Friday the 13th in Port Dover, ON

Today marked the 51st edition of Friday the 13th motorcycle rally in Port Dover, Ontario. It started in 1981 as a small gathering but has now grown into a rally attended by thousands. Heather went to her only rally in July 2007 but I missed the first 50. With this year’s only rally in May we decided to go hoping the weather would co-operate.

We woke up very early in the morning as we wanted to avoid the bigger afternoon crowds. We left our home in Woodstock at 7:30 in the morning. It was a very warm day but cloudy with a threat of thunderstorms.

The ride to Port Dover was a very lonely one until about Delhi which is closer to Port Dover than Woodstock. There, we could see many groups of bikers heading to Port Dover. We made another stop in Simcoe for some cash and made it to our destination at about 8:30 am. It amazed me that Port Dover is only an hour away from Woodstock. It used to take us nearly twice as long when we used to live in Waterloo.

Port Dover main street.

Once in Dover, we parked only a block away from the main street and from the lake. Leaving early definitely paid off. The rally proved to be pretty much what I expected. Motorcycles parked in every corner, bikers from various walks of life and thousands of vendors peddling anything from food, shirts, patches, motorcycle equipment and gear. There was also a trailer with a display of Indian motorcycles. Something about these motorcycles always makes me stop in awe. Sadly, the day may never come when I own one as they are among the most of expensive of motorcycles and their history of existence is patchy at best.

One of the most interesting motorcycles found in Port Dover.

We walked up and down the main street while taking in the scene. For an early snack, we chose to get some pulled pork sandwiches. Up to this time, I’ve never encountered a bad experience but that streak wasn’t going to continue. For some reason, I didn’t enjoy the sandwich I had and that pretty much left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the afternoon.

While in Port Dover, we also picked up a couple of patches, a shirt for Heather. A couple of hours into our adventure, we decided to leave. Just before leaving, we chatted with a couple from Kitchener who were here on their 30th anniversary. Both husband and wife were riding and they were even accompanied by their son who also rode. We finally left Dover at 11 am. Since the day was still young and the weather hadn’t turned for the worse, I led Heather through some roads we’ve yet to travel.

The ride led us west along Lake Erie, then towards St. Thomas where we stopped for a couple of minutes for refreshments and to snap a picture of the local water tower. From St. Thomas we rode to London and then finally to Stratford. In Stratford, we went to a local motorcycle dealer. The reason for that was a massive Suzuki recall to replace a regulator/rectifier assembly. Oddly enough, only Heather’s bike needed work even though we bought our motorcycles at the same time. Just another thing that better be left unexplained.

Heather's bike under repair.

The repairs took only about 15 minutes and we were heading home shortly after 3pm. We arrived home before 4pm and we even managed to stay dry all day. The experience in Port Dover was something that I really wanted to do just once but it’s not something that I would attend regularly. All in all it was a great day.


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WATER TOWERS

A Short Ride On a Sunny Day

Owning a house has definitely made it more difficult to just drop everything and ride our motorcycles. With today's temperature in mid-teens we took a short ride in search of water towers. The ride took us through Ingersoll, Thamesford and Belmont. Every road we took was the first time we've taken it on motorcycles. We were home around 12:30pm which allowed me to spent the rest of the afternoon working on the Adirondack chairs we bought for our porch.

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WATER TOWERS

First Ride of 2011

Our first ride of the 2011 season was to Ed Hendrick’s internment. Ed was a member of Waterloo Wings, the group that was responsible for organizing Cyclefest during Labour Day weekends. He passed away on January 27th because of a heart attack.

The meeting place was at a Giant Tiger parking lot in Stratford where we arrived after 10am. Even though it was a clear day, the morning was still cold but the turnout was very good. The event was attended by several members of the Waterloo Wings as well as Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers.

At 10:30 the group, led by Ed’s son riding his Gold Wing, left Stratford for the cemetery in Mitchell where the internment would take place. The turnout was big enough that there a police presence at a couple of Stratford intersections that allowed the group to leave together.

The ceremony in Mitchell was performed by Ed’s partner, Tonia whose tribute was very beautiful and very touching.

At the Schmidtsville Restaurant.

After the ceremony, some of the members of the Waterloo Wings invited us to ride with them for lunch in Wellesley. We had lunch at the Schmidtsville Restaurant which was busy on this sunny, albeit a little cool, day. After lunch, we discussed some plans for the upcoming season and then everybody went their way. As always, it’s good to ride again and it’s even better to have somebody ride beside you.

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Elmira Maple Syrup Festival 2011

Heather and I managed to attend another edition of the festival and this year we even introduced to a few more people like Kim and her children. Mike wasn't able to make it as he was called in to work for the morning. We were in Cambridge shortly after 6am and were on the way to Elmira just before 7am.

Mother and daughter enjoying pancake breakfast.

We were able to find a parking spot on a street not very far from the main event. The morning was clear and it was about 5C although it didn't feel very cold. We had the usual pancake breakfast although Jolene spilled part of her chocolate milk on her coat. Robyn, in the meantime, was patiently waiting things out in her stroller.

Jolene trying her hand at milking a cow.

After eating we made our way to a petting zoo which included pigs, chickens, horses, sheep and a fake cow that kids were able to milk. Milking the cow was probably Jolene's favourite part of the day while the yelling mama sheep was the least favourite because, according to Jolene, it was very loud and scary. Before leaving, we purchased some maple goodies and walked back to the car. I had the pleasure of walking with Jolene as we chatted all the way through. The whole experience of this day sure must have given her a lot of memories.