Between riding to work and a bunch of after dinner rides, I mananged to get
some decent riding in during the week.

Friday, my wife and I rode to Almonte, Pakenham, Arnprior for dinner and home through Kinburn and Carp.

Saturday we rode up to the water park at Mont Cascades by bike. About an hour away.
I managed to hurt my back wiping out on slippery stairs at the lodge.
But ...it was a beautiful day, a lot of fun, and a ride, aside from that.

Sunday I rode with Brent.
We met in Lanark for breakfast, and headed to the St. Lawrence .
Through Perth, Smith Falls and Brockville to get there.

We stopped outside of  Edwardsburgh to see
"The Battle of the Windmill National Historical site".
Pretty cool spot.
Well worth stopping to see.

The view from the windows up top was something else...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing on, we went onto the Long Sault Parkway.
It's a good ride but short.
Great scenery, and roadway, but only 20 minutes of riding.

To get home from Cornwall, we went up the 138, and turned onto 43.
Rode back to Kemptville and the 416 through Avonmore, Chesterville, Winchester.
Straight roads...farms...not a lot to see except corn.

Wasn't a massive ride by any means, but it was sunny and 30 degrees, and we were riding.
Can't say anything bad about that !

 

Hope this sunny hot weather keeps up, but being late August, that is wishful thinking.

Some Nice Weather !

After the last week of rain, it was great to get some decent weather for riding.

Thursday night my wife and I did a little ride out through Richmond to Burritts Rapids, Merrickville , Kemptville then home.
We stopped at the locks in Merrickville. It is a really pretty spot.

Not sure why, but locks have always intrigued me. Simple technology that works, I guess.


Saturday I rode with Brent.
We met in Lanark, went to Calabogie, then  the Matawatchan rd. along Centennial lake.

Road can be shitty in spots...but the view makes it worth it.

From there ....Denbigh to just before McArthurs Mills and up the Boulter road.
Amazing scenery...photos don't do it justice.

The photos above are at a random spot along the road.
As we rode, I knew it was only a question of time before Brent would want to pull over....it was just too pretty.
This spot had a barn off to the left with 5 or 6 horses just peacefully  grazing, and then this view.
We both agreed that living here would be awesome....it was so peaceful.

From here we went to Combermere, and had lunch from a chip truck, just sitting under a tree at a picnic table.

I had told Brent about the little park on Old Barry's Bay rd. and he wanted to see it...so that was our next stop.

The water was considerably higher since the last time I was there.
Brent agreed that it was like New Hampshire.

We rode the rest of the road to Barry's Bay, then came home through Wilno ( with a stop at the lookout, of course), Golden Lake, Eganville, Renfrew home.

Brent commented that there was still all kinds of great riding and rides in our own backyard...all this stuff was within 2. hrs of Ottawa or Lanark.


Sunday my wife and I wanted to do a little ride somewhere, and then go for breakfast, but couldn't come up with a place to ride, because of the bicycle closures to the canal, Parkway etc.
We were just going up Prince of Wales heading to the Arboretum, and we spotted Hog's back.
Hadn't been there in a while!
I turned in....good choice.
You are never too old to climb around on rocks.

From there..breakfast at Al's Diner. which is always good, and then home.

No massive rides, but lots of nice spots to enjoy.

Hopefully the weather holds this week, and I get some more riding in.

Mid Week update

We have gone from having a drought to rain every day for the last 10 days or so.

This past weekend I got out for a couple of evening spins up the 416...that's it.

Last night after an appointment, I rode up to the canal, and came back along the Ottawa River Parkway.

The water level looks good along the canal, but the Ottawa River still looks really low.

Sorry for the crap-tacular photos...they were all taken with my phone while sitting on the bike.

Short rides, but it was still nice to get out.
Last night it seemed like half of the bikes in Ottawa were out riding the same route.
I got "rider's wave fatigue" in my left arm.

For those not in the know, when you ride towards someone else on a motorcycle, you are supposed to give a little wave... not sure why.
Maybe it is a custom held over from when there weren't very many bikes on the road.
Now every Vespa, rice rocket, enduro, moped , e-bike, cruiser, trike, rat bike ... wave at you when they see you. Sheesh !
It's all too much.

Hopefully we get some weather this weekend.
I could use a long ride.

Not much riding.....

