Tag Archives: motorcycles

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Day-tripping on the Boulevard

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The pool is ready for summer, but the water wasn’t quite warm enough for us to stick our toes in, so what better way to spend the first Canadian long-weekend of summer (Victoria Day weekend) than doing some day-tripping on the motorcycle?

The weather was perfect for riding when we started out on Saturday morning to attend a local Pow Wow; but a misunderstanding between Jim and me took us to the Curve Lake First Nations instead of Hiawatha! Nothing special was happening there, but we weren’t far from our other planned destination – the annual Buckhorn Spring Craft Show. We shared a hoagie, fries and Greek salad at the Olde Ice House in “downtown” Buckhorn before heading out to the Community Centre to admire the colourful creations and sample the jams, jellies and fudge on display, in the Community Centre and in and around the several wooden out-buildings.

Buckhorn is a small community along the Trent Severn Waterway at Lock 31, and a bustling tourist destination during the summer months.

We left Buckhorn with no other destination in mind, but while we sat enjoying a Dairy Queen treat back in Peterborough we decided it was too nice a day to go home, so off we went again, this time to Fenelon Falls, another summer attraction along the Trent Severn (Lock 34) and a great place for snapping pictures.

Fenlon Falls

Fenelon Falls

Fenelon Falls

Fenelon Falls

We enjoyed dinner on the balcony over the falls, in …The Fallsview Restaurant, of course!

Fallsview Restaurant balcony

Fallsview Restaurant balcony

Before falling onto our couch at home, full, sleepy and content, we drove down to the Peterborough waterfront at Del Crary Park for the Victoria Day celebrations there. The place was packed with parents and kids, lined up to enjoy the dozen or so Bouncy Castles that had been set up for their free entertainment. Some of them were pretty darned elaborate! We watched the sun begin to set, but were just too tired to wait around for the fireworks.

One Huge Bouncy Castle

One Huge Bouncy Castle

The line up for this one ran half way across the park!

The line up for this one ran half way across the park!

Peterborough Tour Boat

Peterborough Tour Boat

Sunset Over PeterboroughSunset Over Peterborough

Sunday morning we were out the door before noon once more, this time to catch the Pow Wow at the Hiawatha First Nations Reserve, just a twenty-minute drive east of Peterborough. The breeze from the bike was refreshing, but the sun was hot as we sat on the bleachers watching the ceremonial parade of people dressed in colourful traditional costumes and performing native dance steps. It was beautiful. We ate buffalo burgers for lunch and checked out the many vendor booths around the perimeter of the ceremonial area. We also had a good chat with a fellow biker who we always see at the Bikers Reunion in New Liskeard. That day he was celebrating his native heritage along with the others.

Dancers

Dancers

Hiawatha

Hiawatha

Our friend "Bear" on the right,with Standing Buffalo Warrior (a.k.a.Cliff Standingready)

Our friend “Bear” on the right,with Standing Buffalo Warrior (a.k.a.Cliff Standingready)

What a glorious two days to kick off summer and the biking season!

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Plan Changes

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It looks like our RV adventure has to be postponed because of a family responsibility, so my travel writing for a while will be about the interesting things to see and do in our local area, and shorter excursions on the motorcycle.

Last week we went on our first official “Tour Riders” ride, but it was a short ride because storm clouds were threatening. “The Tour Riders” is a group of bikers that originated thirty years ago. It used to be a more formal club with monthly meetings and membership dues and many organized rides, including an annual “Toy Ride” to collect toys for the local Children’s Aid Society. Most of the original members have moved on, and the ones remaining are retired seniors whose only agenda is to get together on the first and third Tuesday evenings of the month throughout the riding season and go for a ride that ends either at an ice cream parlour or a coffee shop. Someone takes the lead and the others willingly follow on a mystery ride. Younger members who like this casualness have joined the ranks. New members are always welcome to join. Just show up at 7:00 pm and introduce yourself!

Last night was a beautiful night for a ride. Nine bikes with eleven riders met at our usual spot, The Peterborough Zoo parking lot, and headed off towards Stoney Lake. Jim and I, on a Suzuki Boulevard, led this time (as we often do as Jim has been riding in this area since he was sixteen and knows the back roads very well).

On the move photography is often blurred.

On the move

The sky was blue, the air was sweet with the fragrance of budding trees and freshly mowed lawns, as we wound our way past soccer and soft-ball players on the Trent University campus; past horses in the fields, log houses and modern estates. Following us were Yamahas, Harleys , Suzukis, and Hondas, as well as one Victory and a Moto Gucci. The sun flickered through the trees as it made its slow descent over Stoney Lake.

