A Perfect Ride.

Sunny, nice day...not too hot.

I met Brent in Carleton Place for breakfast at the Gourmet restaurant on HWY 7.  It is actually a pretty good feed.

We decided to head up Haliburton /Wilberforce area.

The obligatory stop at Silver Lake :

The Bikes

Brent Relaxing

Headed up 7 to Madoc and turned on 62 towards Bancroft.
Turned left on 620 and drove through a bunch of nice towns like Coe Hill and Apsley.
Turned onto 118 to the 648 and headed up to Wilberforce. Anither really pretty town.

Awesome roads in the area, too. City of Ottawa should contact this township and ask how they do it....... :)

Stopped at one of the many nice lakes for lunch.
I brought us a nutritous feast of sandwiches and chocolate Pop-Tarts washed down  with Ginger ale.
I know...you are saying to yourself that Pop Tarts are usually a part of a balanced breakfast and not a lunch food...but we  live dangerously.

Lunch spot

Different view

Turned up Elephant Lake road heading to Maynooth, on a lark.
Good choice!

Lots of turns and really scenic. It was the best road of the day, for sure.
And no traffic.
That is even better.

From Maynooth we rode to Whitney, near Algonquin park, and came back through Madawaska and Barry's Bay.

Stopped at the lookout in Wilno...Canada's oldest Polish Settlement.


The Valley from the Lookout in Wilno



Lookout in Wilno

 

 

Plaque at Lookout.

 Wilno is a neat little town.

The people there are very proud of their heritage.

From Wilno we rode past Golden Lake into Eganville, then to Douglas, Renfrew,and stopped at the church in Burnstown.

I came home through Arnprior and Brent headed through Calabogie.

Checked out the tripmeter when I got home, and we had gone 650 km.

WTF ?

Sure didn't seem that long.......

That is the sure sign of a great ride....you get home feeling relaxed and happy, and can't believe all of the places you saw and visited.

I am Ok with that.



It's Friday and I have been off all week.

I worked on a project at the house, helped out my buddy Brent on a project he has going, did a little of my real job by remote, and did some riding of course!

Got out a couple of evenings with my wife. Did the canal, and another night went up through Carp and back, with a stop for ice cream.

Yesterday I left the house meaning to be gone for only a couple of hours, and ended up  gone for a 6 hr. ride.
I ended up at Mont Tremblant by way of Hawkesbury, Montebello.
A truly amazing area.
Mountains, lakes, rivers, rolling meadows , picturesque farms....
I had a hard time deciding when to stop and take pictures...it was like a sensory overload of "scenic vistas".

Ended up happy but sunburned.

The Laurentians

More Laurentians

The Red River in Brebeuf

More Red River

Today the weather was looking a little iffy with a good chance of thundershowers, so I got out for only  a couple of hours this morning.
Went along River rd. to Kemptville, then Merrickville, Smith Falls, Perth, Carleton place and home.
Wore a long sleeve shirt...arms still tender from yesterday.

Merrickville is a real pretty town.
It has the whole "heritage stone building" thing going,along with being on the Rideau at the locks.
Good combo.

Merrickville from the locks

The locks

The locks other view

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and nice again. That probably means...a ride!

Holiday Monday

Was another beautiful day! Sunny and hot.

Got out this morning with my wife, along the canal and then to Hog's back.


This afternoon I did a quick trip to Gananoque, and came back along the St Lawrence.

The St Lawrence parkway

Random Island

Peaceful spot

There were a ton of bikes out today. Everybody was just enjoying July weather on a holiday in May.

There's nothing as disappointing as having a long weekend with crappy weather...as much as you tell yourself it is OK cuz it is still time off etc....it just plain sucks to look out the window and see a grey sky and wet roads.

I would much rather end the weekend sun burned, wind swept, stiff and sore.
These are the sure signs that fun occured.

I have some time off this week, so if there is some decent weather, I will get some rides in, between projects around here.

Long weekend

Pretty hard to argue with this weekend's weather....unless hot and sunny is not your thing.
Got out for a nice ride Saturday night with my wife along the canal and back up the Ottawa River parkway.
We stopped at the Experimental farm, of course. The lilacs are in bloom.
Mass plantings of anything are impressive.


Today Brent and I went on a good ride over on the Quebec side.
We crossed at Portage du Fort, and went up to Kazabazua.
From there Maniwaki, Grande Remous,Mont Laurier, and then home down the 309 to Buckingham.

