Des Plaines Illinois to Delaware Ohio

OK, it was 6:00 AM EST but it was only 5:00 AM local time. Still, I was awake and trying to get some of the Blog notes transcribed. After a couple of hours of blogging, packing and breakfasting, we got the bikes loaded for the long 3.8 miles trek to the Trailmaster facility. I took the time to check tire pressures (all OK) and tread wear. The trailer tires look like they are holding up at 20 PSI and the rear bike tire doesn't show any wear since leaving home.

I had the Trailmaster address programmed into the GPS, so led through the morning traffic. As we turned into the industrial park, there was a deer standing right on the edge of the road. This is virtually in the city of Chicago. I hit the horn and, of course, it crossed in front of me and joined a second hooved forest rat we then saw on the other side. Shortly thereafter, we found the trailer shop cleverly hidden in a row of other light industrial buildings.

The Man From Aspen (I didn't get his real name) was very thorough in demonstrating the proper way to set up and take down the camper. I am very impressed by the room inside, the way of accessing the luggage, its tolerance of uneven ground and the construction. I still have the advantage in ease of set-up and weight. Here Patsy discusses the finer points of setup while Terry watches.

After getting the low-down,the trailer was hooked up and the lights tested. The tire pressure was corrected. It looked pretty good sitting there behind the Valk. But how would it run? There was only one way to find out. I took the lead through a few streets, stopping momentarily to check before jumping onto the big road. Terry gave me a thumbs up so we hit I-290 East. Traffic wasn't too bad as we approached the Chicago skyline and then turned south on I-90. Traffic stayed light and the new express lanes were great, even though the Zumo didn't know about them. After the Skyway, we paid and Illinois toll and then an Indiana one. Then we picked up a ticket and headed east on the Indiana Toll Road.

Since this stretch was a ticketed toll road, we stopped at a service centre for gas and lunch. Terry noted that the Mickey D's prices were inflated. He paid $1.70 more than usual for a meal that had single patties instead of double and no pies. We saw two black unmarked Dodge Chargers that the State Police were using. Terry wondered if they had the V-6 engines like the ones Sudbury tried and found lacking. Nope, Hemi V-8's. I didn't expect anything else.

Terry took over the lead after lunch. At the Ohio line, we paid Indiana toll and got a new ticket for the Buckeye State. Shortly after, Terry pulled off at an exit where we had to pay to get off. The toll booth looked familiar. Sure enough, there was the Econolodge where we took cover from severe storms as we headed west a couple of years ago. Fueled,we got a new ticket and continued east.

I'd like to take a moment, for the non-riders (and a few riders who should know better), to talk about riding in groups. Unlike traveling with cars, bike groups take a degree of co-operation to be successful. We had three bikes. Staggered run, everyone knowing where their place was and where everyone else would be. It didn't take any discussion, just common sense and a little experience. In traffic, the leader indicates lane change intentions, the tail rider makes it happen. In three days, there was never a moment where I was unsure of what was going on. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Thanks to Terry and Patsy for a great ride.

I bring that up now because, as we crossed I-75, we turned south. We waved goodbye to T&P, who continued east headed for Americade in Lake George, New York. After a short hop south, we caught US-23, a road that Tomcat and Scotty had both told me was a good way to get to North Carolina. The clouds had been building near the lakes, more like pop-ups than a front, but it looked clearer to the south. I have never done very well on the south side of the Great Lakes.

US-23 south was two-lane for a ways with virtually no traffic. Then it turned to four-lane divided with a 65 MPH limit. It was a nice ride. Ohio doesn't roll around here, but it undulates. It is also very green,and people have huge, flat yards.

I scanned ahead with the GPS and found a Super 8 in Delaware Ohio, just north of Columbus. We got there about 6:00 PM but, a) the GPS didn't know they had added a traffic light controlled intersection and tried to make me pass by an U-Turn and, b) it was no longer a Super 8 but a Comfort Inn (bought in February). A couple of more dollars but very nice. We got a king room and then headed over to the neighboring Bob Evans for some food. We ate off the 55+ menu and admired photos of Delaware from 1903 that were hanging on the wall.

There are scattered thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow for both Columbus and Asheville. This could be good or bad. Time will tell.

Escanaba Michigan to Des Plaines Illinois

I was awake at 6:30. Hallelujah, although it was a little cool, we had clear skies. The weather looks good through to Chicago. Severe storms are rolling across from the plains to the Carolinas, but we won't be there for a couple of days.

One of the first things I noticed when I got on-line this morning was that some Emails Patsy had sent from my Gmail SMTP to Hotmail accounts had been rejected. "Policy", the message said. A Google check showed that Hotmail was using a blacklist that had Gmail identified as a source of Spam. It looks like a ramification of the failed Google takeover by Microsoft. You can't say those boys don't play rough.

The first sounds of the morning were two Vipers burning out the length of the parking lot. The first one kept the car straight. We went down and had the continental breakfast and then loaded up the bikes. There was no big rush since we had less than six hours of riding to do.

After fueling, Terry led us down M-35 to Menominee. We passed the 45th Parallel marker and I took a moment to reflect on the fact that we are only half way to the North Pole. That's not very far north. Why are winters so cold, anyway? In Menominee, it was obvious that Wisconsin gas was going to be cheaper. Escanaba gas was $4.12 while we saw $3.97 near the border.

In Wisconsin, we reconnected with US 41. South of Peshtigo, they were setting up to do some major road work so I'll find another way to get to Boscobel Wisconsin in ten days or so. As we approached Green Bay, a mistake in communication resulted in Terry missing the I-43 turn. We went on a ways before he stopped for gas, and then backtracked and cut over to I-43. Anyone who advocates the use of concrete highways in frost climates (there are a few) needs to go down to the Green Bay area and drive around a bit. Instead of fixable holes, the whole slab moves making the joints very rough. The repair is a very big deal, unlike a simple asphalt resurfacing.

We rode along through green, rolling farmland, admiring the typically Wisconsin scenery. That is, until we got near Milwaukee. We exited looking for gas. The neighborhood and little downtown area was nice and well kept up. The people were well dressed. But, except for the guy in the gas station behind 3" bulletproof glass, we were the only white faces there. We went on up to a McDonald's next to I-41 and found the same thing, except for one car of traveling folk that wandered in. There was a cultural ambiance that was outside my experience, but then I am pretty naive in this type of thing. It wasn't run down in any way but it certainly was racially divided, I assume by choice.

I took the lead from here, using Stella to navigate the wonders of the area Interstate system. As I ran along, I noted the gas stations, hotel/motels, car dealerships and other businesses that depend on the paradigm of a mobile America. If America becomes less mobile, the ramifications will be tremendous. While not wishing to preach doom and gloom, I see hard times ahead.

We entered Illinois on I-94. It was under construction just like most northern Illinois Interstates I have ever seen. The speed limit was posted at 45 MPH but, if I had done less than 65, somebody would have run over me. Taking I-294, we got onto the express lanes until Terry, and then Patsy, passed me. Patsy's tour pack had come loose and they were looking for a place to pull over. With blind luck, Terry took the correct exit onto I-90 and took the shoulder. With cars whipping by, we got the pack reattached. My temp readout said it was 23 but it felt like 30.

The Super 8 we were looking for was right on the north side of O'Hare Airport. The jets taking off seem to be making some pretty aggressive climbing, turning maneuvers coming out of there. It's interesting to watch. We could have made an easy turn into the motel lot except for a curb. All around this area, they seem to have built curbs in the median to keep people from getting from here to there. And then they put up No U-Turn signs. Damn them!!

After some circling maneuvers, we successfully entered the motel lot. I felt like a Byrds song. To every thing, turn, turn, turn...... Sunday night, and we were early so we expected no problem. It was closer than we would have thought. The lady had a room, non-smoking with two Queen beds. The rate, with CAA, was $71 plus. Terry asked if that was the best she could do and, with a smile, she said there were only two rooms left and maybe this one should be $99. End of dickering:-))

Guess what. Ladies wanted a WalMart. Found several on the Zumo and picked one. Terry learned not to assume he knew what I was going to do when I was following the GPS. He though I would be out of the lot and make a 180 around the median. I didn't. Then, when he tried to catch me (as I was coming back to get him) we got separated by a really long, really slow train. Finally, we made it to WalMart where the girls shopped and the guys wiped down dirty bikes. Yes, you heard me. I did some cleaning. Then Terry and I talked to a man named John who, since he retired 13 years ago, has raised $180K for the Chicago Children's' Hospital by getting donations and giving lollipops at the WalMart door. The store donates the candy. We left a few dollars to aid his cause.

