The trip began with my driving to Morton's BMW Motorcycles for an oil change. Note that Morton's is 375 miles from my home in North Carolina. Loyalty to your original dealer is earned by your dealer.

I drove from Morton's to my son's home in Bristow, Virginia. He would be riding my R1100GS ('95). We packed the bikes and relaxed.

We arose the next morning and once again checked the bikes and what we were carrying with us. Everything was in order, and we began the journey. We met Raphael Jones, Steve Klotz, Mike Kramer, and Don Williams at the Northern Virginia Community College campus off Route 7 in Sterling, Virginia.

The weather was hot, hot, hot! The six of us began the initial leg of the trip, which would take us to Frackville, Pennsylvania. We were to meet up with the other five riders at Granny's Motel and Restaurant in Frackville. On the ride up, we passed the 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Run of approximately 400 bikes on U.S. Route 15. Construction was being done on Route 15 and traffic, lots of it, was really slow. We finally arrived after a short trip of 180 miles and met the other riders. We felt the trip could finally begin.

The riders and their bikes were:
Don Williams - R1150GS / Raphael Jones - K1200GT / Dennis Clark - R1200RT / Dennis Clark II - R1100GS / Ron Jones - R1150RT / Laura Jones - R1150R / Ken Dyer - R1200RT / Linda Dyer - R1150R / Mike Kramer - R1150GS Adventure / Steve Klotz - ST1300 / Dusty Collins - Gold Wing (also known as the KC135 tanker).

We left Granny's and began the trip to Canada at 0700. We rode in the rain for 100 miles and all the bikes handled very well. Other than the rain, the trip was uneventful. We arrived at Webb's Motel in Ottawa, Ontario, after a total of 404 miles. We had a wonderful meal and conversation. During the conversation, we learned what MARINE really means:
M uscles
A re
R equired
I ntelligence
N ot
E ssential

We had two retired Marines on the trip, and they're the ones who explained the true meaning to us.

The third day began in the rain, with a temperature of 60F, eventually dropping to 55F. We traveled two lane roads after leaving Interstate 81 at the border. We could not help but notice that the landscape was containing fewer and fewer trees. Linda Dyer lost her furry seat pad, but everyone who passed it later considered it a dead animal and indicated such to the rider behind them. Needless to say no one stopped to pick it up. We don't do Road Kill! The sunshine came out when we went through Amos, Quebec.

We arrived in Matagami, Quebec, after riding 444 miles. The third day was critical in determining whether the group would gel or split. We gelled! We had a wonderful, noisy, and loud meal across the street from the motel on the third night and retired for the evening. Our adventure tour was about to begin!

On day four, we checked in at kilometer post 0 with James Bay Road Security.

One must register with the security personnel, as this is a private road. The registration lets them know who began the road journey and who makes it back. The first sign on the road is a warning that there is no gas for 385 km. The sign speaks the truth! Our gas strategy was to carry a 2 gallon tank of extra fuel on the R1100GS and the two R1150R's and the K1200GT would receive fuel from the Gold Wing (KC-135) tanker (below) ridden by Dusty Collins.

Dusty had on board a total of 16 gallons of fuel. We put him at the rear of the pack and kept a constant eye out for smoke and flames.

This road is not heavily traveled. We saw only one car going north during the first 385 km. We saw a hawk and an eagle as we began. The landscape began to change at kilometer 140. This area had been burned and the trees began to get sparse and thin. At kilometer 250 we noticed the trees were disappearing.

We heard what was located at kilometer 257 before we saw it.

This was the main objective of the trip. We had arrived at the Rupert River Rapids! The Rapids will disappear next year when a new dam is completed by Hydro Quebec. Loud, wide, high, beautiful, one of a kind, awesome, impassable, and a sight to behold are just some of the terms that can be applied to this display of nature's grandeur. As the group arrived, one by one they got off their bikes and just stared at the magnificent sight. We began to take pictures, though realizing no photograph could do this sight justice. You had to be there!

We gassed up the bikes needing it from the auxiliary containers and proceeded to THE GAS STATION!

