Last year a bunch of us did a Summer Solstice ride. The plan was to ride from sunrise to sunset and travel along as many twisty backroads as possible, with minimal highway. In a nutshell, 9 riders started the ride and I almost finished the ride, after 17hours and 1350km later. That thread is here:
Summer Solstice Route - Muskoka, Algonquin, Calabogie
Last year there were a bunch of things that caused us to fall behind, all of which were within my control. So this year I wanted to do a similar ride, but tighten things up a bit and see how it goes.
First off, instead of posting this ride up on the forum, the group was kept to max 7 people of similar skill levels who had expressed and interest to do this with me. I also made sure everyone had a fuel range of at least 225km. Beforehand, I also did two separate rides in the weeks prior to check on the roads and see if they were in good shape. That was a good idea because some of the roads I had originally planned were in really poor shape. Some of the big things to think about when planning a ride like this include the speed limits of the roads, the road conditions, knowing when you will be on this road during the ride to think about wildlife or sunlight hazards and much more. In advance, everyone also needs to know that this isn't a typical relaxing ride, but more of an endurance ride and it's up to each individual to know when they are done and need to call it a day. As a rider, eating small portions frequently is super important, instead of having a larger sit down meal. We all had hydration knapsacks, so we could drink on the go. Some of us had an aftermarket seat that allows for more seat time and I have a pretty plush suspension that means I can ride like this and not feel sore at all. I also met up with two of the riders in the week before and we did parking lot drills to practice cornering, emergency braking and tight u-turns. That turned out to be a really good idea, because their skills had improved by leaps and bounds from our previous rides together. And it really helps to be in good shape!
Like usual, I planned out a crazy long route with the idea that if we run out of time or energy then it would be easy to chop off as much of the second part of the day as we wanted and just get home.
Morning Route Link:
Evening Route Link:
Planned Gas Stops:
In the week leading up to the ride, the weather forecast was not cooperating. Monday June 21 was calling for severe thunderstorms for most of the day and significant rainfall. So after watching the forecast all week and almost calling off the ride entirely, Tuesday June 22nd looked to be a good enough day. There was some chance of rain in the morning and then it would have highs of 15deg with some sun & cloud. Because of different reasons, some of the group was not able to attend and we were going to be a group of 4, which in hindsight is the way I would do a ride like this in the future.
For me, the ride starts at 5:15am. Got the heated gear cranked up since it was a balmy 7 degrees when I left home! On my way over I fill up and take my first of not very many pictures:
I head out to meet a couple other riders at 5:30am at the first meet spot and we head into the city to meet another rider. My first mistake of the ride is miscalculating how long it would take us to get from the first meet spot in Mississauga to the second meet spot in Toronto. For some reason I planned an hour and told them to be at the 2nd meet spot at 6:30am. Well we arrived there at 6am and just wasted time until they showed up. Lost about 45 minutes right there.
The bikes (an FZ6, my trusty VStrom 650, a GSX100F and a KTM 390 Adventure):
We make our way up to Northey's Bay Rd, hit up Deloro Rd, Flinton Rd and then make our way over to the Frontenac Region. I can't say enough good things about the roads in this region. Concentrated in this area, are so many roads with fast sweepers or tight hilly twisties. Most of them have great pavement and little traffic. We hit up Mountain Rd, Desert Lake Rd, Opinicon Rd and Narrow Locks Rd. All of them were amazing in their own way and I think I'll have to plan another day of just exploring that area again. The FZ6 had a mechanical issue on Desert Lake Rd, so now we were down to 3 bikes.
We made our way over to Tatlock Rd and then up to Calabogie. By the time we reached Calabogie we were about 2 hrs behind schedule. This was because we took longer breaks and lost of a bit of time here and there. All the little stops add up fairly quick! From here we scooted up to Barry's Bay and stopped at Crooked Slide Park on the way:
At this point it was almost 4pm and we still had over 700km to go if we wanted to finish this. The little KTM was feeling done at this point, so now we were down to 2 bikes! We parted ways and decided that the 2 of us would just keep riding and then make a decision as the day went on about what we wanted to do. We headed up Old Barry's Bay Rd, down Siberia Rd, across Elephant Lake Rd and stopped for a moment to enjoy this spot at Elephant Lake.
We made our way along Loop Rd, did a couple runs along Dyno Rd and then started to make our way over to Haliburton. When we arrive into Haliburton as we pull up to the main traffic light I see a bike waiting at the lights. As we approach it turns out it's the 390 Duke! He had refreshed his mind from his extended break and then took the most direct route to Haliburton. He was feeling much better by now, so the 3 of us continued on as a group. By this point, there was no hope of us finishing the route, so we ripped up Harburn Rd (amazing) and then since 2 of us are on street tires, we thought it best to ride 30 minutes of this dirt road, which was a lot of fun!
The 390 Duke lives downtown and we all agree that we should try to be home just as dark is setting in. So from the Haliburton area we decide to scrap the entire Muskoka portion of the route and just take backroads over to the top of the 404. On the way to the top of the 404 I always like to stop at the Centennial Park Rd causeway, which was a great spot to catch the sunset as a final rest stop before going home.
Made it back home almost 17 hours to the minute after starting the ride and hit 1300km on the money.
While I'm not really into the Iron Butt ride thing, because I prefer to be riding twisty roads, it would be pretty cool to ride a route like this and finish it. I might try this again next year, but know to keep the group at a max of 4, or maybe even 3. Or maybe I do it myself since I usually don't take any breaks when I'm alone and see if I can hit the 1600km mark in one day. Organizing and leading a ride like this also makes you very cognizant of how other people are doing, which means you ride a more conservative pace and tend to take more breaks to be on the safe side - which is a good thing too.
