spray painted signs on plywood “Watch for Moose” all along the route really drove the point across.

I got to Bar Harbor around 5 pm and found a great B&B, checked in at The CAT ferry.
I walked down town for very good seafood dinner. After Labor Day there was any traffic and no wait at any of the restaurants . The next morning I was up early to get the ferry. I didn’t eat anything for breakfast just in case. Boats and I don’t get along very well. The CAT is amazing. Food, movies, slot machines. I watch "Wild Hogs" on the ride over. Perfect movie for the start of a road trip.

Next stop Nova Scotia. YEEEEEEEHAAAAAA

Great pics.

Getting off the ferry was a little tricky. The metal grated ramp was very slippery. But just going slow with both feet down was fine.











There was a wind farm on this island. Great place for it. Even though the sun was out the wind was really blowing hard. Later in the trip it almost blew me into a tractor trailer truck. definitely had to change the underwear after that episode. More on that later.

I'm from North Andover, MA. I did the Nova Sotia and back last summer, but we rode all the way around. We were told that the "Atlantic Provinces" (New Brunswick) were not to be missed. Bottom line, on the main roads, there's not much to see but slab.

Good idea taking the ferry from Bar Harbor. Apparently, the CAT from Portland makes folks sick, as it's more exposed to open ocean, than the CAT from Bah Habah. That one's a little more protected from the open ocean rollers (waves) by Nova Scotia's main land.

Any prospects of going back? I think I'm going to do the north (Cabot Trail) this summer if you're up for it?

BTW, I was on a GS for the trip. I had originally bought an old Suzuki Cavalcade, but glad I took the beemer. How was the Dakar 650 or 850(?) Sorry, I don't know that model well.

Trip report here:

Two guys, a V-Strom & GS, 1900 miles to Novi Scotia & back

Yea I'm glad I took the CAT from Bar Harbor instead of Portland. At the end of the ride a hurricane was out in the Atlantic and the CAT ride back was like a roller coaster. I think I was several shades of green. I just sat in the middle of the boat with my eyes closed so I didn't have to see the horizon going up and down.

The bike is a BMW 650 GS. Great, comfortable, 65 miles to the gallon.

I'll have more on the bike and other gear coming up.

Hello Sir ...
I like you`re photo and road report.
really really awesome ...

but maybe you can rezise little smaller pic ??
it`s too big, I think ..


Keep post Sir ... :)


-darwin-

I'm looking to do a trip to NS this summer so please please please include all the informatojn you can. B&B names, routes, what is a must see and what is a by pass would be appreciated. Your photos are awesome! Great post!:slurp

The Gear
Hello my name is Mike and I am a gearaholic .

Yikes, the stuff just keeps multiplying! Between bike gear, camping gear, photography gear I think I have enough to open my own store!

My bike is a BMW 650GS 2006. Not much custom doodads added. I changed the headlight bulb to a PIAA antivibration high intensity bulb. Much brighter and seems to be long lasting. There is a Touratech tank bag, BMW expandable cases and for the tail I have the BMW soft bags. These are great soft bags, waterproof and they hold a ton. I put the sleeping bag, pad, and tent in the one closest to me and it acted like a backrest. Very comfortable.

I use a Zumo 550, although some of the maps for Nova Scotia were lacking road names in smaller towns . The Bluetooth connection is cool. I use the caller ID feature for the cell phone connection so I can pull over and answer, depending on who it was, if I wanted to.

The Bluetooth feature is what really makes this stand out. I have a Bluetooth receiver that I have my headphones and iPod plugged into. It automatically links with the Zumo so I can listen to music and the directions prompts from the Zumo also come in at the same time
I had a set of custom ear buds made with speakers in them. They block out the sound and let me have the volume of the ipod and Zumo not too loud.


This set up is small enough to fit in a inside pocket so no wires running to the Zumo.








Camera
I have several cameras ranging from point and shoots to digital SLR’s . By far my favorite for travel is my Leica V-Lux 1. Amazingly sharp with a zoom from wide angle to 400mm equivalent telephoto. I have a quick mount and use a carbon fiber tripod that is sturdy and light weight.

This is great camera for traveling. Big zoom and very sharp.





This is with the full zoom about 400mm




Same spot but with the wide angle setting.

