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The Sport Tourismo Ride Ride Report: "The Not Only Kingston Weekend"
Some of us met early, to go to Daddy-O's for brekkie. That was the 8 am meeting. By 9 am, there were 11 people assembled at the designated location. There was excitement in the air. I think everyone felt that this was going to be the start of a special weekend. Attendee's: Myself (Gonzo), Duke, Mumbles, Granny, Star, Lazer, Dan the Man, Wonder, BT, Zuben and Stylz. We departed the Petro Canada after a quick briefing on what the first part of our weekend was going to be like. A brisk pace was set along the 401 to Mill St (past 35/115 exit), where we headed down towards Lake Ontario. The weekend was underway. A brief encounter with some loose gravel, and the group quickly spread itself apart. Arrival in Port Hope, and a brief stop, and back to the 401. This time our destination was for "warm apple pie", oddly enough, at a place called "The Big Apple." Then, off to Picton via Hwy # 2 and then 33. In Picton, we found out that Wonder had no rear brake. The Zen mechanics were on the case. The group split up here for a bit, as some of us headed to Lake on the Mountain, and some stayed to help Wonder with is repairs. Top of the hill, we stopped for lunch. Some dove into lunch right away, and some of us decided to do a bit of hi-speed riding around the top of the mountain (hill, more like it). Back for lunch, and another group is off to circle the hill. BT and Stylz rejoined us after trying to get Wonder's rear brake repaired. No such luck, so Wonder headed back to Toronto for repairs. Then it was back to Hwy # 33 to head to Kingston, and check in. This was accomplished via a short ferry ride, which got us back onto 33. 45 minutes later... Kingston! Our destination for the night, yes, but riding is done for the day? NO! We checked in at the Alexander Henry (the B&B Coast Guard Cutter, for those not in the know) and we were off again. This time, our destination was Wolfe Island, via the Kingston ferry. There was a slight lull here, as we waited about 30 minutes for the ferry. We were first on this time, and several bikes managed to get baths! Once on the Island, it became a rather brisk ride, to get to the ferry to the USA. Not a long wait this time, and we were in the USA in no time, with nothing to declare, but big huge grins on our faces! From here, we headed east along # 12 to Interstate # 81. It was a 45 minute trip at the most, and we were heading back to Canada, via Gananoque, still with nothing to declare. We were greeted by hoards of bugs on the Gananoque Parkway. Off to Hwy # 2, and back in Kingston, arrival time was pushing 9pm. (note: BT left for home at the Kingston ferry, and Lazer was feeling a bit off, so he stayed behind for the USA circle, so we rode with only 9 in this portion). Back at the ship, we unloaded our gear, freshened up, and headed to the Lone Star in Kingston for a very late dinner. Wonder rejoined us after riding to Toronto and back. He was without a rear brake AGAIN, but, being a trooper, decided to stick it out with us. Great atmosphere at the Lone Star, and great food (even if some of the wings were unidentifiable). We wandered back to the ship eventually, and bunked in for the night. At $25 per person, I highly recommend this as a Zen-approved place to sleep. It doesn't get much better. It may not have been the Ritz, but it did the job ;-).
