| Author | Message | ||
     Bomber |
wow -- thanks for sharing with us, sir -- what a homeric ride! | ||
| Lornce |
Glad ya'll like the views. The ride was fun and accessible, not too homeric, actually. The topography and scenery were fascinating; very different from anything around here. The scale of the rivers, for instance, is sobering. All the local folks I chatted with were friendly, hospitable and informative, happy to discuss the region, it's charms and special challenges. I'd like to return and take more time mixing with the locals. Add a day from Chicago or Milwaukee and you could easily replicate the trip. Don't go with my friend Carol, though. Unless you're a real hard-ass, she'll pop yer macho-bubble. Carol managed to get away from her grand kids long enough to cover 47k kms between James Bay and Mexico City on her R1200GS last season. Beat that.  (Message edited by lornce on January 30, 2006) | ||
| Lornce |
Til next time Chisasibi....     | ||
| Lornce |
A relaxing three day ride home enjoying the scenery, free and ample camping opportunities, woodland trails and a visit with old friends who've been homesteading in this beautiful northland for three decades.      | ||
| Lornce |
     | ||
| Lornce |
     | ||
| Prior |
Fantastic pictures. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see more! Prior | ||
| Henrik |
Absolutely amazing. Thank you! Would those paw prints be bear? Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Glad you like the views, lads. Those prints were indeed bear. Appeared to be two of them, one larger than the other. Likely ma and cub. Seems they enjoy blueberries...   | ||
| Lornce |
Enough "Beyond", let's get back to Hamilton for awhile....     | ||
| Lornce |
     | ||
| Lornce |
        | ||
| Charlieboy6649 |
Industry, oddly beautiful... Great pics and tales. I hope to getaway like that soon! | ||
| Lornce |
Glad you like the views, Charlie. You're in a excellent locale for riding adventure, keep us posted with a picture thread of your own! cin cin, Lorenzo  | ||
| Henrik |
Good eye, Lawrence, very good eye. Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
Thanks Henrik, I appreciate your encouragement. Not sure where to go next with this thread.... We could take a walking tour of Toronto with my buddy and Metro Firefighter, Stacy. Or visit the Harbourfront district for an enjoyable evening with Aaron and Tina. Or revisit the Downtown Jazz Festival and watch the Kenny Garrett Quartet upstage the headlining Joshua Redman in one of the most palpable demonstrations of musical transcendence I've ever witnessed live.... Or we could just go for another motorcycle ride....  I could introduce you to some more riding buddies. Or spend September heading to Nova Scotia via Quebec's beautiful North Shore. Or just fast forward to some beautiful scenery and fall riding back in Southern Ontario. Hmmmnnn.... What to do, what to do? | ||
| Henrik |
You're very welcome. My pleasure. It's your thread, so take it where ever you want But Nova Scotia and the North Shore sounds great, as does another ride and fall scenery. Henrik | ||
| Lornce |
"Tell the rest of us about your home town, your favorite hangouts, restaurants, pubs,... whatever makes you proud of your digs and the neighborhood/town in which you live. Post lots of photos too.... " In that vein, Hamilton Ontario (located on Canada's South Shore  ) is Canada's Pittsburgh, the way Pittsburgh was when it's steel industry was thriving. The two city's are even similar in size and topography, both bisected by escarpments, though Hamilton sits on the shores of Lake Ontario in contrast to Pittsburgh's riverfront.  We're an hour or so north of Buffalo New York, three hours east of Detroit, and about smack dab between Chicago and New York City, which are 500 miles in either direction. Toronto, similar in size, scale and topography to Chicago, is reputedly the most cosmopolitan city in the world. All that rich and varied cultural diversity is just 40 minutes on the Queen Elizabeth Way to the east of us.  | ||
| Kahuna |
Looks like you're gettin' your moneys worth out that D100! Long time. hope all is well. I recently got a D70s, and an excellent 1.6 apprature lens, makes for very cool portraits... I'm dying to ride! cheers!  | ||
| Lornce |
Hey K, how've you been? That a volume control on your steering wheel? 1.6 is a pretty serious lens; we expect big things! cin cin, Mr. L | ||
| Lornce |
Okay, I'm thinking next to take y'all with me to Nova Scotia, via la belle Provence. Sit tight, there's almost 100 images in this file - and that's the pared down edited version! Started the trip with my buddy John (badweb's own 99X1) and an evening's relaxing stop at the Wolf Den hostel near Algonquin Park's West Gate. If you're in the area, The Wolf Den's a great place to spend an evening or a week. Lots of excellent three season hiking and canoeing and winter cross country skiing, snowshoeing etc. in the area.  www.wolfdenbunkhouse.com Here's an Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Turbo Beaver, the turbo-prop version of DeHaviland's venerable northland workhorse. Pilots love these aircraft for their rugged airframes and smooth powerful engines. A radial engined version of the Beaver was featured earlier in this thread in red and white livery.  | ||
| Oddbawl |
Ahh, Turbo Beaver. I'm pretty sure I met an "Interpretive dancer" named that one night... Good times. | ||
| Lornce |
Oddbawl, this is a family show! Getting back on track.... ahem.... Here's a few views of a calcium carbonate (marble) quarry near Carleton Place Ontario, not far from the nation's capital of Ottawa. The stark whiteness and scale of the pit made a dramatic sight.     | ||
| Lornce |
The riding between Algonquin and Ottawa was really nice. Early morning through Algonquin Park shouldn't be missed by anyone. Take your time enjoy the views and keep a wary eye for moose. Once beyond the park's East Gate there's any number of lightly traveled routes to wend your way towards Ottawa. The smaller they appear on the map, the better they are to ride. John, however, was wishing I'd remember he wasn't riding a big dirtbike as our chosen route often found us traveling scenic, but lumpy, paved and gravel roads. Hint: Big dual sport bikes are the way to go for enjoyable sport touring/traveling. Good luggage options and capacity are the norm in the class. Ergos are generally roomy enough for excellent long distance comfort. Long travel suspension further adds to the comfort level as well as enabling more route options when combined with dual sport type tires. Wish I'd figured all this out years ago! In pain and wishing he'd brought his X1, John said goodbye in Ottawa and headed for home swearing to trade his torture rack of an SV1000 for a V-Strom! Rode the auto ferry across the Ottawa River to the Province of Quebec and followed some terrific secondary roads to the ski town of Mount Tremblant. That town is, errmmn... very well polished. I'm not.    | ||
| Lornce |
Quebec's colourful cemetery statuary was a startling sight for these Ontario eyes.    | ||
| Henrik |
Colorful indeed | ||
| Lornce |
A day spent riding from Mount Tremblant to Quebec City without passing through the snarl of Montreal was a nice day's riding, indeed. Lightly traveled, interesting scenery and enough variety in the roads and route to hold your attention. This view is typical of the scenery along the way.  Traveling beyond Quebec City along the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River reveals spectacular views as the rolling Laurentian hills spill down to the tidal shoreline.  Beg pardon, I should have taken notes, this is either Baie-Saint-Paul or La Malbaie.  We could ask this fellow: his English was much better than my French.  | ||
| Lornce |
Beyond the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, which must be crossed by ferry, lies the picturesque town of Tadoussac which offers ample bed and breakfast and hotel tourist accommodations. Whale watching tours are popular in the area with several tour boat operators to choose from on the town wharf.    | ||
| Ceejay |
Very cool!!! | ||
| Henrik |
There's gotta be a hungry trout or two in that river ... hmmm. You seem to be very fortunate with the weather on your trips? Me - not so much Henrik |
