Day 15 - Ogdensburg

Monday, August 27, 2012
Ogdensburg, New York, United States
Before embarking on this saga I spent some time reading about the Alaska Highway. The journey seemed eminently feasible, except for the long steel bridge over the Teslin River in the Yukon Territory. The reviews went on at length about how unstable and difficult it was for a motorcycle to cross this bridge, due to the open steel cross hatch it it has for a surface -- instead of the usual asphalt or concrete.   A motorcycle's tire, with a round cross section and very sensitive to road surface, tends to get slightly caught in the longitudinal channels created by the steel pattern. This is enough to destablize balance and rider. The open steel pattern is much more slippery than a closed road surface. Add destabilization and lack of adhesion, and the 1,800 feet of the Teslin bridge become a bikers nightmare.  

Fast forward to today .   I had few expectations for new vistas.  Middle Ontario forest and farmland were already a familiar sight. So I settled down to make miles. The traffic was quite heavy on the two lane road (one lane in each direction) which is the Transcanada Highway. Soon after I started it started to drizzle, then to rain in earnest.  I put the yellow impermeable rain suit on and prepared to stew in my own juices.  The body steam fogs the visor, reducing the already limited visibility. It was going to be a long day. The highway began to deteriorate.   Then, as the rain got worse, we hit a 10 km construction site.   Much of it was gravel and clay, which in the rain became mud. Yucchh. I made it through, but the scene was repeated a couple times more through the day. The rain only cleared as I approached Ottawa, and turned south to cross the Saint Lawrence river and enter the USA.

As I approached the Bridge across the Waterway (a large suspension bridge like the one at Mackinaw Michigan) I was tired, and I wondered whether the Immigration Officer was going to be tough, as he had been on entering Alaska.   The evening view from way up in the middle of the bridge was going to be great. Then I saw the surface and my blood ran cold. It was the steel open cross hatch kind. Slow to 35 and concentrate on the wobble. I saw nothing of the view, but I made it across and am happy to be in the US again.
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Comments

Gwynn
2012-08-28

I'll bet you took a picture of that bridge. Glad you made it. Whew.

Mark
2012-08-29

I do not believe it! No Toronto or Mnytreal or Ottawa. Bueno I guess you will soon be in Brooklyn. Glad you made it across the mesh. Take care will pick up when I get back to Mvdeo on Sat. Meanwhile cattle auctions in Fraile ,Vichadero and Melo. Spring looks like good one here. Keep safe.

Harry
2012-08-29

Nothing like a fine day of bike riding to relax the nerves. Oh well, it gives you at least one reason (not necessarily good) for coming back to the US. Keep dry; may the biker always ride on smooth surfaces, to paraphrase an old Indian concept.

2025-02-06

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