Freedom Rally '09 - Day 1 (Not Quite)

Today marked the official start of the 16th annual Freedom Rally organized by Sudbury's Freedoms Riders. This was going to be our first one together as it usually clashes with the Twins Festival which Heather has attended for the past 13 years.

Since Heather and I both worked on Friday we couldn't make all the way to Sudbury. We selected a campground on Highway 11 between Barrie and Orillia and made a reservation for tonight only. Our initial choice was a KOA campground but during long weekends you can only book a minimum of three nights. With that in mind, I made a reservation at Oro Family Campground.

We both worked until 5 but were on the road already at 6. Our luggage, tent, chairs and other gear was already prepared to go the night before so we only had to tie some loose ends before leaving. We tried to be as quick as possible because I was told that we had to check in before 9 pm and we'd be cutting it close.

Our route would be the usual Waterloo-Fergus-Orangeville, then 10-89-27-400-11, keeping in mind that the cottage traffic which could slow us down. We had enough fuel to get us to Barrie where we filled up around 8 pm in preparation for tomorrow's much longer ride. And the only slow spot we incurred was as we got on to Highway 400.

We arrived at the campground at about 8:45 pm. We checked in and quickly found site #124. It was exactly what we requested: no water, no hydro, no Wi-Fi. In addition, it was no more than a couple of hundred feet from Highway 11, which even late at night was bustling with activity. Just the bare bones site where we could set up our tent and leave in the morning. At $24.15, we wouldn't expect more. We started setting up our tent as dusk was arriving and finished few minutes later as night was almost in full swing.

We explored the campground for a few minutes finding several other bikers also spending the night here. However, the two sites adjacent to our were occupied by families who decided to spend the long weekend camping. Site #122 was occupied by a very friendly family from Clinton who turned in shortly after 10. On the other hand, site #126 was something else. After we called it a night at about 10:30, they started blasting music, then decided to start having arguments which lasted until 4 in the morning. Neither Heather nor I slept very well that night. We thought something should have been done about that family but we heard that the ownership wasn't very serious about enforcing their own rules. I guess you get what you pay for, which in this case wasn't very much.

Getting ready to leave for another adventure.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 174 km - 108 miles
2009 to date: 6,019 km - 3,740 miles (70.8%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 2,481 km - 1,542 miles


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It Works!

We finally managed to put up our new tent, after several days of rain, in preparation for the upcoming long-weekend trip. We carefully went over the instructions and now have a better understanding of what needs to be done. Our next attempt at setting up the tent should be a breeze. If not, we'll got a lot more practice this weekend as we are on the road.

Our new tent.

Communication Upgrade

Since Heather had other commitments today, I drove back to Toronto this morning to visit RadioWorld. The purpose of the visit was to either repair our current motorcycle communication system or upgrade to new one. Our current system hasn't been working properly for a few weeks now and it was getting frustrating not being able to hear Heather talking to me while we were out riding. We thought the problem was somewhere in her microphone because she was able to hear me during rides.

Once I got to Toronto, I took a few minutes and decided that it'd be best to upgrade to a new system. I chose Scala Rider Q2 from Cardo Wireless. It's one of the more popular motorcycle communication systems currently in the market and it has many advantages over our old system.

It comes Bluetooth equipped with the ability to connect to a third person, a cellphone or a GPS. It also features a connection to an MP3 player and a built-in FM radio. The FM radio should definitely make our future rides more interesting and enjoyable.

Concert Night in Toronto

Today, was to be our first concert this year's and it happened to be Depeche Mode. We were both looking forward to the show even though it was already my 3rd DM experience but Heather's only first.

We left right at 6 pm knowing that we'd stuck in the evening traffic most of the way to, and especially through, Toronto. With the show scheduled for 7:30, we didn't get a parking spot until 7:45. We finally arrived at Molson Amphitheatre shortly after 8 only to catch, literally, a few seconds of the opening band's, Peter Bjorn and John, performance.

Of note along the way, we encountered a temporary dump site which has been established during the city workers' strike which was now about a month old.

