Some weather...finally.

It has not been the greatest spring....that's for sure.


There has been a few nice days here and there, but it has been colder than normal, and it has rained a shit-load.

I have got out for a few rides, but nothing huge.


Last weekend Brent and I got out for a few hours.
Stopped at our favourite swamp outside of Perth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    A week today it was me and Biker Hottie's 30th anniversary.

We went for a ride along the Ottawa River , down along the canal and Dow's lake, and over to the Experimental farm.

Stuff was just starting to green up and bloom.

 

 

 

 

 

During the week I got out for some after dinner rides when I could, but did not go anywhere special.

 

Sunday Brent and I met in Perth, and rode to Madoc, and up to Bancroft and came back through Denbie and Renfrew.

It was supposed to be a nice day...turned out to be mostly cloudy, windy and we even got rained on a couple of times.

We stopped at a little park off of highway 41...it was on a small lake. It was a nice spot.

 

 

 

Commercial break with some Blackberry Smoke.

 

 

 

 

 

...and now back to our program...

 

 

 

I got home chilled and a little discouraged with the weather.

 

Today is a perfect May day.

Sunny...about 20 degrees...not much wind.

 

Biker Hottie suggested I go for a ride, so I went out with no particular destination in mind.

 

Stopped in Burritt's Rapids at the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Checked out the locks in Merrickville.

 

 

 

Took some random roads, and ended up in Brockville.

Drove along the Parkway.

Saw a pretty big ship....the photo doesn't do it justice.

 

 

 

 

Hit Prescott, and then 416'd it home.

 

Was probably the nicest ride this year, so far.

 

4 weeks to Bike week in Laconia!!!!

                                                                                                                                                                          





The return of Riding with Al

 Well....

                                          It has been a long and painful winter, but it is over.

 

I just didn't feel like blogging over the winter.
I think I was actually feeling a little depressed not riding, and if I had blogged it would have been worse.
I really did not want last season to end, and then it seemed like winter came early after a shitty fall.
By mid November the bike was put away.

Spring is finally here.
Last Sunday was supposed to be nice, and then I woke up to a huge dump of snow.
Crap!
I watched the weather all week hoping for a nice day this weekend.
Today was the day.

Today I got my engine, primary and transmission oils changed, my tires topped up with air, and even threw in new spark plugs.
Had to put new batteries in my security fobs as well.

And no asphalt was traumatized or ruined in the aforementioned operation.... which means Mrs. Riding with Al can't beat on me for causing laneway cancer.





And then...I went for a ride!
Yay!!!!!
1st ride of the year.

I was bundled up like Frosty the fricken Snowman.
Don't care.
It was around 2 degrees when I headed out, and it went up to 7 with a wind.
Still...compared to what it has been like.... it seemed tropical.

 

Not a huge ride...Brockville, Gananoque, Smiths Falls, Richmond and home.
About 180 miles. (300 KM)
I saw a few bikes out, but not too many.


And so the riding season starts.

Stay tuned.

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.