Motocycle trip to Newfoundland

Riding across Newfoundland has been one of my top destinations since I’ve come back from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I needed at least two weeks to get there, explore, and get back.

Getting ready for the trip was a breeze, relatively. Check the bike, a 2016 Triumph Bonneville T120: fuel, brakes, lights, horn, coolant, tires, oil… The dang cap for the oil is on too tight! I have nothing to open it with. Off to Canadian Tire… Oil is good. These modern bikes keep their oil for much longer than decades ago; the maintenance schedule has the oil change only at every 16,000km. The Bonnie is in top shape.

I used the same inventory as my last trip; I’m glad I recorded it then. Basically: tent, mat, sleeping bag, clothes, tools, rain gear, electronics, camera, and I’m all set. After a good night’s sleep, I load up the bike and head out at the crack of dawn.

The road seems less of a bore when riding; it seems I’m taking in the views more than usual. On a long trip, I tend to experience more of what’s happening and more of the environment. Distances seem shorter than usual.

After some traffic entering the city, I make a quick stop in Montreal for coffee & breakfast at Les brûleries Faro. I taste Myracle Kitchen Mylk: not bad! A pit stop at the Apple Store to pick up an adapter for my iPad so I can import the pictures from my camera, then I’m back on the road. I’m impressed at the awesome engineering of the Jacques Cartier Bridge,

Again, I don’t see the time go by as I travel past Trois-Rivières, then Quebec City. I make a pit stop after Lévis, then at Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac. I check my schedule. I had booked a ticket on tomorrow’s 12:15PM ferry to Newfoundland. I need to be at the dock by 10:15AM, that means I have to camp at most three hours to the dock. I book a site at a provincial park near Pictou, New Brunswick; I’ll have to ride a long way to get to the campsite, and at night too.

I don’t usually enjoy riding highways. Not because they’re dangerous; they’re actually the safest roads to ride: everyone driving in the same direction, no intersections (i.e. no cross traffic), no pedestrians or bicycles. No, not because of that. They’re just long, monotonous, boring, sometimes hypnotic, stretches of road. The 417 from Ottawa to the border of Quebec is one of my least favourite. The 416 to my brother’s board game café in Spencerville is a close second.

Highways in New Brunswick are an exception: I absolutely love riding them! They are like large, wide ribbons draped over heavy, lazy hills with awesome, unique, ever-changing landscapes for hours on end. Most of the time, there’s little traffic. Riding the NB highways is so peaceful and calming, it’s like meditation.

I avoid riding at night, specially because I can’t see as far as during the day, and other drivers can’t see me as well. I wear my high-visibility rain jacket to improve being seen a bit at night, and use my high beam headlight as much as I can to keep an eye on possible wildlife moving onto the road. A big part of motorcycling is managing risk. Awareness has to be 100% on all the time: expect the unexpected, ride as if you are invisible to others—awesome video by FortNine, by the way. I make an exception this time, because I need to make my way to the campground tonight to be on time for the ferry tomorrow. I realize I should have given myself more time and booked passage on a later ferry. It runs only twice or three times a day, my choices were limited.

1,452km. I think that’s the farthest I’ve ridden in a single day since I’ve been riding. All that on the first day! My butt wants to kill me…

Riding distance: 1,452km