I awoke in Perkinsfield to pouring rain and considering the condition of my front tire the idea of riding in it didn’t seem very smart. Eventually, the rain subsided and I started heading north again. Up the 400 along the side of Georgian Bay and into the Muskoka Lakes via 69 and south along 169 through towns like Bala, Torrance and eventually Gravenhurst.

At this point I had to stop to stretch out some sore muscles and a numb bum. My ride was taking a lot longer then expected largely due to several slow moving campers and grandpa’s in their Buicks. Since I was under some time constraints, I needed to pick up the pace. So with that in mind, I cut my route short and hooked up with HWY11 and eventually the 400 again, leading me back to the city after putting on about 320km at the end of the day.

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The day started off well enough with getting a much needed service on the Bandit. All the bits that need to slip were lubed and everything else was tightened. After getting a strong warning to replace my chain, both sprockets and my front tire ASAP, I was on the road an hour later to hook up with an friend (Eric riding a GSXR600) in Brampton. From there we headed off to Mansfield to hook up with another buddy John (riding a SV650) who lives in a very rural area with some great roads to play on…and play we did! Although Eric had to leave early (work duties that demanded his attention).

Fast sweepers and tight twisties galore…this was Johns private playland and I will be heading back there soon.

After chilling out at Johns place for a couple hours, it was time for me to continue on and off I headed to finally stop in Perkinsfield for the night. All in all, a great day with about 400km travelled.
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So I was able to get some time off work as a bit of a vacation over this Thankgiving Weekend but realized that I don’t really have anyone to spend it with. So since the weather forecast is looking rather nice, I hope to spend the weekend on the bike touring around and hopefully drop in with a friend or two along the way.

First stop is to get the bike checked over. This weekend was rather last-minute and I’d rather not get stranded anywhere. After that, it will be off to Mansfield to meet a couple friends for an afternoon ride. From there, I head north…

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Riding in the cold is a really nasty feeling that I had the displeasure of recently experiencing one early Sat morning on my way to Shannonville. 10-degrees out at 130km/hr makes for one wicked wind chill for two hours.

Eventually the cold got through all the layers and I started shivering…bad. I felt like one of those toy monkeys with the cimbels but instead with my knees banging against the tank. I began to loose all feeling in my hands and tears began trickling down my face. Halfway there and I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped for 10min…I should have stopped longer.

Back on the bike and the pain quickly returned. Now my stomach muscles are even twitching and my arms and shoulders are shaking right along with my legs.

When I finally saw my exit…I went for the brakes and couldn’t squeeze the lever!!! Not only was the brake fluid thick from the cold but the real issue was more so my hands were frozen…again the tears poured as I squeezed as hard as I could through the pain. Once I got off the bike…I kept all my gear on (except for my helmet, which took over 5min to get off because I couldn’t undo the strap for the complete lack of feeling in my fingers) and I wrapped myself with a blanket but it still took 40min to stop shaking. Lessons were learned that day.

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