Cold October Ride

I got out for a little ride today...but it was kind of cold for anything large...the high today was 6 degrees.
I met Brent in Hopetown and we drove up 511 to the Tatlock road, and drove back through Clayton, with a quick stop at Clayton Lake.

Some big news though....Brent bought another bike a week ago.
A 2005 Road King.
Looks great, and has a 96 cu. in. motor.

I got home pretty chilled through.

Here's hoping for some Indian summer action !

Thanksgiving Weekend

I booked the Friday before the long weekend off about a month ago hoping it would be a nice day.
Great foresight on my part!
It was sunny and 21 degrees by the afternoon.

When I left in the morning to meet Brent it was a little chilly...like 4 degrees....not great but I could feel it getting warmer as I rode.

We met for breakfast in Lanark, and then headed to Kingston through Glen Tay, and followed Scotch line to Westport. Always a nice ride.
From Westport we rode the Perth road , which becomes Division Street in Kingston.
Lunch in Kingston at Rotten Ronnies and then jumped on the 401 going west and got off at the Odessa interchange.
Visited the towns of Yarker,Tamsworth and came back on the Arden road to Arden.
It is kind of like the land that time forgot on parts of the road...like something out of  "Deliverance".
You would not be surprised to hear a banjo playing....

We stopped at a little lake in Arden.

Arden is right off of highway 7, so we jumped on it, and rode into Perth where we split up, and headed for our homes.

Saturday I went canoing with Biker Hottie on the Madawaska up at Burnstown.
It was perfect weather for canoing , and we basically had the river to ourselves.
Saw turtles, a heron and huge schools of minnows.

Sunday Brent was busy, so I went out by myself.
416 to 401 and up to Napanee.
Stopped at a park by the water.

Napanee is a nice town.
Very picturesque and clean.


Down 8 to Lake Ontario.

All of a sudden the road ends...and you are there.

I followed the Loyalist Parkway through Bath, Millhaven, Collins Bay,and stopped at a nice park on the lake.

I had the place to myself, except for a couple of people way off in the distance.
Really peaceful with just the lapping of the waves, and the wind.

When I hit Kingston, I jumped on the 401 and headed home via the highway....I did not want to be late and miss out on my Mom's turkey feed at my sister's place.
I ate until bloated..... I had debated the 2nd helping, and common sense did not prevail.

Today we have Biker Hottie's family coming over for a turkey feast.
I will once again eat until my stomach is hard as rock.

I got out for a little mid afternoon run down the 416 to Spencerville and back.
Just 'joyin the day.

None of the rides were huge, but they added up to a pretty good weekend of riding...995 km's worth.
Not bad for mid October!

From here on in, the good riding gets less certain.
I can almost feel the season winding down... :(


al

October riding

Well today is Sunday...my usual ride day.... and it is pouring outside.
That sucks.

But I am happy to report that the Biker Hottie and I got out for a ride yesterday .
We went up through Pakenham, Burnstown, Waba, and White Lake to enjoy the colours.

We stopped at the beach in Burnstown to check out the Madawaska.

It wasn't sunny but the colours were still pretty awesome.

Pakenham is always nice down by the water.

And Biker Hottie got a couple of shots of me..there aren't that many of those on the blog.

The weather at the start of the week is looking crappy, but it is supposed to improve as the week goes on.

I have Friday booked as a holiday...it's Thanksgiving next weekend so that would give me 4 days.

I am hoping to get a bunch of good rides in !


al

Late September Rides

Well here it is September 29th...and we have been getting some really nice weather.

Last weekend was a write-off...Saturday it poured all day, and Sunday it was damp and windy, and every time I went out for a little spin...it started to rain.

This past week has been sunny, and it warmed up nicely as the week went by.

Friday afternoon I left early and hooked up with an associate from work, Mark..and his friend Brian for a ride. They are both fun to ride with.
We headed up to Hawkesbury along 17 and turned off just after Wendover and followed the river.
From Hawkesbury we crossed into Quebec and headed for Lachute.
From Lachute, Mark took us on some awesome roads up to Mont Tremblant.
Lots and lots of windy roads, lakes and mountains. That can never be a bad thing!

Mark and Brian

The view from the parking lot at Tremblant

We took a little break at mark's place, and then headed back towards Montebello on the 323.
From there ...the 50 to Gatineau and home.

It wasn't a huge ride...425 Km's...but it was certainly a quality ride. Sunny, 21 degrees, no wind..and something different.
I don't get up to that area often enough...it is really something.

Saturday was similarly beautiful out, and me and the biker hottie went canoe-ing at the Morris Island Conservation area. Lots of geese on the water and turtles sunning themselves on dead heads.
I had to portage the canoe about 300 ft to and from the water, while biker hottie carried all of our stuff.
It doesn't sound far... but the canoe gets heavier the longer you have it on your neck and shoulders.

I washed the bike on Saturday as well. It was filthy. I had only been spot cleaning with Pledge for too long...it needed soap and water.

This morning I left the house at 7:30 and headed to Lanark to meet up with Brent.
We had breakfast at the Landing and decided we would head to Madoc and from there ..Bancroft.

We had lunch by the river outside of Bancroft.

