GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

My wife and I are planning to take a bike trip for about 9 days.
Using MAPpoint, we've roughly estimated that we can do the following trip:

Day 1:  CAmbridge, ON to Montreal Qu
Day 2:  Montreal QU to Augusta Maine
Day 3:  Augusta to Boston, Ferry to Cape Cod
Day 4:  Cape Cod to Providence
Day 5:  Tour around Providence
Day 6:  Providence to NY NY, then on to Williamsport PA.
Day 7:  Tour PA and end up in Bradford, PA
Day 8:  Bradford to CAmbridge ON
Day 9:  SLEEP LOTS!!!

I've never embarked on such a long trip before, and was wondering if people had any advice about this.  I think it's about 500 - 600 Kilometers per day (300 - 350 miles).

Is this a reasonable time frame for such a trip?  Any advice about places to visit? Sleep? Gas up?  Roads to take?  Roads to avoid?  ETC...

Equipement to take??
Chain lube, tool kit, can of run flat.   Any other ideas?

thanks is advance.

I've got some concerns about the Montreal-Augusta leg, and the one through NYC.  Both of those might take a lot more time than you may have planned.  I'm not sure, are you planning to take the highways or back roads?  Maine can be pretty umm... well winding and stuff.  And why not go all the way to the coast?  It's pretty there :)  And the trip through NY, that's a really long leg.  If you hit the city at the wrong time of day, you can be stuck for hours!

Other than that... seems like a lot of riding for the sightseeing.  But you do get out in the air and see everything around you :)

Damn you, living where the good beer is made!   :cheers:

Hey pizzleboy!  Time for The Great Adventure, eh?  Cool!

Here's the map that Microsoft Street & Trips 2002 program came up with.  Is it anywhere close to your plan?
The Boston-to-Cape Cod leg was figured by land rather than by ferry, but other than that....

(http://www.bbburma.net/Maps/PizzleBoy_EastCoastTrip.jpg)

Leaving out Day 5, I came up with an average daily distance of 225 miles (360 km).  Very do-able, depending on how much sightseeing you tend to take in.  The software chose the shortest route from point to point, so your mileage figures could vary greatly from the numbers I came up with below.

Day 1: 390 miles from Cambridge, ON to Montreal, QU
Day 2: 266 miles from Montreal to Augusta, MN
Day 3: 160 miles (+ ferry) from Augusta to Boston, MA and Cape Cod
Day 4: 82 miles from Cape Cod to Providence, RI
Day 5: ??? miles around Providence
Day 6: 370 miles from Providence to NY, NY -- on to Williamsport, PA
Day 7: 132 miles from Williamsport to Bradford, PA
Day 8: 172 miles from Bradford to Cambridge, ON

Total: 1572 miles + ferry + route changes
================================

Here are some observations ... which you are free to ignore!

* If you haven't done much long-distance riding on the GS500, 390 miles is probably too optimistic for one day, especially for the first day.  Maybe you could stop for the night in the vicinity of Cornwall, and tack the rest onto day 2? That may not work if you're planning to blow a few hours of daylight in Montreal, though....

* Consider merging days 4 and 5, and even part of Day 6.  You could get from Cape Cod to Providence "before breakfast", spend most of the day kicking around, and then head towards New York before stopping for the night.

* If you're truly planning to go into New York City, the 370 miles on Day 6 seems especially optimistic.  But you've got plenty of elbow room to accommodate plan changes.

* I assume you're planning to stay in motels or at friend's homes rather than camp in a tent.  When camping, subtract two hours or more from each day's riding time.[/list:u]Rather than drag out this message, I'll save the equipment suggestions for later.  But it would help to know the answers to a few questions:
1) What's the longest trip you've done?  (Single-day and/or multi-day.)  Endurance is a big part of the game ... I'm just curious about what kinds of experiences you have under your belt.

2) Are you planning to ride "two up"?  On the GS500?  If so, I'm impressed!  But your daily mileage numbers may suffer.  I have taken my wife on a few day trips in the 250-mile range, and that was PLENTY long to be on the back of the seat with the too-high-to-be-comfortable passenger pegs.  She did better when I thought to put my feet on the engine guards and she could use my pegs, but still.  I'm thinking

PRACTICE RUN here!

3) What do you have in terms of luggage?  Or is that part of what you're seeking input on?[/list:u]EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

Advice, big screen, take it easy, visor up, see everything and enjoy it all. Looks a great trip, I envy you. Good luck.

My wife will be on her 1983 Nighthawk 450.

I think we may skip the NYNY part of the trip, and explore more boston/providence history.

Are there any people that live in the providence area that have information on cool things to visit?  Places to stay, etc?

Sorry Kerry:

1.  My longest trip thus far has been 8 hard hours tearing up the roads when I went to PA(like going to a track day).  I've gone from toronto around georgian bay, down manitoulin island and through to a little town of Kincardine.  That was over 2 days.

2.  My wife will be on her Nighthawk 450.

3.  We both have tank bags and backpacks that we can tie down.  If needed, I will get some saddle bags as well.  I have another thread asking advice about chatter boxes as well.

cheers. :thumb:

pizzleboy,

Is your East Coast trip still on the calendar?  If so, what time of year were you thinking of doing it?

