Cyclefest - Day 1

We woke up this morning to another clear day.  By the time I was up, Sandy was already next door having coffee in Fred's trailer.  I wandered over and enjoyed a Fred McMuffin for breakfast.  This consists of an egg cooked between two pices of bread in a sandwich maker.  Very interesting.



Today, Heather and Sandy were driving to Ingersoll to get a marriage licence.  The reason for the drive was because they price was half what they would charge in Kitchener.  It's a provincial document so I don't know why the discrepancy but it was large enough to make the road trip worthwhile.


With them gone, Fred and I decided to take a little fun ride to the Hockley General Store for coffee.  We went up the usual back roads to Orangeville and then, because of the 16 construction, we took the new Orangeville By-pass around town and connected with the Hockley Road.  I was just through here yesterday but I love this road  and it's better without the trailer.  The speed limit is 70 KPH and the corners are interesting at 10~20 over.


The store was pretty quiet.  We had our coffee and then decided to try to find a way to hook up with the Forks of the Credit Road, another motorcyclist favourite, without going through the construction on Highway 10.  The road through Alton to Highway 24 and then back to McLaren Road appeared to be just the ticket. It came down on the Forks Road just at the start of the good part.  We cruised through the twists and the famous hairpin at a moderate clip and discovered a large number of bikes stopped at Belfountain.  Back through Erin and Eramosa, we arrived back at the campground before Heather and Sandy.


When the marriage crew returned, Sandy and I drove Tom's car up to the Canadian Tire in Fergus looking for a large awning tent.  The screen awning we had before ended up with a broken pole last year, something that pleased us since the thing was a major bear to set up.  We wanted something light and simple but checking there and at the next door Zeller's turned up nothing.  We did get water, new mats for the camper trailer and a sandwich in Elora so the trip wasn't a complete waste.


Back at camp, we helped Maggie set up her monstrous shelter the same as we do every year.  Luckily, she has the myriad of different types of poles numbered to make the job possible.  Tom showed up after work and the five of us went back up to The Gorge for our traditional Friday supper.


On the way back, I decided to ride over to St. Jacobs to see if I could connect with the Ice Cream Run, which sometimes goes there.  No luck, but on the way back out Northfield Road from Conestogo I met a group of motorcycles heading towards Waterloo.  It was too dark to see who they were, but how many groups could there be out here, right?  This must be the Ice Cream Run.  I turned and followed them into Waterloo and found out that I had (once again) made a bad assumption.  ASS_U_ME.  I had joined the Southern Cruisers Motorcycle Club Chapter 270 out of Kitchener on their Friday night ride.  Heather and Tom rode with them last year and I got to meet Road Captain Moe, of whom they had spoken highly.  But this wasn't my party so, after a few words, I headed back to the campground.


This was the official first night of the rally and the corn pots and wiener roast were going full blast when I got back.  Unlucky for me, the Ice Cream Run had gone the other way this evening and was already back.  I had some hot dogs and joined the crew around the bonfire, catching up with old friends and making a few new ones.  It was a full moon but everyone was well behaved, unlike the old days.  Old man that I am, I was in bed by 11:00 PM.


Today's Route


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