North Bay - Marten River Ride

It was a good day to ride to North Bay, Marten River and back through Field.  Five bikes went including Rob, Dan, Tracey, Dough & Carol and Sandy & Jim.

Photos

Skid and Sandy's Blog

The Countdown Ride

by Nepper, Road Captain

Well I left Chelmsford to ride out to Lively at about 8:45 am, again trying to beat everyone there and wouldn’t you know it I was the 3^rd bike to show up.  I’m starting to know what the wolf felt like in the story of the 3 little pigs.  Sorry, back to the ride.

Jim and Sandy were waiting inside Mr. J’s  with Leo and, had I arrived earlier, I guess I could have had breakfast with them but it was really foggy and I really didn’t want to leave home any earlier. When I say foggy,  I mean “pea soup thick” foggy.  It was risky turning left off the bypass from Chelmsford into Creighton.  I won’t complain too much about the cold but it was cold enough to make me run the windshield up on the Vision to keep the wind off my forehead.  However, I had to put it back down again because the fog just misted it up and I needed to keep as clear a sightline as possible. Fog, moose, and oncoming traffic, need I say more. 

We weren’t there long when Terry and Nicky rode in followed by Ken and Gary Venturi.  Make a note.  Mr. J’s has a Sunday buffet so unless you get there real early you can’t order breakfast because the kitchen is too busy preparing.  Needless to say Terry got skunked out of breakfast.

We weren’t in any real hurry to leave as we were hoping the fog would burn off a bit before we jumped on the bikes. We probably left about 15 or 20 minutes later than planned and by then the fog was definitely thinning so riding was now much safer.  We rode out of Lively on RR 55 and although I haven’t been on it in a while I was pleased to see the surface was at least tolerable. By Sudbury standards.  When we pulled out onto the highway we pulled in behind a group of Canadian Cruiser riders and followed them to Nairn Center where they turned off at the Esso Fuel Stop.  While riding behind them I felt it best to keep a space large enough to separate our two groups to allow any 4 wheeled traffic the opportunity to slip in between us.  Their line was pretty long and they were behind a semi so it was no use us trying to pass everything and get separated in the process.  Lucky for us they turned off.

We stopped for a minute at the Wendy’s/Timmy’s in Espanola. The stop was more an opportunity to make sure everyone was comfortable with their choice of riding apparel than actually needing a break but it was lucky we did because it wasn’t long after we stopped that Roger pulled in to join the ride. Who knew?  It was great to see Roger back up and running after his trouble on the colour ride.  Roger was wearing a new rubber tire, breaks and a new front wheel bearing.  Good to have you back Roger. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we passed a dead moose on the side of the road.  Poor thing, it must have got nailed in the fog and as sorry as I was to see it laying in the ditch I was happy at least that it didn’t show up unexpectedly in the middle of the road.    

Bikes, bikes, and more bikes,  all along the way toward Elliot Lake, what a great day for a ride.  The colours were spectacular.  We pulled into Elliot Lake and I rode straight to the Fire Side Grill.  Well sort of.  “It used to be there, honest” but now it’s a Shopper’s Drugmart.  Imagine my surprise.  First I was surprised the hotel wasn’t there then I was really surprised the group still let me lead them out of there and on to the new location back up the highway.  We found it but only because some nice old lady recognized that “lost biker look” on my face and walked over to offer directions.

We were joined by a really nice couple on a Nomad who not long ago returned to riding and had come up from Sudbury behind us.  The food was good at the new Fireside but we could have just as easily ended up at the Coach House Steak House which is practically next door.  Maybe next time.  After lunch we gassed up and headed up to the lookout tower about 3 klicks north of town.  A great spot for pictures and digesting.

Back toward home.  The ride was pretty much your standard “head back home ride” and everything was going great when all of a sudden there wasn’t anybody in my rear view mirrors.  My first thought was MUTINY.  “I knew it,  they lost faith in me over misplacing the restaurant.”  A quick U turn on the highway and a short run back to where I learned it was just Terry who forgot to close his saddle bags, drat!. Not quite so romantic as mutiny but still it was ADVENTURE.  Bear with me here,  there’s nothing on TV and Yollande is out for the evening.  We weren’t going to stop until we were back at Timmy’s in Lively but we decided to stop in Espanola to say our goodbyes there.  Naturally the parking lot was loaded up with bikes so we filed in and spent some time chewing the fat before we climbed back in the saddle and rode into the sunset. Well okay, technically we were headed in the other direction but who ever heard of anyone riding “out of the sunset.” That there is what I’ll  call “writer’s privilege” 

Jim and Sandy, Leo, and the couple we met on the Nomad, stayed behind, Roger left for Manitoulin, and Nicky, Gary, Ken, and I headed off.  There wouldn’t be any more stops so we just blasted our way back and eventually got separated in traffic. Sorry folks but the devil made me do it.  Well actually the devil was riding a Valkarie and he had made a comment earlier about hating to be passed by one of those “other Bikes”.  You know, the ones with attitude.  So the opportunity presented itself and I found myself compelled to give him what he wanted.  “It was his fault officer,  I was pushed into it.” That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I made it back home before 5:30 pm.  Just a little too late for supper but just in time for  happy hour. We had an absolutely fabulous ride on one of the last of the great days of the 2011 riding season.  Our count down ride couldn’t have been better. 