An unwelcome Toronto sight.

The main event itself started at 9. It lasted well over two hours as Depeche Mode went through a setlist of 22 songs, including two encores, ranging from their brand new material to old favourites. It was definitely an experience we won't forget soon.

View of the stage during playing of "Precious".

Tent Shopping

So far this year, we've managed to avoid camping, but with at least two (Freedom Rally & Cyclefest), and maybe three (Interlochen), camping rallies still to come this year, we thought it'd be a good time to finally get a decent tent.

Heather and I have already spent a good amount of time looking at various options and we've already made a trip yesterday to Mountain Equipment Co-op in Burlington to further investigate. We narrowed our choices to a 3-person Tarn and a 4-person Wanderer. However, we decided to wait another day and come back Monday with Heather's parents.

Monday was Heather's day off so she could do some more wedding planning and attend her mom's dress fitting. They finally got home at around 6 pm and about 30 minutes later we were all on the road to Burlington. We arrived at MEC about an hour later.

A parking sign greeting us at MEC.

After some deliberation with the help of a very knowledgeable employee, we settled on the Wanderer. With the tent in hand, we made our way through the store picking up various accessories to complement our new purchase.

Heather with all of our new purchases.

Now it was finally time for supper. We've had plans to go to St. Louis Bar & Grill with Jim & Sandy for a while now but since we were out of town and it was getting late we'd have to go to one in Burlington. Their website said that there was one location in Burlington on 450 Appleby Line. With the GPS set to that address we ended up in a normal neighbourhood with no restaurants in sight. Jim then selected another restaurant and after turning around we were back on Appleby Line. Shortly after, I noticed our first destination. That meant more turning around and dodging bicycles. Later we learned that the street number was actually 470.

Neatly presented sweet potato fries with dip.

The food was great as was the service although the restaurant wasn't busy at all. We arrived home at 10:30 and now Heather and I are looking forward to a weekend of practicing assembling and disassembling our new tent.

Doorknob of the Month

I'm hoping to have this as a regular feature on our blog. Now, there's probably enough material out there to make it a daily feature but that would take focus away from the blog's original purpose.

Heather and I, along with her parents and my mom, went on another location scouting mission to Waterloo Park after supper. We managed to pick a couple of spots that we think would be perfect for wedding pictures.

As we approached the park, I noticed an unusual flow of traffic in the parking area. Normally, the flow would resemble a one-way roundabout with parking on sides. Today, however, a few cars were going in the wrong direction.

We found a parking spot and decided to more closely assess the situation. It turns out that somebody left their car (red in the diagram below) in neutral and it rolled back out of its parking spot, in the process blocking the one way out of the parking lot. It's days like these that make me want to have a camera with me at all times. Unfortunately, today I didn't.

Jim and I, along with a couple of other guys, quickly pushed the car back in its spot to restore order and secured it with a couple of rocks from the nearby railway tracks. We then all continued to explore Waterloo Park.

When we got back to the parking lot, the misplaced car was gone but its owner deserves to be the Doorknob of the Month.

An overview of the situation encountered at Waterloo Park.

Home from Swanton, OH

As it usually the case, Heather and I were the last people to wake up even though it was only 7:30 am. We went to the garage where Boomer was already making pancakes. We had a few pancakes and after packing up and saying goodbye to everyone, we were on the road before 9 am.

In the morning mist.

Even though we already had breakfast, Heather still wanted to stop at IHOP since we've both never been to one. We picked one some 15 miles away from Swanton in Toledo. It also happened to be pretty much across the street from a Tim Hortons. We had another serving of pancakes and then finally got on the road for good.

In front of IHOP.

Today's ride would take us through I-75 to Detroit and the Ambassador Bridge where we would cross into Canada. The traffic was light but we still couldn't help but notice the awful condition of Michigan's roads. But it is what it is and there's no way around it.