The road ahead

Lots of turns

Lots of turns

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Water is high and fast on Stoney Lake this year

Water is high and fast on Stoney Lake this year

We almost made it around the lake when the joy was interrupted by an unwelcome event. When making a left turn, the Victory slid on the sand that had accumulated at the corner and went down, sliding unceremoniously into the ditch and taking the rider with it. Sand on the road is a dangerous thing for bikers! Fortunately, with the efforts of four men, the bike was retrieved and the rider, although shaken and dirty insisted he was unhurt. In any event, he refused offers to call for paramedics or tow truck, and climbed back onto his bike and headed for home, which wasn’t too far from where we were. The obvious damage to the bike was a broken gear shifter, which meant he rode the remainder of the way in third gear. BIKERS! We followed him to his turn and the couple who knew him best followed him home to make sure he made it. They met up with us at the coffee shop in Lakefield. We were all left a little shaken and lingered perhaps a little longer than usual before climbing back onto our own bikes and heading home.

We’ll meet for another ride in two weeks. We hope Bob will be able to join us.

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If It’s Friday the 13th, It Has to Be Port Dover

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Every other day of the year, Port Dover, Ontario is a quiet little fishing town located on the north shore of Lake Erie, but on any Friday the 13th the population explodes, especially if the 13th falls on a hot summer day! That’s the day that bikers (motorcycle) congregate, arriving from miles away, a tradition that began with a few biker friends in the early 1980s and rapidly caught on. Estimates for visitors that day range from 150,000 to 200,000.

We hadn’t been there for a few years, but after an offer from my uncle to visit him in Kitchener the day before and leave for Dover from there, we decided to make the trip.

The day was already very warm when we left Kitchener at around 9:00 am. Never having approached Port Dover from that direction before, Jim was making use of the GPS, but that’s more difficult on a bike than in the car. At one point, going through Brantford, he pulled into an exit lane at a traffic light before immediately realizing that that wasn’t where he wanted to go.  The traffic was stopped, so he eased back into the driving lane, having to share it with the vehicle that had been in front of us, because the gap had already been closed. Is it unreasonable to believe that the driver of the next vehicle would hesitate just a second when the light turned green, and let us back in? We didn’t think so, but apparently the old girl in the SUV thought we had no right to be there.  She drove straight ahead past us, ignoring us completely! Five minutes later she pulled into the Casino parking lot. Oh, so that explained her urgency! Those slots will wait for no one!

It wasn’t long before the roads began to fill with other bikers and we knew we were on the right path. We drove through the town of Boston, where the church had signs welcoming bikers for lunch.  Although it was still only 10:30 am, many had stopped there for a break.

We were surprised at how quickly we were ushered into Port Dover by the many teams of police officers directing traffic.  On previous visits we usually were slowed to a crawl for over an hour before even catching a glimpse of our destination. Perhaps arriving from the west had it’s advantages. Bikes lined every street; homeowners rented spots on their lawns for anywhere from five to ten dollars for the day, although I suspect that not many stayed put for the whole day.

Paid Parking

How to make a few bucks on Friday the 13th!

We were fortunate enough to find a just-emptied parking spot on the street in the downtown area, and it was right near the port-a-potties so I could slip in to change out of my heavy jeans and shoes and into shorts and sandals. It was hot! After applying a generous dose of sun screen and donning hats and sunglasses, we began our wade through the mass of bikes and people — handle-bar to handle-bar, shoulder to shoulder.

The crowds

The crowds

For the next four hours we toured the streets, seeing strange bikes and awesome bikes, and some weird sights as well.

Skull bike

Someone had a lot of time on his hands!

Purple Paint Job

Nice work!

Nicely dressed Harley

Nicely dressed Harley with trailer

Playboy Bike

Playboy Bike, first in a grip-to-grip row

Burgman Trike

Not an event for only macho bikers! Love their spirit.

Tim Horton's Drive Thru

Tim Horton’s Drive Thru

AIDS Awareness Mascot

AIDS Awareness Mascot

Dover Fashions

Dover Fashions

More Fashions

Bikes, Babes and Tatoos

At lunch time we headed for our favourite restaurant for a feed of Port Dover’s famous Yellow Perch. However, this time the line up was out the door to the street so we thought we’d find something else.  Well every restaurant had an hour wait.  We finally settled for some very good homemade pulled pork on a kaiser served from a street vendor who offered a few tables in a parking lot.  And we drank many bottles of water!

At 2:00 pm we decided we’d seen enough. Much to our dismay, it took a whole lot longer to get out of town than it did to get in. Streets were blocked off, forcing everyone to follow a big loop around town before reaching an exit, and then we weren’t on the highway that we wanted so we had to drive a few more extra kilometers before we got heading towards home.

At Haggersville we experienced the usual delay, the one we’d missed on the way to Dover this time. There are three traffic lights on the highway going through the small town of Haggersville, and they aren’t co-ordinated. On a day like Friday the 13th, when the usual traffic probably quadruples, this causes major back-ups of bikes sitting sometimes through three red lights before finally getting through the intersection. The rest of the trip was pretty much the same — stop and go all through the Greater Toronto area. We stopped in Oshawa for some dinner at 7:00 pm and were really glad to pull into our own driveway at 9:00 pm.,  exhausted. It was a fun day.