Travex
Lost is my destination.
Warm, long riding days typically call for cold beer which I kindly oblige. Sidenote: Canada knows how to treat beer. It's sold a good 10° cooler and their hotel refrigerators are also capable of lower temps than US counterparts. It's those cooler, damper, maybe not-so-nice days that call for a different elixir at the end of the day and for me that's wine. Was told years ago to drink a couple glasses a day but never could get into the habit until it crept into my riding regimen. I recall the day in a rainstorm along the north shore of Lake Michigan in Hiawatha National Forrest; rain, fog, and wind- together. Who'd have thought. Gear's good so that wasn't an issue, but I hadn't been in torrential rain like that since Oklahoma in the 90's. Stressful riding, but kept going for schedule's sake.
When I got to Sault St Marie I apparently instinctively pulled into a liquor store. Not a hard liquor guy and I'm pretty simple when it comes to wine so I asked for something red, dry, not fruity, not sweet, and not new. It was a good give/take as he asked me more questions to narrow things down. He, the owner, directed me to something I don't recall and thoroughly enjoyed. From that point on I look forward to ending some days on the road with a local recommendation. Of course there are times when certain wines have given me the suggestion that perhaps I shouldn't have stopped in that particular town, but for the most part it's been great.
That routine is complimented by my coveted 15oz titanium camp cup and HiCoup waiter's corkscrew... The best corkscrew you'll find. Bikers like great tools. These are great tools. Ebay, 15ish delivered. Also made a convective wine cooler by taking some ¼” wetsuit neoprene material and making a tube about 3/4” larger than the bottle diameter that goes up to the bend in the bottle with a round disk of the same material for the bottom. Kind of like a loose, wet, cool coozie with straight sides. A quick soak in clear creek water, place your bottle in it and about 20 minutes later you're sipping cool wine. Packs down to nothing. Made one for a friend that's touring Mexico and looking forward to a fine sangria tale or two.
Anyhow, that's how I do it.
When I got to Sault St Marie I apparently instinctively pulled into a liquor store. Not a hard liquor guy and I'm pretty simple when it comes to wine so I asked for something red, dry, not fruity, not sweet, and not new. It was a good give/take as he asked me more questions to narrow things down. He, the owner, directed me to something I don't recall and thoroughly enjoyed. From that point on I look forward to ending some days on the road with a local recommendation. Of course there are times when certain wines have given me the suggestion that perhaps I shouldn't have stopped in that particular town, but for the most part it's been great.
That routine is complimented by my coveted 15oz titanium camp cup and HiCoup waiter's corkscrew... The best corkscrew you'll find. Bikers like great tools. These are great tools. Ebay, 15ish delivered. Also made a convective wine cooler by taking some ¼” wetsuit neoprene material and making a tube about 3/4” larger than the bottle diameter that goes up to the bend in the bottle with a round disk of the same material for the bottom. Kind of like a loose, wet, cool coozie with straight sides. A quick soak in clear creek water, place your bottle in it and about 20 minutes later you're sipping cool wine. Packs down to nothing. Made one for a friend that's touring Mexico and looking forward to a fine sangria tale or two.
Anyhow, that's how I do it.