We crossed into Canada at 11 am and made a stop for fuel shortly after in Lakeshore. Our next stop was in Ridgetown, where we had a small lunch at Tim Hortons. From Ridgetown, we picked up the pace to about 118 km/h or more in passing situations. We were also joined by another motorcycle who tailgunned our twosome until London.

We made another stop in Putnam to rest and in Woodstock for fuel and then proceeded straight home. We arrived home at 3:45 pm for more of my mom's home cooking.

Although we were in Swanton for only one evening, it was still a great time with a great bunch of people. The total trip was just under 1,000 km at 984 (611 miles). We will now take it easy for a few weeks with some much needed maintenance to be done in the meantime.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 469 km - 291 miles
2009 to date: 5,845 km - 3,632 miles (68.8%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 2,655 km - 1,650 miles


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WATER TOWERS

GLVROC Rally in Swanton, OH

The sky finally cleared after 10 am and we were once again on the road at 10:45. Aside from a few spots, the roads were back to being dry and the sky was clear. We followed a path similar to last month's and rode I-69 to Flint, where we'd take US-23 into Ohio.

Moments before departing Port Huron.

The roads were fairly empty and even a couple of construction spots didn't slow us down much. With a 70 mph speed limit, I kept a pace right at the limit or just a hair below. I guess I'm too used to Ontario 60 mph speed limit. The construction along I-69 must be a major project as several mile-long stretches of the road were completely torn out with only a dirt mound present. In those cases, both eastbound and westbound traffic were squeezed onto the same road separated only by a concrete barrier.

The traffic slowed down to a crawl as we took the ramp from I-69 onto US-23. The cars were forced to merge into the right lane as there was an accident a few hundred feet ahead. To Heather and my dismay, we saw a motorcycle on the road. The rider must have been long taken away from the scene as only one police cruiser was present along with the motorcycle.

Today's first stop was going to be in Grand Blanc (exit 88), which is where we stopped on our way to Kentucky. But I managed to screw that up and we took exit 84 in Lakeside. We had a quick lunch at McDonald's and continued on our way. As we were leaving, though, we noticed a restaurant across the street that was specializing in Canadian food. We'll put that on our list of places to visit next time we come this way.

Exit 84 on US-23.

Some 67 miles later (exit 17) we stopped in Dundee for fuel and to get some other shopping done. We went to Walgreens where we purchased some snacks, drinks, sunscreen and two lawn chairs which would come in very, very handy this evening. We strapped those in to Heather's luggage rack and got back on the road.

In front of Walgreens with new lawn chairs already strapped in.

We arrived in Swanton, at Boomer and Shannon's house around 3:30 pm. Most of the people that came to the rally, which started Friday night, were out riding the local roads. Heather and I started to unwind from our trip: we switched into our Crocs and decided to settle into our brand new lawn chairs. As soon as we slipped them out of their covers we realized we bought children's chairs. It was priceless. We could have sat in them but we'd be hanging two inches off the ground.

Demonstrating the new chairs much to Strider and Scotty's amusement.

The ride returned about an hour after we arrived and another hour later the dinner was about to start. Our hosts, Boomer and Shannon, with the help of Roseman on the grill, prepared steaks with baked potatoes and beans. The food was great.

An impatient crowd waiting for steaks.

Once the dinner was over, we all headed to the tent area, where everyone was gathering in anticipation of the night's bonfire. While a few attendees left after dinner, there was still a crowd of about 20 of us gathered around the fire.

John getting ready to kick-start the campfire.

Some of entertainment was provided by Boomer's dog, Blitz, a South African Boerboel. This powerful dog enjoys being around people and even more so, enjoys being chased around Boomer's property by a four-wheeler. Boomer's son, Brad, did the honours tonight and he and Blitz did a few laps around the house. She then wandered around the campfire and became especially fond of Heather. We retreated to the house, where we were going to be sleeping on an air mattress, around 11:30 with a few other house crashers.

An exhausted Blitz resting at Heather's feet.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 304 km - 189 miles
2009 to date: 5,376 km - 3,340 miles (63.2%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,124 km - 1,942 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Waiting To Hit The Road

Woke up this morning at 7:30, only minutes away from the anticipated rainstorm. We went down for breakfast at 8 and that's when it's started raining. The rain has intensified now and we will probably be on track to leave sometime between 10 and 11.

