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Maine, Motorcycling & Moose
Maine, Motorcycling & Moose
by Bill Kingson
September 1998
Fellow XSives -
I was feeling a little sorry for myself because I wasn't able to make it to XS East to meet the eastern gang. I had managed to fix a coil problem about two days too late to make it to PA comfortably. I wasn't prepared to take on a semi-Iron Butt ride as the shakedown for my repairs. So, I decided to be a tourist in my own neighborhood. After all, I live in one of the most unspoiled areas in the continental US. Dave Hogue's Camp XS trip report inspired me to write and share with you.
The leaves are turning here in northern Maine, so I decided to go "leaf peeping" on the XS. I left Caribou and headed north on Hwy 161 toward Fort Kent. Yes folks, you CAN go north from Caribou, but Fort Kent (50 miles) is as far as you can go before reaching Canada. See the map (Or just go to Yahoo, select maps from the main menu, and type in 'Fort Kent, ME').
The bike ran well, though it's a little loud with the new glass packs (I wore foam ear plugs). Not too far outside of Caribou I encountered a very large bull moose crossing the highway. Fortunately he was coming out of an open area, so I spotted him in plenty of time to slow down and prepare to stop. When they come right out of the woods they can appear too suddenly for stopping. In a moose/motorcycle accident the moose would win hands down...
You never know what a moose will do, so while they're in the road it's best to pull over, shut down your engine and wait. They've been known to lower their heads and charge. That day I was lucky. He continued across the road before I had to stop. What could have been a nasty encounter turned out to be just a nature trip. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me.
From there the ride to Ft. Kent was beautiful and uneventful...farms, rolling hills, and endless scenes with firey red and orange leaves. At Ft. Kent I turned left (SW) on Route 11 to take the long way back home through the Alagash. The road is mostly well paved and has some nice twisties, though nothing very aggressive. It goes through Wallagrass, Eagle Lake and Ashland, passing more farms, lakes, rivers and streams. Perfect.
Somewhere between Ft. Kent and Eagle Lake I had my second encounter with wildlife. A red fox scampered across the road not far in front of me. He'd have made it easily but he panicked, stopped and turned around. I held steady and was sure I'd hit him, but fortunately he just cleared my front wheel.
In Eagle Lake I stopped for breakfast at a little mom 'n' pop restaurant. Good home style cooking. Made a note to stop back again on a winter snowmobile trip.
The rest of the trip was nice, but uneventful. Travelling through a more familiar part of Aroostook County the bike ran perfectly and I came to appreciate it even more. Perhaps I'd have made it to Dingman's Ferry, PA after all. I'll never know. But now I'm confident that I'll be ready for the next one. Maybe even Chamas, NM.
Thanks for reading...
by Bill Kingson
September 1998
Fellow XSives -
I was feeling a little sorry for myself because I wasn't able to make it to XS East to meet the eastern gang. I had managed to fix a coil problem about two days too late to make it to PA comfortably. I wasn't prepared to take on a semi-Iron Butt ride as the shakedown for my repairs. So, I decided to be a tourist in my own neighborhood. After all, I live in one of the most unspoiled areas in the continental US. Dave Hogue's Camp XS trip report inspired me to write and share with you.
The leaves are turning here in northern Maine, so I decided to go "leaf peeping" on the XS. I left Caribou and headed north on Hwy 161 toward Fort Kent. Yes folks, you CAN go north from Caribou, but Fort Kent (50 miles) is as far as you can go before reaching Canada. See the map (Or just go to Yahoo, select maps from the main menu, and type in 'Fort Kent, ME').
The bike ran well, though it's a little loud with the new glass packs (I wore foam ear plugs). Not too far outside of Caribou I encountered a very large bull moose crossing the highway. Fortunately he was coming out of an open area, so I spotted him in plenty of time to slow down and prepare to stop. When they come right out of the woods they can appear too suddenly for stopping. In a moose/motorcycle accident the moose would win hands down...
You never know what a moose will do, so while they're in the road it's best to pull over, shut down your engine and wait. They've been known to lower their heads and charge. That day I was lucky. He continued across the road before I had to stop. What could have been a nasty encounter turned out to be just a nature trip. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me.
From there the ride to Ft. Kent was beautiful and uneventful...farms, rolling hills, and endless scenes with firey red and orange leaves. At Ft. Kent I turned left (SW) on Route 11 to take the long way back home through the Alagash. The road is mostly well paved and has some nice twisties, though nothing very aggressive. It goes through Wallagrass, Eagle Lake and Ashland, passing more farms, lakes, rivers and streams. Perfect.
Somewhere between Ft. Kent and Eagle Lake I had my second encounter with wildlife. A red fox scampered across the road not far in front of me. He'd have made it easily but he panicked, stopped and turned around. I held steady and was sure I'd hit him, but fortunately he just cleared my front wheel.
In Eagle Lake I stopped for breakfast at a little mom 'n' pop restaurant. Good home style cooking. Made a note to stop back again on a winter snowmobile trip.
The rest of the trip was nice, but uneventful. Travelling through a more familiar part of Aroostook County the bike ran perfectly and I came to appreciate it even more. Perhaps I'd have made it to Dingman's Ferry, PA after all. I'll never know. But now I'm confident that I'll be ready for the next one. Maybe even Chamas, NM.
Thanks for reading...