So lets get into the run...First the rides , Stan has a Road Star Silverado 1600cc and I got a little fixed up 883 Sporty...We left London around 6:15 am heading east to Toronto..Temp was already around 26c and the forcast for the day was a high of 32c with humidex of 40c ...Chance of thunderstorms all around the route...
We set our speed at about 115 to 120 km and rode into the rising sun...First manditory stop was outside of Mississauga then on to the 400 and north...Traffic was good through Barrie and soon we were on the winding hills of Hwy 11 ..We stopped north of Orilla for gas and water and met up with another rider doing the run...Kevin Villinga on his red Road Star with side car...Kevin is the prez of the Canadian Sidecar Owners Club out of Sarnia...
We rode north in mid am the temp. was already around 30c and the air was heavy ...Even though the sun beat strong there was a haze that said weather was on it's way...We arrived in North Bay around 11am . Gassed up ate a fast meal and hit the road...As we rode east on 17 the road started to show wet from a front that was ahead of us ...The weather was moving in a NE line and for a few K we thought we were safe...About 40 k out of NB we got hit with wild winds ...Just as we entered the twisting climbing hills of the Laurentans we were buffeted from side to side and the WindDancer ( my sporty ) was true to form dipping in and out of every crosswind..Around Deep River we started to get spit on ...We pulled in under a train trestle to decide if rain gear was the call or not.....
I guess you can say that Stan and I are not the most cautious bikers so we opted for the jackets not the full gear...We were doing great till the road went down a long steep hill and took a sharp turn straight north and up into the heart of the storm...We were soaked in seconds and no reason to pull over now...So we toughed it out for around 120 km till outside of Renfrew the sun was back ...Now the temps were up around 34c and 42c humidity...Now in this heat we were dry in about 15 minutes....( except for my waterproof " Real Biker Boots " from Texas...If you only got jeans on the water runs down the top of the leggings and creates a swiming pool for you feet ) We had stopped in a small village called Corburn in the middle of the rain...Got gas and talked with a group of riders out of Wisconsin taking a long route to a NewHampshire meet....We rode across Ottawa and down to Herbs Trucks Stop at Hwy 34...It was now late afternoon and it looked like we could do this whole thing in about 17 or 18 hours....:)
The run down 34 through a few eastern township villages was easy and relaxed we had about 600km left to do and after the 30km of 34 it was all 401west...We cruized on to the 401 and easy street...Yeah sure till the " Big Smoke " and a city road planner with a sick mean streak....The 401 across the GTA is no sweet ride to start with ...It's got to be one of the worst pieces of 100km road going ...from the 404 west the road is chewed up potholes the size of canyons and that cut swiggly pavement that vibrates your arms till they are numb ( I hate this stretch with a passion )....Started around the Allan to notice postings in the collecters of lane reduction as we moved into Younge St. area it was clear they were pushing the collectors ( all 4 lanes ) into the express...Then as we topped a rise near Keele we saw the sign and the miles of glaring brake lights in front of us ...They were taking all 8 lanes and bringing them to 1 at Dixion for bridge construction....It took over an hour of stop and go to do 30 km .....Then running free by the 427 we put it up to 140 k and ran face first into Mississauga's go at it...From Hwy 10 over to ErinMills every thing pushed over into the right lane ( 20 min. for 5 km ) ...We came out of this mess and stopped outside of Cambridge ...Now we had 19 hours in and were tired...We rode the last leg out easy 100 - 110 ...We pulled into the Flying J ( finish Line ) 3:15 am June 12th my trip meter read 1676.3 km with 21 hours and 14 minutes of riding....We did our papers and headed back to Ammy's for 4 hours of much needed rest...Rumour has it the fastest time was 15 : 18 ...WOW WTG ...Well now I've done it don't need to do it again....Thanks go out to the MTF and Ammy and Rob and my Bro Stan...Go on to the next page and check out more of Stan and mine pics....Cya " IRON BUTT MEL "