We picked up a tail wind and made really good time, expending less gas than anticipated. We arrived at the gas station and began to fuel.

We noticed a restaurant near the fuel tanks and went in for a bite to eat. We got some stares from the other people in the restaurant. Striking up a conversation with some of them, we discovered they had not seen this many bikes traveling together up this road before. While eating, we discussed the fact that Pepsi was easy to get in Quebec while finding a Coke was hard. I was really happy, as I'm a Pepsi snob.

After eating, we rode in sprinkling rain for the remainder of the day. As we rode, we began to appreciate that we were definitely off the beaten path. We were not near anywhere. We were truly isolated. Nevertheless, we knew we were riding great motorcycles and could relax somewhat with this knowledge.

We arrived in Radisson and were thrilled to see that we had first class accommodations for our stay.

The staff spoke excellent English and we were welcomed with open arms. The staff requested that we park our bikes on the sidewalk leading to the entrance of the hotel, as they wanted to advertise the fact that eleven motorcycles had made the trip up the James Bay Road together. They had never seen that many bikes come north together. Radisson reminded me of Adak, Alaska, with the rugged northern style architecture. Over a wonderful buffet, we discussed that we had ridden a total of 411 miles in temperatures that varied from 46 degrees to a high of 83 degrees. The high temperature was observed just before the rain began. We had done it! We had ridden to the end of the road. The fourth day came to a pleasant, dry, and comfortable end.

We awoke on day five to rain, wind, and cold temperatures. A decision was made to rest and go on a bus tour of Hydro Quebec Plant tomorrow morning, followed by a trip to James Bay proper tomorrow afternoon. We visited a Cree gift shop, the general store, and the area in and around the hotel. We had clothes washed and checked out the bikes for any visible signs of something being wrong. At the evening meal, we had our first caribou steaks. The general consensus was that caribou tastes like steak and liver mixed together. Some liked it and some did not.

We began day six with a tour of Hydro Quebec's Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric generating facility. This facility is the largest underground powerhouse in the world. It produces 5,616 MW of power using 16 generating units. It is carved out of solid granite and is totally underground. The spillway for the Hydro Plant is huge! It looks like a giant ladder.

The tour was free and we were given an English-speaking guide who did a superb job.

After the tour, we rode in rain, mist, and sunshine to Chisasibi, Quebec. We left the pavement and proceeded to ride 10km on gravel. Raphael Jones discovered that a GT does not handle like a GS in gravel. Everyone made it and we all dipped containers, supplied by Don William's wife Gail, into the bay to get some water to take back home with us as a reminder of the trip.

We observed some Cree fishermen launching their boat by moving it on split-in-half pipes to the shore.

Pictures were taken and we drove back to the Cree village for a sandwich.

After eating and talking with some of the natives, we rode to the hotel. We shopped for the last time in Radisson.

Day seven began in the cold, 48F. We experienced a high of 53F during the ride back to Matagami, Quebec. The weather pattern for the day was rain/clear and cold. We made the return trip much faster than going up. We were able to stop at kilometer 411 and see the waterfalls under the bridge.

We talked to a Cree Native at the gas stop on the way down and he did not think much of Hydro Quebec. We arrived in Matagami, Quebec and were glad to get out of the cold and wet. We stopped at the Rupert River Rapids for the last look of a lifetime. Awesome water! We racked up a total of 407 miles on day seven.

We began day eight COLD! COLD! COLD! We left Matagami with the temperature at 34F and watched it drop to 32F immediately. We were to experience 32-degree weather at several points along the way. We finally had something go wrong with the R1150RT. One of the bolts on the rear rotor came loose and locked up the rear end. We were able to repair it on the spot and continued on our way.

We reached Ottawa, Ontario, and the temperature soared to 78F. Heat wave! As a group, we had decided we would go our separate ways home after we reached Ottawa. We had a fabulous meal that evening and decided we had had a really great adventure.

Detailed information concerning the James Bay Road can be found on www.jamesbayroad.com. We all agreed that if you like to ride, enjoy solitude, have the correct equipment, love adventures, can endure massive temperature changes, and ride the correct vehicle, the James Bay Road is for you!