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Niagara Falls
It was a perfect day for a ride yesterday so I took my bike to Niagara Falls. You can see some of the recent mods: the Happy Trails panniers, Clarke gas tank, and Corbin seat. I took the back roads, finding some scenic rides along the Niagara escarpment (including some dirt), and clocked over 400 kilometres. I am impressed with the Corbin. With the stock seat, I would have had difficulty walking after such a ride.
I had seen the Falls once when I was very young, and I was worried that I would be disappointed seeing them as an adult. I was wrong - if anything the Falls were even more impressive than I remembered.
Wanderlust
I have lived in Toronto since the start of the school year in 2006, but this is the first time I have spent any time in Toronto in the month of June. For the past two years the start of June has been marked by a grand departure on a 3 month motorcycle adventure. On this day In 2007, Ted, Tom, and I were camping just outside of Springfield, Missouri as we followed route 66 across the United States on our way to Mexico and beyond. The night before we had camped in a pubic park in St. Louis, and the night before that we had camped in a public park next to Lake Michigan just south of downtown Chicago. Three months later Ted and I would arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Above: On June 5, 2007, we camped at a KOA just outside of Springfield, Missouri. It was the first shower/laundry day since we had left Toronto on June 2nd, and the first time we had actually paid for camping.
On this day in 2008, Tom, Jerry, Ted, and myself were camping in the forest near Heilbronn Germany, already well into the Europe leg of our London to Cape Town Adventure. We had spent the day following the River Rhein as it cut a dramatic swath through a deep lush valley with castles perched on the ridges. I remember being mesmorized by the scenery for the first time since we had left London on June 2nd.
Above: On June 5, 2008, we camped (for free) in a wooded area in Southern Germany. The night before we had camped (for free) on the outskirts of Bonn, and the night before that we had camped (for free) in the parking lot of the Westvleteren brewery in Belgium (where the world's best beer is brewed by the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus).
I guess it is only natural for my wanderlust to be particularly acute at this time of year. I am in serious adventure withdrawal, yearning to hit the road. There is so much of the world I have yet to see. I sorely miss the freedom of the open road and not knowing where the day's ride will take me or what wonders I will experience along the way. Ted Simon, who rode his Triumph around the world for 4 years in the 1970s (and is the author of one of my favourite books - Jupiter's Travels) once talked about the difficulty of returning to a "normal" life after his epic motorcycle adventure. He described how he felt trapped by a "multitude of gossamer strands" imprisoning him. That sounds a bit extreme to me, yet I can definitely understand where he was coming from. Nothing forces you to live in the moment and gives you a sense of freedom like crossing some exotic corner of the world by motorcycle, exposed to the elements, with no clear idea of where your next meal will come from or where you will spend the night.
It seems that the closest I will come to adventure this June is to re-read my journals and live vicariously through myself. Bah.
Video Slide Show of our London to Cape Town Motorcycle Adventure
Toronto Spring Motorcycle Show
Jeremy and I spent last weekend at the Toronto Spring Motorcycle Show manning our booth. My DRZ was on display with its brand new black powder-coated aluminum Happy Trails Panniers. We also had photos and a map of our London to Cape Town route spread out on the table. I was surprised at the sheer number of people who came up to us to chat and ask questions. It was impressive to see how much excitement our adventure seemed to generate. I didn't realize so many people had dreamed of going on their own round-the world adventures. We even talked to a number of people who had ridden their motorcycles through some of the far off reaches of the world. One elderly gentleman had done a trip like ours over thirty years ago. I enjoyed listening to his stories - they made me feel grateful for my opportunities for adventure because one day I too will be an old man with stories.
Despite the fact that it was already April, we also sold a good number of our charity calendars, raising another $230 for Dignitas. We didn't set a price, but rather said we were giving them away in the hopes that people would make a donation. And people did so - generously.
Above: the view from our booth, which was in a prime location at a major intersection. It was exciting to see my bike one step closer to being adventure-ready. I am looking forward to being on the road again, even if it is on my own continent.
Spring has arrived
The arrival of spring in Toronto is usually celebrated by a meal and/or cocktail on a newly re-opened patio. Those activities were occurring throughout the city today as winter-weary Torontonians took advantage of the warm sunny weather. For Ted and myself, the arrival of spring was marked by an off-road excursion. We spent the afternoon on our motorcycles tearing through the muddy trails of a small island of undevelopped land within the GTA that we call the Pit.
