Greetings everyone, the time is coming near for the 2010 Ride for Sight to raise funds for the Friends For Blindness, which will be held on June 25th-27th, 2010. The ride will go from Woodbine Raceway to this years great venue in Mosport Intl. Raceway .

As a team, we are still far from our goal and I emplore you to reach deep for this great cause. As a direct result of the funds that we have raised, medical break-throughs have been made and sight is being restored to those who have fought with degenerative eye disease.

In 2008, our team raised over $37,000, in 2009 we raised just under $40,000. This year our goal is $45,000!

By sponsoring me in the Ride for Sight, you will be contributing to finding a cure for blindness. One hundred percent of funds raised by riders go directly to The Friends for Fighting Blindness, which continues to fund significant research breakthroughs. You can help support me by making a secure online donation using your credit card.

Click on the following link for a secure donation page: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2527456

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Earlier this year BMW Durham invited me to join a special offroading event. Designed for individuals who wish to improve their Adventure Riding Skills on back roads and light trails, we also had Lawrence Hacking as our guide and instructor. Lawrence is not only a professional rider but also the author of “To Dakar and Back”, has over 30 years of off road experience, and was the first Canadian to complete the fabled Paris-Dakar Rally in 2001.

In addition to being a great day of riding, Lawrence was to teach us some hands on techniques of Adventure Riding on larger dual-purpose machines (depending on what we rode to the event). My ride for this event was my personal BMW 650GS and I was certainly apprehensive about how well I would do considering my worn chain, sprockets and very worn tires. Oh well…we only live once and I wasn’t going to pass up this chance to learn a few things from Lawrence. Good thing I’m not afraid of failure!

My day started pretty early since I had to ride out to the rendezvous point at Haugen’s Chicken just outside of Port Perry. I was on the road around 8am to ensure that I would arrive early for the meeting time of 9am. I wanted to talk to a mechanic about my bike, which was in need of some service but no mechanic was arranged for this event. I was hoping a mechanic would be available should I throw my chain during the ride. Oh well…good thing I’m not afraid of failure!

Yes…failure was a bit of concern at this point. My bike wasn’t in the greatest condition and I was in the company of some reasonably experienced off-road riders, including the very accomplished Lawrence Hacking. Personally I had virtually zero off-road experience (I don’t consider gravel fire roads and dirt trails proper “off-roading” and that was all the experience I had prior to today). All of the other riders were astride either 800GS or 1200GS machines and most of them had proper knobby tires. At this point I was expecting to be dealt a lesson in humility. There were 18 of us and I was on the smallest BMW there. Sigh…once again, good thing I’m not afraid of failure.

Our first section was on backcountry roads as we made our way to the first “challenge”. We stopped briefly and Lawrence gave a quick warning about riding in the sand ahead. He didn’t actually instruct us on how to tackle it though! As we tackled this sandy road, I remembered back to the riders meeting where he discussed “rake” angles and how adding more throttle allowed the front wheel to better flow over rough terrain. Basically…when in doubt…more throttle! Although a very counter-intuitive concept, adding speed extends the front fork and helps prevent the front wheel from slipping out from under you, which would result in a humbling low-side crash or prevent the front wheel from hooking a rut, which may result in the more dramatic and serious high-side crash that pitches a rider over and off the bike (often leading to a trip to the hospital).

Ok…lets go! We headed off and I was mid-pack as we approached the “sand trap”. Up ahead I observed riders being pitched and thrown around on their bikes as they tried their best to stay upright. Of course things got really interesting for me as riders crashed in the loose sand. Great…not only did I have to tackle the sand but I also had to find a way to avoid fallen riders and bikes as they blocked my path. Although I reached the end of that section of sandy road without falling, many of my fellow riders didn’t fair as well and arrived at the end of the stage covered in sand.

It was at this point that Lawrence actually gave us a demonstration of how to tackle sandy conditions. I was thinking though that this would of come in handy prior to attempting the sandy stage we just completed. I also realized that although my tires were worn, I was still on par with the riders on their 1200GS bikes with their knobby tires. Sure they had more grip in these conditions but my bike was considerably lighter.

Next up…ruts and mud! For me this was more of a lesson in common sense. Sure our bikes could easily tackle ruts full of water and mud but I wanted to avoid it. I knew that my worn tires would not offer me the grip that knobby tires would offer so my strategy was to ride on top of the ruts and avoid the mud and water altogether. This turned out be the proper choice as once again several riders fell and got covered in gunk and once again Lawrence advised us to avoid water and mud if at all possible since they can not only make the riding more difficult but could also affect our brakes. This just made sense to me but thanks for the heads up!