Zumo roulette is a game where we let the GPS choose where we are going to eat. It worked in Terre Haute last year and it worked again here. We found a restaurant called Mrs. P and Me in Mount Prospect. I surprised Patsy with the camera as she was eating her French onion soup. The food was good, ,especially the golden fries, and the prices reasonable. Photos on the wall, circa 1924, show the bar was originally Kruse's Tavern. The original bar back is still there.

We made it back to the hotel and three of us hit the spa/pool. No kids. It was great. Patsy declined and made some phone calls instead. Then we realized that we were now in the Central Time Zone. The 8:30 pickup tomorrow morning would actually be 9:30 Eastern. That cut out a riding hour tomorrow. Oh well,best laid plans and all that.

Notes on the GPS

I've gotten to where I need this thing to navigate, but I have learned that it's an art, not a science. Sometimes, for no reason, it will take a detour off a main road for a ways. These are usually interesting interludes. One thing that happened tonight on the way to the restaurant was that it took us down a street that had been closed off. U-Turn and detour. Yesterday, it told me a WalMart was on the left. When I committed to the left lane, we saw it was actually on the right. So, we always find where we're going, but sometimes it is a little bit challenging.

Sudbury Ontario to Escanaba Michigan

I was up at 5:00 AM checking with TheWeatherNetwork. After a continual changing forecast all week, the prognostication yesterday promised clear skies for today. No such luck. The hourly forecast told me it was presently raining and would continue to do so until 8:00 AM. The actual report was overcast with no rain. If they can't forecast NOW, why do I keep going to them for the future??

We started loading the last of the gear. It's amazing how we can never seem to remember from year to year the finer details of how this works. I end up getting a bit snappy during this phase, one of my many failings. Fortunately, Sandy usually has great patience and we got through the process unscathed. By 7:00 AM, everything was loaded and we were ready to go. Note the smile.

Departure time was going to be 8:00 AM from a convenient Tim Horton's, but we headed out early leaving time for breakfast. We fueled on the way and pulled in shortly before Leo, who was going to travel as far as the Soo with us just for the ride. It looks like he is enjoying the new (to him) BMW RT we went to Brampton to pick up a couple of weeks ago.

Trailer Tires - An Interlude

I'm going to take a moment out here to talk about trailer tires. Those with no interest should skip ahead to the next paragraph. Our camper trailer runs on 4.80 x 8 tires. It came with Load Range C, the strongest rating. Guy, the man I bought it from, told me the manufacturer said to run 60 PSI but he suggested 50. Mr. Lee, designer of the trailer, suggested 32 PSI when we met him later in the season. The first set lasted over a season. The second and third sets seemed to go quicker. The current set, the third, are significantly worn in the centre despite having good tread on the outer edge, a sure sign of over-inflation. The maximum sidewall pressure on Range C is 90 PSI and I'm overinflated at 32. But the max pressure will carry about 965 pounds and each of mine is only handling about 150. Although I probably should change tires, I'm going to drop the pressure to 20 PSI and see if I can use up some of the outer tread.

The reason I mentioned the tires is that, in the Tim Horton's parking lot, I ran through a puddle and then onto dry asphalt. The tread pattern looks pretty good.

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Terry and Patsy showed up before 8:00, he on his beautiful '99 Honda Valkyrie and she on her Suzuki Intruder. We hit the road a little ahead of schedule with Terry leading, Patsy riding second, me third and Leo bringing up the rear. I think this was one of the most mellow rides I've seen Terry lead since he usually likes to really eat up the miles. The weather didn't improve, although it did give us a hint of blue sky a couple of times just to taunt us before it dashed our hopes and got worse. We rode through cool air into a still headwind, with overcast skies occasionally giving way to drizzle and spitting rain. It could have been worse but it most certainly could have been better.

As we rode along the North Shore along Highway 17, I tried to look at the scenery with new eyes. I've been traveling around North America admiring the vistas and now, when I really look, our rugged outcrops and rugged vegetation are actually pretty impressive.

I had to stop in the Soo and drop off a book on the 1960's Windfall mining scandal to Mom. She lived it and, although she doesn't like to admit it to outsiders, she actually came out ahead. Living in Timmins at the time, with my father in the exploration business, most of the people described in the book weren't strangers to her. We took a few moments to visit before heading on. From the left, we have Leo, Patsy, Terry and Mom.

Leaving Mom's, I led us to the International Bridge where Leo left us and headed home. The line on the US side wasn't long, but it seemed to be moving slowly. As we finally got close to the Customs booth, agents were there checking to be sure we had our documents and telling us birth certificates were required. This was a first. No problem, we fished ours out and presented them when we got to the booth. A few of the usual questions and we were on our way. Terry and Patsy got through as well. We stopped just off the bridge for gas and a Mickey D's lunch.

Fueled and fed, we started south on I-75 and then headed west on M-28 to Newberry. Periodically,I would check my mirrors,see no Leo and startle myself before remembering he was on his way back to Sudbury. From Newberry, we caught M-117 through Engadine to Highway 2. Back in 1988, on our way to Cody Wyoming, Terry, Leo and I (plus two others) were clocked at 79 in a 55 on this short stretch of highway. The officer gave us a break and cut it down to 60. This time, we had no police trouble but the weather socked in a little more, actually starting to rain. The picture is at the corner of M-117 and US 2.

Riding across Highway 2 to Manistique and Escanaba, we noticed quite a few dead deer on the road. We also noticed that we could see clear skies about ten miles south of us over Lake Michigan. Periodically, we would think that we might be headed for it, but it was not to be. One thing I did notice was that on a Saturday night in prime tourist territory, the traffic was light and the vacancy signs were lit. I expect more and more people will stay home with the gas prices the way they are. It won't be a happy time for these businesses.

In Escanaba, we checked into a nice Super 8. Then we headed to WalMart so Patsy could buy a bathing suit to make use of the spa and pool. Somehow, more than bathing suits got looked at. Then we stopped at the Great Northern Buffet for supper. All of us ate too much, so the girls decided to walk the mile and a half back to the hotel while Terry and I stopped at a grocery store to buy some liquor. After we did, we looked for the girls on the way back to the hotel. No sign of them along the way and they weren't in the room either.

It was too soon to be concerned, so we took time to admire the classic cars and hot rods that had appeared in the lot while we were out for supper. It seems that there was a cars show in town. A bit later, ten Vipers, one Ferrari and a Ford GT40 pulled in, too.

The girls showed up in time. It seems they found a K-Mart on the way and had to stop. We made our way down to the spa and pool, which were both overrun with screaming kids. We managed to get some time in before heading back to the room, watching a bit of TV and then passing out.

Ready to Go

The oil is changed. The microphone cord from the Intercom to the GPS has been connected (after some judicious cursing at where the Honda engineers put various components). Things have been (mostly) packed.

Tomorrow morning we head out to Kickstand Lodge, Stecoah, North Carolina. We'll spend the first couple of days riding with our longtime friends, Terry and Patsy (no last names, remember) to the Chicago area to pick up a pop-up Aspen Classic camper trailer. After that, they will head to Americade in Lake George, New York, while we continue south to North Carolina.

Let the season begin.

Waterloo Ontario to Sudbury Ontario

The Road Home

No pictures today.

We got up at 7:00 and watched the season finale of the TV series House. That was a downer. Then I couldn't find my blood pressure medications. Maybe they are in the bike's trunk, Sandy suggested. No, I said, they are probably back at the cabin. So I naturally found them a bit later in the bike trunk.