There were creeks to cross and hills to climb. At one point there was a fallen tree lying across our path that Ted discovered (the hard way) exceeded the clearance of his motorcycle, causing him get high-centred.
I had my own misadventures during one of the creek crossings. I managed to get my rear wheel wedged against a submerged rock and dumped my bike in the middle of the stream. It was my first drop on my DRZ 400, so we marked the occaision with a photo after I picked my bike up out of the water (above left).
The photo on the right shows Ted and his bike coated in mud, the result of him being too close behind me when I got stuck in a muddy hole. Yes my rear wheel sprayed him quite effectively as it spun wildly during my attempt to get unstuck. Ah, spring. I am giddy with anticipation of the upcoming riding season. (And drinks on patios).
The Next Adventure
Icefields Parkway, Between Banff and Jasper, Alberta Rockies.
Many people have been asking us where we will go for our next adventure. How do you top Toronto to Buenos Aires or London to Cape Town? Especially when you only have two weeks of vacation? My response has been that we would make a run for the arctic circle. Alas, even this is has turned out to be overly optimistic. The distance from Toronto to Calgary is about 3,500 kms. From Calgary to Inuvik, it is another 3,300 kms, and the last several hundred of those are on reasonably rough road. It is not possible to cover nearly 14,000 km in only 2 weeks and still enjoy yourself (especially on a dirt bike).
Thus we have decided to delay our trip to the Arctic until we have more time. Instead, this summer we will ride from Toronto to the Alberta Rockies. We will travel the northern shores of the Great Lakes to reach the prairies. Then we will circle northward and cross Manitoba and Sakstachewan as far north as we can while working our way westwards through the bush, camping along the way. I am sure that we will be able to find plenty of dirt as we go. Once in Alberta we will head south to Jasper and then take the famous Icefields Parkway to Banff.
The Suzuki DRZ400 is the bike that both Jeremy and myself will be taking for this trip. With the help of A Vicious Cycle and Happy Trails, we are in the process of making our bikes adventure-ready. From AVC, I am ordering a corbin seat for the long hours in the saddle. We are also going for Clarke 3.9 gallon gas tanks.
From Happy Trails, we are going to equip our bikes with aluminum panniers mounted to SU racks. These are the racks that held up so well on our London to Cape Town adventure.
The weather over the past week has finally been hinting that spring is approaching. I have started riding my DRZ to work again. Although it is warmer than it was, it is still bloody cold. I have been using my electric vest heavily, but unfortunately the DRZ stator has not been generating enough power for this luxurious accessory. I have had to charge my battery a couple of times. To reduce the overall wattage demand, I am going to install an LED tail light and perhaps a headlight switch so that I can turn off my headlight while using the vest. Especially after what happened today.
Today I rode out to T.O. Cycle to get a new front wheel installed (the old one was bent out of shape and the result was a scary wobble at speeds over 90 km/h). By the time I got out there (a half hour ride), my electric vest had completely drained the battery. After the wheel was installed, I had the guys push me so I could bump start the bike, and I set off for the ride back without the benefit of electricity's warmth. Luckily by then the temperature had climbed to a balmy 4 degrees Celcius.
Once on the Gardiner Expressway, I moved to the left lane to see if the new wheel eliminated my higher speed wobble. Previously, I had not dared go beyond about 130 km/h because of the wobble. Because the new wheel did not accomodate the stock speedo (tomorrow I will install a Trail Tech Vapour), I had no idea how fast I was actually going. The only way to be sure if there was an improvement was to pin it. At maximum speed the old wheel would have bucked me off. If I could pin it with the new wheel, then I could be satisfied that I had made a good investment.
As I was accelerating at full throttle, however, I suddenly lost power. Then the engine cut out. I pulled to the emergency lane on the left side as heavy traffic raced past me. What had happened?
I inspected the bike. The chain was fine. The battery was not - in fact, the green neutral light barely flickered. Luckily a car had already stopped ahead of me, and the driver was walking back towards me. It turns out that when he's not forced to drive a car he prefers to get around on a GSXR, and he himself had broken down once before on this very section of freeway on his rocket of a sportbike (a truly awful place for a breakdown by the way). With him pushing, I tried to bump start the bike. Three tries and nothing.
Then I turned to him and said "I think I have two problems - a dead battery and no gas." I switched the tank to reserve and he pushed me once more, and this time we were rewarded with the sound of a roaring engine. After merging back onto the freeway, I noticed a radar trap under an overpass about a kilometre ahead of where I had been sidelined. That would have been about the point where I would have reached top speed had I not suddenly lost power. What a lucky time to run out of gas.
