It’s never really a question if our annual motorcycle ride will take place, just a matter of where we’ll go, as long as it’s some place we haven’t been before. This year, after some dithering, we’ve decided to circumnavigate Lake Superior, with Thunder Bay, Ontario, as mission objective. It’ll be about 3,000 miles in 18 days, all told.
This will be our third consecutive ride in Canada; last year was Quebec and the Route Des Navigateurs and the year before was Halifax and the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Both of those were great rides, and we really fell in love with Quebec.
We talked about Newfoundland but decided we didn’t have enough time to do it properly. Then we thought about Key West and taking a few days to explore the Keys before using the Amtrak Auto Train to come home, but the traffic and heat dissuaded us. So we looked north again.
Circumnavigating the Great Lakes was out, again because of time. But the northern sweep of the Trans-Canada Highway around Superior appealed to me – beautiful country, remote yet accessible. It looked perfect.
It’s a clockwise journey. We’ll see family on the outbound leg, take ferries across Lake Erie, challenge the Mackinac Bridge, ride some beautiful roads between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, and see Toronto and Niagara Falls before heading home.
Linda will ride her 300cc Vespa scooter and I’ll be on Terra Nova, my Yamaha Super Tenere. Both bikes have been serviced – new tires on both! – and are ready. I’ll carry extra fuel for the Vespa just in case.
As usual, I wonder what we’ll find out there.
Motorcycle Days 
Happy Trails! Enjoy the journey and please send my love to Bedford, Ohio!
I anxiously await the followup story to your ride with Linda. I want to see that are some day. I like how remote it is.
I’m not sure of your departure date.., However, I wanted to pass on some tips as it looks like you will going through the area where I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 1) In Marquette, check out Presque Isle Park. It is a small city park where you can watch the “big ore boats” load and unload. 2) In Lanse, pick up a Hilltop roll at the Hilltop restaurant. They aren’t as good as in the old days and a lot more expensive at $4 each, but still pretty darn good. Happy travelling.