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12 Sep 2018
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It rained thru the night, but was just misty and very foggy when we packed up just after 9. We are headed west towards Calgary and are not sure where we will end up today.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-02 at 20.49.18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We gassed up in town and then rode west on the 17, which apparently curves along the north shore of lake superior, but we can see just what is in front of us and so can not tell.
 FILE2808 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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12 Sep 2018
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We still could not see much when we got to Thunder bay for gas and coffee after 306 km and turned inland. It was now intermittently drizzling and this continued to Upsala at 425 km and we gassed up here as well, since you never know when the next station will appear. There have been a few sketchy motels so far, but not much else.
 IMG_3437 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2843 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We decided to push on another 209 km to the next real town Dryden (634 km day) where there are a few more hotel options. 50 km from Upsala the rain stopped and the sky looked brighter. By the time we made it to Ignace we actually had blue sky above. This made the last 100 km so much easier to manage mentally.
 FILE2867 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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12 Sep 2018
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Contributing Member
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We are still on a mission to get to visit Dan’s aunts in Saskatoon and Calgary after the death of his uncle. Again we used the McD wifi to check out the options and settled on the Comfort Inn right next door. Conveniently there was a diner across the road as we again had not eaten all day.
The 650 is making a wailing noise at idle and is running loudly. There is also a loud clacking of the chain in low gears. Dan tightened the chain, but what the whaling noise is we are not sure. It is otherwise running perfectly.
 IMG_3438 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We have decided to go to Winnipeg tomorrow in 351 km as there is a BMW certified service centre (for whatever that is worth) there. It is the holiday weekend and so we booked 2 nights near BMW.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-03 at 19.41.12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We finally woke to sunshine and even better when we started the 650 it sounded completely normal! The oil level good and the chain clack is better. We will still go to Winnipeg and see how the day goes. The ride today was warm at 24 degrees and this is the first day without the hand warmers on for the 5 days across Ontario.
 FILE2888 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2893 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2898 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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12 Sep 2018
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Just after the “border” to Manitoba we came across the marker for the longitudinal centre of Canada. This drive is so straight it can be mind numbingly boring on the transCanada. We arrived to the city and to the hotel near to BMW in late afternoon and finally had lunch there after 3. We tucked in for a relaxing evening.
 FILE2932 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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14 Sep 2018
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It is sunny out again today, but when we stepped outside in shorts and t shirt and were battered by a freezing wind we retreated to put on jeans and get warmly dressed up. There is not much to do here in “Winterpeg”, but we did take the bus down to the Forks. This is the meeting of the Red and Assinaboine rivers and is a National Historic site. We then walked along the Red river into the Exchange district.
 Canada-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
This is an area of old Winnipeg known for its intact early 20th century collection of warehouses, financial institutions, and early terra cotta clad skyscrapers. There is a maze of interconnecting tunnels below ground so people do not have to go outside in winter when it is minus 40.
 Canada-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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14 Sep 2018
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Setting out this morning it was another gusty windy cold day. It started out at 12 degrees and was only 14 by noon. We had to wear our rain suits to cut the wind and so wished we had our heated gear with us. We headed west again the 16/#1 and planed to make it to Yorkton in 454 km, but only made it 351 km to Russell.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-08 at 18.26.37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2961 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2964 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2970 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We made it 188 km and gassed up and then met Butch a local who bought us a coffee at Tim’s. He is a super friendly guy who has ridden various bikes in all the USA and Mexican states.
 Canada-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2974 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2989 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE2997 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
It is getting even more windy today and in fact at 3 when we stopped for lunch in Russel we had had enough of the buffeting and the noise. The Motel here was clean and reasonable. We settled in for a quiet night.
 FILE2998 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE3006 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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15 Sep 2018
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There are a lot of signs in many towns that proudly advertise the Olympic Gold medal winners NHL players from these small Manitoba and Saskatchewan towns. 17 km after Russell we hit the next provincial border.
 FILE3033 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We stopped in Yorkton for gas and to pick up some  s. You never know in the small Canadian towns along the rural highways if there will be a liquor outlet or not.
 FILE3041 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
The road is straight, but a bit more scenic today with the farms and lakes. There are the iconic grain silos prominently situated along the way. We stopped in Foam Lake at the Husky (so Canadiana) for lunch, and then at Lake Lenore for gas and after pushed onto Rick and Mariette’s.
 FILE3057 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
You have to love that there are often not real addresses in rural Sask. Our instructions were “take the highway to Muenster, turn north on the 368 , and then ride 40 miles. We are on the west side of the road with two rows of spruce trees and there are hay bales across the road.” And there they were ( we did have to call from the Coop 2 km up the road actually  .
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15 Sep 2018
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We were happy to have the time to visit with these guys who have really followed our journey. Rick is a gourmet cook and we had home made smoked white fish and salmon fish, Fish and Chips made from their own potatoes and White fish he caught. We also enjoyed quite a bit of his red wine.
 Canada-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
This morning it is a bit chilly and windy, but it settled down by noon and we hitched up the boat and made for the lake nearby. Dan and Sara both had a pike on the line with the first casts, but after this we just had a few nibbles. We had a lovely afternoon out on the water.
 Canada-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
Rick cooked us up some huge prime rib steaks for dinner tonight.