It has been a rainy week...not very conducive to riding. Rain is one thing but these torrential storms with lightning? I'll pass.

I did get out for a little ride tonight just to say I had been out.
It was actually nice for a bit. The humidity was gone, it was clear...all good.
I rode up the 416 to Kemptville and back...not large , but better than no ride at all!
Had a ghost car pull up beside me,  look me over, and then speed off.
Guess I looked legit or something. :)

Good week otherwise.
Busy as hell at work, which is great....it is good to be busy .
Thursday I celebrated 4 years of no drinking. Some days I still can't believe it...but I am sure thankful I did.
Life has certainly changed for the better !
6 months off the butts too !...Kind of not fun, still....but oh well.

Big day tomorrow.
My wife and son's birthdays. Have our parents coming over for dinner etc.
Happy Birthday , guys!!!

Hoping the sun returns and I get some riding in this week and definitely, next weekend.

Hot Riding

Got out for a ride with Brent today .

Started out wearing a hoodie over my t-shirt and vest.

We met in Lanark, and then went up through Elphin to HWY 7 .

Took a little break on the Mississipi river. The water level was really low.

   



Headed to Marmora and then to Belleville.

It is a beautuful ride...rolling countryside with  farms and fields.

Nice little towns like Chatterton and Foxboro.

Good roads.

From Belleville we went up the 2 to Napanee, and then of course down to Lake Ontario.

When we crested the hill at the power plant and hit the lake...it was 10 degrees cooler.

Stopped for lunch at a park outside of Bath.

I had a nutritious and tasty poutine and a coke....and a granola bar.



  

After lunch we headed to Kingston to check out the Harley dealer.

By this time it was fricken boiling out.
We were both riding with our vests open, and stopped a bunch of times for water.
Sitting in traffic sucked.

After the dealer, we gassed up and headed for Smith Falls. Seemed like a long ride.
Brent split at Rideau Ferry and I headed home.

1 Km from my turnoff on the 417, and I got pulled over by the OPP.
He thought my bars looked too high.
I explained that my hands were still below my shoulders, and he said that is not the way it works.

Got out his tape ..measured...went back to the car to do the math...and came back to say I was just legal.
I was polite the whole time, but kind of seething inside.

Like ...WTF ?

All the bad shit going on in the world, and this guy has to pull me over to check the height on my bars?

Totally ridiculous law to start with ..It does not take into account a person's height, reach, style of bike..."one size fits all"  rules are bullshit!

I am sure the public is sleeping better tonight knowing that the OPP are on the case.

World sure feels safer.

But...can't let this 10 minutes poison a great ride.

It does not define my day.

Barry's Bay Holiday

It was a busy week at Barry’s Bay being on holiday with my wife , daughter Grace and our fearless and faithful pooch, Wiley.

Between swimming, fishing, boating, canoeing and relaxing...

The bike outside the cottage.

I got some quality riding in.

I thought I knew the area pretty well, but still managed to get good and lost a few times on back roads.

There is an elusive road that connects Combermere and Highway 28 near McArthurs Mills...it looks pretty simple, but there are a bunch of unmarked intersections that corn-holed me 3 times....I kept ending up the other side of Bancroft....Oh well.

Still, I discovered a few fun roads.
Like Old Barry's Bay road which ends right at Combermere. Really curvy and nice.
Some cool things too.
A religious display in the middle of nowhere...

And then a really nice park...rocks ...a stream ...little waterfall.

                        Me and my daughter Grace on a bridge at the park

 Me contemplating the river

Another nice road was Siberia road out of Barry's Bay.
It ends at Highway 62 just west of Combermere.
The asphalt was crappy in some locations, and not there in some spots, but it was 30 KM of beautiful country, and challenging riding.

Stopped in to pay my respects to brother Dan's sister Cheryl .
The cemetery is on the road that becomes Siberia.






And checked out Madawaska area.

As usual, everywhere I stopped there were people who wanted to talk to me about my Harley or motorcycles in general.
I guess I must radiate a safe vibe or something...people just come over and start with "nice bike..." and 15 minutes later we are still chatting.
That's cool...I don't mind talking about these subjects !
And it is always good to meet nice people.

So somehow I managed to get in 1100 km without trying...just scouting around and saying "what's down here ? " and just turning that way....the intrepid explorer.
Totally about enjoyment .

Not a bad holiday at all !