The trip for the Ontario Camp-N-Ride Aug 28-30/15

[PaulG]

So the videos are finally done.  I decided to post it here as it is mor in tune with the Trips & Travel reports section. They are all (mostly) from my helmet cam POV.  My aftermarket mirrors vibrate too much so I couldn't chose another view for it. 

Anyway.....

DAY 1 - Fri Aug 28/15

I live on the eastern end of Toronto, so for me the campground was only about 3 hrs of mostly slab east of me.  The other guys from further west in Niagara and London were taking a northerly route around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area-about the size of some European countries).  They would be on the road for about 8 hrs. Why? Because everyone in this country hates driving near/through/into Toronto.  I've been living here over 20 years, and I hate it!   

Anyhow....

I was almost there when the bike starts to sputter, which turned out to be a stuck float.  This occurred intermittently the rest of the day.  Figures.  The bike has been fine for the last month and now this, just when I don't need it.    Also my tach guage decides to act up due to some moisture in the ignitor box contacts, but that I can live with.  Just divide the revs by two.  Even I can do that.  Oh yes, the left rear signal mount also broke the week before as it was one of the mounting points for the Krausers. Yes I now know that the bracket needs re-inforcing - but I didn't see that thread until after I mounted them...  so a winter project on tap.

I pulled into a Flying J truck stop in Napanee (Paul - paulfj03's neighbourood) to give it a once over in the parking lot.  Then I also find my Scott auto-oiler line has disconnected itself from the swingarm, and was giving the highway rather than my chain a nice lube.     Being a truck stop they sell all sorts of goodies for these eventualities.  Hell, it was better stocked than most automotive stores.  After contacting Paul and Dan (A11an0n), they decide to meet me there as it was only about 30 min away.

While waiting I MacGuivered up a temporary fix for the oiler, had a cigar, and lied down on the grass.  Life ain't so bad at the moment.  With the warm sun on my face, the cool grass on my back, the din of the highway begins to recede.    Just in time for the rumbly-wumbly of two modified FJs to enter my conciousness.  Oh well, plenty of time to sleep later - much later as it turned out...

So we hatched a plan to try and meet up with John (fj johnnie), Rob (Hersey289), Ben (Zwartie), and Gord (Anvil99) who were taking the northerly route.  Up Hwy. 41 we go from Napanee to Hwy. 28 and Hardwood Lake.  On the way we make a slight detour up Flinton Rd.  An initial taste of the great backroads in this region of the province, and the overabundance of wild turkeys wreaking havoc in the countryside.  Roaming the backroads in search of hapless motorists, causing accidents, and robbing them of their dignity!     Our trip up involved screwing around with my stcky float when we stopped for gas, or trying to get a cell signal.  The geography of rolling hills and infrequent towers gives rise to spotty cell coverage in many areas.  So don't crash!

The roads start fairly flat and straight, but as you go north it changes to rolling farmland, and then you cross the line into the Canadian Shield.  The rolling hills get much larger, the ditches turn into granite boulders, the road turns into long sweepers, making it near perfect FJ country.     At the terminus near Hardwood Lake on Hwy. 28 we decide to head back to the campsite as we failed to make contact with the guys.  Oh well, any excuse to get on good roads.  Upon our arrival at the campsite at sunset we find they have preceded us and are already set up in their tents and cabin. Figgers.

Soon we are gathered around the campfire, bbq-ing, and imbibing in all available (legal) intoxicants.  We regale each other with campfire lore, (The Two Brothers North of 7!), the day's rides, past and future rides, and our road rage experiences....     Before I know it, it's just me and Gord, and it's 3:30 am Saturday morning.     Ooops!  Time for bed.  A lot of riding to do tomorrow, and "miles to go before I sleep".

To paraphrase...

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the campsite, though;
He will see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with beer.

My little FJ must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and still lake
Not quite the darkest evening of the year.

She gives her steering head a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and clear cool lake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Not Really Robert Frost


Here's a little background on the area for those not familiar.  This is sort of officially called the Highlands or Eastern Highlands of Ontario.  An area of the province where the Canadian Shield (google it) loops down giving it a rugged geography of granite, forests, and hundreds (thousands?) of lakes.  It's resource based economy of mining and forestry has dwindled over the decades, leaving a shadow of itself behind and not much else but tourism and small towns.  Many of the villages and hamlets we drove through had for-sale signs up that seemed to include half the houses.  It's beautiful country with not much economic activity (relative to other areas of the province) outside of tourism now.  The tourism indusry isn't as fully developed here as it is in the Muskoka's, or Kawartha's west of here, but no doubt will be eventually.  That means roads less travelled.... and no cops.  I only saw one in three days, and he was towing a trailer.  Even the cottage country traffic on Friday was quite manageable.  Friday afternoons leaving Toronto are usually 100 km long traffic jams, like ants streaming from their lairs on their march to forage the forest floor.

VIDEO DAY 1


https://youtu.be/0afkVA65-y8




DAY 2 - Sat Aug 29/15


I'm up at the crack of 8:15 am.  Thirsty as hell, and my head has a slight throb.  No problem.  A few bottles of water and some eggs and I'll be right-as-rain.  After everyone is finished with fiddlin'-&-fartin' around we are on the road before 10 am.

The route that Dan planned out was near perfect.  One damper was the condition of some of the roads.  The provincial roads were in excellent shape due to increases in infrastucture spending.  The small tax base the townships have don't allow the resources to keep the sideroads in optimum condition.  Most were ok, but a few were meh...     It's not the freezing winters or hot summers.  It's the freeze/thaw cycles of late autumn and early spring that kill the roads here.

