Warm April Day

Today, (Sunday April 16) with the sun shining and the temp at about 16C and climbing I ventured out at about 10am. I just had to take advantage of the beautiful warm weather as tomorrow calls for 10C and rain. The rest of the week is not promising either, temps drop to the single digits and rain/snow mix all week. Unfortunately that is more normal for our April weather here. 

I headed along Baseline Rd. This road has taken a beating over the winter, with spots that are rough but ridable. I went towards Barrie where I would connect with Ridge Rd. North and ride along the water, even though the huge houses hide any view of it.

On my way back I took Bass Lake Rd and then just scooted along 93 and home. It was getting toasty out and finished my ride at about 1pm. Another wonderful 155 km ride. 

Baseline Rd.

 Line 1 at the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail. 

Carthew Bay

For my full ride map details

Until next time... keep

Cruising Through Life & Enjoying The Ride

1st Ride 2023 Season

The week after Easter (April 10) produced summer like conditions ranging from the low 20's to the almost 29C. I would have liked to get my bike out sooner but unfortunately we had torrential rain that flooded my basement just before Easter, so I had to work on fixing that first.

I was finally done by Saturday (April 15) and was able to take advantage of the unusually warm temperature for this time of year. 

Whenever I do a 1st ride of the season I like to keep it closer to home and somewhat short. After not riding for 6 months I tend to be a little rusty, although this year I didn't feel rusty at all. I decided on a little tour along Champlain Rd (Penetanguishene)

I stopped on Champlain Rd and snapped a pic, then I spied something in the water.

I then took a pic of what I thought were two ducks - one tail up and one just sitting next to him, I zoomed in took the pic then realized that they were only buoys LOL

I continued along Champlain Rd. which was a pleasant ride with hardly any traffic at all. It will take you all the way into Awenda Park. 

Awenda Park

I then took a ride around Fairlain Lake. Even though it is a housing development, it is a nice windy road that is very woodsy. 

Fairlain Lake

I headed out to Thunder Beach along the concessions and then I went along Tiny Beaches Rd, nice if you like a leisurely ride  at 40 clicks, winding your way along the waterfront. There are plenty of places to stop for photo ops at the end of the concessions. 

I stopped at Balm Beach, not much action happening yet. 

It was great finally getting back on two wheels and getting my much needed wind therapy. I plan on going out tomorrow and squeezing in one more ride before the weather turns to crap again. The long range forecast calls for single digits and a rainy snow mix for the week. I can't complain, April is very early to be riding around these parts, so I will take what I can get.

Until next time... keep

Cruising through life and enjoying the ride 

Where did the time go?

 Hi Everyone! or at least the couple people who still follow me - remember me? LOL

It has been quite awhile since I wrote anything. It just seems that time is running faster than ever, or at least faster than me. I wanted to keep up with my riding adventures, but then one thing leads to another and it gets pushed off into a corner to collect dust. I know, excuses. At least I mostly kept up with my riding adventures on my social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook. It was less time consuming to post a condensed version than to write something somewhat intelligent here. (or I was just too lazy) But if I really think about it, I was also a little burned out with writing. I never thought that would happen, but it did.

Well, today seemed to be the perfect wintery (sub zero) snow day to clear the cobwebs and flex my fingers again. It was about time to let you guys know what has been happing the last two years. 

~~ 2020 ~~

I can't believe my last post was May 16 of 2020! I actually rode quite a lot that year, in fact it was one of the rare years that I  was able to ride until November 10. I did 60 rides and rode a total of 12,738km that year! I explored all kinds of back roads from Penetanguishene to Parry Sound and then ventured towards Haliburton.

My first ride of the season I actually wrote about, it was April 25 and I took a little scoot to Lafontaine 

So, I will tell you about one of my adventures that I didn't write about. August 31st I headed towards Kawartha Lakes and checked out Lake Dalrymple and Head Lake. When all was said and done I had road 308 km that day. You can check out the route here

Lake Dalrymple - Aug 31, 2020

Head Lake Kawartha Lakes (Monck Rd 45) Aug 31, 2020

My last ride of the season was November 10th, yes I was in total shock at how warm it was. It was a balmy 23C and November!!  It was a little 132 km ride that brought me along one of my favorite local loops. You can check out the route here.

Bidwell Rd - Oro-Medonte November 10, 2020

~~ 2021 ~~

In 2021 my riding season started on March 30th.  I didn't do as many rides in 2021, having broken ribs put a bit of a dent in my riding adventures. For the record, my broken ribs had nothing to do with motorcycling. Even though I missed a month of riding I still managed to get in 35 rides and rode a total of 6,684 km. I spent the summer in the Algonquin Highlands with my BF and found plenty of fun twisty roads to ride. 