What’s next? More bloody sand! Ok…I wasn’t liking this but I was dealing with it. Before long I found that I was flying at nearly 100km/hr in sand that was rather deep. I did have to stop several times to help out other riders in my group who crashed and got a helmet full of sand. In this rather large sandy stretch, nearly everyone crashed at least once, including one of our guides from BMW who went headlong into the trees. Everyone was looking pretty dirty and somewhat beaten and although I hadn’t fallen yet, I was beginning to feel the fatigue of riding hard in those conditions.

From here we tackled several back roads towards our lunch stop in Bethany and although most of the roads were riddled with loose gravel, this was the only section that didn’t have someone crashing. By the time we stopped for lunch, we all very much needed a break. Of the 18 riders who started the day, 12 had crashed at some point and several had fallen many times. Most of us were speckled in mud and dirt and some were simply covered in it from their numerous falls. At this point I was one of only a handful of riders who hadn’t fallen. To be honest, I was surprised but I knew that there was more riding yet to come. However, I figured that considering the conditions…it was only a matter of time.

After lunch we headed off for more punishment and good times but several riders bailed out during the lunch stop. They had enough. One had other plans, although I can’t imagine what he would rather do than ride through dirt, sand and mud! As for the other bail-outs…they were simply beaten. After the crashes, the pain, the mental and physical fatigue, it was simply too much for some riders (not to mention a couple riders had some bent foot levers making riding that much more difficult).

Once again we headed off on some small side roads towards our next series of challenges. I was soon faced with thickly wooded areas with rutted trails that were either mixed mud trails or trails of sand. Great…more bloody sand. Well eventually I screwed up and dumped my bike. It wasn’t on an especially challenging section (compared to what we had already tackled) but I was getting tired and lost focus. When in doubt, more gas right? Well I didn’t and to make things worse I looked down and that’s where I ended up…me and my bike inches deep in the sand with me thinking “what the hell?!”. Ok…I finally failed. It happens and much like stepping in poop, all you can do is scrap it off and keep going.

I didn’t feel all that bad though. Out of 18 riders that started, there was only about five who hadn’t crashed by this point and those who had fallen had done so more than once. So onward we went. The trails certainly got more interesting as we did our best to negotiate the narrowly spaced trees, deep ruts, mud, sand, rocks and other loose surfaces, both uphill and down (including large piles of deer crap but luckily nobody was too close behind me to get sprayed with the flying pellets). I was well aware by this point that I wasn’t a fan of deep sand but I also realized that riding up or down hills with large rocks (some as large as basket balls) was also nerve wracking. How I didn’t crash on those hills, I have no idea but I’m glad I didn’t since it would of been rather painful.

Eventually we cleared the brush and returned to paved roads to head back to our original starting point. All in all it was a great day! We all learned a lot, not only about some of the essentials of off-road riding, but also about our limits (both personal and mechanical).

I am very much looking forward to next year and joining Lawrence Hacking and the guys from BMW Durham once again.

As I’ve said several times before: Ride hard…Ride dirty…Ride a GS!

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It all started in the wee hours Saturday morning when I went to bed at 1:30am but a restful night wasn’t going to happen. Perhaps I was excited about the day to come, perhaps it was my thoughts were filled about Stella and her trip to Colorado but for the life of me, I couldn’t sleep. At 3am I layed awake in bed and gave up on trying to sleep altogether.

I hopped in the shower and prepared for a long day. After prepping my bike with snacks, water and the banner & decals for RoadAwareness.ca, I hit the road around 4:30am on my way to Port Dover.

About a week earlier, I was invited to attend the Girlz Ride to Dover as a guest speaker to talk about road safety and awareness and to promote the third RoadAwareness.ca Rally of the year the next day.

I arrived in Port Dover around 6:30am and although much of the town was still sleeping soundly, some of the locals had already made their way to the beach where I decided to park my bike. Although I wasn’t tired, I decided to stretch out on a picnic bench by the beach to rest my eyes. In the background I could hear local businesses preparing for the day punctuated with the occasional Harley passing on nearby streets. Although with those loud pipes, they could of been several streets away.

After a couple hours of relaxing with my thoughts, I decided to walk around town and eventually made my way over to where the Girlz Ride was to meet up and offered to assist local businesses in setting up their tents. The feature sponsor was “On the Fringe” which sells various riding gear, most of which is for women.

Eventually the lady riders showed up in the early afternoon, rather late from some highway closures they encountered along the way from their ride in from Toronto. By this point, I was getting tired having not gotten more then an hour of sleep and despite consuming lots of water, the heat was getting to me as the mercury climbed and with the humidity it felt like 38 Celsius. We were all very hot and sticky and the river that ran beside us was looking pretty good as I became tempted to jump in fully clothed just to cool down.

Eventually the time came for me to speak to the crowd about RoadAwareness.ca and safe riding in general and not long afterward everyone dispersed. I packed up my banner and decals and made my way to Mansfield to my buddy John’s place for a BBQ. He was having some fellow riders over after hosting his own ride for newer riders so they could become comfortable with all that’s involved with riding in a group, which can be daunting for newbies.