Camping gear
I have at least 3 sleeping bags, 4 or 5 different sleeping pads, all different thickness, 3 tents, 3 backpacks, different cook sets the list goes on. Like I said I think this stuff multiplies by it’s self!

For this trip I used my 40-degree down bag. It packs up small and only weighs about 2 lbs. I did bring my thicker thermarest pad for comfort. My favorite tent is a Bibler Ahwahnee. I think Black Diamond owns them now. This is a single wall 4-season tent that is made out of a gortex like material. It is 100% waterproof and is BREATHABLE!! If you have ever spent any time in a nylon tent you will know why this is a great feature. No condensation on the inside dripping in your face in the morning. The whole tent package only weighs 6 lbs. It is very sturdy and tough material. I have had it in the Arctic, Baffin Island and down in the Grand Canyon. It has also survived 7 years at Boy Scout Campouts; I’m a Scoutmaster for a Troop.




This is a great tent. The front opens completely to get air and give you a view. There is also a full screen to keeps the critters out

can you provide some more detail on the bluetooth receiver - i would like to get one for my Zumo

thanks
Lakota

THE ANSWER IS HERE

Thinking why we ride motorcycles, why we read ride reports, why we go on road trip, why we need to clear our heads is something we as group have asked for a while. For some it may not be necessary to know the answers, but for others the question is always there.

I’m going to try my best to get this across. Like I said in the beginning writing is not my strongest skill.

You have the past, the present and the future. What you think about at any moment is in one of these. When you are driving in your car what are you thinking about? (Probably you wish you were on your bike!) Are you thinking about what happened yesterday, the week before? Are you thinking about what you need to do? Get the kids; get this done at work pick this or that up, where you’re going on vacation?

Driving the car affords us the luxury of daydreaming not really paying attention to what is going on, to a point. Too much dreaming and we run in to the back of the car in front of us!

When you’re on your motorcycle can you think about the past? Can you daydream about what you are going to tomorrow are later to day? Most of us can’t. We need to pay attention to what we are doing. We need to be in the moment, the present the now.
Any little drift in our being present could lead to an unscheduled get off.

When you are reading a ride report where are you thoughts? Are you thinking about what you did the other day? Or what your doing tomorrow? The ride report pulls you in and you are there in the present moment whit that writer.

You need to go on a ride to clear your head. What are you clearing it of? Getting a clear head, to me, means to stop thinking of the past stop thinking of the future and just be in the moment. And that what riding a motorcycle does. It makes you live in the present moment.

When you are in the present moment, in the zone, on your game, in the flow, is when you feel alive, awake.

What does this have to do with my trip to Nova Scotia? Spending 2 weeks on the motorcycle on a solo trip brought me in to the present moment better than any meditation could have. I have tried meditation for years, trying to quite my mind, sit quietly and focus. I could never do it for more than 10 minutes at a time. But getting on my motorcycle everyday for 2 weeks, man I was there!


Ok enough for now. MORE PICTURES


Everybody said to go around Nova Scotia clockwise. So I decided to go around counterclockwise.

I headed out along the south coast. My goal was to stay off the major highways and stick to the smaller costal roads.


Great sign. Something to be famous for I guess.





Rock formations or UFO? Depends on how many beers!





Downtown Liverpool




My first B&B. The owners said it was ok for me to bring the bike around to my room.




The view out of my room!




I found a pub in town. Lobster sandwich and a Porter.





The breakfast cart. Cereal, yogurt, toast, fresh fruit, home made jellies, ham, cheese, coffee

Lakota,

The Zumo 550 only has mono bluetooth. Great for phone connectivity and bluetooth to a headset for directions. It does, however, have a built in MP3 player. You can put SD cards up to 4G (it will take larger, but I don't think it will recognize above 4G - the limit might be 8G) to store music. You will need to hardwire the output of the 550 to your headset to listen to stereo music stored in the Zumo.

That being said, this is a great looking setup for non-hardwired listening.

Looking at it again, I may be off base here.

Does the bluetooth transmit the music to the Zumo, and then back to your headset? Or does the IPod go directly into the headset and the bluetooth adaptor use is to accept the direction/phone transmissions from the Zumo?

Please enlighten us.

J