VAGABOND RIDER: FINDING YOUR REASON TO RIDE

By Mark Keating

We own our Harley-Davidson^® motorcycles because we love to ride. Still, sometimes we need an excuse to get out the door. Life gets busy. The weather isn’t perfect. It’s sometimes easier to pass on a ride or limit it to a quick zip to the local Tim’s.

Having others to ride with can be helpful. The ready-made community of the Harley Owner’s Group^™ makes it easy to find others with similar interests. Well-organized HOG^® chapters exist from coast-to-coast, with local rides, events and activities happening throughout the season.

But camaraderie is not the only kind of nudge Harley^® riders get from HOG membership. HOG is designed to motivate all kinds of riders to put in the miles, whether you love to ride in a group or prefer the solo experience of just you, your bike and the road.

I have been a Lifetime HOG member since I bought my first Sportster^® in 2011, even though the majority of my riding is solo long-distance touring. Until the pandemic closed the U.S.–Canada border in 2020, I mostly rode in the U.S. and focused on earning Iron Butt Association (IBA) certificates.

When the border closed I had to rethink my rides. Finding new ways to make riding exciting while staying close to home seemed impossible. Looking for motivation, I rediscovered some of the HOG programs that rewarded riding in my own backyard.

For my goal-oriented personality, Ride 365 in particular motivates me to consistently get out the door in an effort to lay down more miles than last week, last month, and last year, competing only against myself to go further and for longer. It gets me spending more time enjoying the wind in my teeth and the roar of my 2012 Road Glide^® Ultra’s V-twin engine.

Around the Great Lakes
With Ride 365 in mind, I had a quick look at my mileage stats while planning my June long weekend. Realizing I was behind schedule in terms of annual mileage, while also very near to hitting my 200,000 lifetime HOG miles (320,000 km!), was all the motivation I needed to plan a longer ride to circumnavigate the Great Lakes system.

Having spent a lot of time riding in this area, prep for this trip was minimal. I planned a route to limit unknowns – like where to stop for the night – that can lead to stress and distraction. Beyond that, it really was a quick pull together of necessary equipment and safety gear as I walked out the door. Knowing I was going to be either riding or resting meant my packing was limited to a toothbrush and an extra pair of skivvies, along with my coffee thermos and water bottle. All my regular armoured clothing (pants, jacket, gloves, boots and helmet) would suffice, and recent waterproof upgrades meant I needn’t carry extra rain gear.

Since my plan included at least one night of outdoor sleeping, I also gathered together my camping gear. It fit neatly into the saddlebag left empty when I decided to not bring a whole lot of extra clothes.

After a hectic Friday morning of work, I hit the road heading east from Toronto towards the easternmost point of the Great Lakes system, a little east of Kingston. Thankfully, traffic leaving the city died away shortly after passing Durham Harley-Davidson in Whitby, so I set the cruise control and chewed through the miles. By dinnertime, I was crossing the border at Hill Island on the east of Lake Ontario, and heading south on Interstate 81 in upstate New York. As midnight approached, I achieved my goal of reaching the outskirts of Cleveland on the south side of Lake Erie, having passed from New York through Pennsylvania and into Ohio. I settled in for the night at a rest stop along the I-90.

As the sun rose early on Saturday morning, it was unusually easy to slip out of my sleeping bag. Very quickly, I was back in the saddle and moving west through Cleveland towards Indiana and the turn north past the southern tip of Lake Michigan in Illinois. Once again, with clear skies and warm weather, the miles passed quickly. At each gas stop I would refresh my water bottle and graze on healthy snacks (beef jerky and granola) to ensure I stayed hydrated and alert throughout the long day.

By noon I had reached Chicago. I love the city, so instead of taking the faster route around it, I passed through downtown and grabbed a quick picture in front of the famous Bean sculpture (Cloud Gate) in Grant Park, just south of the Magnificent Mile.

Next stop was Harley-Davidson Headquarters in Milwaukee. Having been here numerous times, I took the opportunity to grab few snapshots and refuel at MOTOR Bar & Restaurant across the parking lot from the Harley-Davidson Museum^™.

As the afternoon evolved into evening and my route brought me north and west across Wisconsin, clear skies clouded over and a drizzle turned into a steady light rain. By the time I reached the westernmost point of Lake Superior – the furthest point along the route from my home in Toronto – I was a little soggy. Fortunately, I rode through the backside of the weather system to drier roads, with a stunning sunset to celebrate the end of the storm.

My final push on Day 2 was the 300 or so kilometres from Duluth, Minnesota, to Thunder Bay, Ontario, along the northwest coast of Superior. Anyone doubting whether this route is worth riding has never been to this corner of the world. The roads have the perfect mix of sweeping corners, well-maintained tarmac and long hills to make every Harley^® rider wish for just another few miles.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I pulled into a hotel parking lot in Thunder Bay just around midnight having travelled a little over 1,600 km for the day. I peeled off my still slightly damp clothes, laid everything out to air dry and climbed into bed for a well-deserved rest.

Under normal circumstances, I have a hard time deciding which part of the north side of Superior I enjoy more – the portion east or west of Thunder Bay. On this particular trip, the weather decided that for me. As I awoke on Day 3 and headed east on the 17 past the Terry Fox Memorial on the outskirts of Thunder Bay, the clouds looked menacing. Not only did it begin to rain, but a fog settled in for the whole of the section from Nipigon to Marathon, a typically exciting series of hills through which the road winds along the contours of Superior’s north shore. In this instance, the combination of wet roads, low visibility and truck traffic made me sit up and pay extra attention to my surroundings.

By mid-morning the fog had burned off. By noon the rain was petering out and I was approaching what felt like the last of the northern milestones along my route – Wawa, Ontario. This was the point where I needed to make a choice: keep to Highway 17 following close to the shoreline of the lake and hope that there were still apple fritters available at the Voyageurs’ Lodge in Batchawana Bay? Or head inland from Wawa, catching the 101/129 after a quick diversion to The Big Bear in Hawk’s Junction for one of the best burgers in the world?

Since I had a long day ahead of me, I decided to risk the apple fritter route, if only because it was faster. Whether it was the weather, the fact it was still early in the season for Northern Ontario or just dumb luck, fritters were still aplenty. Many were purchased, for a mix of immediate consumption and long-term savouring once home.

With a belly full of fried apply dough, the time and distance covered seemed to accelerate. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, I’d passed by Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury and was on my way south on the east side of Georgian Bay/Lake Huron. I topped off my tank one final time just south of Barrie. The final few hours were thankfully traffic-free. I shut the bike off for the final time just short of 10 p.m. After getting out of my riding gear, I poured myself a well-deserved glass of my favourite adult beverage, savouring both my drink and the slight ringing in my ears from the nearly 4,000 km of riding over the 56 hours that had elapsed since I left home.

The cherry on the cake (or should that be the apple on my fritter?) was knowing I was a quick dealer visit away from officially qualifying for my 200,000 lifetime HOG miles milestone, as part of the Ride 365 program.

Lifetime HOG Member Mark Keating (IG: @markwkeating) has explored (almost) every corner of North America on his Harley-Davidson^® motorcycles. As winner of the 2020 & 2021 HOG Canada ABCs of Touring challenge and holder of 49 Iron Butt Association (IBA) certificates – including three “first-ever” – Mark has officially found his happy place with a proverbial full tank.

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