More on day 2

So yesterday was a long day. Our longest yet in miles (but barely). But it was the ride that got me.

Roads:
Canadia 112 E
Canadia 173 S
Maine 201 S
I-95 N

The roads in Canadia suck. And by that, I mean the actual physical surface. Fucking terrible. Chewed up, rutted, washboard, crumbling, fucking suck. Between Montreal and The US line in Jackman, ME we hit some of the worst roads I've ever had to ride. It was exhausting. Hitting huge potholes at speed. Getting caught in ruts. It's a wonder we don't both have bent rims.

On top of that, between construction and summer events (the people in cold climes are outside doing things A LOT when the weather is nice) we hit no less than 5 major detours. And in 3 of them, we got off course and had to ride around in circles trying to find our way back. We spent at least an hour yesterday trying to get back to our course after getting jacked in a detour.

As far as the rest of it goes, though, this is some beautiful territory. May not be much to do on a Saturday night, But Southeastern Canadia and Northern Maine are gorgeous. I could look at this stuff all day. Stunning views and unique terrain are around every corner.

The last 30 miles of Canadia, and the first 50 miles of Northern Maine are barely inhabited. Long, lost, lonely highway that stretches on forever. On either side of you, lakes appear out of nowhere. Pine forests loom overhead. Go as fast as you want, as long as your suspension can take the shitty roads. You can see at least a half mile ahead, and there haven't been any other cars for 20 minutes. (As a testament to how bad the roads are up there, several times I was given the situation where I could see ahead forever, no place for cops, no people around, a mile of flat straight road, and I never cleared 100 mph.)

I saw 2 moose, one full size along the road, and one moosling in the middle of the road in front of me. Note: the small ones are unstable and look like someone learning to walk on stilts. The full-sized ones are enormous. If you hit one on a motorbike, the bike would pass underneath and your face would hit smack in the fuselage of the moose. No exaggeration. Brian, please back me up on this.

We picked a terrible road out of Montreal. Well, really it was our only choice, but it was painful. stop and start through little towns. More traffic lights than I could ever count. Tons of people ahead of you driving slow. And every time it would open up, you'd hit a detour and major traffic. It got better eventually. Relatively speaking.

We ended the night with a 49 mile run up I-95 in the dark, foggy, moose-littered stretch that, for me, was equal parts "terrifying" and "sedative". When we got to Bangor, (11 PM-ish) I was more than ready to be off the bike

I'd go into the things we saw, but mostly you had to be there. I'll leave some random things that may not make sense to anyone else, but are good reminders for me...

French Canadia really is a foreign land. Not like Toronto which is more like "America Nice".

• There's a girl near Dudswell, QC, CA who is the worst driver on the planet. Look her up.
• Asbestos mines are HUGE. And are absolutely amazing.
• There are more waterfalls around that I'd ever imagined.
• There are also some enormous lakes.
• My GPS has terrible maps.
• Pound for pound, Canadia has some of the most beautiful people anywhere.
• This is the only place I've been with mountainous country where they manage to build straight roads.
• There are times when you just don't care how much a hotel costs.
• All the maps and iPhones and internets in the world are no replacement for asking a stranger for advice/help/directions/recommendations.
• I've cleared 1000 miles, and almost all of that has been on four roads: NY22, QC112, QC173/ME201, and I-95.
• We don't take enough pictures.
• There are a ton of motorbikes up here. At times, more than cars.
  
• Canadia gives you a nod and a wave coming over the border. Coming back, I thought America was going to ask for a kidney.
• Eric's hand is going numb. He's losing motor skills. I have some some pain thing going on with my little toe on my right foot that is getting worse by the day.
  

Today, we try to get some repairs done on Eric's bike, then take a short day to St. John, New Brunswick. Under 200 miles. We'll take some nice road, take some cool pictures.