Summer Solstice Route - Muskoka, Algonquin, Calabogie
Last year there were a bunch of things that caused us to fall behind, all of which were within my control. So this year I wanted to do a similar ride, but tighten things up a bit and see how it goes.
First off, instead of posting this ride up on the forum, the group was kept to max 7 people of similar skill levels who had expressed and interest to do this with me. I also made sure everyone had a fuel range of at least 225km. Beforehand, I also did two separate rides in the weeks prior to check on the roads and see if they were in good shape. That was a good idea because some of the roads I had originally planned were in really poor shape. Some of the big things to think about when planning a ride like this include the speed limits of the roads, the road conditions, knowing when you will be on this road during the ride to think about wildlife or sunlight hazards and much more. In advance, everyone also needs to know that this isn't a typical relaxing ride, but more of an endurance ride and it's up to each individual to know when they are done and need to call it a day. As a rider, eating small portions frequently is super important, instead of having a larger sit down meal. We all had hydration knapsacks, so we could drink on the go. Some of us had an aftermarket seat that allows for more seat time and I have a pretty plush suspension that means I can ride like this and not feel sore at all. I also met up with two of the riders in the week before and we did parking lot drills to practice cornering, emergency braking and tight u-turns. That turned out to be a really good idea, because their skills had improved by leaps and bounds from our previous rides together. And it really helps to be in good shape!
Like usual, I planned out a crazy long route with the idea that if we run out of time or energy then it would be easy to chop off as much of the second part of the day as we wanted and just get home.
Morning Route Link:
Evening Route Link:
Planned Gas Stops:
In the week leading up to the ride, the weather forecast was not cooperating. Monday June 21 was calling for severe thunderstorms for most of the day and significant rainfall. So after watching the forecast all week and almost calling off the ride entirely, Tuesday June 22nd looked to be a good enough day. There was some chance of rain in the morning and then it would have highs of 15deg with some sun & cloud. Because of different reasons, some of the group was not able to attend and we were going to be a group of 4, which in hindsight is the way I would do a ride like this in the future.
For me, the ride starts at 5:15am. Got the heated gear cranked up since it was a balmy 7 degrees when I left home! On my way over I fill up and take my first of not very many pictures:
I head out to meet a couple other riders at 5:30am at the first meet spot and we head into the city to meet another rider. My first mistake of the ride is miscalculating how long it would take us to get from the first meet spot in Mississauga to the second meet spot in Toronto. For some reason I planned an hour and told them to be at the 2nd meet spot at 6:30am. Well we arrived there at 6am and just wasted time until they showed up. Lost about 45 minutes right there.
The bikes (an FZ6, my trusty VStrom 650, a GSX100F and a KTM 390 Adventure):
We make our way up to Northey's Bay Rd, hit up Deloro Rd, Flinton Rd and then make our way over to the Frontenac Region. I can't say enough good things about the roads in this region. Concentrated in this area, are so many roads with fast sweepers or tight hilly twisties. Most of them have great pavement and little traffic. We hit up Mountain Rd, Desert Lake Rd, Opinicon Rd and Narrow Locks Rd. All of them were amazing in their own way and I think I'll have to plan another day of just exploring that area again. The FZ6 had a mechanical issue on Desert Lake Rd, so now we were down to 3 bikes.
We made our way over to Tatlock Rd and then up to Calabogie. By the time we reached Calabogie we were about 2 hrs behind schedule. This was because we took longer breaks and lost of a bit of time here and there. All the little stops add up fairly quick! From here we scooted up to Barry's Bay and stopped at Crooked Slide Park on the way:
At this point it was almost 4pm and we still had over 700km to go if we wanted to finish this. The little KTM was feeling done at this point, so now we were down to 2 bikes! We parted ways and decided that the 2 of us would just keep riding and then make a decision as the day went on about what we wanted to do. We headed up Old Barry's Bay Rd, down Siberia Rd, across Elephant Lake Rd and stopped for a moment to enjoy this spot at Elephant Lake.
We made our way along Loop Rd, did a couple runs along Dyno Rd and then started to make our way over to Haliburton. When we arrive into Haliburton as we pull up to the main traffic light I see a bike waiting at the lights. As we approach it turns out it's the 390 Duke! He had refreshed his mind from his extended break and then took the most direct route to Haliburton. He was feeling much better by now, so the 3 of us continued on as a group. By this point, there was no hope of us finishing the route, so we ripped up Harburn Rd (amazing) and then since 2 of us are on street tires, we thought it best to ride 30 minutes of this dirt road, which was a lot of fun!
The 390 Duke lives downtown and we all agree that we should try to be home just as dark is setting in. So from the Haliburton area we decide to scrap the entire Muskoka portion of the route and just take backroads over to the top of the 404. On the way to the top of the 404 I always like to stop at the Centennial Park Rd causeway, which was a great spot to catch the sunset as a final rest stop before going home.
Made it back home almost 17 hours to the minute after starting the ride and hit 1300km on the money.
While I'm not really into the Iron Butt ride thing, because I prefer to be riding twisty roads, it would be pretty cool to ride a route like this and finish it. I might try this again next year, but know to keep the group at a max of 4, or maybe even 3. Or maybe I do it myself since I usually don't take any breaks when I'm alone and see if I can hit the 1600km mark in one day. Organizing and leading a ride like this also makes you very cognizant of how other people are doing, which means you ride a more conservative pace and tend to take more breaks to be on the safe side - which is a good thing too.
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