Ride Manitoulin July 19 2015

 

Awoke Thursday to a beautiful sunny morning. Loaded the bike on the trailer and hooked to my 5th wheeler we pointed the truck north ( well nearly ) and headed out to Manitoulin. I was going to the 5th Annual Ride Manitoulin Event, my 3rd attendance. Now what is an Adventure without a mishap. Entering Bala, I notice lights flashing behind me with a hand seemingly frantically waving out the window….so I pull over and he stops and says your bike trailer has a flat and he has chased me from Torrance….worried the trailer might flip. He asks me if I have a spare and I assure him yes, thank him and he is off. The tire is shredded, only the sidewalls remain.

Spare on, rather than turn back, I decide I will  chance making Parry Sound 40 miles and pick up a new tire at CTC. The Spare which I put on was new but a size 80 with the flat a 75…….so I buy another 80 but they will only sell it with a rim….so 214.00 lighter, and the new rim and tire mounted (  by moi ) I am back on the road and make Green Acres at Shequinedah by 4.45pm. Park the Trailer, unload and pack the camping gear on the bike and ride over to Providence Bay where I camp until Sunday.   Friday dawns misty with a light drizzle……..I hang out at the snack bar at the Arena which is serving meals when I return to my site I spy a familiar bike.  Paul Hawgood has ridden up from Bracebridge. We ride into Manitoulin for some refreshments, returning to crack open his bottle of wine and a few beer. The band starts up around 8pm ( Blackwater is the feature Group ) and I must say they are awesome. Honda and Harley are 2 of the bike vendors this year and have ride outs all week end….the same Honda guys that attended our Hubb Event. The weather Friday has put a damper on attendance which is unfortunate for the organizers as so many more vendors are here this year.

Saturday morning is overcast when we start our adventure ride but soon turns Sunny and the rest of the day and evening is great with Blackwater  putting on an excellent show until 1am……. not before the Biker Games which started at 6 and ran until 8.30 with Paul and a loaned female rider taking a Gold Metal and some cash for bite the weenie contest. To enter you required a female companion and another biker was kind enough to lend her mate…… For you old bike enthusiast notice the bike in the second  last pic above with only the front showing to the left. This is a BARN FIND in Huntsville by a fellow from Guelph who was looking for snowmobile parts at Garage. He happened to see bike wheels under a tarp and asked what it was…. the old fellow said a bike his boss had given him in 95 but he never rode it as he didn’t have a licence…..asking if he could see it the owner pulled the tarp off and John’s jaw dropped…..it was a 95 BMW GS100 an early Adventure Series with that African Twin appearance. Though dusty, it appeared in pristine shape. Would you be interested in selling it, he inquired……sure was the reply. Will it run was the next question….well lets try….oil checked….appeared to be a gas  smell in the oil but let’s hook a battery up….with fresh gas in the tank the button is pushed and it fires right up. How much is the next question….$ 3500.00….would you take $ 3200.00 he foolishly asks….no $ 3500.00….SOLD SOLD and he rushes to get his snow mobile trailer before someone else see’s it. The bike had 4500 kilometres on it.

Biker Paul…     See the competition he was up against. notice the intensity and concentration it takes to be in this challenge. The driver is disqualified if he puts his feet down….so look what he is up against in the finals…. though I believe he won this event as well. they gave the award to the Spider….. She missed and Paul and loner won this event…..sorry Paul I missed the winning BITE.

This was the balloon water toss……Good Chance of getting wet if she misses the catch on the other side.

On my way to the trailer Sunday, notice this docked at Little Current…  A passenger ship on route to Montreal…..they were loading fresh water while the passengers where on a Bus Tour of the Island. About 8.30 pm saw it go past my beach camp site heading for open water…..

The Ultimate Winter Ride March 12 2015

 

Met two young adventure riders from the UK at McDonalds today Rachel Lasham and Ed March. They started their trip in Alaska last July and have been making their way across Canada since. Imagine riding in –25 to -40 winter weather……and doing it on 125 Honda Posties. Currently they are headed to Newfoundland then on to Washington via the TAT trail, then on to South America.

You can follow along at one of these sites or look them up on Facebook….

www.wanderonahonda.co.uk

www.c90adventures.co.uk

ed.march@c90adventures.co.uk

All the best to this couple in their travels……..

Yes, I tried to pay the hospitality I have been shown on my travels and asked them if they would stay but they were expected at friends in Toronto tonight. 

Remember the Horizon Unlimited meeting is coming up in June…..REGISTER AT

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/ontario-2015

Horizons Unlimited-Nov 22nd 2014

 

Today Bill Hooykaas arranged for the Team Leaders to preview the Ontario Leadership Conference Centre. This is the new site of the Ontario Horizons Unlimited Adventure gathering June 18th to 21st 2015.

The event attracts adventure travellers from afar and close by…..some will be on their trip , while others are gathering info and preparing for one. The conference features talks with slide show presentations on various countries by travellers, tech talks and demos, border crossing info, how to pack light for lengthily and extended duration,first aid on the road…..just about anything to do with this type of travel.  Vendors such as Twisted Throttle ( Vicious Cycle ), and it is hoped that various Motorcycle reps with their new line will attend……

The site is approximately 180 acres with rooms to accommodate 200 plus hundreds more for camping……..meals provided.