I am looking forward to spring like a kid before Christmas. I can't wait to get back in the saddle. I am sure I am not the only one. For anyone who is itching to get back on the trail, the Toronto Spring Motorcyle Show is the perfect starting point. It is being held at the International Centre April 4th and 5th, 2009. We will again have a booth set up where we will have pictures and maps depicting our Africa trip. We will also be selling our Dignitas Calendars to raise money for HIV sufferers in Africa. In addition, we will be displaying our adventure-ready DRZ400s. Please drop by to support or cause and/or chat about motorcycle adventure touring.
SUPERSHOW 2009
If you would like to purchase one of our 2009 charity calendars or chat about motorcycle adventures, please drop by our booth at the upcoming SUPERSHOW in Toronto.
In other news, I was taken by surprise when I was informed that I would be receiving the "Rider of the Year" MAX Award (Motorcycle Awards of Excellence). I feel honoured to have been selected. Thanks to the person who nominated me, whomever you may be. This is a great chance to promote Dignitas and the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 3rd at 2:00 PM on the Hall 2 Touring and Cruiser stage.
The Motorcycle Awards of Excellence (MAX Awards) will be presented at SUPERSHOW 2009 in over 50 categories including Canadian Racing Champions, Rider Achievement, Media and Sponsorship, selected for showing excellence during the 2008 motorcycle year. The purpose MAX Awards is to recognize the contributions of people and organizations to the motorcycle community and of racers who compete in the many disciplines of our great sport.
Toronto Star Wheels Article
I have written an article about our London to Cape Town adventure for the Wheels section of the Toronto Star. You can find it online here. The article caused a surge of interest in our trip and our cause of fighting HIV in Africa at the Toronto Motorcycle Show yesterday. I am happy to report that we have already sold over 100 Dignitas Calendars and have logged a number of cash donations as well. Thanks to everyone who supported our cause.
If you missed our booth at the Toronto Motorcyce Show, you will have another chance at the SUPERSHOW being held January 2,3, and 4th, 2009. We will be selling our Dignitas Motorcycle Adventure calendars there as well. See you there or on some dusty track in a forgotten corner of the world.
The 2009 Dignitas Calendar has arrived
Cover of our 2009 Calendar. Left: Yarema (Jerry Bezchlibnyk). Right: Tyson Brust. Photo taken in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt by Tom Smith.
We will be selling calendars all weekend at the Toronto Motorcycle Show being held Dec 12-14 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The calendar features pictures and trip information from our recent adventure from London to Cape Town. 100% of the profits from the sale of the calendars will be donated to Dignitas International, a Toronto-based humanitarian organization that dramatically increases access to antiretroviral drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS around the world.
Please drop by our booth to purchase a calendar or to chat about adventures. We are displaying photos as well as a map and video. You can also catch for an on-stage interview today (Saturday Dec 13) at 12:30 and tomorrow (Sunday Dec 14) at 2:00 PM.
Please send me an email at tysonbrust@hotmail.com if you would like to purchase our 2009 calendar. Calendars are $15.
We are also encouraging cash donations to Dignitas through our fundraising page. Thanks to those who have already donated. You truly are making a difference.
Weekend Warriors
Last weekend Ted, his brother Kolten, Jerry, and myself had some fun tearing around a secret spot that we call "The Pit". The Pit is actually within the Greater Toronto Area, but luckily has somehow been forgotten by developpers. There are probably about 10 acres of fun that include creeks, hills, mud-holes, and boulders. Jerry had the pleasure of breaking in his new 2008 Susuzki DRZ400S. Literally. He dropped it amongst the boulders in the middle of a creek and bent his brake lever. There is also enough challenging terrain to break mirrors, as Kolten discovered while riding Ted's bike.
As fun as it was, it could well have been the last blast of fun before winter ends the riding season. It may not be the wilds of Africa, but it was nonetheless almost too much fun because it was enough to give us all a taste of adventure again and now we'll probably spend too much time this winter wishing we were riding. The curse of motorbiking.
Jerry picked up a 2008 Suzuki DRZ400S (pictured above) last weekend. He broke it in by dumping it in a creek. (Not the creek pictured above but rather a deeper more rocky creek. Really.) The bike took it well, except for a bent brake lever.