 Canada-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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22 Sep 2018
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We woke to a rain storm, but on the satellite it was going to pass by noon. When we set out at 1130 it was already pretty much stopped raining. The oil light on the 650 was briefly flashing on start up yesterday, but the dip stick level was good?!. Today after 2 days sitting the light was on for longer. We rode over to the Coop and rechecked the oil and at a flatter location it was low and we added 250 cc. The light was still flashing very briefly on at start up only.
 FILE3064 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We continued north and then west on the 41 for the 378 km to Kindersley.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-08 at 18.29.58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE3068 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
It was warmer today at 16, but the cloud cover continued until 4 pm. We stopped south of Saskatoon for gas and to check the oil again and it was apparently good.
 FILE3082 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We stopped for a snack in Rosetown at 4 and this was when the sun was finally out and it was now 26.
 FILE3086 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 FILE3096 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We had 85 km to Kindersley. Checking the oil again it was still an issue and in the end we added another 250 cc. There are a few hotels here and we checked into one on the main drag. The bike is running better, but the oil thing is stressful. It is burning a bit for sure with the huge mileage and I think we got fooled by the level of the dip stick. We are wondering if the guys in Malaysia did not reinstall the oil pan/gasket properly after it was repaired.
 FILE3099 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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22 Sep 2018
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Contributing Member
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This morning it is 10 degrees and after warming the bike we topped it up with another 250 ccc and the oil light is no longer flashing at start up. That said we had also put 250 cc in the 800 and were happy there was a Walmart just up the road to get another liter. We have 1200 km to go and as long as we keep the oil topped up we are sure we can make it home. But today it is just 321 km to Brooks Alberta.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-09 at 19.31.54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We continued west on the 7 to the Alberta border after 63 km and it changes to the 9.
 Canada-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We then turned south on the 36 just before Hanna. It hits the TransCanada just 10 km west of Brooks.
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22 Sep 2018
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We got there at 3 after 321 km. There are a lot of hotel choices here. but we settled on a small motel with a kitchenette. They are calling for snow later this week, but it is still 4-5 degrees at night now.
 IMG_3461 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_3462 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We rode north to the 544 and then east to the Dinosaur Provincial park. This is an active dig site for Tyrell archaeologists. It is a chilly 9 degrees this afternoon and we are happy to head back to the motel and snuggle in for the rest of the day.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-19 at 14.34.34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-44 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Canada-45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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24 Sep 2018
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We had a nice late start today so it would warm up a bit and was 11 when we left for Calgary at 10.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-12 at 11.08.17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We got on the TransCanada west until Gleichen and then veered south towards High River. There are several First nations settlements, but no where for lunch and so we diverted back to the highway at Strathmore on the #1 to hit the Husky Station for a hearty meal. We then rode south off the 1 on the 24 to arrived to Kevin and Lisa by 130.
We had a great evening with them and Carrie as well. The guys regaled us with the trials and tribulation of their second attempt to get to Mongolia. Last year their group of 5 dropped to 2 by the time we met them on the way to Almaty.
Kevin had a need on collision in Greece, they were denied Iran Visas and had to reroute across the Caspian to Turkmenistan, Kevin’s brothers bike was having several issues and he and another guy retreated to the EU from Baku, the 1 day sea crossing of the Caspian turned into a 3 day nightmare and they had 2 days on their Turkmen visa left when they arrived, the other Kevin lost his passport and TVIP in the desert in Turkmenistan and was kept captive in an Ashgabat hotel for 6 weeks and was finally deported without his bike 6 weeks later, then Kevin broke his fibula in Kyrgyzstan and had to dump his bike at KTM in Almaty where we finally met them.
This year there was a nightmare of bike repairs including shipping of cylinders to Canada for repair. This delayed their departure 2 weeks from Almaty. Then a week later the engine was seized on the side of the road in Russia and they trailered it to a garage and left it there.
Poor Carrie was then on his own to get to Vladivostok and without time or a travel companion to ride in Mongolia. His bike left on a sea can for Vancouver this week. We are feeling pretty lucky that we all made it on our planned route with all 4 bikes.
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2 Oct 2018
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It was 6 degrees when we left Kevin this morning for the short ride to Dan’s childhood haunt Peter’s drive in for burgers and milkshakes when it is 8 degrees?! Trevor was working nearby and joined us and then set us up at his place for the evening. For dinner we all met at a local Uzbek restaurant for dinner.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-12 at 11.10.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Peters by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 IMG_3467 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We have a detour from our trip for the next 2 days we are flying to Vancouver for and event and then arriving back to Calgary. It is a good thing as snow is forecast for the weekend and it is supposed to warm up Monday for our last 700 km!!!
It was a quick 90 min to Vancouver. The rental car for 2 days was cheaper than a taxi to Sara’s dad’s and back!
 Canada-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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2 Oct 2018
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The flight back is another quick 90 min and Trevor picked us up. We headed into the city for a bit of a walk along the river and then went to pick up Guðmundur.
You might remember him as the rider from Iceland that we knew on line, but met randomly on the way to Ushguli Georgia and then again in Ulan Ude Russia. He saw our post about Peter’s drive in with Trevor and messaged us that he will arrive today to Calgary on his way back from Alaska. He is shipping his bike from there to Frankfurt on Tuesday. We had a nice dinner out and heard all about his trip.
 Calgary by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Calgary-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
 Calgary-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
We have check out the forecast today and as we are trying to “thread the needle” to get thru the Rockies with the best conditions it looks like tomorrow is the day. This means today we will ride to see a few folks even thought it is 3 degrees and drizzling.
 Screen Shot 2018-09-18 at 20.20.24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
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Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
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