My first ride on March 30th  was a very crisp day at 10C and the wind gusts were quite strong at times making the 10C feel like 0. There were still some patches of snow still holding on, Ole man winter didn't want to give up his icy grasp. Suffice to say I only did 82km that day.

Hummingbird Rd - Oro-Medonte March 30th, 2021

Maple Island (520)

I really liked a ride I took through Burk's Falls to Parry Sound on Sept 13th. 

I discovered Bunny Trail (520) road that was super fun to ride, was even paved and had next to no traffic. It helped that I did this ride in September when tourist season was over.  If you would like to check out the entire route you can see it here.

Bunny Trail Rd - Sept 13, 2021

My last ride of the 2021 season was on October 19th riding from Emsdale to Penetang. It wasn't the most scenic of rides going along highway 11. It was more of  "On a mission" kind of ride. It was time to get my bike home to Penetang and put it in storage. I did stop along highway 11 at a day picnic area by the Kahshe River. 

Kashe River - Hwy 11 October 19, 2021

~~ 2022 ~~

My first ride of 2022 was April 2.  How sad looking back, I noticed my riding time is cut almost in half with each passing year. This year I left my bike in Penetang because I had to split my time between Almaguin Highlands and Penetang.  I only took 20 rides with a sad total of 3,776 km for the season. 

April 2nd was actually a beautiful day for so early in the season. It was a perfect kind of day to just jump on the bike with no where in particular to go. I ended up heading towards Barrie along the back roads. I rode 158 km that day, it sure was nice to get back on two wheels again. 

Penetang Rotary Park - April 2, 2022

On one particular adventure on May 5th, my ride took me to Kinmount and Felon Falls. It was a fun ride as it turned out to be a "stop at little attractions" kind of ride that day. If you would like to check out the route you can see it here.

I stopped at Heritage Park in Kinmount to see the Burnt River, what a quaint little town.

This little shack proclaimed that it is the World's Smallest Bookstore. It convinced me.

Took in the view at Felon Falls

On my way back along Monck Rd I just had to snap a pic of this yellow moose. Not sure why he is there or what it means, but it piqued my interest. 

My last ride of the 2022 season was October 5th. I hadn't been riding since August when the BF left for Florida to bring back our Harley's. You heard me right, my Harley! Oh how I missed my Sporty,  but I digress, I will share that story in a little bit. It was a gorgeous day, 20C and sunny. Took the back roads into Barrie and scooted along Ridge Road. It was a pleasant 160 km ride. Too bad it was my last for the season. If you would like to check out some of this route, you can see it here  When I do this route I sometimes take an alternative long way back, you can check that one here.

Line 1 - Oro Medonte Rail Trail

You are probably still wondering about my Harley. It is very exciting, at least for me. If you are not an avid reader of my blog I will explain briefly so not to bore you all too much.

The BF and I were spending our winters in Florida after buying a house there in 2010. We were trailering our bikes, me a Yamaha V-star and him a Honda Shadow. I was a fairly new rider back then, had just got my license in May of 2009. Anyway, it was in 2013 when we were in Florida that we decided to trade in our bikes and buy Harley's. We then just left them there at our vacation house when we came back to Canada. It did mean no motorcycling in Canada for the summer, but the BF was working and so was I so there wasn't much time for it anyway. 

We came back home in April of 2019 and life was getting a little complicated with our aging parents. My mom in Penetang, his mom in Germany. We decided to sell the house in October and to our surprise it sold close to Christmas, the BF drove down with a trailer and got the stuff we wanted to keep out of the house, however we didn't have the time to get the bikes imported to Canada. Besides, the trailer was full and there would not have been room for them. So the plan was to keep them at our friends house in Florida and get them later.  How were we to know the world would go to hell and Covid would kill travel for the next couple of years.

Fast forward to October 2022, finally travel restrictions were lifted and we were ready to bring the Harley's to Canada. There was quite a bit of paperwork and the BF had to fly to Florida to meet the driver and give him the Titles. We used Mackie Transport and I highly recommend them. Although a word of warning, importing is not cheap.

Harley's getting ready to go on the truck

Big Truck! Thanks Cecil!

Released from Toronto and heading home

Tucked away in the garage 

The next thing we have to do is get them certified and then we can get them plated. It was too late in the season to bother with that, so that is the plan for this spring. I can hardly wait to ride my Sporty again. I like my Honda Rebel and it is a great bike, but there is just something about my Sporty that revs my engine. 