9:30 am, we are basically ready to roll. More excitement is in the air, as everyone has been talking about Desert Lake Road, and the time is almost at hand for all of us to experience it. Lazer decided to leave us at this point, and head back to Toronto, so our group was down to 9. We headed up Hwy # 38 to Verona, and everyone stopped to gas up. Off to Desert Lake Road - very very nice twisties, and I am happy to report, everyone made it through just fine. For certain on that road, 20kph in a turn, was justified where instructed! Our next stop was to be Jones Falls for lunch, so a bunch of people purchased picnic items at the local IGA, and we were on our way again. Jones Falls incorporates 5-6 locks along the Rideau canal, and is a wonderful place to stop and relax. We ate and rested up there, in preparation for afternoon adventures. This time were were off to do a big circle, through Westport, snaking our way back down to Verona via Hwy # 38 (eventually...) and over to Perth Road # 10, for a hi-speed run back to Hwy # 42. By then it was time to call it a day. We headed over to Chaffey's locks, via Regional Road # 9, just south of Hwy # 42. A last little 9 km stretch of beautiful sweeps on a very smooth road. Unexpected to say the least, but nevertheless, very enjoyable. We arrived at the Opinicon around 5:30pm. This place is incredible. Set on Chaffey's Locks, nestled in amongst a wonderful treed setting, I don't think anyone was disappointed. This place was all inclusive for the stay, and we all sat down to an incredible dinner. Most people were fairly burned out, but a few of us retired back to Mumbles and my room, to watch "The Mask" on DVD, courtesy Mumbles' laptop 'puter! WOW, you should have seen the people fading away. Stylz and I remained awake 'till the end (although I heard tale of Stylz fading away also!). Bed...
Another gorgeous day. Anticipation is high, as we all know now there are more roads calling us! Duke's Birthday Brekkie was great. The Opinicon packed us all lunches, as per our request from last night, and we are off again. This time, we headed back through Westport, up # 36 to Crow Lake Road. More yummy twisties, and a stop in Sharbot Lake. But wait — what has happened to Zuben & Dan The Man? Why, they missed the turn for Crow Lake Road of course...LOL. We didn't know this immediately, to Stylz and I set out to circle around towards each other, and attempt to find them. I found them shortly after departing, but I figured what the heck, might as well continue on to meet up with Stylz about 1/2 way. Besides, Crow Lake Road was calling my name again! And you know what? When I met up with Stylz, I got to do it a 3rd time! Isn't life grand? Back in Sharbot Lake, our discussion's turned to the 509/506 combination. You could see on the map that more fun was in order. After a bit of loose gravel on the 509, we were off (and I mean "off" — this was definitely one of the higher speed roads that we did). There were twisties, and some beautiful sweepers. This was a very long stretch, and by the time we got to Hwy # 41, people needed a break. From here, our group split into two for the homeward run. Myself, Star, Granny & Stylz headed north, and Duke, Zuben, Wonder & Dan the Man headed south. We headed north, to rendezvous with Hwy # 28, towards Bancroft. Now this Hwy (#28) has some awesome sweepers. After passing a slow van, the hammer was down! Next stop was supposed to be Bancroft, but it didn't work out that way. I ended up losing contact with my now 3 traveling Zens, and wasn't sure exactly what to do! Thanks to that wonderful modern invention called the "cell phone," I was able to locate them, and things were all good again. We missed our cutoff of # 28 to # 121, but no big deal. We took # 648 (another twisty!) to hook back up with 121. 121 over to 503, and for awhile just cruised leisurely. We discovered that 503 had been renamed to Regional # 45 at Kinwood (?). No biggy. Thanking Mr. Police Officer, we continued until Hwy # 35. We were going to take 35 south, but once we saw the wall of traffic, decided against that. We swung a high circuit around the top of Kirkfield, and proceeded down to Hwy # 48. Here we said good-bye to Granny, and now we were 3. In the interest of avoiding major traffic until we absolutely had to, we backroaded it until just north of the # 12 / # 48 junction. On to # 48, and towards Toronto we headed. A quick stop in Port Bolster (good ice cream at Skippers), and we were underway, down # 48 again. I split off from Star and Stylz and headed across Ravenshoe, and home. Duke and I think this ride should become an annual (maybe not always on Labour Day weekend...*shrugs*...we shall see), and we have dubbed it "The Sport Tourismo Ride". (formerly known as the G.O.U.K.E. Ride, for Going On Unlimited Kinetic Energy, but name was dropped out of consideration for being offensive to some) I think everyone who was on this ride enjoyed themselves. I also think that most people became more aware what their machines can actually do. I was very impressed with everyone's riding this weekend. I feel really good after this ride, and cannot wait to do it again next year. We really have a great group of people in this club. I hope next year more people can come! Gonzo
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