Ride Report - Is it Canada Day yet?

I've done Quyon Ferry and back with 2 friends of mine, stayed on paved roads but it was nice and scenic. Lunch at bancroft, a few of the 500s hwys and friends took the ferry so on my way back i was alone and got caught in torrential rain blimpses a few times... and obviously it was a day i'd left the rain gear at home... so i'd get dry enough to not feel gross and then rain would fall again, rinse and repeat 4-5 times.

Very nice area with nice roads. Kept it to hwy 7 on the way back to prevent overexhaustion (or getting lost) as i had never done that much riding before in a single day
 
shanekingsley said:
Thought it would be a good idea to see how long I could ride for on the hottest day of the year (humidex of 45C). What could possibly go wrong?
The plan was to ride from Mississauga out to Calabogie and then just keep riding until I felt like I should go home. I was only planning on riding on the slab until out of the GTA and then twisty backroads for as long as I could.
Left then house at 6:30am and it was so nice out. Slabbed it along the 401 until Port Hope and then headed north.
Took Flinton Rd and I always seem to see Jeep YJ's on there. From there I skirted across the 506 and down Ardoch Rd. Went up the 509 to S Lavant Rd.
The crossroads:
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Most of these roads were a little on the bumpy side which was good for me to see how my recently replaced rear shock was doing. What a difference from my old beat up one that had 130,000km and was leaking. It got me thinking about how some of the moto manufacturers are moving their production overseas and so I thought I should make a quick detour to check out the new Polaris plant in for myself.
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Then I swept my way up the 511 to Calabogie. The 511 is one of my favourite roads to ride. It's like the 507, with way less traffic, much better pavement and faster sweepers. Made it to Calabogie by 11am and I was reminded of what an amazing country we live in.
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Heading west along the 508 and Centennial Lake Rd (another all time favourite of mine!), I then went north up through Combermere via the 514. This is another spectacular road with awesome pavement and very fast sweepers. This area is also known as the Highlands which is a really great area to ride. There were dense clouds up here and the temperatures were so refreshingly cool. It's a great mixture of low traffic, great pavement with a blend of tighter twisties and fast sweepers. The views are pretty sweet too!
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From here I headed over to Maynooth for some fuel. They have a great butter tart place here and this time I was surprised to see they are now a samosa factory too. Sweet and Spicy! It was cooking outside by now and I was in no mood for samosas or butter tarts.
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After heading down Elephant Lake Rd and across to Wilberforce, I remembered a spot to see an old TTC streetcar buried in the bush. It's off a dirt road called Kennaway Rd and the road is awesome and so is the streetcar!
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Just like in Deal Gap, we have our own Tree of Shoem!
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Then I decided that because I was so close to Harburn Road #19, I should go ride it, because it's another one of my favourite roads, especially when looped together with Haliburton Lake Road. Lot's of Harburn Road is pretty beat up from the winter with potholes and broken pavement. It's still a great ride though. I continued west along the 118 and then up the #35 past Dorset and had grand plans of riding the 518. By now it was around 4pm. Some quick math told me that I would make it home by around 8-9pm. I was starting to feel a little dehydrated even though I was drinking a lot of fluid and had 2 bottles of Gatorade in my Hydration knapsack.

Rather than take an unnecessary risk, I decided to head straight for Southwood Rd 13! Heading southbound on this road is awesome. It was in really good shape with pretty much no sand. If they could ever fix the potholes and frost heaves, this road would be heaven. Nothing like a 'Very Rough Crossing' to perk me up!
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At the bottom end of Southwood Rd - not sure what the deal is with the fence in the background here.
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Don't try this at home.https://goo.gl/maps/g8G16VguKex
This is roughly the route I ended up doing. All in all it was about 1100km in 13hours - more than the Google Maps route will show. If I didn't get lost looking for a sweet dirt road that links Harburn Rd with Kennisis Lake Rd, I could have probably made it up to the 518, but all things considered, it's been a long time since I did a ride with this many backroads in one day.
It also feels like the first time I've done a long ride by myself. For the last few years it's always been in groups or at least one other. It was refreshing to go as fast as I wanted, for as long as I wanted. Didn't stop to have lunch, just had a few snacks at gas stops and rode all day without any breaks. The bike still rides like a champ at 140,000km. Stopped by my buddy Keith's grave on the way home to give thanks for all those safe miles traveled.
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I ran opposite of your route that day. Probably missed you by a half hour. We were in Calabogie at the chip truck beside the start of 511 at noon.

Three of us did a loop from Haliburton to bogie, Ompah, 16... pretty much your loop out that way and back.
We were under 1,000k though.

Working at my parents cottage all summer. You should remember where I spit that plug, and had to nurse my bike here for "emergency surgery".

We should ride again soon.

Jdmster too, & BrianP

No broken bones this time...


Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk
 
Nice long run Shane. Glad your stator didn't start dying causing you to have to limp back to with 200 km of home to get your free CAA tow.
 
In need of some expertise, I'm heading up north this weekend and I'm staying close to hwy 60/35.

I've never done the roads around Calabogie so was wondering if anyone could suggest an interesting route to get there and the best way to loop all the good roads together once I'm up there.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!
 
shanekingsley said:
Calabogie is a little far from 60/35.
If I was doing it, I would ride something like: https://goo.gl/maps/wxZymv9oQDk

but if you have less time, then something like: https://goo.gl/maps/azQAE9Rbot32

Enjoy.
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Says the guy that rode from Sauga to Bogie in one day lol

I have from Fri morning til Sun evening so I'll be good for time.

Any suggestions on how to loop the roads up up there? 508, 509, 511, S Lavant etc.

On an unrelated note, there's a warehouse party going on in Cambridge on the 22nd.
 
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