They forecast rain starting in Sudbury about 2:00 PM. It was cool when we headed out at 9:00. I got off Highway 400 in Barrie and took the short jaunt north to the Midhurst Coffee House to show Sandy. No sooner had I entered than the SAME LADY made a comment about my vest. I told her that she had called me a Hells Angel yesterday. She remembered. Her name is Ruth, she worked for Ontario Hydro as a receptionist before retiring, her ancestral home is Cape Breton and she spends a lot of time in the Midhurst Coffee House:-)

For once we caught a weather break. It wasn't raining when we got to town about 3:00 and it held off long enough for me to mow both our lawn and the one next door. OK, when it comes to yard chores the weather was our friend. BTW, I am finding that bagging my grass clipping (now that the City picks them up again) is much easier on both the mower and I than mulching.

We'll be home for almost two weeks before heading out again. Anybody interested in where we are going next can check out our itinerary, which will be updated from time to time.

A Note To The Rookies

I've ridden many miles with many people, but it is a different feeling to look in your mirror and know that a headlight you see is being piloted by one of your children. While there is an indescribable fear that goes with this realization (and even more when they are out riding by themselves), there is also a sense of completion knowing they share something that you value so much.

I was particularly proud of the way Heather and Tom conducted themselves through the trying conditions this weekend. It was very special sharing the road with you and I hope we can do it many more times.

Ride Safe!

Combermere Ontario to Waterloo Ontario

We awoke at 6:00 AM and looked outside. COLD RAIN!!!!! We can't buy a break with the weatherman this weekend. Sandy decided she would go back with Kim and Mike in the new (dry and heated) minivan. As we were walking over to Cabin 26, very large white flakes started to fall. Tom got this snowglobe-like photo of the river.

Kim, Mike and Sandy pulled out as planned at 7:30. We were starting to get the bikes ready shortly after when they called to tell us snow was sticking to the ground down around Maple Leaf, not far south of us. But we were lucky because, just as we were pulling out at 8:20, the rain let up. We found ourselves heading south on a wet Highway 62 at 3C with snow showing on the sides of the road.

Our first stop of the day came at the Mickey D's in Bancroft. Heather needed a few minutes to warm up. Unfortunately Polly, the slim blond girl with the English accent behind the counter, told us they didn't make hot chocolate so they settled for tea and I filled my Butler mug with coffee. I was a concerned about Heather and the cold, but she was ready to head out again before too long.

We headed east on Highways 28, and 118. The pavement was alternating wet and dry with light rain, some sun and occasional flurries. The temperature hit a balmy 5C. After an accidental scenic GPS inspired detour around Lake Kasagawigamog (try saying that fast) near Haliburton, we stuck to main secondary roads (if that makes any sense). Our objective was to avoid the cottage country traffic heading back to The Big Smoke (Toronto).

One place we did parallel the popular flow for a few miles was Highway 35 from Minden to Norland. That was a little hectic so we were happy, after fueling in Norland, to turn east on Monck Road (aka Highway 503) towards Orillia. Since I've never travelled this direction before, this was all new to me but it was a nice road with no traffic. In Orillia, the GPS went a little nuts, wanting me to wander around town for five miles before returning to the same place I was. I skipped that jaunt but followed its back streets, avoiding most of the Torontonians. We came out the other side on Old Barrie Road, where we started getting hit by severe cross winds. When I saw some bark being ripped off a tree, I knew it was pretty rough going for my rookies.

Across Highway 400, Tom stopped me. He and Heather have Bluetooth headsets that let them communicate and Heather told him she needed a break. I checked Stella and told them there was a place less than a mile ahead. The Midhurst Coffee Shop did have hot chocolate and it was excellent. Real whipped cream on top. And my grilled cheese sandwich (with ham) was one of the best I ever had. I had to explain to an older lady when we went inside that we weren't Hells Angels, as she jokingly said, but rather Frozen Angels.

I took off my rain gear at Midhurst. It was 10C and there was a lot of blue sky. The kids kept theirs on. They were smart because the temperature started dropping and the cross winds picked up. After heading southwest, we picked up our usual Orangeville/Fergus route home. After Orangeville, there was an SUV tailgating Heather, so I waved the two ahead and dropped back to deal with it. I'm sure there wasn't any malice, but it's amazing when you turn and look the tailgater in the eye, the drop back about 80 feet. The rest of the way home, I had to deal with a few more of these inconsiderate drivers but everybody got the message.

We arrived at Tom's parents house and they showed his mom, Sophia, the ring. She took Heather in for a cup of hot tea while I took Tom to his place to get his car. They keep the bikes at Sophia and Stan's because they have the garage. Then I headed over to Kim and Mike's in Cambridge for the night.

Combermere Day 3

I woke up at 6:00 AM to hear Ken. I figured he was up early but Sandy told me he was just coming in. I found out he was only one of several (including Mike) to be forced to bed by the sunrise. I eventually got up at 8:30, feeling pretty good especially with the blue sky overhead. Maybe we would get the ride in today.

I headed over to the Lodge for the appointed 10:00 AM time but was informed that, after we had left the party last night, they had rescheduled to 11:00. A wise move. As I was heading back to 27, John M. (remember the new BMW RT last week?) arrived from Ottawa and followed me in. I managed to get some unexpected breakfast.

At 11:00, we were all back in front of the Lodge as the riders assembled. We try to give rides to those who don't normally get a chance to ride on a bike and, today, all the takers had seats. Tom and Heather, on the right, weren't carrying anyone on the pillion until they get some more experience.

Brian led the ride out about 11:30. Our route was much shortened from usual, heading up Old Barry's Bay Road to town first. I tried Sherm's technique of taking pictures while riding and have decided I need more practice, but I did get this shot of Heather and Tom on the first leg.

The road to Barry's Bay was in pretty good shape. From town, however, we took a road I didn't know existed around the back side of Kamaniskeg Lake. The road would have been excellent if not for the significant amount of winter sand left on the pavement. This made maneuvering a bit tricky, especially for the rookies, but they took it all in stride (although I hear the running commentary they had going was pretty blue). As if that wasn't enough, light rain started down on us. Near the southwest corner of the lake, the rain picked up and came down hard for a bit just as we crossed the path of destruction left by one of the two tornadoes two years ago. Then the lead bikes called "Hail" over the radio. It would have been a nice time to be wearing a rain suit. And maybe armour.

As we hit Highway 62 and turned north, we rode out of the rain. A few of us stopped at the Lodge, where it started coming down pretty hard again. I think it was the same rain and we just moved back into its path. After it let up, I took the bike back to the cabin.

Tom, Heather and I decided to ride to Wilno, home of Canada's oldest Polish community, for lunch at the Wilno Tavern. There was a buffet on, but we opted to order a la carte. Tom and I had Polish sausage and sauerkraut on a bun while Heather had a Polish sampler that included perogy, cabbage roll and sausage. On the way to the tavern, it spit rain on us and, while we ate, it rained some more. We shared the place with a number of ATV riders who had ridden in from Pembroke. I am seeing more and more groups of these guys.

The BIG News

After lunch, we were outside getting the bikes ready when Tom handed me his camera and asked if I would take a picture of them on the snowmobile bridge across the road. As I walked across the road, it started to rain again so, wondering what this was all about, I stayed on the road and used the zoom. This was what I managed to shoot as Tom, who had asked my permission earlier, got down on one knee and proposed to Heather. Sandy and I are pleased to welcome Tom to the family.


I realized after that I didn't do very well with Tom's camera. I think he would have liked me down on the trail shooting the picture with the Polish Museum in the background, but he never complained when I screwed up. Sorry about that, E.T.

Back To The Regularly Scheduled Programming

We rode back to Combermere, stopping in Barry's Bay to fuel so we'd be ready for tomorrow. At the cabin, I took another nap until it was time to head down to Cabin 18 for supper. Heather, who told me to keep the ring a secret for a while, let the news slip right away. Jay and Kim had, as usual, headed back home while we were out riding.

Dinner tonight included an excellent pork roast, salads and (peaches and cream) corn on the cob. There was a lot of food and it was all very good. As we finished, Brother John stopped by to remind me it was time to report for fireworks duty.

The annual fireworks display has been getting better and better. We usually bury lines in the beach and use the end of a stone dock for the mortar style rounds on plastic bases. I have been handling the dock for years. I asked Tom and John delegated Oliver and Kevin to assist. Good thing because I found that our job had increased significantly this year. The new style of multi-shot packages is taking over. These are nice in that one fuse sets off a co-ordinated series of effects, some with 49 or as many as 100 separate shots. The problem was that we had so many of them and it was pouring rain. We tried to keep them dry as we untaped the fuses and developed a plan of action.

