Tag: motorcycle touring

Endings can sometimes be difficult but what I’ve learned is that experiences like The Big Ride live on.  A transformation of sorts, moving from on state to another.  The Big Ride feels like that for me.  The mileage is behind me but it lives on within me and within many of you who rode vicariously through me. That’s one of the gifts from living the dream – it’s never really over!

The final day arrived earlier this week, Monday August 10, 2015, when I rode from Rochester, New York to Ottawa, Ontario where home is for me.

Here’s a short video of me expressing how I was feeling that morning, followed by another of the ride through the scenic green farmlands of northern New York State.  I couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful day for the ride home.  The sky was blue and a gentle breeze danced across the fields and played with the clouds high in the sky.

And of course a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Pulling out on my last day of The Big Ride – homeward bound

In Closing, here are a few final words that I would like to share with you.

Thank you for riding along and most of all for supporting me on The Big Ride.  It wouldn’t have been the same without you.  I hope you enjoyed the journey.  If you have a “big dream” that you haven’t been able to get off the ground, contact me – I can help you make it happen! After all, that’s why we’re on this journey called life – to live it to its fullest!

After riding the incredible roads in Utah it was difficult psychologically to head out onto the Great Plains knowing that it was the ride home. I don’t know about you, but sometime endings are challenging.  It’s easy to “checkout” before actually getting to the end.  I tried hard not to do this and took in as much of the Great Plains as I possible could.  The time passed quickly and I was able to ride through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio in only a few days.

I learned along the way that Kansas is the Sunflower State and not only are the fields adorned with beautiful yellow sunflowers, Black Eyed Susan’s grow wild long the roadsides.  As well, Illinois is the home state of Abe Lincoln – I stayed in his home town of Springfield, Illinois as I crossed the Plains.  The other thing I liked about the Great Plains is that it’s “cow country” and being somewhat of a carnivore…well you know what that means.

Here is a video of my ride, along with a few photos

From here it means a short ride through New York State to the border and back into Canada where The Big Ride will conclude…but I’ll save that for the next post.  Until then keep smiling and enjoy the scenery – this moment will not pass by again!

One of the most spectacular sights I have experienced during my visit to Utah was Arches National Park located outside of the town of Moab.  The park contains over 2,000 natural sandstone arches and various rock formations and covers about 76,000 acres.  A hikers paradise for sure!

The national park is on top of an underground “evaporate” layer which is what causes the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and monoliths which are the large upright blocks of stone.  The salt bed is thousands of feet thick in places and was deposited there over 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated.  A number of layers of sandy sediments were deposited on top of the salt and then eroded away over millions of years.  This has resulted in the arches being formed.

Here are some photos of the incredible formations and arches that I experienced in the park.  The park is truly spectacular and a “must see” when you are visiting Utah.  Add it to your list – I promise you will not regret the visit.

And for a smile of two:

In closing, my visit to the park was extraordinary and one that I would definitely like to do again.  It has so much to offer those who love to hike and explore the geological wonders that have been created over hundreds of millions of years.   That through alone is staggering.

I would like to leave you with a video of one of my favorite rides while in Utah which was along the Colorado river.  The canyons in the morning light as the sun was rising were breathtakingly beautiful.  I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I did.

The last leg of my journey will be a spirited ride across the Great Plains of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana as I make my way home.  It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on the road for almost three months!  It’s been an incredible experience and a trip of a lifetime!!  I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I’m so grateful to be living my dream out loud.  Most of all, I’m grateful to have shared it with you!

My visit to Utah was filled with a number of great sights to see and some pretty amazing roads to ride.  If you checked out my last post you may have already viewed Part 1 of the video from Capitol Reef National Park.  I’ve broken up the ride into three parts.  Here’s Part 2 and Part 3 from what was a pretty awesome ride!

My time in Utah included a visit to Natural Bridges National Monument Park which has three natural arches all located within a couple miles of each other. The only other place in the world where such a marvel can be found is China.

The three bridges in the park are named Kachina, Owachomo, and Sipapu (the largest), which are all Hopi names. A natural bridge is formed by erosion from water flowing in the stream bed of the canyon. During periods of flash floods the streams wash against the rock walls and in time erodes the stone until the new stream bed then flows underneath the newly formed bridge. Eventually, as erosion and gravity enlarge the bridge’s opening, the bridge collapses under its own weight. There is evidence of at least two collapsed natural bridges within the park.

Here are a few photos from my time in the park which happened to be the third “rain day” that I’ve had since leaving home on May 13, 2015 which is a marvel unto itself!

And here are a few more photos of my ride from Hanksville to Moab, Utah by way of the Scenic Byway (Highway 95) and Highway 191.