As you can see in the photo below, the front is moving straight from west to east. It also looks like the VROCers already in Swanton will got some rain too in another hour or so. But after that it should be a great day.

Waterloo, ON to Sarnia, ON...to Port Huron, MI!

After last month's experience in Richmond, Kentucky, Heather and I were eager to do another rally south of the border this summer. We settled on a rally held in Angola, Indiana by the Great Lakes chapter of VROC (GLVROC). At 500+ km, this was going to be only a one day ride. A few weeks ago, we got word that the rally was being moved from Angola to Swanton, Ohio which was even closer for us.

The plan was to leave Friday after work, stay overnight in Sarnia, get to Swanton on Saturday afternoon and leave early Sunday morning. This was also going to be our first trip with a sleeping bag which we'd probably need on Saturday night. We packed light and strapped the tour pack to my motorcycle while Heather took the sleeping bag.

Leaving with a securely strapped in sleeping bag.

We left at about 6:30 pm towards Stratford and made our first stop in St. Marys at a local Tim Hortons. From St. Marys, we took more back roads until we got on Highway 402 in Strathroy. We rode on 402 all the way to Sarnia while also watching a sunset.

In Sarnia, we made our second stop today at a Canadian Tire gas station shortly after 9 pm. While there, we also looked for a hotel. That's where our plans started going awry. We selected Comfort Inn but arrived to find no vacancies. It seems that this weekend was the annual Bay Fest with KISS headlining tonight's performances. The receptionist at the Comfort Inn told us that we'd have a very hard time finding a room in Sarnia.

On to Plan B. We went back to the GPS to look for hotels across the border in Port Huron. I called a Hampton Inn and managed to book a room. The GPS said that our destination was mere minutes away, but I'm sure it doesn't account for toll booths and the usual border activities.

Because of all the drama, I forgot to take the leather club vest I was wearing. I was told previously by more experienced riders to hide the vest in order to avoid more questions than needed to be asked. Luckily, the lady at the booth was very friendly and funny and we had no problems at all. She did tell Heather, however, that I told her that Heather was the troublemaker and she was carrying all the booze. Nothing like a late night humour from a border guard.

We finally checked in at the Hampton Inn at 10 pm. They are not as busy as Sarnia, but they're not far behind as there is a weekend Antique and Classic Auto Show in town. A very busy weekend, indeed, on both sides of the Blue Water Bridge. We will probably take our time leaving tomorrow as there is a chance of rain and thunderstorms for most of the morning.

Alone and quiet in the Hampton Inn parking lot.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 211 km - 131 miles
2009 to date: 5,072 km - 3,152 miles (59.7%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,428 km - 2,130 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Another Step Closer

Heather and I had our second meeting with The Black Forest Inn's wedding coordinator, Barb, today. We discussed a lot of details including napkin colours, centrepieces, head table backdrop, and of course menu. We also reviewed our photo and music planning sheets. The final decision on location for photos hasn't been reached yet but that may have changed after taking a walk through Waterloo Park. The rest of the night, Heather and I discussed some of the logistics of the big day.

It's hard to believe but we are now just over a 100 days from that big day. Our next meeting with Barb is on September 23rd when more fine details will be discussed.

Sunday Family Ride

Heather's parents, Jim & Sandy, arrived in town yesterday afternoon on what was the first day of their two week trip to the US. They were staying with us overnight before leaving today and heading to Wellsboro, PA for a few nights.

Heather and I decided to accompany Jim & Sandy on their way to Fort Erie, where they would cross the border. We left at about 9 am this morning and first went to McDonald's for breakfast. After breakfast, we all headed to Cambridge for a short visit with Kim, Mike and Jolene. While there, Jim and I talked routes and settled on mainly highways to Grimsby where we would go our separate ways. Jim and Sandy would continue to Fort Erie while Heather and I would ride the back roads home. We followed Hwy 8, 5 and 6 to 403, over to the Skyway Bridge and QEW before reaching the Visitors Centre complex in Grimsby around noon.

