kurtrules
Well-known member
A multi-day trip was long overdue. The last long distance multi-day ride I did was in Dec 2015 when I rode 3.5k kms from the top to the bottom of India to hand deliver my CBR250 to my brother-in-law, to whom I had sold it, as I wasn’t living there.
I was living in Singapore and was away from riding for a while. I owned a Bajaj Pulsar 200 in Singapore but that was used mainly for commuting.
Fast forward to Sept 2020, when I got my V-Strom here in Canada and that re-ignited the sedate passion once again!
I had 5 full days to decide where to head off to. Initially, I had 9 days to explore Gaspe, but they were shortened owing to changes in personal circumstances. I had heard a lot of positive feedback for the coastal drive along Lake Superior in Northern Ontario, that I decided this was it.
Initially, the plan to ride the Algoma loop only, along the eastern coast of Lake Superior and down from highway 129 (another one of those roads for which I heard great things about!). But then, in one of my discussions with Shane in our last ride together, he strongly recommended that I check out the northern coast as well, which was equally wonderful, if not more, to the eastern side.
So, then the plan changed, and I decided to change course and ride out to Thunder Bay. Preparations started a long time before the actual ride. I put a post in the forum as well: 5 Day Ontario Trip Itinerary - Help needed
I had my new side cases for luggage. It was going to the first time I was riding with properly fabricated and attached, metal cases. Back in the day, I had fabric saddle bags, but the fit and quality was no where close to these ones. But that’s ok. Those were the early days of my riding and professional career. At the time, I was just grateful to be on two wheels riding, especially with the little money I was making.
I digress...
Day 1: June 30th, Burlington – Wawa (~1050 kms)
I printed out a list of activities and pre-ride work that was needed a few days before, packed everything well in advance, and was ready to hit the road at 5am the next day. When riding solo, I normally plan to start very early. The weather is cooler and there’s less traffic on the road.
But not today. It was 6am before I was able to put even a km on the odo. The weather radar showed rain for a while en-route Barrie, which was acceptable.
I fueled up at the ONRoute in Vaughan. Continued riding until a Petro Canada just before the first exit to Parry Sound. The rain had stopped, and the weather was now foggy. I paused for fuel.
I use the Lexin B4FM Bluetooth comms, connect them to my Spotify playlist, and listen to music & podcasts throughout, over ear plugs. This setup works well, and the sound quality is great considering what I paid for these.
The ride was uneventful until Sudbury
Was on the road to Espanola by 10:45. The sun was up now, and the gauge on my dashboard showed 25 degrees.
The first stop was at the Chutes Provincial Park in Massey, with views to a scenic waterfall.
Out came the home baked cake and the first red bull of the day. Also, removed the thermal jacket liner and swapped to summer gloves.
I carried on.
There was a lot of traffic on the road. On top of that, there were a few places where construction was going on pausing one side of traffic causing huge lineups. It took ages to get to Spanish. Couple that with the heat, and I was getting flustered.
Serpent & Blind river came and went. The traffic was showing no signs on easing up. When I approached Thessalon, I detoured into town to fuel up and came across this beautiful spot besides a lake:
Had lunch
I had two choices now. Continue via the coastal on to Wawa, or take the 129 up, get some relief from traffic with a trade-off that it might rain, as was the forecast on this route.
I chose the latter.
After topping up at the Esso in Thessalon, I resumed my journey north on the 129. It was 2:45pm. These last 4 hours, I had barely managed 220 kms.
I got the respite I needed. For the next 220 kms, I barely saw anyone. There was this truck I would pass, stop for a pic, it would go ahead and then pass I’d pass it again. Played this game for a while.
The first 60kms of the 129 were long sweepers with beautiful surroundings, with a smooth as silk tarmac
The next 100 odd kms were a mix bag of gravel and asphalt. The gravel wasn’t packed. It looked freshly graded at most places. Being too lazy to get down and let off some air from the tires, I just continued.
I had to duck for cover from stone acting as projectiles each time a truck would pass by. A few hit me on the leg, luckily not too hard. I was glad my visor survived. Moreover, the plume of dusk they would leave in their wake had me struggling for visibility.
…And then it started to rain. On top of that the mercury dropped. So now the situation was cold, wet, and little muddy. Not a good time stop, so I continued.
The last 60 kms, rain stopped, and the tarmac was beautiful!
The cut-off to Chapleau
I went in 10kms to Chapleau for a fuel refill, as there was no pump for the next 133kms on the 101 West.
It was around 5:45pm when I came back to where I had left the 129 and started to head towards Wawa. The 101 West, was another beautiful stretch of tarmac with not a soul in sight and a wonderful surrounding landscape.
