Do not try this at home… at least one road in particular

June 1

My tour had more than its share of rough roads this time around. I am all for exploring the road less traveled, but I think I went a tad overboard especially on one of my choices. 

I was intrigued by a road called Yearly Road off the 518 because it is also a back way into Huntsville. Naturally, this was a hard-packed gravel road. As I ventured down it there were plenty of twisties and hills to make it fun, although because of the surface I kept a slower pace. Eventually it became pavement, although parts were covered with a lot of sand so I had to be very careful in the turns. 

I crossed a little bridge with an amazing view and quickly took a few pictures. The blackflies are still in full force so any length of time you are stopped will have them swarming.
(Those things might be small but have a mighty bite to them)

I turned onto Aspdin Road and it became fairly decent and was a pleasant ride. Even as I turned down Domtar Road and followed the railway tracks the road surface was good. That is until I made my turn onto Stephenson Rd W 8. On the map it is called Concession Rd 7W, but I knew that my turn was before the railway tracks and turned down it. The road was very gravelly which made it extremely slippery. I just kept it slow. It didn’t matter that I may have been travelling slower than a car would because on these roads there isn’t any.

I crossed hwy 11 to Greer Road and hooked onto Muskoka District 10. This was an awesome road and brought me through the quaint town of Port Sydney. The place was just buzzing with people. I have no idea what was going on, maybe because it was a Saturday and everyone was out and about. I didn’t stop, maybe next time when it is not so busy. Once I passed by the town MD 10 was a really fun road with twists and turns, ups and downs. I had a blast riding this road, especially seeing I was the only one on it. MD 10 ends at Brunel Road [MD 2] 

Brunel Road will lead into downtown Huntsville (by turning left). This road is just as fun, however the speed limit drops to 50km the closer you get to town. I went through town to connect with Ravenscliff Road [MD 2]. My last tour  had me travelling the length of this road but this time around I wanted to check out Old Novar Road.

Old Novar Road was not one of my better decisions on roads to go down. It started pretty much like most of the back roads that I have been on so far. I was only a mile or so when I seen a couple of ATV’s in my mirror and decided to pull over to let them pass. They stopped to see if I was okay. (That was very nice of them) I explained I was just pulling over to let them pass as I (obviously) couldn’t ride as fast as them. We chatted a bit, and I told them I just like going down roads I have never been before. They probably thought I was a nutcase attempting this road (or should I say soon to be trail) on a motorcycle. One of them offered me some bug spray, which I declined and said I wasn’t planning on stopping again. We wished each other happy travels and they disappeared around the next curve. It wasn’t long before the road narrowed and became more of trail of hard packed dirt than a road. As I proceeded this road was the biggest challenge I had ever faced since I started riding. I barely got out of 1st gear and some sections the hard dirt became huge rocks to cross over, this was in the low-lying areas where it appeared that at certain times washes out the trail. In some places the hills were steep and the corners were sharp.  I will say this road tested every bit of my skill I had as a motorcyclist. This is one road I will never again ride down.

Eventually it connected to Boundary Road, (a hard-packed gravel road that will eventually become paved) I was so glad to see just a normal gravel road. I continued on Boundary to my ole familiar 592 and headed home. 

Until next time keep

Cruising Through Life & Enjoying The Ride...

Full Route: I don’t recommend going down Old Novar Road, unless you have an adventure bike, even then this road is not for the faint of heart.