2016 Motorcycle Adventure (Day One)

Today represents the fifth year that I have set out on a month long motorcycle adventure and I am committed to doing this as long as I can. I think it must be part of what keeps me young in spirit and is a testament to my endurance some days. Today was just such a day. I woke up to my 6:30 am alarm. The sun was just creeping over the trees from the east. It was cool but the forecast called for a scorcher so I packed several bottles of Gatorade. The fur kids knew that something was different this morning. For starters I'm not usually up until nearly 8:00 am but they saw my bike and trailer sitting out front which was a clear giveaway so they were being especially affectionate knowing it would be some time before I returned.
I had gone down my trip check list a dozen times. I was confident that I had everything. I checked for any last minute messages and then it was time to go.

This year I had decided to replace my rear tire with a "car tire". In the motorcycle world this is known as "going to the darkside". The car tire is flat on the bottom rather than round like a bike tire. The advantages are that it wears 3 or 4 times as long and is significantly cheaper to buy. I was nervous about how it would handle when the trailer was loaded with gear but to my pleasure it rode like a dream.
I made it down to the US border at Niagara Falls, NY by noon. By now the mercury was rising so I removed my heavy armor laden biker jacket, lathered up my bare arms with heavy duty sunscreen and hopped on the New York Turnpike headed west toward Cleveland.
I hit Cleveland right at their rush hour so it was pretty slow going through the metro area but soon I was on my way to Sandusky, Ohio where I planned to check into the local KOA campground.
It was nearly 7:00 pm before I got there. I had ridden 790 kms. or 490 miles. I was hot, tired and just wanted to sit down and have a nice refreshing vodka tonic, which I did. At this point two older gentleman came by and were inquiring about what kind of bike I had. We had a nice chat and they were off. This is one part about travel that makes it much more enjoyable, meeting new people and hearing their stories.
The camper was set up in 5 minutes and because my good friend Penny had packed me a very large lunch, I still had enough left for dinner too. It's late now and the campground wifi isn't the best so I will sign off now and get some well deserved rest.