Well that brings you all up to date, if you visit my social media pages you will see my riding adventures just condensed. I am planning on trying to get a little more writing in this riding season. But I won't promise, just in case. 

Until next time, keep
 




Cruising Through Life & Enjoying the Ride…

Bigger is not always better

Observations of a rider:

I would say in the last year I have taken a more active role on Facebook and joined several motorcycle groups exclusively for women. I like these exclusive groups because they are extremely supportive and for the most part keep the ‘drama’ under strict control. 

One of the most common posts I notice regularly are women wanting to move up to a bigger motorcycle after a year or so of riding. Another theme posted along the same lines is how their current ride cannot “keep up” in large group rides and this also seems to be what is fueling their desire to get a bigger bike. So I thought I would give my two cents worth on this subject.

I admit that I do not ride in large groups, and probably never will, I have an aversion to crowds. Although the one time I did ride with six other bikers and the thought of “keeping up” didn’t even cross my mind. I had never met them before but they seemed to accept my somewhat newbie skills of a first time group rider at the time. At least they never said anything directly to me. I thought they were a great bunch and as far as I knew had accepted me for me. Even if they didn’t that would be okay with me too, I am not here to impress. I just firmly believe that you should be completely happy and comfortable with what you ride. Don't try to keep up with anyone, and always ride to your own abilities. If you do ride in a group that does not understand or accepts your abilities, then maybe you are with the wrong group.

As for wanting or even thinking you need a ‘bigger’ bike I have pretty much the same thoughts. I think sometimes the pressure of other riders might be the only influence that someone starts to think that they need to move up.  Peer pressure can happen at any age. Your decision shouldn’t be based on what others think you should be riding. You really should first decide if you are even ready to make the move by taking into consideration if your rider skills at this point in time can handle a larger bike.

Plain old common sense dictates that if you are comfortable and perfectly happy with your current ride then moving on to bigger just for the sake of having a “big bike” probably isn’t better. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn't if the time is right. I moved up from my first motorcycle that was a 250 Yamaha V-star, but I have to admit I was very content riding on her for four years before I did. Some might think that was too long to keep riding such a small bike. But for me I was content. Eventually I realized I did need and wanted something with a little more oomph. No external influences, just me surpassing the “newbie” stage at my own pace. The 250 was a perfect beginner bike, learning to ride on it was easy because of it being lightweight and small. Although when I started expanding my horizons and started riding on roads that I had to share with huge tractor trailers, I realized that having such a lightweight motorcycle impacted me greatly. I was at a huge disadvantage and it was downright terrifying having the feeling like I would literally fly off the bike when a truck passed by! 

When it was time for me to move up I considered my vertically challenged height at 5’ 1” and the fact that I am sort of a “lightweight”. The Harley Davidson Sportster 883 XL was quite a larger bike to the Yamaha and was definitely plenty of bike for me to handle. In fact, just having to adjust to the heavy weight of it at 579 lbs., in comparison to my 250 that was only 324 lbs. was a challenge. In retrospect if I had tried different motorcycles maybe I wouldn’t have went with a Harley at all. But alas I chose a Sportster. To be honest maybe I was unknowingly influenced by outside forces, given that Harleys are known as “the legend” in the biker world, but let’s be real, there are other motorcycles out there and maybe just another brand would have been a better fit for me.

I have no regrets about my choice and have been quite content with my Sportster 883 for the last 5 years. Maybe it is just me, but I have no desire to ‘move up’ or ‘go bigger’ and I am certainly not going to be influenced by anyone around me telling me to do so. 

Strangely, lately I am considering downsizing. Weird I know, but I am on the strange side so it is perfectly normal for me. I find as I am getting older my Harley is just getting too heavy, or maybe I am just getting weak. Last year I had the opportunity to sit on a Honda Rebel 500. Wow! I think I am in LOVE. Not to mention how DANG SEXY it looks. Now that bike is all I think about. (Sorry Sporty Blue) The seat height at 27” is perfect for my condensed size and it weighs in at 408 lbs. I haven’t test rode it yet, but I think it would be substantial enough to “hug” the road.  It felt like lifting a feather when I got on and positioned it in an upright position.  Okay, that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was truly much easier to lift upright than my Harley.

Yes, this ole gal is seriously considering the Rebel over a Harley. This of course is my personal preference and for all you die hard Harley fans I make no apologies for uttering those words. Although there will always be a special place in my heart for my Harley. Besides, my Harley lives in Florida so who is to say I can't have a Rebel here in Canada. <sly grin>

After all, we are all bikers no matter what we choose to ride and we all share that common bond that gets our hearts revving as we ride the open roads. 

Cruising Through Life & Enjoying The Ride...