With the heavy rain, we didn't draw the show out. If we had paced ourselves, we could have kept the "oohs" and "aahs" going for at least two hours. As it was, we were launching two and three at a time and it still took us a half hour, with Brian finishing up with a CIL Wobbler. My only downside was when I lit a single shot mortar and it blew up on the dock, peppering me with burning material. Luckily, my skin and clothes were soaked and no damage resulted.

After the show, everyone stopped by the Round House for the final hurrah. We didn't stay long, but said our goodbyes and then headed back to the cabin to pack and hit the sack by 11:00 with hopes of a drier tomorrow.

The New Camera

I'm still playing with the new Panasonic Lumix TZ5 to see what it can do, but I did find one interesting thing. It has a mode called Intelligent Exposure that is supposed to vary the sensitivity of various different areas on the CCD to maintain correct exposure. Anyone who has dealt with back light situations will know all about the exposure problems with automatic digital cameras.

In the course of experimenting, I took this picture of Eric D.


I shot with the sun at his back. Normally, the foreground would be blacked out or, if I manually adjusted for the foreground exposure, the background would be overexposed. With this camera, I just pointed and shot. You'll note that Eric's features are recognizable even with the sun behind his head. I found this to be impressive.

I still have a few other features I'm figuring out, but I expect the TZ5 and I will get along just fine.

Combermere Day 2

I woke up at 6:00 AM feeling much better than I had any right to, considering the JD and the time I went to bed. And there was unforecast clear sky with no rain. Saturday is the day we usually take our group ride and it looked like we might be able to get'r done. The ride was to leave at 11:00. At 10:00, the rain started. The weatherman is still an idiot and the ride was deferred.

Since we wouldn't be riding, we decided we'd get the grub. All eight of us piled into Kim and Mike's van and Jay and Kim's car (the rear van seat had been removed) and headed for Barry's Bay. The main street was blocked off due to the annual Bay Days celebration but we managed to negotiate some side streets to the Valu-Mart parking lot.

We shopped in two parts. Since the two of us were invited to Cabin 18 for supper tonight and tomorrow night and were also in a separate cabin, Sandy and I got a basket of our own. And since we'd also be mooching off cabin 26 from time to time, we also kicked in for a share of their communal bill. Loaded up, we skipped visiting the antique cars and other Bay Days displays because of the rain and headed back to Combermere for lunch.

Lunch was great. President's Choice now has Blue Menu (supposedly healthy) Angus Burgers and they did fine on the giant George Foreman grill. Jay's Kim took time out from our lunch exercise to check out the fine young lady from Port Hope in the latest Playboy magazine. Since Kim is a fitness trainer, I can only surmise that she was professionally checking out the model's level of conditioning.

After eating, we went back to our cabin and took a nap for a few hours. Then we headed way down to Cabin 18 where yet another Wizard game was in progress. Wizard is a great game, played much like Nines.

Eventually, everyone showed up and we sat down to eat. More burgers, this time of the Bambi variety. As any serious biker will tell you, the only good deer is a dead deer and these were downright tasty as well. We won't worry about how fresh venison made its way across the restrictive 49th parallel. After dinner, we watched a DVD of Jeff Dunham, the ventriloquist who has made such an impact recently. I particularly liked his routine with Achmed The Dead Terrorist. Move over, Edgar Bergen.

As Dunham was winding up, Brother Rob (the Rob on the right) dropped by and summoned us to the Round House. It was pretty quiet when we got there, but more and more people started to show up. The usual guitar playing, sing-a-longs and conversations were the order of the evening as well as a few other shenanigans. After watching Juno, I really like that word. Talking to Rob, we decided to try the ride tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Despite people trying to twist our arm, Sandy and I set out to go to bed at 11:00. We actually escaped the Round House about 1:00:-)

Waterloo Ontario to Combermere Ontario

We were up by 6:00 AM. Tom said he hardly slept due to excitement, which I can well understand. The first trip is a major experience. Heather headed to a 7:00 AM chiropractor appointment while Tom and I went over to his parents place to pick up their bikes. We loaded everything up before Heather returned and we were on the road under cool and overcast skies by 9:00 AM. Kim and Mike and their friends Jay and Kim would be traveling up later today in cars.

The first part of the trip retraced our route up the back roads to Fergus, Orangeville and through the Hockley Valley to Bond Head. The first stop was at a Pete's Donuts shop. I've seen a few of these in this area, but this was the first one I had been in. Nothing spectacular, but it was in the right place.

Our objective was to keep moving northeast on secondary roads. From here on, we'd be largely in new territory so I programmed the GPS with two options. One was a direct route and the second was a longer path that went through Algonquin Park. The first part, Stubborn Stella (the GPS) guided us through Bradford and across the Holland River before taking us northeast to Highway 48 around Lake Simcoe and all the way to Coboconk. We fueled here and, while I took 12.3 liters, the Suzi's each took about nine. That is some seriously good mileage. We decided to skip the park and head directly up to Combermere.

This was the point at which I put my faith in Stella. Kinmount, Gooderham, Wilberforce, Highland Grove and the Baptiste Lake Road went by before we arrived at Highway 62. At one point in there, I braked with the intention of stopping and throwing a snapping turtle that was slowly walking across the road into the ditch. Tom didn't notice at first and, when I heard brakes lock up behind me, I braced for impact. Luckily, where some new riders would have thrown the bike away, Tom kept his head and maintained control while getting stopped and avoiding contact. I was both grateful and impressed.

On Highway 62, Stella tried to send us on another "short cut". This is where the art of the GPS comes in. It was obviously narrow, rough and sandy, while our destination was on 62, so a U-turn was in order. While I had to make a three point turn on the Wing, both novices reversed direction in one movement. We rolled into Stevenson's Lodge about 3:30.

The cabin assignments had changed from the last we had heard. The six kids (such as they are) would all be in Cabin 26 (pictured here), while we were in Cabin 27 with Ken and Sandy E. of Timmins. Ken and Sandy haven't been down here in several years.
After unloading, we wandered to the other end of the property to Cabin 18 (they don't all go in numerical order) where we found various miscreants playing a traditional card game called Wizard. Kim called to say they were running a couple of hours late due to getting caught in a virtual parking lot on the 401 through Toronto. This would probably put a crimp in our planned grocery run this afternoon.

Ken and Sandy showed up with a brand new Honda ST1300 Police Special in the back of his truck. It only had 60 kilometers on it. We helped him get it off the truck, no small feat since we had to pick the rear end up to allow the belly to clear the hump at the top of the ramp. Ken rode a Harley for quite awhile and seems to be looking forward to how this bike will perform.

At 6:30, we headed over to the Lodge for the traditional chili and hot dog feed. They added some soup this year, too. Kim and Mike arrived with Kim and Jay in tow about 7:30. We all decided to skip shopping until tomorrow so I made a solo run into the Barry's Bay liquor store. Because it is a Crown corporation, common sense does not prevail. I was able to buy two small Jack Daniels bottles for less than the price of a larger one due to an ordering error. Unfortunately, I left my special JD glass at home. Both down and back, I took it easy and kept a sharp eye out for Bambi.

We sat and visited in the Lodge, then on the steps and finally in the Round House. Here, son-in-law Mike and cabin-mate Ken settle in by the fire. People kept drifting off to bed. There weren't a whole lot left up when Mike and I headed back to the cabins about 3:00 AM.

Last Names

I was talking to one of our friends who attends this weekend regularly. He is a professional who is currently between positions. As a precaution, he Googled himself (he has an uncommon last name) and found that one of the top ten hits was a Blog entry from last year in which i recounted some of his hijinks. While we have had some wild times, I don't think they need to be shared with just anyone who wants to check us out.

Because of this, I will not be using any last names in any future Blog posts and I will go back and remove the ones that already exist, although the horse is already out of the barn on this one. Sorry about that, folks.

Sudbury Ontario to Waterloo Ontario

Combermere Starts Early

I headed to the gym first thing in the morning to get my workout over and done with. The cardio performance was absolutely atrocious so I knocked off early and headed home.