What I don't understand is why you would devote an entire day to touring around Providence, Rhode Island.  Jeez.  Spend that time in Boston or Mystic Seaport, CT or in the Berkshires.

Yeah, NYC would be a Buddha Loves You on a bike if you were unfamiliar with that type of navigating. There's a big all makes (though still mostly harley) bike rally down here in Virginia Beach the weekend of April 30 - May 1. I'll be there and can point you to the cool stuff around here. It's a bit farther south than you'd planned, but it's a neat ride. Give me a holler if you find your way down here.

Quote from: octaneNYC would be a Buddha Loves You on a bike if you were unfamiliar with that type of navigating

trust me. even if you ARE familiar w/ this type of navigating NYC can be a Buddha Loves You for any number of reasons... I spend my time trying to ride OUT of the city!!!

I know!! I grew up between L.I. and Queens - learned to drive in Queens. It's rough driving...but I can parallel park like a champ!

yes sir!!! with alternate side parking regulations I get much practice....

but watch out if you park your bike between parallel parked cars... they will use thier bumper to move you out of the way for more room... and I would consider you super exremely lucky if they even think about picking your bike up after they've knocked it over :guns:  :guns:  :guns:  park on the sidewalk, take your plates with you and risk the ticket is probably a better bet in NYc.. manhattan anyway....

I must be a wimp.

I took a 7 day trip once of 200-300 mile days. I remember that by day 6, I was ready to get as far away from the bike as possible.  Unfortunately, I had another 600 mi. to go. I don't think I even looked at it for 2 months after I got home.

A few years ago I rode my GS from Virginia Beach to Daytona, FL in one straight shot and 2 days later rode from Daytona  to Pittsburgh, PA stopping only for gas, food, pee breaks, and a 5 hour nap in Virginia. Not sure I'd go that distance in one shot on the bike again, but it sure was fun!!

BadBatz - parking isn't so bad down here in Southern Virginia, but I did get a ticket last week because I squeezed my truck into a tight space and one of my tires was up on the edge of the curb.  :bs:

Thanks for all the advice and "advice".  I think we are going to VETO the trip this year.

I think are going to got from CAMBRIDGE, up to TIMINS around Manitoulin island and then back home.  With stops to visit relatives and friends.  It's a more leisurley pace for my wife's first trip.

Something like this?

(http://www.bbburma.net/Maps/PizzleBoy_TimminsTrip.jpg)

The trip as drawn here would still be about 1150 miles long, but over the same 8 days that should be a piece of cake.  Good thinking, Pizzle!

PS - My mom grew up on a farm near Ramore.  My oldest brother was born in the hospital in Kirkland Lake.  I haven't been up there since I was a kid - I need to go see the area again while my mom can still tell me about it.

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

Having done Providence to NYC several times in a cage i can tell you this: there is no fun way to do it and it coastal CT traffic sucks (no offense to any Ct gser's), some of the worst driving i've seen anywhere except on reality tv, lots of delays, and way too much congestion. People use 95 and Rt. 1 like a side street, getting on , cutting you off, getting off at the next exit. Go west young man, through CT skip NY NY and come down through PA. JUst A suggestion....

Kerry:

Pretty close to that trip, except we take the ferry to Tobermory, and then go to Sauble Beach (inlaws live ther)  Stay for a day, then proceed to Kincardine(my folks, sister live there and my wife and I grew up there.)

Then on to Goderich for our 1 year anniversary and home.

http://www.kincardine.net/
On Day one we would go to Muskoka, as Grand Parents live there.  Spend a day or two going around laker muskoka and lake rosso, and a day going through algonquin park.

We will proceed leisurely for the remaining days.

watch out for moose on that northern maine run.    there's alot out there at dusk.

Northern Maine, Providence and NYC are out folks - nothern Ontario is IN instead.

So, is this map any closer?  (Ignore the numbers; Streets and Trips doesn't have the ferry ride from Manoulin Island, so I shfted the order around to avoid an extra land leg around Georgian Bay.)

(http://www.bbburma.net/Maps/PizzleBoy_TimminsTrip_2.jpg)

Muskoka is a name I haven't heard in a long time!  When I was a kid we used to visit one of my aunts in Bracebridge.  Santa's Village was a magical place - I wonder if it's still there...?  My uncle had access to a cabin situated on Moon River, downstream from Bala.  Lots of memories of that place, too!  And I remember driving past some marinas at Lake Muskoka on the way to & from.

May I just say - the landscape where you live looks a LOT different than where I live.  Water and trees everywhere!  Still, the municipal map of Kincardine looks like something that Brigham Young would have planned - square blocks laid out in a N/S, E/W pattern.

Well, this will be a very different trip than the original one you planned.  But I dare say it will be MUCH more relaxing!

PS - Roughly 1200 miles, plus the ferry ride.  Fun!

EDIT: Changed link from sisna.com to bbburma.net

Santa's Village IS still there.  Hasn't changed much in 20 years.

Isn't it a small world?

The cottage I grace with my presence is located on an island about 5 minutes from the Beaumorris dock.  Which is about 10 minutes away from Bracebridge.

We often go for ice cream runs to Bala.  Although, I've never been past Bala on boat, as I am too cheap to pay to go through the locks!!   :lol: