I know I live in the wrong place when I ride 20 minutes out of my way to find two consecutive corners that let me lean the bike. One day I'll escape the tedium of Southwestern Ontario and live somewhere with geography that delights rather than depresses.
In early April I rode for over an hour to get to River Road out of Horning's Mills. That's a 60 minute ride to get 13 minutes of corners, except Ontario, in its wisdom, has decided to make the whole thing a 60km/hr zone now, so you're going so slowly you end up tipping over rather than enjoying the corners.
The other fun thing (besides the tedium of the geography) is that the roads are falling apart after another long Canadian winter. Between that, the lack of geography and ever increasing population pushing speed limits down to dribbling velocity, it's time to find some corners elsewhere on a trip, except there aren't any trips in year two of COVID.
I've still got a stupid grin on my face though because I'm back out on two wheels after nearly a hundred days of the weather trying to kill me.
45 minutes to the east are the Forks of the Credit, a 5km wiggle that follows the Credit River as it tumbles down the Niagara Escarpment. You actually get a switchback out of it, but the proximity to Toronto means it's usually very busy, even though it wouldn't rate a second look in California or anywhere else with mountains. I went on a mid-week day and managed a couple of clean runs in the mid-April sun.
Last weekend I headed south to near Campbellville, another 45 minute slog to get a couple of curves. I don't usually head that way often because it's perilously close to the GTA, so you not only get tedious roads but also a lot of tedious people. It took me a couple of tries to get a clean run at it, but even then you're waiting forever for the odd corner.
We live west and south of the Niagara Escarpment (yep, the same cliff Niagara Falls flows over an hour and a half south west of us), which winds around us and up north into Michigan. It's one of the few geographical features that break up the monotony, but not by much. After having ridden the Arizona mountains and Vancouver Island's spectacular scenery, it's difficult to take the tedium when you know other people live in places that make riding a thrill.
Not all Ontario is this dull. As you head east you get into the lake of the woods and the Canadian Shield which offers some interesting riding options, though the road conditions are still rough.
Maybe one of these days I'll get a chance to head out Peterborough/Ottawa way and enjoy the curves the Shield and the lake of the woods offer.
Toronto is sinking man and I don't want to swim. Riding home tonight into a wall of black. Yesterday I dodged the storms, today I'm not so lucky. If it starts to spit I'll pull over and put my rain jacket on and cover the tail bag. It starts to spit. I pull over. I get the rain jacket out and throw it on the ground and cover the tail bag with the rain cover. As I'm getting the jacket on I look up and a wall of water is moving toward me. I get the jacket on quick and get back on the bike. I'm back up to speed when I hit the wall. The rain is so heavy the guy in front of me in a pickup is hydroplaning everywhere. It's so black I can only see cars by headlights. The bike is a bit skittish but surprisingly sure footed, then the gusts begin. I get to highway 24 and there is a lightning strike so bright it's blinding, followed by an almost immediate thunder roll. The gusts are so hard I'm leaning into them to stay on the bike, visibility is almost zero. If there is a tornado I've decided to hang on to the bike - together we weigh almost 650 pounds, that's got to be better than going solo. Being out in a violent thunder storm is an entirely different thing from watching one hit your windscreen. I hang on for a couple of kilometers and everyone starts to pick up speed as the sky starts to clear. The road begins to show patches of tarmac through the water. I ride the last 15 kms home soaked to the skin but elated! That scared the shit out of me! It was great!