My next task was to swing by the Canadian Blood Services building for 10:00, where I made my 75th whole blood donation in support of the Bikers For Life Challenge. This was the first time my appointment actually fell within the official challenge week. I do my best to get in every 56 days and am surprised that so few people actually give the Gift of Life. It doesn't take long and it means so much to these who need it. On the minus side, we seemed to have a large number of people passing out or reacting badly this morning. Cold compresses and ice packs were common and the EMT's were coming in as I was leaving.

Instead of riding directly to Combermere for the 20th Annual Fry Guys Weekend, we will head down to Waterloo today and will then ride up with Heather and Tom tomorrow. This will be their first road trip on their new bikes.

I wasn't able to hook the cell phone microphone cords up last night because the plug is buried deeper down in the plastic than I thought. I'll have to get to this when we get back.

Packing was a little rocky as it usually is in the spring before we get into a rhythm. When we were finished, we actually had a lot of space to spare. Everything was stuffed into the bags and trunk and we were on the road shortly after noon. The skies were clear and the temperature was 15C as we made our way down Highway 69 to Parry Sound. After lunch at Mickey D's, we continued south on Highway 400.

I though I had beaten my riding problems completely, but this stretch of road just proves that you can never be sure. I went through a period of disorientation that threw me for a bit, although I managed to avoid the anxiety that usually goes with it. I find that if I start thinking to much, it causes me trouble just like trying to think of a flight of stairs as you are running up them. I have no idea what triggered it, but I was able to manage and things improved before long.

We finished the ride in via Alliston and the Hockley Valley, arriving at Tom's condo in Waterloo about 5:30. Heather was in Hamilton on Association business, so Tom and I rode the two Suzuki's over to their local dealer to pick up a pair of throttle rockers. Then we came back to the condo and practiced tying on their new Kuryakyn Full Dresser tour packs. Then we parked the bikes, picked up pizza and settled in to watch some TV after Heather got home.

A Sunday Ride

We were having coffee Sunday morning when Leo called to see if we wanted to go for a ride. John wanted to visit his Mom while Leo wanted to visit Doug, who injured himself last week. We agreed to meet later in Wahnapitae to ride a ways towards Ottawa with John.

The saga of Doug is a sad one. He just recently bought a 1000 cc Suzuki V-Strom and was out riding it last Sunday. When he got home, he was trying to put it on the OPTIONAL centre stand when it somehow got away from him. As he and the bike got tangled, Doug ruptured his Achilles tendon. After surgery Monday night, he was placed in a cast and told not to place any weight on the foot for quite some time.

In the immortal words of Eric Von Zipper, "Why me? Why me all the time?"

I know you read this, Doug. Get well soon, my friend.

After visiting with Doug and signing his cast, we headed for town where we met Ken Silver on his Honda ST1300. The three of us proceeded east to Wahnapitae where John was waiting on the new RT. The four bikes continued east on Highway 17 to Verner, where we stopped for a moment to get a group photo.

John continued east while the three of us headed south and then west on Highway 64, down through the scenic French River. In Alban, we stopped for lunch and then headed back up to Sudbury and home. It was a pleasant ride and was much better than sitting at home while the bike was in the shop.

Mall Display Redux

John, Sandy and I headed for the Mall in the AM. After a quick breakfast at Timmy's, we joined the crew. In the picture, Gary Venturi and Henri Belanger guard the display while Shirley supervises from behind the table.

We spent most of the day talking to the public, who seemed both interested and receptive. Hopefully, they will look twice when driving.

I did go over and check out the Mining Week displays. A very pretty young lady working the Vale Inco booth turned out to be an Environmental Analyst who makes frequent use of the mainframe computer system Donna Halverson and I built back in 1985. Care and feeding of this system kept me busy until I retired and I'm pleased that it is still providing service even though I may be forgotten:-)

The Mall closed at 6:00 and, shortly after, we had the complete display torn down and loaded onto Gord's trailer. Done for another year, although the turntable will form the main part of a merry-go-round on or Santa Claus Parade float in November.

Sudbury to Brampton to Wasaga Beach to Sudbury

Today, we had a dual quest.

First, Leo needed to deliver his 2002 BMW R1150RS to Classic Honda in Brampton and pick up his new (to him) 2002 BMR1150RT. For those not familiar with the Beemer lineup, the RS is a sport bike and has a forward leaning position that causes the rider pain on long days. This is the bike he took to Atlanta with me last year. The RT is a touring configuration, more upright with a larger fairing and saddlebags. Second, we needed to swing by J&R Cycle in Wasaga Beach and pick up the repaired Wing.

The plan was very straightforward. We would take Leo and Diane's Toyota rather than our van because it got better fuel mileage. I'd drive the car with the ladies while Leo would follow on the RS. In Brampton, we'd swap BMW's and Leo would follow us to Wasaga Beach on the RT. Then Leo and I would ride home while Sandy drove the car. And that's pretty much the way it went.

We left Sudbury about 7:15 under clear but cool skies. Leo hung on just fine for the 110 miles it too to the new Tim Horton's down by the Seguin Trail. He requested a brief warm-up break before we continued. Then we made the approximately 140 mile run to Classic Honda in Brampton non-stop. The only mishap occurred when a container of veggies (as per their new diet) Diane had placed on the rest between the front seats got knocked over by my clumsy elbow as I reached for my camera in the belt holster. That was pretty much it for the diet for the day. Sorry, Di........

We arrived at Classic Honda at 11:30. This is one of the new Honda superstores, with cars, bikes and anything else that Honda makes. Infamous VROCer Gord "The Mighty Stonewall" Friedrich (remember him from Newmarket a couple of weeks ago) arrived just before us to say hello. Here Leo and Gord mug for the camera. Gord is heading for SEVROC in Maggie Valley North Carolina on Sunday and, for once, I am envious.

We had expected the ownership transfer to take an hour. We killed three hours talking to Gord, having lunch at the adjacent Wendy's, talking to Bob the sales guy (who has an '05 Wing) and looking at bikes while the paperwork ground its way through the system. We were finally cleared to go about 2:30.

Just before we left, I got a phone call from Rhonda at J&R. She said someone had been waiting for us since yesterday. Turns out it was John Murphy from Ottawa, who some of you may remember from my account of our trip to Traxxion in Georgia a year ago. John had been in Toronto to pick up a new BMW RT to replace the GS he lost in an accident last year. I had been going to ride with him when he picked it up before my bike was downed with the problem. I told them to hang tight, we were on our way.

The route to Wasaga was easy, Hurontario to 24 to Airport Road. We pulled in just before 4:00 and found Pogo sitting out front ready to go. John was also there lazying on a ZTR mower. Rhonda showed me the bearings. Ugly. But the total cost was five hours labour plus about $250 in parts. All the bearings were replaced, not just the bad ones. All in all, not too bad a cost. I took a moment to thank Ed and then we were northbound and down, the same three riders as the Traxxion adventure but only one with the same bike.

We headed for 400 via Elmvale, Waverley and Vasey and then stopped at Waubaushene for gas. The ride was nice except I think they had been doing a lot of fertilizing with sheep manure. The sinuses cleared right up. Finishing the remaining 150 miles to Sudbury was uneventful except for a large bear we saw in a field near Britt and the black clouds that were hanging right over Sudbury. Lucky for us, the clouds were all threat and no wet.

After getting to Leo and Diane's house, we recovered our van and Sandy, John and I headed for the Mall to see how the display was doing. We arrived about 8:00 and found Gord and Shirley had manned the booth mostly by themselves all day. Some woman had tried to steal a teddy bear off the turntable but it was fastened down. Some people. We promised we'd help tomorrow and then headed home, stopping only to pick up some Little Caesar's Hot and Ready pizzas. John set up in the guest room, we watched a little TV and then hit the sack.

The Annual Mall Display

To promote Motorcycle Awareness Week, the Freedom Riders Motorcycle Association traditionally sets up a display in the New Sudbury Shopping Centre. We don't sell anything or raise funds. The whole purpose is to remind the public that motorcycles are back on the road and ask people to look twice so they don't run over us.

For those who ride, we hope to make them aware of the club and the benefits of being a member.

Tonight, we set the display up after the mall closed. The crew worked like a well oiled machine. The bike is Rob Lemieux's 1100 Yamaha V-Star and the shiny diamond plate it is sitting on is a rotating turntable built by our resident mechanical genius, Gord Bailey.

