two-wheeled road trip

It seems I have a knack for avoiding drama on this trip. I left London a few days before the riots, left DC the day before the earthquake, and left New York the day before they start warning people to prepare to evacuate if Hurricane Irene hits. While my friends in New York stocked up on food and alcohol in preparation for possible trouble, I explored southwestern Ontario without a care in the world. That may be a cliche, but it's hard to have a worry when you're on the back of a motorcycle, feeling the wind hit you as you cruise through gorgeous countryside.

At Port Dover

Uncle Mickey has two bikes and has taken some mammoth trips through the States on them. His partner Lyn hadn't been on a bike before meeting him, but was a quick convert. When he offered to show me the area on his touring bike, I jumped at the chance. Mickey lives near Lake Erie, so we headed there to "the Coast". Our first stop was Port Dover, a little village on the edge of the lake. There's a little sand on the bank and quite a few people making use of it, but apparently on weekends it's crazy. The town is also home to the Friday the 13th motorcycle event. On every Friday the 13th, thousands of bikers converge on the town. It could be winter, summer, once a year, twice a year. It doesn't matter. They all come to Port Dover.

Port Dover

From Port Dover we took some back roads through Normandale, Turkey Point, St Williams and to Long Point,  pulling in at various points on the lake. It was a great place to explore on the bike. You feel more in touch with your surroundings. At Port Dover I could smell the chips from the takeaway places as we rode in and I felt the temperature change as we moved away from the water. We rode through a few farming districts. There were a lot of roadside stalls selling fresh vegetables. The main crop here is tobacco, however as demand drops because less people are smoking, many farmers have turned to ginseng. We passed a lot of tobacco crops but with the lack of rain (except for a downpour two nights ago) they weren't looking very healthy. The maze seemed to be faring a bit better.

The view from where we had supper

One of the towns we rode through is fighting against a decision to put wind turbines in the area. There were a lot of anti-turbine signs up including one reading "the answer is NOT blowing in the wind".

Long Point is near a national wildlife area, which is home to a lot of turtles. There are road signs up warning motorists of "Turtles crossing". Unfortunately I didn't see any. We stopped at a place near Long Point for an early supper before heading home on a different route.