We stopped at a little lake outside Otter lake, and there was hundreds of white suckers spawning in the shallows. Some of them looked to be a fair size...like 5lbs or so.

White suckers spawning

Lake near Otter lake

The lakes and Rivers were in full summer mode. Kids swimming, boating, jet skis...nice to see.

Highway 309 took us through some beautiful country in the  Laurentians .
The highway either has a lake, a river or a mountain running beside it the whole way. Almost too much to see.

Stopped along the 309

Lake off of the highway

The laurentians

All and all, a pretty awesome day.

New Tire

Exciting stuff!!
a new rear tire for the bike.

I had it installed at Black's Corners Tire ( link in my favourites).

Can't say enough good stuff about these people.... they are set up nicely, the pricing is hard to beat, and they do do good work.

They are also now stocking and can order in tires, brake pads and these cool ultra light batteries.

Up on lift

No Mar



Don

Sunday Ride

Got out for a small ride today.

Perth, Rideau Ferry, Toledo, Brockville and then home via 401/416.

Stopped for a quick break at a cool dam and swampy area .

Dam outside Mott's Mills

Leon and Brent and the bikes

Stream.

Nothing spectacular...just a nice run .

Good Cause and then some riding.

Today we (significant other and my son) went on a walk-a-thon for our favourite charity....Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services.

It is held at the park at Britannia Beach.

Sunny...no rain...perfect day for a walk-a-thon. 2.5 KM along the Ottawa River to Andrew Haydon park and back.

Ottawa River

Silent auction, Little Rays Reptiles for the kids, a BBQ and even a band!

Unfortunately, addictions isn't a glamour charity or one with a lot of curb appeal.
There are no baby seals with big eyes or youtube videos generating all kinds of support for the cause.
Enough preaching...



After the walk a thon we went for a ride along the Ottawa River parkway and the canal to see the tulips and crabapples.
Excellant riding conditions...warm and sunny with not much wind.

The crabs are at their peak today.

Photos don't do justice to these trees.
This many together looks amazing and smells out of this world.

Going to get some riding in tomorrow, I hope.
The next few days are sunny and warm...that is always good news for riding.

Friday Afternoon

Got out for a real nice ride this afternoon with a
colleague from work. We went up through the Lanark area to Ompah, Plevna, Myers's cave to the Bon Echo Parc area.
The roads in this area are in great shape, and there are lots of twisty areas to keep things interesting.
Stopped for a look at the rock face at Mazinaw lake.



Cliffs at Mazinaw Lake



The Bikes

Came home up the Matawatchan road to Calabogie. Really scenic route with Centennial lake and Black Donald lake on either side of the road.
The road itself is in terrible shape, but still worth the ride to see.

All in all,  a great way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon !

Nice May Weekend

Pretty awesome weekend!

Started out Saturday with a trip down to the Biker Church's swap meet.
Tons of people and bikes, and quite a collection of motorcycle parts for those looking.
Refreshments, draws, local vendors...even a band.
It has become quite an occasion.

The Biker Church does a great job getting the diversity that is the "biker" community together.
Definately an "all walks of life" scene....little old ladies and families to the 1% 'rs.
Rice rockets to choppers.
Neat to see.

From there it was off to the Experimental Farm via the Canal and Tulip- Fest.
Everything is starting to bloom...best time of the year there. Lots of amazing sites.
We drive by at least once a week to keep up with the colours.
We are plant nerds, I guess.




Out Front Biker Church

Swap meet and band

Side street at swap meet

Crabapples at Experimental Farm

Cool Scots Pines at Exp. Farm

Little lake outside Bobcaygeon

Stopped for a break.

Sunday was ride day with Brent.
We headed up to Peterborough, and from there to Bobcaygeon. The Kawartha area is certainly worth checking out...pretty good roads, nice scenery...all the important stuff.
On the way we crossed a causeway at Chemong Lake..it was pretty amazing....a small detour that probably caused an hour of extra riding...but that is OK!
 On to Bancroft, McArthurs Mills, Denbigh,  Kartum and home from Renfrew.
Actually turned out to be a pretty respectable ride...just under 700 km for the day, and we didn't bust our balls doing it. Pretty relaxed.
Probably the best ride day so far this year, and the 1st of many.