The display will operate Friday and Saturday, during which time we expect to speak to many interested passers-by. Sandy and I won't be there tomorrow since we will be on a quest to retrieve the Wing from Wasaga Beach, but we will be working the display on Saturday.

The Bike Is Ready

I called Rhonda to be sure the bike would be ready on Friday. She said it was.

It seems the culprit was the ring gear bearing in the final drive. There are actually two of them and they are what the rear wheel turns on. A search of the GoldWing forum shows I am the 51st person to report a failure, although I was a lower mileage than most. Honda USA was blaming trailer towing but 38% of our reported failures had never towed a trailer.

This looks like a regular rebuild item due to a design weakness. I would rather fix it before it fails next time, since you can't choose where your breakdown will happen. Some are buying brand new cast-off final drives from trike installers, since they don't use those parts on the three wheeled vehicles. Warranty covered this one and maybe the next, too, but the total cost was about $700. That's not bad for once ever three years.

So we'll be off Friday to pick the bike up, probably making a loop through Brampton so Leo can swap his 2002 BMW R1150 RS for and equivalent RT.

Driving For Dollars

I got a call last night saying that Cambrian Ford needed an extra driver today to ferry a vehicle up from southern Ontario. It doesn't pay much, but I love to drive, it will be a new vehicle and someone else pays the gas. Not long ago, one of the drivers got to bring back a Roush Mustang. I was told I would get my vehicle in Bradford and we would be leaving at 5:30 AM.

The ride down was uneventful. Three of us were stuffed into a 5 speed Fusion. South of Parry Sound, I went to put my dealership's address in the Zumo. Lo and behold, it wasn't Bradford (200 miles), it was Brantford (320 miles). More driving and more pay. Wahoo!!!!

We went through Toronto and Hamilton, arriving at the Ford dealer in Brantford at a respectable 10:30. Amazing that the stretch of the QEW through Oakville is STILL under construction. Thirty tears and counting. My vehicle was going to be a new F-150 pickup, shown here being filled up. It was a bottom end model with nothing automatic and no cruise control, but it did have a V-8. The other guys took off to Burlington and Uxbridge while I headed north from Hamilton on Highway 6 to the 401 to by-pass Oakville.

The truck drove well and I was back at Cambrian Ford here by 4:30 PM.

On the way home, I called Rhonda about the bike. She said they had finished the regular service and had determined that the failure wasn't in the drive shaft universal joint but rather in the bearings in the final drive. The new bearings and seals were in and they'd get to work on it early next week. I asked if we could pick it up next Friday and she said that seemed likely. The plan is coming together.

Honda Backorder

Rhonda called. The GL1800 propeller shaft (drive shaft) is back ordered until May 8th. Here's hoping that the date is accurate.

Cambridge Ontario to Sudbury Ontario

Home On Four Wheels

It was an uneventful trip home without the bike. Kim and Mike headed off to their respective jobs early and we sat around watching TV until Leo and Diane came to get us. They had visited Diane's niece in Brampton the night before, although the purpose of the whole trip was just to rescue us. Friends like that are a blessing.

Leo drove north as I guided him through my favourite route. Diane had never been through the Forks of the Credit, so we went that way first and then followed up with a run up the Hockley Valley. On the big road, we stopped for gas and a pit stop at Derek Roberts Esso in Waubaushene. I took over driving from there home.

I'll wait to hear from Rhonda as to when the bike will be ready.

Hanging Around Cambridge

It was a slow morning. Mike got up and went to work for a while, Kim and Sandy were down in the kitchen and I slept in. When I did get up, I found that the hat I had forgotten at home might have protected me from getting the nasty sunburn on my expanding forehead yesterday.

Kim made breakfast and then I got down to catching up on some blogging. Stopping only for lunch, I finally got caught up by 2:00 PM. Then I turned to my outstanding Email. For some reason, I tend to let the Emails slide until there are a large number. I have no idea what I have against Email, but it's a curse I live with.

Next, I started doing some camera research since the old one is fried. I really want one like Sherm has, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3. This camera, a 9.1 MP with a 10X optical zoom and a 3" LCD screen was introduced in January, 2007. Wouldn't you know that it was superseded in January, 2008 by the TZ5. The new one has additional features but nothing I felt I really need. It seems TigerDirect cleared out their TZ3's a month ago and I 'm going to have to hunt around for a source.

About 4:30, we got a call from Heather. She and Tom had gone out for a ride. Knowing Tom didn't have a lot of fuel, they were expecting to find a station but had taken a route on which there were none. He was out and she was very low. I got the location from her, took Kim's car and a gas can, stopped for a couple of gallons of gas and found them right where I expected to, New Dundee Road about a half mile from Trussler Road. On the way out, I was looking at a black, ugly cloud to the west but when I arrived it turned out that storm was northbound, missing us completely.

While gassing up, Tom suggested his nickname should be Empty Tank. ET works because he did phone home so that's what it will be. Nicknames are much better when they are earned:-)

Heather and Tom followed me back to Kim & Mike's where they joined us for supper. Then, darkness coming on, they headed back to Waterloo. It's a strange feeling watching one of your children head out on a motorcycle without you. Unsettling. Now I know how my Mom and my in-laws must have felt. But they phoned an hour later and said they were home safe.

Mike and I went over to Blockbuster to pick up a video. Normally, BB has the DVD jackets out front and the generic cases with the actual disc's behind. Tonight, all we could find were the jackets, the way it appears when they are all out of a title. But there were no generic cases. Finally, we checked and saw bar coding on the original cases and realized that they had changed the way they did things. We grabbed Juno and headed home.

Juno was a funny, quirky movie. The acting was great on all fronts and our new favourite Canadian actress, Ellen Page, was excellent. I first saw her in Hard Candy, a very disturbing film in which she played a tough role very well. The quintessential girl next door, I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

After the movie, we all turned in. Leo and Diane will be by in the morning to pick us up and take us home.

Cambridge Ontario to Newmarket Ontario and Back

Operation Suzuki

The BIG DAY is here for Heather and Tom. Today they travel to Newmarket, Ontario (about 2 hours away) to pick up the two new Suzuki C50 Boulevard SE motorcycles they bought at the Toronto Bike Show back in January. They have been arranging insurance, registration and other details all week. Paul, the salesman at Suzuki of Newmarket, hasn't been the most confidence inspiring individual but the price couldn't be beat.

The one catch with todays expedition is that neither Heather nor Tom have a great deal of riding experience. Heather got her licence in the fall of 2006 and did a small amount of riding with us on her 250 Rebel last year. Tom passed the course last year but has done virtually no riding since then. The C50's weigh over 600 pounds, light by today's standards but very close to the weight of my 1976 GL1000, a bike that we considered monstrous back in the day. It would have been nice to have the Wing so I could run interference for them, but we'll just have to make due with what we have.

Sandy and I took Tom's car over to their place in Waterloo, arriving about 15 minutes after the appointed 7:00 AM rendezvous time. Apropos of nothing, on the way over I caught a rock version of the famous Irish song Whiskey in the Jar. I told Sandy that it sounded like Metallica and so it turned out to be. Enough to make an Irish traditionalist (Hi, Mom) nuts. Later, I find out it won a Grammy in 1998. I guess I lead a sheltered life.

We headed out of Waterloo by 7:30. We went up to Highway 9, stopping in Orangeville at Timmie's, and then a cross to Newmarket arriving at the dealership about 9:15. Suzuki of Newmarket is a Superstore with motorcycles and cars in the same building. Paul the salesman got the paperwork and escorted the kids to the sales manager where they settled up the cash, registration and other details. Then Paul took them outside where Heather's blue and silver SE sat next to a plain Jane C50 in Tom's chosen colours of grey and silver.

After convincing Paul the Flake that they really had ordered and PAID FOR two SE's, we start to work on how to get this sorted out. The SE package comes in a kit with windshield, saddlebags and a backrest and is a bolt-on deal. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have any at the moment and don't expect any in until Tuesday. As we are going over Heather's bike checking out all the details, and I have sent both bikes back to have the tire pressures corrected, I start in on Paul about something to make up for the inconvenience. A token. Maybe a shock wrench that, surprisingly, doesn't come in the tool kit. Paul says he asked the service manager and they said no. Paul is blaming the whole screw-up on Service and won't accompany me back there. The service manager doesn't even know what a shock wrench is, but his assistant Marco describes it to him and says they don't stock them. On the bigger plus side, he does tell me that they found an SE kit and will get it installed straight away. Give them an hour and a half. OK.

