ORRA Meeting in Parry Sound

The Ontario Road Riders Association (ORRA) was having its (sort of) quarterly meeting today in Parry Sound. This is about as close to Sudbury as I ever expect to get and I had notified the club to see if anyone would go, since I was supposed to be in Maine.

I am not, however, in Maine this weekend so I decided I would ride down. First I met Rob, Chantal, Dan and Tracy at the eastern Tim's. They were heading for Camp Dorset where a number of members had gathered for the weekend to raise money on the Dialysis Ride. They were heading out via North Bay and would, hopefully, connect with me in Parry Sound about 4:00 PM.

I was on the road at 9:20 with a clear sky and an 8C temperature. Nippy but nice. My first task was to negotiate my way around a nasty little wreck right in front of the OPP detachment. two cars on scene and they could have walked.

I had breakfast at the Hungry Bear Restaurant at the French River. A simple omelet and coffee was good enough for me. As I rode further south, it surprised me how many trees had not started to change colour yet. Maybe it would be a late fall, he mused hopefully......

There were many boats being towed south. I guess people are closing things up for the winter. I was surprised to see gas in Nobel was 89.9 cents because it was 99.9 when I left Sudbury. There is something about this 100 miles that seems to inflate fuel pirices.

I got to Don Cherry's in downtown Parry Sound in lots of time. Kevin (ORRA President), Marlene (ORRA Comptroller), Mike (old friend from Ottawa) and a few others were there. Shortly after, Lea (Freedom Riders VP) arrived. He thought I would be in Maine and I forgot to update the club as to my change in plans. No problem, though, because Lea also represents the Sudbury Toy Run.

I took two tasks away from the meeting. One, I need to write down my memories of the founding of ORRA since I am one of the few remaining people who were there at the very beginning in 1980. Two, I volunteered to set up an online forum for ORRA representatives. The next meeting is November 14th in St. Thomas. Although it won't be riding time (I don't think, anyway), it will be Port Dover Weekend so we might make it down there. Rob called to say that they were way behind, time wise, and I should forget about the planned rendezvous.

After the meeting, Lea and I talked to Kevin for a while out on the street before getting some grub at Tim's and heading north. I made it down and back on one tank of gas and was happy that the low fuel light on the bike and the GPS warning were triggered within a half mile of each other.

We arrived home without incident and Sudbury gas was still 99 cents. Go figure.