Around 10pm I figured it was time to excuse myself and head home. I needed to at least try and get a few hours of sleep before my big RoadAwareness rally the next morning. I didn’t really want to part such good company and lively discussions we were all sharing about our various riding adventures but if I didn’t get some rest, I knew I would be a wreck the next day and I really needed to be on my “A” game.

I arrived home around midnight and wouldn’t you know it…I couldn’t sleep. Once again, I didn’t get to bed until about 1am and was wide awake by 7am. This wasn’t looking good. Once again I prepped my bike and headed off to the first rally point in North York. When I arrived, I was greeted by my support team from MotoLimo.com. Once again, they gave up part of their weekend and both of their custom motorcycle support trucks (not to mention gas) to follow us around all day in support of the cause. If any rider needed help, they were there following us.

We departed North York with about 60 riders and headed out on to the highway towards our mid-way rally point in the town of Simcoe (just north of Port Dover). Along the way we picked up about 15 more riders who were waiting on the side of the highway for us to pass.

Two hours and two construction zones later, we finally arrived at BS Custom Motorcycles in Simcoe. Our gratious hosts (owners of BS Custom), greeted us with lots of cold water and soft drinks that came in very handy for our dehydrated and fatigued riders. Once again, the heat was pushing 40 degrees and everyone was feeling it. Most riders headed off for lunch while I stayed behind to talk to a local reporter from the Simcoe Reformer.

After doing a raffle for prizes donated by On The Fringe, Vision Cycle and Kahuna Powersports, it was time to hit the road in an attempt to keep to our schedule. I was hoping to reach our final destination in Brampton by 4pm. As it turned out, we only arrived 30min late.

We pulled into the parking lot of Formula Kartways to a prior arranged stunt show along with the attendance of Peel Regional Police who arrived to show their support of the RoadAwareness.ca campaign. Although, they did express some concerns about the stunt riding and the lack of an ambulance and even though it was being done on private property, they found themselves in an awkward position. Considering the support they’ve shown for my campaign and not wanting to alienate them, I ended the stunt show.

All in all, it was a great weekend despite the insane heat. I ended up doing two motorcycle events, passed through countless cities and towns, clocked over 700kms and suffered a touch of heat stroke and some serious fatigue.

More riding is yet to come!
.

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Sometimes you just need to be alone and clear your head. Saturday was one of those days for me. A bunch of friends had decided on going on a great group ride on some nice country roads and up through Algonquin Park. Personally I just needed to be alone though.

I started out around 7:30am and as I arrived at the meeting point for the group ride, I saw the group of 20 or so bikes parked in the lot of Haugen’s Chicken just outside Port Perry. I just kept going, only glancing as they were preparing to depart. I continued heading northeast towards the ominous rain clouds on the horizon.

As I pulled into Bobcaygeon, I saw the roads were wet indicating recent rainfall. I figured it would be a good time to take a break and while listening to the Thunder off in the distance, it was also time to throw on the rain gear. The timing was perfect as the rain started falling just as I was mounting my bike again. Rain doesn’t bother me and at this point it wasn’t falling hard. It was actually quite peaceful listening to the wind in my helmet and the tick tick tick of the rain drops hitting my visor.

As I rode on, I was able to spend some time thinking as I watched the lightening off in the distance and hearing the thunder behind me. I was riding between storm cells. As I turned north on the 507, I once again passed my group of friends as they were refuelling. They obviously passed me while I was stopped earlier. Once again, I continued on, just wanting to ride alone. 30minutes later they caught up to me and I made a detour to Haliburton for gas, which made for another good chance to stretch and ponder life. Although it was raining slightly and the cloud cover was heavy, it was still lovely overlooking the lakes.

I carried on my way and continued along the route knowing that I would eventually pass them again. It wasn’t anything personal, I just needed to be alone with my bike. There really isn’t anything like riding a motorcycle and the peace that comes along with it. The sights, the sounds even the smells. Spring is always a great time to ride as the forests begins to rejuvenate from the winter and you can smell the trees coming to life once again. You can even smell the road when transferring from asphalt to tarmac.

At one point while stopped on the side of the road, taking pictures of a nice lake, I heard the sound of a couple bikes approaching. It turned out to be a couple friends of mine (James and Margot) who had been riding with the larger group but decided to turn back. We chatted for a bit, took a few pictures and we went our separate ways.

As I neared Algonquin Park I once again passed the same group of riders where they had stopped for lunch and once again, I continued on. It was becoming common for us to pass each other just as much as riding in and out of rain clouds. Once in the Park I was certain the weather had turned for the better and the sun would stay for good. Turns out that only lasted for about 40km and I had to stop to put my rain gear back on…for good this time.