I take Heather's bike and ride it just up the street to a largely empty Leon's (big box furniture store for you non-Canucks) parking lot. Heather gets her helmet and jacket on and fires it up. First she rolls ahead a little, checking the clutch action. After a few of these, and figuring out where the floorboards and foot controls are, she heads out and does some laps of the lot in 1st gear. Then she tries 2nd and rides some more. Eventually she stops and Tom takes a turn. The bike stays upright and they appear to be having little difficulty. Meanwhile, I speak to Stonewall down in the city. His bike work is done and he and a friend are heading up to see us.

About noon, we wander back to the shop. Tom's bike still isn't out, but some SCRC riders come in and we chat. Then Stonewall and Bitman show up. Then Tom's bike appears. We check it over and then head back over to Leon's. Stonewall, Bitman, Sandy and I chat while both Suzuki's do laps of ever increasing complexity. In the meantime, Bitman has a Garmin Nuvi GPS like Tom's with a motorcycle RAM mount. Turns out the mount is available quite reasonably. He said his is great but the MP3 player only does one song at a time. I showed him the Play All button. We both gained valuable knowledge.

Finally, it was time to challenge the open road. Stonewall and Bitman had to go the other way, towards Markham, so we said our goodbyes. I drove the car with Sandy and plotted a course north to Bradford. The roads were busy and the two were not the best at first at getting rolling with authority. But they did get going. I stopped once to suggest that they move a little quicker but, actually, they were doing quite well. On a hill in Bradford, with one lane closed, Heather learned that if you try to go too slowly on an uneven surface with your feet up, you will fall over. Nothing hurt except her pride and I had her back up in a minute.

From Bradford, we took Highway 88 (or whatever it's known as now) to Bond Head. Once we crossed the 400, traffic died down. We cut a little north and continued west on CR1. It's dead straight until Hockley and now the bikes were keeping up. After Hockley, to 70 KPH road sweeps back and forth for a very enjoyable ride. Tom said later that he really enjoyed it. They looked good. We went around Orangeville and on towards Fergus were Tom, making the turn from Highway 9 to CR 3, went in too fast and swept wide. My horror was replaced by admiration as he stuck with it, riding right to the edge of the sand and bringing it around the corner. Many newbies would have given up and dropped it.

As we approached Fergus, Tom pulled over on the shoulder. I had checked Heather's bike for gas and it was full, so I assumed (ASS_U_ME) that Tom's would be full too. Nope. And when the gauge starts flashing, it's pretty much too late. Heather and I waited with the bikes while Tom and Sandy took the car and got a gallon of gas to go.

I took Tom's bike and rode it a few miles to Inverhaugh. I was quite impressed. It is very stable in a straight line and very nimble in turns. Low speed maneuvering is very confident. But I soon gave it back to Tom because it was only right that he complete his first trip in the saddle.

We headed on into Waterloo where Tom and Heather passed us on the way to his parents' house. Sandy noted that Tom's turn signals flashed twice as fast as Heather's did. I said that usually meant a bulb out. Sure enough, when we checked neither front signal light was working. When they had the front apart installing the SE kit, they never reconnected the wires. So I pulled the headlight, found the two unconnected wires I was looking for (plus two more I have no idea what for) and plugged them all in. Eureka. And chock one more up for Suzuki of Newmarket.

Tom's Mom barbecued some steaks and pork. It was some of the best meat I have had in long time. Then we put the bikes in her garage and the kids brought us back to Kim and Mike's in Cambridge. They were out at friends and we went to bed before they got home.

I had a lot of good pictures today, but when I got home I found that the rotten Sony chip in my Canon A70 camera (what were they thinking?) had finally failed just the way they described in the camera forums. After almost five years, it is toast. The next photos you see should be with a new Panasonic Lumix like the one Sherm uses.

Late Breaking Update

I managed to get a photo of the bikes that Tom took. Heather is standing by hers on the right. Tom isn't in the photo because he was taking the picture.

Cambridge Ontario to Wasaga Beach Ontario and Back (sort of)

Some days you eats the bear.......

.....and some days the bear eats you.

By the time I got up this morning, Kim and Mike had already left for work. Sandy and I headed up to Canadian Tire to get a copy of their house key cut, stopped at Mickey D's for breakfast and picked up a few groceries at Zehr's, dropping them back at the house.

Tom had taken the day off to clean Heather's Rebel, which was being stored in his Mom's garage near his condo in Waterloo. We rode over to see him and then we all went over to Heather's office for lunch. She looks lost in there with a table, one computer and a chair in that large empty space. Most of the furnishings went at auction earlier this week and she will be done at the end of the month. The bike noise seemed to be getting worse, so I called J&R and spoke to Rhonda. She said John was there this afternoon, so I decided to ride up and have him take a look. Tom took Sandy back to Kim & Mike's.

On the two hour ride to J&R in Wasaga Beach, I noted that the noise was worse when I backed off the throttle and, at lower speeds, I could feel a vibration through my foot pegs. Not a good sign. I arrived at the shop about 3:10. John dropped what he was doing and took the bike on the road for a test. I hoped for a dragging caliper or dirty brake pad, but he came back and confirmed what I really knew but didn't want to think about. Drive shaft universal joint. The same as happened to my 1976 Wing with 40K miles on it, only this one has 82K miles, many of them towing a camper trailer at 80MPH. Interestingly, the extended warranty kicked in two weeks ago.

When I think about it, this is all for the best. It will cause me some problems in the short term and tomorrow won't be near as much fun, but this early will allow us to get it fixed with minimum disruption. If it had happened during any of the big trips this summer, it would have really messed things up.

So now I am stuck in Wasaga Beach. As some kind of a weird positive omen, a guy pulled in on a Honda Rune, the only one I have ever seen on the road. I called Heather and she arranged for Tom to come and pick me up. Then I called Leo and was telling him the tale (he is negotiating right now for a new Wing). He asked if I wanted him to come down to Waterloo Monday and bring us home. I said sure. Friends like this are a prize better than gold.

Tom arrived about 5:45 and, on the way back to Cambridge, I got him to drive through the Hockley Valley and the Forks of the Credit. He figures he might like Hockey tomorrow on the way home with the new bike, but that the Forks would have to wait until he has more experience. Good call, IMHO:-)

Back at Kim and Mike's, Mike had cooked up some excellent stuffed pork chops and then we all sat around and passed the time for a while until Tom and Heather went home and the rest of us turned in. Tom and Heather took her car and left us his so we could go over to their place in Waterloo in the morning and get Operation Suzuki under way.

Sudbury Ontario to Cambridge Ontario

Heather and Tom will be picking their new bikes, matching Suzuki C50 Boulevard SE's (800 cc shaft driven, liquid cooled cruisers with windshields, saddlebags and backrests) up at Suzuki of Newmarket on Saturday and then riding them home. The linked article is about a C50T, which is the same as the SE except that is has studs in the seat and saddlebags. Other than course training, Heather has limited miles on her Honda Rebel 250 and Tom has virtually none, so we intend to escort them home.

I went to the gym first thing this morning, stopped by the optometrist to complain about the prescription of my new glasses and then came home to pack. It was clear and quite warm, an exceptional day for April. We got all the gear stashed on the bike without incident.

Sandy hasn't been on the bike since I decided to increase the preload settings on the rear shock, so I took a guess at 20 based on our experience with the spring-only ride to Georgia last September. It was perfect. A word to Traxxion users with the regular spring, don't get lured in by the talk of low settings. The ride, bumps and all, was much better with the higher setting.

The ride down Highway 69 was comfortable, not to cool with moderate traffic. I set the cruise at 19 KPH above the limit based on the GPS. It was easy to see the salt still on the pavement. I think this is worse since they started using brine. It will take some more heavy rain to wash this off into the ditches where it will entice the moose out to the side of the highway and we will have our usual spring rash of car/moose collisions.

