There’s no such thing as a free ride!

There’s no such thing as a free ride!

My darling, long-suffering and ever-so-patient wife Mindy may not know much about motorcycles and probably couldn’t care less about them. And even less so after snapping her wrist six hours into an eight-day tour of the Kootenays a couple of years ago. I think she only rides behind me to humour me.

But one thing she knows for sure is that there’s no such thing as a free ride and this 16,000-kilometre, 100-120-day odyssey is definitely not going to be the exception to that rule.

Bankrolling this adventure has been the subject of much discussion over the winter. Despite every effort to couch-surf with family and friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in 30 years or more, it won’t be cheap. Both of us – me and the Beemer – have to eat. And while I can make do with beans on toast if I have to, the Bike-a-Lounger eats the petroleum equivalent of caviar – premium high-test.

In Alberta, Canada’s energy capital and supposedly home of the cheapest fuel prices in the country, a litre of premium is currently going for $1.30.  At an optimistic 5.5 litres per 100 km (50 miles per Imperial gallon), I’m looking at more than $5,000 just for gas!

I haven't a clue about how much an adventure like this will cost, but I doubt I'll get much change out of $20 grand, barring unforeseeen mechanical and meteorological phenomena! And that's if I can occasionally coddle, convince or coerce friends and relations into providing a couch and a shower. (Broad hint for those who might have missed it the first time!!)

But, between savings, the recent sale of my car and my beloved Honda Shadow, and -- only if necessary -- a flash or two of the plastic, I’m not really worried. It will cost what it will cost. And can you really put a price on the trip of a lifetime? (Questions like that really make Mindy nervous and should only be raised in the most exceptional of circumstances!)

Speaking of savings, back in 1984, my mother – perhaps despairing I’d ever start saving – gave me a little wooden treasure chest. “Toss your pocket change in it and see how quickly it adds up!” she said.

As a nurse, the mother of seven kids with a dreamer for a husband, my mother knew a thing or two about making ends meet!

I was working for Thomson newspapers in my second stint with the late, great Brampton Times and pretty much living from paycheque to paycheque at the time.

I was a little skeptical about what it might amount to someday. Flash forward 30 years and darned if her prediction didn’t come true!

First, it was just pennies and nickels, then dimes and, finally quarters as time and circumstances permitted.

The little chest has travelled from Brampton to Barrhaven then Richmond in Ontario; to Aylmer, Quebec; and finally to Edmonton. For the past 10 years or so, it has been too heavy to lift and recently it started to split at the seams. Late in 2013, it had become so full, I had to quit adding to the pile.

I transferred the contents first to a couple of shopping bags, then a couple of buckets when the bags began to split. In all, there’s about 75 kilos of coins.

Oh, and a 20-peso Banco de Mexico note, some paper clips, two odd-shaped keys I haven’t a clue as to what they might open, a loose screw or two and a lost marble (which may explain so much), a button, a washer, an Ernie Ball medium guitar pick, a “limited edition” Canadian Tire hockey coin and a gold-coloured car wash token that looks a little – but not quite enough – like a $1 loonie, that my friend Darcy once fobbed off on me. And, finally, tucked down in one corner at the bottom of the chest, a glow-in-the-dark skull-shaped roach clip!! So that’s where that went!

Well, what does one do with two buckets of Canadian coins weighing only slightly less than the guy carrying them? I’ve never been able to roll coins without screwing up the whole process. Even those paper or plastic tubes gave me fits and sweaty palms. I remember an old girlfriend rolling quarters out of it, which kind of upset my savings plan. She was really good at it. I doubt she’d see the humour in me asking her to roll it for me now. I doubt she sees much humour where I’m concerned, but that’s enough about that!

There are coin-counting machines in a lot of places these days – grocery stores, dollar stores and some banks. They all charge a fee. Some take a healthy eight per cent off the top; others like the Toeronto-Dominion Bank (it will nev er be TD Canada Trust to me!) offer the service free of charge to customers!

By transferring the coins to a handful of coffee cans, I made five separate trips to my local TD branch. Each trip returned between $300 and $500!

In all, there were 6 toonies; 25 loonies; 4,185 quarters; 4,452 dimes; 3,790 nickels; and 13,014 pennies for a grand total of 25,472 coins worth $1,848.14!! (TD's counting machine provided the details!)

Plus, 3 British pound coins, assorted euros, some pence and even a beer token from the 1993 Brier in Ottawa. (Wonder if that’s still good!)

I'm already adding change to the now forlorn-looking little "treasure chest." Who knows where it will take me when it's full again!

Thanks, Mom!
 

Please visit my Ride for Sight secure online fundraising page and pony up a few bucks for this important fundraising ride to support research into the causes and prevention of blindness. Thanks!