Oh by the way.  I guess you may have picked up on the fact that Rob wasn’t along for the ride, but that isn’t the only reason we had such a great time. However, even though Rob wasn’t there Roger decided to remember him by graciously dropping his bike just so we could all think about him. So who’s going to drop their bike for Rob next ride? ;-)

Nepper’s Nickel


Ride Photos

Skid & Sandy's Ride Report

Fall Colour Run

Hi folks, I thought I’d write a bit of a report about our Fall Colour Ride for those of you who couldn’t make it. My intention is to write a report and forward it to everyone after each of our rides so let me make this my first.

The weekend weather could not have been better for this little jaunt so thanks to Rob for suggesting we shouldn’t wait too late this year and “let’s get on with the ride while the weather is still good”.  I figured I’d better get to the meeting point early enough to greet anyone who showed up but naturally there were a few ahead of me even though I got there before 9:00 a.m.  I left home at 8:15 and it was 6 degrees Celsius but there was a promise it would warm up soon. The dark blue clouds to the north west of Chelmsford meant nothing. I hoped.

Roger was already at Timmy's warming up with a coffee as his ride in from Manitoulin Island was not what one might consider “comfortable.” He was still shaking a bit when he walked out to greet us and I know it wasn’t because he was nervous. The rest of us gathered together and discussed the ride ahead and finalized a route and plans were set.

Along for the ride were Rob Lemieux, Ray Lemieux, Jim and Sandy Robinson, Ken Silver, Don Raymond, Roger Lachance, Leo Laframboise,Terry Appleby, and me.  9 bikes in all. 

We rode to Parry Sound with a short stretch stop at the French River Trading Post. We stretched but for some reason Rob decided he was going to show us how he could lay his bike down in the parking lot and then lift it back up again. Not sure why and he didn’t want to talk about it much so I didn’t press the issue but then again I guess we shouldn’t be questioning our prez on everything he decides to do.  I guess it was colder than I thought because I noticed too that his face was really red.;-)

In Parry Sound we stopped at the Trapper’s Inn where Jack and Cathay French had made reservations for us and they met us there for lunch.  Cathay came out on her bike.  That’s right she finally got her bike back and on the road after the accident in July. I should mention here that everyone who was involved in the accident in Algonquin Park is now back up and running. Rob got his Victory fixed, Gary has his Honda back, Cathy has her Harley again, and Sandra has a new 1100 Yamaha.

After lunch we headed out toward Huntsville via 141.  We turned left at the Crossroads Restaurant in Rosseau and rode highway 3 into Huntsville.  Make a note everyone, Avoid highway 3 it’s in very poor shape.  Terry, Jack and Cathay left the ride about halfway to Rosseau as they had to get back to other things before our ride would end. Rob led us out onto Highway 11 then turned into Huntsville via the north Entrance into town and we stopped at the DQ for a quick cone.  Did I mention it had really warmed up by now?

We decided to run through Huntsville to Port Sydney then take 141 (new asphalt) back to Rosseau then home.  Just after we left Huntsville Ray’s bike died. It turned out to be a bad plug wire so after a quick fix he caught up to where we were waiting and we continued, for about 5 kilometers then I noticed we lost the riders behind me again.  So after catching the rest of the group we backtracked and found them.  This time it was Roger who had a flat tire. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything we could do for the tire so Roger made arrangements to have his brother come and get him and his bike. Once we knew he was set and going to be alright we started out again to get back home before dark (and cold).  We got about 2 klicks and woops “were are those guys that were behind me?”  This time it was Ray’s bike, again the spark plug problem decided to put him to the test.  Rob went back and helped him out and after a bit of trial and error contacted us by phone and insisted they’d make out okay and that we should head home without them. So we headed out again toward Parry Sound.

The rest of the journey went without incident and we followed 141 through Raymond to Rosseau on a beautiful road surface then on to the new Timmies/Licks/Petrocan on Horseshoe Lake Road just south of Parry Sound where we gassed up and decided to hightail it straight home before nightfall.  Rob contacted Jim on his phone and he let us know that he and his dad made out alright and were already in North Bay having driven up 11 to take 17 back home.

So after all that it turned out that our Colour Ride was a little more colourful than we had anticipated but it was still a great ride, and it was a dry ride.  Bonus!!!  Hey, shit happens, sometime no matter who, or where you are.  Fortunately when it happens and you are with a group there are others with you to try and help you and at least make sure plans are in place to get you through it.  Having said that I hope everything went as planned for Roger. They should have, as his brother was on the road to him when we left him.  We joked that he was lucky because there was even a fresh cut pile of firewood beside him just incase it got really cold. Besides there was also a woman in the house across the street who offered to help any way she could.   

It’s always best to have a plan for emergency situations and when you don’t then you’d better have a cell phone with a good battery.  This was a good ride, the colours may not have been in full bloom but the weather was good as was the company and I’d say we all took something positive away with us and isn’t that what riding in a group is supposed to be all about anyway?  

We stopped at the Timmy's at the four corners in Sudbury and before we disembarked for home we all agreed that we should attempt at least one more run before we had to stud our tires for winter.  Keep checking your email because it will probably be a short notice announcement as we’ll have to make plans according to the weather forecast. We talked of a short “lunch type” run possibly to the Island or Elliot Lake.

Nepper

Road Captain

p.s.  Remember,  every ride is a good ride and a dry ride is a bonus.

Nepper’s nickel

Ride Photos

Skid and Sandy's Ride Report

Freedom Riders Annual Memorial Run - Part Deux

Report published in the Skid and Sandy On The Road Blog.

Freedom Riders Annual Memorial Run

Report published in the Skid and Sandy On The Road Blog.