Showers followed me on and off but stopped for a while in Mindon, which seemed like a good time to eat and refuel. Despite the rain, it was still a great day riding. Up to this point anyway. I could hear thunder off in the distance getting louder and more frequent, coming from the southwest, which was the direction I was going. I prepared myself for what I expected to be heavy and continuous rain all the way home. What I got was far worse.

As I approached Kirkfield, the weather got bad to nearly biblical proportions. The wind picked up to over 60km/hr with gusts up to 100km/hr and this was only the beginning. The crosswinds increased and I slowed my pace as I fought to stay upright as branches and debris was being blown across the road. Turns out I rode into “tornado warning” conditions and at one point was blown clear across the road into the opposite lane. It happened twice more, once into traffic. I was lucky to pull my bike back over in time to avoid hitting a car head-on.

I took shelter at a small gas station and came across a couple other riders who had been there for about 30minutes and was lucky to of missed the worst of it. Once things settled down a bit, the three of us continued on together for the added safety that comes with riding with a small group in case something went seriously wrong.

Finally reaching home 12hrs later, tired, sore, shaken, I was left thinking that even though life can be bad, rides like today remind you how great it is to feel alive…especially on a motorcycle.

The tranquil calmness, the twists in the road, the intense demands of fighting mother nature. It’s all part riding and it provides a feeling unlike anything else.

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March 19, 2009 12:20 PM – Police are looking into witness accounts that the driver of an SUV illegally entered a busy Mississauga intersection yesterday before crashing into a motorcycle, sending the driver and his passenger to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Peel Regional Police said today that the motorcyclist, 30, and his female passenger, 22, are expected to live following the rush-hour collision at Hurontario St. and Eglinton Ave.

Motorcyclists from across the GTA are outraged. Several will be at a rally tonight at the intersection because they believe there needs to be increased awareness among drivers of larger vehicles to be cautious sharing the road with motorcyclists. Police will also be at the rally.

“The weather is warming and more and more riders are on the roads. This tragic incident should be a reminder to all that cars share the roads with bikes and that we must all be aware of each other,” said Shaun de Jager, an avid motorcyclist who organized the rally. “There is no excuse for paying anything less than 100 per cent attention to the road and our surroundings.”

The motorcyclist was airlifted to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto after his Suzuki collided with a Honda CRV at about 5 p.m.

Peel Cst. J.P. Valade said the man’s condition has improved. He has serious leg injuries, but is expected to survive.

The passenger was initially taken to Credit Valley Hospital. She was also transferred to Sunnybrook. She, too, is expected to live.

The 62-year-old female driver of the SUV was not injured.

Officers with the Major Collision Bureau are investigating whether the woman entered the intersection improperly, believing she had an advanced green light to make a left turn.

The accident brought traffic to a halt, as police closed off a large area surrounding the intersection. Lane closures lasted well into the night.

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Susie and I had a late start to the day due to a late evening out the night before. However, it only took a couple of phone calls and we lined up some fellow riders to head out with. New rider Aaryn on her Kawi 250 and very experienced Vlad on his Bandit 1200S met up with us for a leasurly ride up to Port Perry.

As a new rider, Aaryn is still apprehensive about riding on the highway at speed, so we stuck to riding just under the speed limit allowing cars to freely pass us by. We weren’t in any rush anyway and it wasn’t long before we got off and took to the slower, more relaxed country roads.

The ride was still a chilly one despite being so nice out. Eventually I figured we could use a break when Susie mentioned her hands were getting cold, which allowed me to throw on an extra layer of clothes and for her to switch to warmer gloves. It also provided Vlad and I to get to know each other better since it was the first time I had actually met him in person despite having talked to each other several times via email or various online forums.

Eventually we arrived in Port Perry and were pleased by the sight of no less than 30 other motorcycles parked at the local Tim Hortons, all in various groups taking a break from their rides.

All types of bikes could be seen from custom cruisers, Harleys, a large showing of SuperSports, various Touring bikes, a couple Enduros and even a white Ural complete with sidecar. Much of our time there was obviously talking about bikes with other owners including one fellow who parked his minivan beside us and left his wife and son to enjoy their lunch inside, while he talked to us about motorcycles and some of the trips he had taken. I made a point to give him my contact info in hopes that we could continue our conversation another time so that he could join his family.

Eventually we had to leave, once again due to time constraints, and we began our journey home. We kept to the back roads and as we rode, Susie and I both started getting fatigued. Exhaustion was catching up to us and Susie even started nodding off behind me. Although we didn’t really ride all that far today, we were both feeling it and were glad to get home. I’m sure we will both sleep well tonight.

Soon the weather will be far nicer and we will be able to get out more often and really soak in all the joys that riding brings us. Not much longer…

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