The ride was quick. In about an 75mins, I was besides Wawa lake
I was living in Singapore and was away from riding for a while. I owned a Bajaj Pulsar 200 in Singapore but that was used mainly for commuting.
Fast forward to Sept 2020, when I got my V-Strom here in Canada and that re-ignited the sedate passion once again!
I had 5 full days to decide where to head off to. Initially, I had 9 days to explore Gaspe, but they were shortened owing to changes in personal circumstances. I had heard a lot of positive feedback for the coastal drive along Lake Superior in Northern Ontario, that I decided this was it.
Initially, the plan to ride the Algoma loop only, along the eastern coast of Lake Superior and down from highway 129 (another one of those roads for which I heard great things about!). But then, in one of my discussions with Shane in our last ride together, he strongly recommended that I check out the northern coast as well, which was equally wonderful, if not more, to the eastern side.
So, then the plan changed, and I decided to change course and ride out to Thunder Bay. Preparations started a long time before the actual ride. I put a post in the forum as well: 5 Day Ontario Trip Itinerary - Help needed
I had my new side cases for luggage. It was going to the first time I was riding with properly fabricated and attached, metal cases. Back in the day, I had fabric saddle bags, but the fit and quality was no where close to these ones. But that’s ok. Those were the early days of my riding and professional career. At the time, I was just grateful to be on two wheels riding, especially with the little money I was making.
I digress...
Day 1: June 30th, Burlington – Wawa (~1050 kms)
I printed out a list of activities and pre-ride work that was needed a few days before, packed everything well in advance, and was ready to hit the road at 5am the next day. When riding solo, I normally plan to start very early. The weather is cooler and there’s less traffic on the road.
But not today. It was 6am before I was able to put even a km on the odo. The weather radar showed rain for a while en-route Barrie, which was acceptable.
I fueled up at the ONRoute in Vaughan. Continued riding until a Petro Canada just before the first exit to Parry Sound. The rain had stopped, and the weather was now foggy. I paused for fuel.
I use the Lexin B4FM Bluetooth comms, connect them to my Spotify playlist, and listen to music & podcasts throughout, over ear plugs. This setup works well, and the sound quality is great considering what I paid for these.
The ride was uneventful until Sudbury
Was on the road to Espanola by 10:45. The sun was up now, and the gauge on my dashboard showed 25 degrees.
The first stop was at the Chutes Provincial Park in Massey, with views to a scenic waterfall.
Out came the home baked cake and the first red bull of the day. Also, removed the thermal jacket liner and swapped to summer gloves.
I carried on.
There was a lot of traffic on the road. On top of that, there were a few places where construction was going on pausing one side of traffic causing huge lineups. It took ages to get to Spanish. Couple that with the heat, and I was getting flustered.
Serpent & Blind river came and went. The traffic was showing no signs on easing up. When I approached Thessalon, I detoured into town to fuel up and came across this beautiful spot besides a lake:
Had lunch
I had two choices now. Continue via the coastal on to Wawa, or take the 129 up, get some relief from traffic with a trade-off that it might rain, as was the forecast on this route.
I chose the latter.
After topping up at the Esso in Thessalon, I resumed my journey north on the 129. It was 2:45pm. These last 4 hours, I had barely managed 220 kms.
I got the respite I needed. For the next 220 kms, I barely saw anyone. There was this truck I would pass, stop for a pic, it would go ahead and then pass I’d pass it again. Played this game for a while.
The first 60kms of the 129 were long sweepers with beautiful surroundings, with a smooth as silk tarmac
The next 100 odd kms were a mix bag of gravel and asphalt. The gravel wasn’t packed. It looked freshly graded at most places. Being too lazy to get down and let off some air from the tires, I just continued.
I had to duck for cover from stone acting as projectiles each time a truck would pass by. A few hit me on the leg, luckily not too hard. I was glad my visor survived. Moreover, the plume of dusk they would leave in their wake had me struggling for visibility.
…And then it started to rain. On top of that the mercury dropped. So now the situation was cold, wet, and little muddy. Not a good time stop, so I continued.
The last 60 kms, rain stopped, and the tarmac was beautiful!
The cut-off to Chapleau
I went in 10kms to Chapleau for a fuel refill, as there was no pump for the next 133kms on the 101 West.
It was around 5:45pm when I came back to where I had left the 129 and started to head towards Wawa. The 101 West, was another beautiful stretch of tarmac with not a soul in sight and a wonderful surrounding landscape.
The ride was quick. In about an 75mins, I was besides Wawa lake