The second was my set-up.  I don't often get the chance to ride on roads like these, so my stock suspension was set up on the soft side for touring.  Ok lets call it mushy.  Say like a '74 Lincoln Continental, (minus the fuzzy dice).     I had visions of my front end twisting and buckling like the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzu6CNtqec.  The rear faired better, except for the odd time when it would kick out due to a nasty bump in the middle of a turn.
 
The third?  Well that slight throb has turned into a full blown migraine headache.     A weather front was moving in and by lunchtime there was a light rain.  You're just hungover you say?  Not so good reader.  After drinking 2L of water that morning, and the protein from the eggs & bacy sammy it would have receded long before.  After all I only had 2 Scotches along with ______ beers (Ok I don't remember exactly...).  Rapid changes in the barometer give me wicked migraines that can last up to three days.  They say the only cure is to move to Arizona.... (no really!).  That's my diagnosis and I'm sticking to it.  Trust me. I'm a professional.   

We met up with Rich (Sabre093) and his friends Andre on a pristine '88 FZR 1000, and Frank on his '99 VFR 900 in Perth, then made a sidetrip to Woody's KTM Motorcycles & Salvage.  This was an eye opener.  I had never been to an outdoor m/c salvage yard before.  Mainly because I never heard of one.  The ones I've been to (though not in many years) were like warehouses.  Maybe I need to get out more.  I would think all that scrap will eventually become just , well... scrap.  Buried in 4 ft of snow every year.  Not worth the cost of hauling it out of there - except for the aluminum.  I did find a near complete '78 Suzuki GS750 though.  The significance being this was the first real introduction to the world of motorcycles for me, (though I have memories of a Honda Cub, Ducati 350, Triumph 500 & Trident from other brothers).  It brought back a flood of memories.    My older brother bought one brand new back in the day.  He was still riding it in '85 (though subsequently mod'd out) when I started riding my first bike - a used '81 Yamaha 750 Seca.  Life is strange that way.

After this, the road up to Calabogie was great.  Then onto Centennial Lake Rd. and the rain became a little heavier.  With my mushy suspension and rain on a bumpy road that hadn't been rained on in a while, I decided to ease off and let the guys pass me.  Relax and go at a pace my head was capable of.

Earlier I missed the apex on "that corner" on Westport Rd., missed hitting the wild turkeys that had stalked us all the way to Centennial Lake Rd., and missed seeing the bear that missed the guys ahead of me, also on Centennial Lake Rd.  The video upon review for Day 2 seems kind of slumped half way through.  I don't know if my camera angle was off a bit, or I just couldn't keep my head up straight due to the throbbing that moved from the base of my skull to my eyeballs.  On the bright side, my sticky float did not act up all day, thankfully making the ride a little easier to deal with.

Before we headed back south to the campsite, we parted ways with Rich and Andre and Frank.  The further south we got the better my head began to feel.  By the time we got there my migraine had receded to the point where beer was no longer so reprehensible.  Thank God!     The evening was a little more sedate as John, Gord, Rob, and Ben were headed out early in the morning.  But for me... I'm on vacation!  So I went to bed shortly after. 


VIDEO DAY 2


https://youtu.be/bML53-YS2bI



DAY 3 - Sun Aug 30/15 - the trip home.

After saying our goodbyes to the Fab 4, and another brekky of eggs & bacon sammiches at the chip shack, we eventually got on the road.... by 11 am?  Dan, Paul and myself were in no particular hurry and our touring rate was a bit more sedate (for the most part).  We started going up some of the same roads we did on Saturday up to Hwy 7 west of Perth.  Then continued north on Central Frontenac Rd. 509 to Mississipi Station (we even have a Mississippi River unbeknownst to me).  This swung west to Ompah and Plevna.  It sounds like the town naming committees around here got too drunk at the meeting, and somebody gurgled something while face down in a pile of poutine, and the others said, "Tha-Tha-That shounds goodnuff, urp!"   

Unfortunately my sticky float has reappeared, and the next section on Buckshot Lake Rd. wasn't videoed.  I was too busy deliberately hitting bumps to release the float only to have it come back a few minutes later when I hit another unavoidable bump.     We came back onto Hwy. 41 and stopped for some lunch.  By the time we finished it was around 2 pm, and time for me to start meandering home.  Dan and Paul said their goodbyes and I was off.  Since I was further north than south I took the northerly route west on Hwy. 28 to Bancroft, (for a stop to get a can of Seafoam), then Hwy. 118 to Tory Hill and onto Haliburton Rd. 503, then south from Gooderham on Buckhorn Rd./Haliburton Rd. 507 to just east of Bobcaygeon.  From there I zig-zagged back to Toronto. 

On the way accross Little Britain Rd. the sunrays burst through the clouds in some divine affirmation that for a little while at least, in my own little world, things aligned to creat a perfect weekend (even despite the tach, carb float, and migraine).   

All I can say in conclusion (finally!) is that I had a fucking blast!  And thanks to all the guys that made it so!  Especially Dan for the planning and accomodations.                      


VIDEO DAY 3

https://youtu.be/5Bwd2TV-IvA]
[url]https://youtu.be/5Bwd2TV-IvA[/url]

[Sabre093]

Was a Great Ride....We need to start planning the next one...winter project!

[PaulG]

I screwed up the link for the Day 3 video,     Try this again


https://youtu.be/5Bwd2TV-IvA

[A11an0n]

Great Ride report Paul, enjoyed the videos, 

[paulfj03]

Cool!!

Thanks for sharing!

See you Saturday morning

[fj johnnie]

 Good writing . I enjoyed that thoroughly. I can here your voice as I read.