Main Building, dining hall, registration,presentation roomslocation

Older Hall for presentations or evening gathering spot, to show running slides or video….. with Fireplace and piano’s

outside of above

Cabins at the lake….many newer cabins above on the ridge…..This is below the main Pavilion on the shore and shows 2 large camping areas, above the Pavilion is a larger field also used for camping…..

Check out Events North America at Horizons Unlimited for updated info as to the June 18th meeting with Registration Info and list of presenters/vendors as this will grow in the coming months….

Horizon Unlimited Gathering McKellar On-Sept 11 to 14 14

 

Though the weather was wet and cool we had a good time at Camp Manitou, enjoying the various presentations from fellow adventure travellers. The 3 day event is the 3rd hosted in Ontario and second at this location. The presenters included a couple from Georgia USa who just completed an around the World trip lasting 8 months, speakers on Alaska to Ushuaia South America, motorcycling Mexico, a young couple who recently road the Pasmir Hwy, Yoga instructions for on the road health, and many others including bike repairs on the road. It was a great opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones…….Looking forward to next year’s event…… Grant and Susan Johnson founders of Horizons

Temiskaming Loop CVA Ride-Aug 23/24 2014

 

Saturday morning at 8am a group of 4 Canadian Voyager members met under rain threatening clouds at McDonald’s in Gravenhurst. We were embarking on a ride north named in the above heading and described in Ontario’s Advertising as # 2 of 10 best rides. A short stop at Tim’s in Huntsville we were joined by the 5th and 6 members of our tour.

Our next planned stop was West Nipissing formally known as Sturgeon Falls,,,,,this was a slight departure from hwy 11 to Temagami but hopefully would be more twisty after Hwy 17 through Field and connecting with 11n just above Martin River. It didn’t disappoint. No this fury guy  was not part of our group…..note he has his own set of goggles……he or she was likely a part of THE Southern Cruisers who showed up at Tim’s 100 bikes strong….fortunately we where ahead in the line-up…. it would not be long after these pics that layers would be shed as the SUN came out and it was HOT quickly….

Arriving in Temagami about 1pm, we stopped at a Lodge just outside of town……turned out to be a good choice as the food was good and the surroundings pleasant. Jim is absent as he had made a bee line upon arrival for the Restaurant or was that the REST…… see Jim

Believe we are all accounted for…..

 

A stop at the Temagami Train Station was bust as it is not a museum but the Chamber of Commerce though we had a pleasant chat with it’s sole occupant. On to Cobalt where we toured the mining museum and watched a film on the history of the discovery of Silver and the history of the town……seems the builder of Casa Loma in Toronto made his fortune here as did many others…..still Silver in them hills but it’s not worth mining at current prices……SORRY no pics as they were prohibited …..maybe because the value of these minerals were on display…..next to the speciments,

From Cobalt it was a short and scenic drive along the west shore of Lake Temiskaming to our Hotel, The Waterfront Inn……nice spot with a great BAR and Restaurant. As it was next to the LCBO outlet, we could not pass a visit to view it’s contents…….

Happy Hour ended around 7pm…..then off to the hotels bar and restaurant to continue Happy Hour and a bite to eat…….no one left hungry…..the food was excellent……and required a walk afterward to help loose some of the excess weight gain during the day……. PARKING OUTSIDE OUR ROOMS…

Thanks Frank and Patsy for picking this spot

A Continental breaky was part of the room and afterwards we again hit the road in bright clear skies at 830am. Rounding the top of the lake we rode on new pavement so fresh, they were still paving,,,,SUNDAY YET….As we headed south on the East Side, now in Quebec having missed the Customs and Aduana offices due to heavy fog we were greeted by picturesque Farms and sweeping views of the lake.   Coffee break was a little lat, we stopped in Temiskaming and enjoyed some home like baking before crossing back into Ontario, again missing the homeland security aspect of our foray into and out of THE La Belle Province…….don’t tell anyone.

Mattawa was our lunch destination this would take of Hwy 63 and onto #533 which we were told would be terrible and should be doable if we rode single file………hey….they didn’t know that this group was being led by an experienced ADVENTURE RIDER and it would certainly be DOABLE…I am riding dual purpose bike…..Turns out the road was tar and gravel in great shape and the others on the big road bikes had no problems….the twisties and hills made it enjoyable…….I was the only one who had not fuelled up after North Bay and ran out about 20 k from Mattawa……again being an ADVENTURE RIDER I had carried spare fuel and we were soon on our way… Lunch was at Tim’s in a very busy Mattawa location……

Frank took the lead at this point and I dropped to the rear of the pack…Frank had to make a stop at the Hospital his company built in North Bay to address a small water leak…..from here he led us through North Bay along the waterfront which featured  a busy beach….miniature train ride and Merry go Round. Shortly upon leaving this area I saw a Black Squirrel laying flat out on the road ahead, likely trying to save itself from certain mayhem as the traffic approached. Charlie was just ahead of me, his line of approach looked bad for the critter and suddenly the squirrel was hurdled through the air as first the front tire then the rear ejected her like a piece of bark from the bite of a chain saw…….I swerved so as not to be involved in any liability suit……

Rather than joining up with hwy 11 at this point, we headed through Calendar and picked up hwy 11 at the exit for Astorville….then on to Huntsville and a short stop at Tim’s where Charlie and Joan headed for the Cabin on Lake Vernon and the rest of us for Gravenhurst……but not before making tentative plans for a September Ride between Kingston and Gravey………..