We said our goodbyes after another ride together and Heather and I started our way home, sort of. We first rode south to Cayuga, then along the Grand River to Caledonia. There we stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen. There were a lot of motorcycles going through Caledonia, probably due to the fact that the town is located on a highway between Port Dover and major cities like Hamilton and the entire GTA.

From Caledonia we took a short detour and went through the Six Nations Indian Reserve where several gas stations were selling gas for as low 79.9 cents/liter. That is well below the price that we, the tax-paying folk, are paying which is currently somewhere in the mid 90's.

Our next stop was going to be Two-Wheel Motorsport in Guelph where I planned to purchase oil for the bikes and some rain covers for our riding boots. We arrived there to notice that the store was closed on Sundays. I'll just have to come back during the week to get those items. Seconds later, we were back on the road heading home. We arrived for our weekly supper with my parents minutes before 4 pm. Also present today was my brother Wojtek with his wife Agnes and 6-month old son, Adrian. The discussion around the table revolved mostly around wedding stuff. We were finally home some two hours later a little exhausted from a longer than expected, but still good, day in the sun.

Adrian showing off his new trick - sitting.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 307 km - 191 miles
2009 to date: 4,861 km - 3,021 miles (57.2%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,639 km - 2,261 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Canada Day at the Cottage

A couple of days ago, my brother Wojtek said that he, Agnes and her parents had just rented a cottage for a week in the region of Bluewater, ON. He also said that Heather and I are welcome to come on Canada Day, our only day off this week, and enjoy the scenery. Of course, we said yes.

Now, the only thing we had to decide was to whether we would take the car or ride in on motorcycles. It's been a pretty wet week so far and things weren't looking much better for Canada Day. But since the forecast didn't call for any thunderstorms, we decided to ride (as a side note, we both rode without gloves today).

We left at 10 am dressed in rain suits and managed to cross paths with our friends Scott who, decked out in Canada gear, was on his way to Cambridge where he was taking part in Canada Day Parade with members of the Cambridge chapter of SCRC. Heather and I decided to first stop in Stratford where we would get gas that would last for the ride over to the cottage and back home.

While riding to Stratford, we noticed another holiday tradition - a police blitz. A car was pulled over in the town of Shakespeare, most likely for speeding, and another one in Stratford but by an unmarked cruiser. We didn't encounter rain until a light sprinkle just as we were the gas station in Stratford. From there it was more or less dry until about two minutes after we turned onto Perth Line 20. The rain was persistent but not too heavy. However, it made us slow down a little and I eventually pulled into a parking lot in Fullarton where another three police cruisers were congregating.

We stopped only for a minute to make sure that all was good and then kept going. It rained a little bit more and then we actually hit a dry spot. But two more minutes later, we were in rain again. And again we stopped to regroup, this time in Exeter. Since we were close to our destination, we kept riding through the rain, although at or slightly below the speed limit and letting a lot of cars pass us by. The rain finally stopped as we reached Zurich. We finally arrived at our destination at noon.

Our tourpack was packed full for this trip but we didn't end up using our swimsuits, but rather dry socks and shorts. The day at the cottage consisted of mostly sitting on the patio, a great lunch and a movie for the women, while the guys played cards. It was mostly an overcast afternoon with spots of sunshine but at least it was dry.

Heather and I finally left the cottage at 7:30 pm, again dressed in rain suits. This time, though, we managed to avoid rain. Or maybe the rain avoided us. Either way, we were in Waterloo before 9:30 and would have been home then but I wanted to ride by Columbia Lake where an annual fireworks display was set to start at 10. The mass of people and cars cost us almost 30 minutes but we were finally home.

Wojtek in the process of grilling sausages.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 277 km - 172 miles
2009 to date: 4,554 km - 2,830 miles (53.6%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 3,946 km - 2,452 miles


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WATER TOWERS