There was so much to see and do in Utah that I’ll have one more post from the area before moving on.  Stay tuned for the final episode which will include some awesome photos from my visit to Arches National Park and a video from my ride along the Colorado River. Until then, go with the flow…it’s easier to paddle in that direction.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, when I was planning The Big Ride, Utah was very high on my list.  So much so that I purchased a book on motorcycle touring of the State.

Any motorcyclist would agree that when you can combine a great technical ride that offers a few hills and challenging curves along with breathless vistas it’s a ride made in heaven!

That’s what riding in Utah was for me – a ride made in heaven.  Here’s a sampling of what I lived while in Bryce Canyon National Park along with a video of the ride through Capitol Reef National Park.

Here is a video compilation of a few of the lookouts in Bryce Canyon National Park, a haven for anyone who happens to enjoy hiking, cycling and rattlesnake watching.  Yes I did see a Diamond Back Rattlesnake while in the park!

After leaving Bryce Canyon National Park on my way to Hanksville Utah where I stayed the night, I had the pleasure of riding through Capitol Reef National Park.  This was a ride that I will never forget!  The Canyon was amazing to ride.  Here’s a video of only a small part of what can only be described as a ride Divine!

If you liked what you saw here keep an eye out for my next blog as I have more to share with you from my time in Utah.  Until then play safe and enjoy the journey of life.

Throughout The Big Ride I’ve felt blessed to be living my dream and for being able to share it with you.

If you have been following my blog you know that I’ve been on the road now for two and a half months.  I left Ottawa, where I live, on May 13, 2015 and I’ve ridden 20,000 kilometers so far – for my friends on the US side of the border that’s about 12,500 miles.  I still have another month of travels ahead of me and will likely put on another 6 to 8,000 kilometers.  This excludes when I left my bike enroute and drove 3000 kilometers in the rental car to visit my dad’s resting place in Northern BC – A wise decision given the forest fires at the time!

During The Big Ride I have seen and experienced some pretty spectacular and incredibly amazing things.

I’ve ridden roads with sweeping curves that were so sweet I felt completely at one with them and I’ve ridden others that were so steep and so high that I thought I was in the heavens; I’ve seen vistas with such beauty and grandeur that it literally took my breath away – nope it wasn’t the altitude 🙂 ;  I’ve spoken with individuals along the way that had lost all sense of hope of being able to live their dreams and before I left them I saw a sparkle of optimism in their eyes;  I’ve been inspired by others that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting along the way who are also living their dreams;  and I’ve been moved by the wonderment of Life, its magnificence and amazed at how everything works out when you let it; I’ve returned to where I was raised, reflected on where I’ve been in my life and the long winding roads have provided me the time to envision what I’d like the next chapter to look like; I’ve shared precious moments with family and rekindled friendships that will remain with me forever;  and you likely won’t want to hear this but on three occasions on this  trip I have felt the wings of the Angels brush by me.

When I started planning this trip over a year ago I purchased a motorcycle touring book on Utah.  When I started reading the book it was so exciting I couldn’t put it down.  It actually kept me up at night! Over the past few weeks it was looking doubtful that I would be able to include Utah on this ride.  The weather in southern California was extremely hot and riding south in 40+ degrees celsius didn’t seem plausible.  Instead I stayed north and when I got to Salt Lake City it was a critical “go no-go” decision point for me.

As it turned out the weather in Utah shifted and was more moderate so I decided to head south to make my way to Bryce Canyon National Park over a couple of days.  I must say I was filled with excitement and anticipation of what lay ahead.

When I turned onto the highway that would take me the last few miles to Bryce Canyon, I found that I had to drive through Red Canyon – to be honest I hadn’t heard of it and the sign I passed looked like any other that I had seen along the way.  When I turned the corner and the Red Canyon came into site I was literally swept away by its magnificence.  A strange feeling swept over me and I knew in that moment that this was why I had taken The Big Ride.  This was why I needed to ride the 26,000+ kilometers that will eventually complete this trip.  I knew in that moment that despite still having a months travel ahead of me, this was what I had come to experience.  This is what would make this incredibly amazing journey complete!

A feeling wonderment flooded over me.  As I stood in awe on the side of the road looking up at the sheer beauty of the massive red peaks of stone that Nature had so wondrously sculpted over time, I could no longer contain the joyfulness within me as tears ran down my cheeks. I knew in that moment that it was okay for me to start heading home. Being in Utah allowed me to complete this part of the journey.

The following video is only a glimpse of what I’ve seen in southern Utah.  I’ll be sharing more photos and video with you in the come days but here’s what I saw that morning as I rode through the Red Canyon. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more awesome photos and videos from my ride in Utah. Next up will be Bryce Canyon.  I’m betting that you will love it as much as I did!