My first wee road trip

...not counting the ride back from the dealership. Since getting the bike I have mostly used it to visit folks or go to and from work. Day before yesterday (Friday evening) I got on the bike and rode to Westmeath, a right on Lookout road until it's end at Powers road. Left on Powers to Grant's Settlement road. Right on Grant's until County Road 7 (to F's Falls), Follow 7 all the way to just outside Cobden, turn right on Hwy. 17 and stop at The Whitewater Brewery for a cold Farmer's Daughter on tap.

Saturday I followed the same route until just after Foresters falls on 7 - then I made a left onto Queens Line , then a right on Magnesium Road (county road 48). Then I crossed Hwy. 17 and made a left at Haley's Station keeping on County Road 61. At the end of 61 I made a right onto Highway 60 and followed that to Douglas where I thought I could get lunch and a beer at The Douglas Tavern. Sadly no food beyond potato chips is served and they don't take debit. Keeping on 60 I came to Kelly's Corners where a left would mean staying on 60 to Eganville, a right would mean County Road 8 to Cobden but I went straight ahead on Bulger Road (County Road 9) to Highway 41, a right up the steep hill and another right onto Mountain Road (County Road 13) at the top of the hill. A few klicks on 13 takes me to Stafford Third Line where I make a left, climb and descend French Settlement Hill and then make a right onto County Road 24 Whitewater Road, take that across Hwy. 17 to County Road 40 (Greenwood Road / Pembroke Street) right on that and then a left onto the Beachburg Road which brings the trip full circle. A very enjoyable run. The lighting was much better Friday as I hit the magic hour before sunset and all the farmland shimmered in the golden waning light and looked enchanted. Running the similar route in the early afternoon was pleasing but lacked some of the magic.

View from Lookout Hill

It should be noted that the speed mentioned in the screen cap of my route was the fastest speed recorded ( during a pass ) not the average speed.

Comments

News and notations

First, the good news. You might recall that I had mentioned that I felt I had overspent somewhat on the bike. When I left the dealership I felt as though I was 2 grand poorer than I aught to be. I am no fiscal genius, so I thought I would go over my paperwork and when I came in for my first service, ask the F&I guy at the dealership to go over the bill item by item just to clarify my confusion. Yesterday I get a call from Travis, the Finance and Insurance manager at Freedom Harley - Davidson of Ottawa letting me know that I was due a refund of 2 grand and tax. Such a load off my mind, and off my credit card. No harm, no foul and I was quick to let Travis know that the dealership would be seeing that money back in relatively short order in parts and accessories and servicing... and storage eventually. Maybe this would be a good time for a shout out to the good people at Freedom Harley - Davidson in Ottawa. Mitch (a new addition to their team) was the man who greeted me and event...

March, in like a lamb?

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In the beginning...

there was a desire for a large V-Twin. I began riding motorcycles in my teens, licensed for bike (Class M here in Ontario Canada) years before I began driving cars. Took to a bike immediately. Almost immediately. There was the "finding first" issue. I think maybe one trip over the front handlebars, I would need my friend Sean to confirm. Aside from my introduction to using a clutch I was pretty adept at riding. The strangest things came naturally to me. Nobody had to teach me counter-steering, or to speed up to get out of danger. My first bike was a CX500 Honda. The previous owner had outfitted it with a "Windjammer" frame mounted fairing and saddlebags. The first person I let drive it other than myself dropped it and "PRESTO" no more saddlebags. Imagine the bike below in deep red and that looked a lot like it When I was 17, I really wanted to take fencing lessons, the instructor had set up shop 40 minutes away - not far from where my father ...

Born to be mild

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