An old guy drove into the area...stopped..and asked if he could look at our bikes.
We said sure, and then after that he came and joined us at the picnic table.
He used to ride...so we chatted for a while.

From Bancroft we took 28 to Denbigh.
From Denbigh to Renfrew and then Burnstown.
We stopped at the church in Burnstown. It overlooks the Madawaska.
Pretty awesome view.

From Burnstown Brent headed home via Calabogie, and I ran up to 17 and came home through Arnprior.

Not a huge ride...about 480km...but again .... it was a quality ride.
Lots of early fall colours, rivers/lakes and good roads.

With riding into work a few times it turned out to be a 1000km week.
Not so bad for end of September!

And I thought I would state for the record that the oil change that I mentioned I would be doing in a previous post went off flawlessly...no Hazmat teams...no mystery spots on the lane way...no spills...

That deserves a couple of high fives!

Okay...3 high fives...

The important thing is that I did not end up getting shit from the normally agreeable Biker Hottie.

All similarities to persons or people real or imagined are purely coincidental.
The above representation is in no way meant to impugn the aforementioned biker hottie's appearance or temperament...

al

I'm back ....Some recent rides

Contrary to what my lack of posts would seem to show, I have been getting some riding in.
Been busy at work, too.
Life has been getting in the way of blogging.
Plus I have been working on the laptop a lot at work...sometimes the last thing I want to do is spend more time on a computer when I get home.


Nothing huge in ride world...but enough hours to be decent.

Two weekends ago Brent and I met in Lanark and headed towards Tweed via Sharbot lake and Wagerville.
From there we rode up to Combermere via the Boulter road.
We stopped at the little waterfall park outside of Combermere for lunch.

We came home old Barry's Bay road/Wilno/Golden Lake/Renfrew.
Not massive... but a good 500 km or so ride.


Last Friday my wife ( a.k.a.  ..."the biker hottie" ) and I took a little spin out to Richmond, then Malakof road to Donnely road, Burrits rapids to Merrickville, Smiths Falls, Carleton Place for dinner and then home.
Great company and a great ride.



Last weekend, we headed out to Sharbot lake, and cut over towards Wagerville and then turned on highway 41.
Stopped for a rest at Beaver Lake.

 

 Nice spot



We kept going through Kaladar, Northbrook, Cloyne, Mazinaw and turned at Vennachar, and headed up the Matawatchan road.
Quite awesome.

Stopped for a break in Calabogie by the lake.

Calabogie road to Wolfgrove to Almont...and then home.
Again...not massive but a great day.
It was nice and cool. The bikes like that....they are air cooled.
On a really hot day it can feel like having a really really hot,  "hot-water bottle" under your nads.
Not very nice precious.
No.... not at all!

I also bought a filter and some oil this week to do an oil change.
You know what that means don't you?... break out the Hazmat team for my laneway this weekend !

And of course there will be a ride on Sunday.
Not sure exactly where yet... but somewhere.

It's been awhile!

Life has a way of interrupting.
It certainly has been awhile since I blogged.

So....
My wife and I were on holidays in New Hampshire early August.
We didn't go by bike, but still got to all of the great spots along the Kancamagus trail.
Some of them involved some pretty good hikes that I wouldn't want to be doing in my bike boots.
Of course we stayed at the Profile Motel in Lincoln, which was still as clean and convenient as my previous visits.

When we got back I did some small rides, but the weather did not seem to cooperate with when I had free time....just some small rides here and there.

Last Sunday Brent came my way and we got a decent ride in.
Headed to Cornwall, and came back along the St.lawrence Parkway.

We stopped at a few nice spots....

The riding was relaxed.

We turned off before Brockville and toured through Athens, Delta, Crosby, and took the Bollingbroke road back to 7 at Maberly.

Brent continued to lanark, and I split for home.

Not an epic ride...but almost 500km.

On one small ride last week I hit a cool number on my speedometer.

It doesn't take very much to amuse me.....

This past week was busy as hell at work.

I did ride to work 3 of 5 days, and get out for a couple of spins after dinner.

Hoping to get out this Sunday for a big one...but who knows?

I have to work on Saturday...maybe Sunday, which would conflict with a ride...

oops...forgot to press send last night...so here goes. :)

Some recent rides

Last weekend I got out for a great ride with Brent.
We met in Lanark for breakfast, and then headed out with no particular destination.
Did the Calabogie run.
Through Burnstown.
Stopped at the little park on the Madawaska.

I love that river.

We took back roads towards Pembroke, and stopped at the Snake River.

It was swampy and quiet.
Lots of fish, frogs, birds etc.
Again...it smelled amazing...fresh and natural.

We bypassed Pembroke, and followed the river to Arnprior.
Stopped at a boat launch that seemed nice.

And from there...home!

Some tunes to break up the monotomy..

And now...this past week!

There were lots of nice days this week.
I rode to work 4 of 5 days.
Went out for little spins every night.

I left work at 1 on Friday, went out to Brent's and we went on a ride.
Up to Sharbot lake.
Along Hwy. 38 to the Wesport road.

Stopped along Wolf Lake.

It is a really curvy, fun road to ride on.

From Westport, we went to Perth, and then Brent went his way, and I headed to A&W in Carleton Place, and then home.

All in all, a great week of riding.
Just over 1000 km of sun and road.


al