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Sunday, July 25, 2010

July 23rd & 24th, 2010





Got a great start after staying at the Holiday Inn in Flint. Free hot breakfast and no rain. We watched the early morning news to find out that the storm we road in through Milwaukee was apparently a record breaking rain storm for that area. The city got 4 inches of rain in 3-4 hours. The roads flooded so much that a SUV was sucked into a sink hole still running. So, I guess to be fair to our gear not proving to keep us dry is understandable considering how hard it was raining. Believe it or not our summer riding boot, a TCX boot with a Gortex liner actually kept our feet dry and warm. Amazing!

Once we were all loaded we headed off to Canada, Port Huron/Sarnia crossing. Our NEXUS passes were worth every $50 that day as it saved us at least 1.5 hrs waiting to cross in about 35 degrees Celsius. Was in Canada for only few hours because our destination was Niagara Falls. We got to the falls and talked our way into getting free parking. We really only wanted to take some pics and leave. Hazy Hot and Humid and the Falls were loaded with tacky tourists. Oh yeah....I guess we were one of them. Got some Kodak moments and off we went yet again. Our NEXUS passes were very useful as we entered the USA at Buffalo. Cruised right on through past all the line up. Managed to somehow stay out of the rain the whole day long. We were expecting to camp in Warsaw, New York but the campground did not have a cabin and it really looked like it was going to pour. We headed to another hotel for the night but we are missing the KOA’s/”camping” environment.

July 24th, 2010 Long Island Day

Arriving NY Hot and Dazed
Ok, this day started pretty well. Nice HOT breakfast again and no rain. It was all ready 27 degrees Celsius at 0830. Headed from upstate NY towards our goal my parent’s house in Stony Brook NY as the final leg of the first part of our tour. Cheryl found us some really cool off beat roads and town between NY and Pennsylvania. The temperature was tolerable because we were riding mountainous roads with shade. Had to stop quite often even still to rehydrate. This humidity will suck the water right out of you if you are not careful. Little did we know what we were in store for when we reached the George Washington Bridge.


Cheryl trying to recover from the heat
Imagine if the rest of Cheryl's was not covered
The temperature by the time we got to the bridge area was at times as high as 40.5 Celsius and 100% humidity. Sunny skies and no shade. We saw there was a delay at the bridge and pulled off to an Exxon gas station to try and wait the traffic out. After about 45 minutes we thought the traffic was flowing better only to find out it would take us another 45 minutes in the beating down HOT sun in stop and go traffic to get to the toll booth. BTW, NY charges motorcycles the same rate as cars. Cheryl and I were forced to drive like a New Yorker to keep all these cars from cutting in front of us to get to the toll. $16 dollars later we were through. We are both dying at this point from the heat and exhaustion. Playing mind games we stayed focused. On the way to the Throggs Neck bridge to Long Island, I saw that there was another toll. I initially thought I only had $9 left in US cash. Started to freak out a bit on the side of a very busy highway, Cheryl is tired, my head set mic was not working all day and is still broken and I could not voice my frustration to Cheryl via the intercom. I found more cash and we headed to the next bridge again to see there was stop and go traffic. Made it through and the toll guy discounted our rate because he was a nice guy. $5 for both of us vs. $11. Almost seeing double by now from the heat etc....we headed to Long Island and eventually after a 10 ½ hr day stopping and going, taking water and pee breaks....we made to my parents driveway about 1930 finally.
What we will remember about this day the three H’s. Hazy hot & humid, mental endurance is just as important as physical and relying on your riding partner is a must. Absolutely the most trying day in all aspects but glad we did it, glad we made it and nice to be with family. Taking a break until Wednesday, July 28th.

1 comment:

  1. I can't believe you drove thru that storm in Milwaukee..it was 7 inches of rain in 4 hours though...that was terrible. And the heat, OMG, you poor guys. It is bad enough just sitting in a swimsuit next to the pool, but you guys have all that heavy gear on and sitting on a hot engine!!!! Glad you got thru that day...take a different route home if you can.

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