As we reached Nobel, about 100 miles into our journey, I had to slow down for construction. When I did, I started to hear a faint swish/swish sound from under the bike that varied in relation to our ground speed. This identified it as being related to tires, wheels, brakes, final drive or drive shaft. We stopped at Mickey D's in Parry Sound for lunch and I put it on the centre stand to see if I could see anything. Nothing visible with the brakes, nothing if I spun either wheel, nothing if I moved the rear wheel in gear (except perhaps the lash was a little more than I remembered). Maybe it was salt in the brake pads?

We continued on, taking some of our favourite Ontario roads. Off the 400 at Highway 89, we went towards Alliston but took the road around the Nottawasaga Inn to Tottenham Road. Then we went south to County 1 and then west, with the road eventually becoming the Hockley Road. They have added a much needed traffic light in Loretto which should save a few lives. The Hockley Road is perfect. Good pavement and no sand in the corners, although the 70 KPH speed limit is quite limiting. When we reached Highway 10 in Orangeville, we went south through Caledon to Forks of the Credit Road. This has been closed for over a year and a half, but is now open again and many bikes will be riding it as the season goes on.

Once through The Forks, we continued on Highway 24 to Guelph and Cambridge, arriving at Kim and Mike's by about 4:30. After taking about what to have for supper,the girls decided that they would like to try the new Chicken Bowls from KFC. Mike and I headed over there to get some. The girl at the counter said they didn't have any large bowls, but she would give us two small ones for the price of one large. That was a great deal and so we headed home after a successful hunt with EIGHT chicken bowls. Surprisingly, they weren't too bad with the mashed potatoes, corn, cheese, chicken nuggets and gravy.

We must have been tired because Sandy and I hit the sack about 9:15 and went right to sleep.

The Bike Is Out

It was a nice day yesterday. The snow that fell on Friday and prompted the final use of the snowblower had mostly melted. I went to the garage, checked the tire pressure and oil level on the Wing and fired it up. It started up immediately and settled right into a smooth idle.

After getting suited up, I tip-toed out into the sand covered street and on out of the subdivision. It was just a short ride. Here on out through Garson and on the the village of Falconbridge (I wonder if they should change the name to XStrata since the company doesn't like the name Falconbridge?). The bike ran strongly and smoothly and the new suspension setting continued to eat up the few bumps I was unable to avoid. On the way back, I took a slight detour around on Maley Drive and down to the Kingsway, but didn't stay out too long.

Today, I went back out again, on to Falconbridge with a stop at the Sudbury Trail Plan office to see Normie. Then I took a spirited ride down the Garson/Coniston Road before stopping for gas $1.19 / Liter) and coming home.

It feels great. I am happy.

In The Gym Again

I was never a very fit person during my working days. Other than some squash playing in the 80's, I hadn't seen the inside of a gym since I was in high school. The, at the end of 2001, I signed up for an introductory program at the Sudbury YMCA. The staff there taught me how to use the cardio and weight equipment and, over the winter, I dropped 35 pounds (down to 185) and got in pretty good shape. However, when spring came, I stopped going as riding season started.

The next winter, I went back to working out again. More benefits, although the summer weight gain didn't come off as easily. This annual pattern continued, gym in the winter and not in the summer. Some winters, I was more diligent than others. This went on until last winter.

I finished the riding season last year at 208 pounds. Not bad considering I had started the season at 211. But I didn't get back into the gym in the fall. Sandy had surgery in October and I quit smoking in September, throwing things out of kilter. I went to the YMCA a few days in early December and a couple in mid January. In the meantime, my weight skyrocketed to 229 by the beginning of April. All in all, this was a less than ideal situation and, by April 7th, I had had enough.

Not going to the gym in the winter is much worse than in the summer. At least, in the summer, I am relatively more active. During the winter, I just lay around most of the time. And it showed when I got back on the cardio equipment. The first two days, I wasn't even able to keep up my entry level treadmill routine of 25 minutes at 3.8 MPH at a 6% grade. The 15 minutes on the horizontal exercise bike was rugged and the mere five minutes on the elliptical almost finished me. I did a few basic weight machines but didn't overdo it. This was the worst start back at the gym after a lay-off ever.

The third day was rough too, but I realized when I got home that I had forgotten my BP meds, including my beta-blocker. Fortunately, Thursday and Friday were somewhat better. Today, Monday, the start of the second week, things seem to have kicked in. The cardio workout, while having a long way to go, is quite acceptable and I am running the full weight routine and adding weights daily.

As I get older, I can't afford missing workouts. It's harder to get in shape again and the ups and downs aren't good for me. I need to get the weight down because that will improve my blood pressure and my blood sugar. So I need to be sure that, even if I am just home for a day, I need to go to the gym and do something. We'll see how I keep up with this as time goes by.

The 2008 Itinerary

One of the fun activities that keeps us going over the winter is watching the calendar of events develop and then planning our trips to see how many we can attend. Here's what we have come up with so far.

April 19/20 weekend is the Hill Country Ride in Texas that we originally planned to attend since our last time there was 2005. However, we canceled because this was the weekend Heather and Tom wanted to pick up their new bikes in Newmarket and we wanted to be there for the event and the ride home.

May will be quiet. The weekend of the 10th, we're working on the Freedom Riders Motorcycle Awareness display in the New Sudbury Centre. The next week involves the Bikers for Life Challenge to get blood donations and a Motorcycle Awareness Week proclamation at City Hall. The Victoria Day long weekend will be spent, as always, at Stevenson's Lodge in Combermere, Ontario with the Fry family and friends. We rode together years ago and this is our one big gathering of the year. If Heather and Tom want to ride up, we'll go to Waterloo first and travel with them. Unfortunately, this means we will again miss SEVROC, the Southeast VROC gathering in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

In June, the traveling begins. June 7/8 weekend is VROC at KSL (Kickstand Lodge). We'll haul the camper trailer down and set up on the beautiful KSL grounds, taking time to ride some of the nicest motorcycle roads in existence. From there, we'll haul the trailer home and drop it, heading west for the Great Midwest River Run in Boscobel, Wisconsin the next weekend. The following weekend, we'll be in Topaz Lake on the California/Nevada border for the High Sierra VROC weekend. We'll be sharing a room with Sherm at the Topaz Lake Resort and Casino. Sherm will then join us heading east to the Aztec VROC gathering in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The big July run is the annual Wolfman's Wandering Rally, being held this year in Coos Bay Oregon on the July 19/20 weekend. Our original plan had been to come home after Aztec for a week or so and then head west again. However, west coast hospitality is so nice that we'll head for the coast after Aztec, visiting Sandy's brother in Vancouver; our friend Scorpion~ in Olympia, Washington; Sherm and Pat in Coos Bay, Oregon; and Don VSP Inamasu in Stockton, California; before heading back up the the WWR, aka Oregon Trails Rally. After that, we'll head for home and get to work preparing for our own Freedom Rally in Sudbury on Civic Holiday Weekend (the weekend with the 1st Monday in August).

The week after the Freedom Rally, we'll be at Cycle-Moore Campground in Interlochen Michigan with the Michigan VROC contingent and friends. If Heather and Tom want to attend, we'll come through Waterloo and ride with them. From Interlochen, we'll set sail for southeast Pennsylvania where a VROCer named Badluck will be hosting his second annual bash. We missed it last year. I hope to get a chance to see some cousins while we're in this neck of the woods. Then it will be home for the rest of the month.

The September run will be the usual. We'll haul the camper trailer to the 29th Annual Cyclefest in Waterloo Region for the Labour Day weekend and then will head on to Indiana for the WARB gathering the next weekend. From there,we'll head back through Sudbury and drop the trailer before heading out the the New England Maine Ride the week after. We'll finish up with a run across to Eureka Springs Arkansas VROC Reunion for the last event of the traveling season.

Gas prices will be challenging, but not enough to make us stop. Maybe some day, something else will catch our attention but, for now, this is still working. I have a few minor bike mods in the works, including a cord that will let me use the cell phone (through the BlueTooth capable GPS) while riding. I'm also working on a voice recorder so that I don't lose some of the thoughts I have as I cruise along, the ones that slip out of my mind before I can stop and make note of them.

So stay tuned to this channel and ride with us as we meet friends old and new, and explore more of the continent.