Autumn Colours Motorcycle Photography

On bike photos courtesy of a Ricoh Theta V on a flexible tripod attached to the rear view mirror of my trusty Triumph Tiger 955i.  The route was from my home in Elora up through Beaver Valley to the shores of Georgian Bay before coming back through Duntroon and up the Noisy River out of Creemore before heading back down the Grand River home.  The interesting bits were tracing the Niagara Escarpment, the only vaguely interesting roads anywhere near me.

If you want a primer on how to take on-bike photos like this, you can find it here.  It has also been published on Adventure Motorcycle Rider here.

That time I got stuck behind a blockade of Polaris Slingshots on the Noisy River Road...

Google Photos Album here.

Pennsylvanian Autumn Colours

I've been thinking about an Appalachian ride, but didn't get around to it this year.  So here is a nice travel idea for an end of year ride before the snows fall...


Saturday, October 20:  Ride from Elora to Hotel Crittenden in Coudersport, Pennsylvania (~350kms)
Sunday, October 21:  Cross Fork/Snow Shoe/Jersey Shore loop (~360kms)
Monday, October 22:  Liberty/Hillsgrove/Williamsport (~350kms)
Tuesday, October 23:  Coudersport back home to Elora (~350kms)


Hotel Crittenden is a lovely four star hotel with a pub/restaurant on site.  At this time of year it's only about $150 Canadian a night.  What's nice about returning to the same spot every evening is that I can leave the luggage behind and ride light on the loop days, enjoying the twisty roads without the weight and faff.

The two loop day rides through the Appalachians were generated in Google Maps from Motorcycleroads.com's northern New York State maps.  It's a good site for locating twisties anywhere you want to ride in North America.

All told it would be about 1400kms in four days, but any of the loop days have opportunities to extend or cut short the ride if conditions require it.

One thing to consider when riding this late in the year (within 8 weeks of mid-winter solstice), is that the days are short and getting shorter.  Sunset in northern Pennsylvania in mid-October happens around 6:30pm, so you wouldn't be pushing for 500+km/12 hour days in the saddle  unless you wanted to be out on unfamiliar, rural, mountain roads after dark... in hunting season.

Pennsylvania has some of the largest northern boreal forests in the world.  Most other forests this far north get too coniferous to be colourful in the fall.  From Ontario down through northern New York State and into northern Pennsylvania, it would be a very colourful few days racking up motorcycle miles before the end of the always-too-short Canadian motorcycling season.

Ice Fog On Your Visor

A cool, foggy morning greets me as I put on my helmet and stare into a fog shrouded rising sun.  The Tiger starts with a willing snarl, burbling in its strange triple way, eager for the off.

Condensation immediately coats my visor as we leap into the morning's ground clouds.  The roads are dry but beads of condensation constantly reappear to be wiped away by a quick hand.


A cold, morning ride is a glorious thing.

Full of oxygen and surrounded by the smells of the world waking up to the first touch of the sun, I'm just another empty thing being filled.  Cold wind presses around and my heat bleeds away making me even more a part of the scenery.

It's all especially sharp because I know that this can't last for long.  Soon enough the roads will be covered in ice and salt and I'll be trapped in a shiny metal box, trundling to work, removed from the world, wrapped in metal and glass.

I pass through empty countryside soaking up the rising sun and wiping away the never ending dew.

The camera struggles to capture this moment hidden as it is in the clouds.  Moisture streams from the lens as the camera tries to blink away its tears, but even blurry images of this ride resonate.  

Don't fight the lack of clarity, embrace it, let it be.

I'm dripping with morning mist when I slowly dismount with icy joints at work, but my eyes have filled me with delights.  I leave the Tiger steaming in the glorious, golden haze and walk inside.

Haliburton Highlands Fall Colours

With the weather beginning to turn we're in for a Canadian treat:  Fall Colours.  I think I'm going to aim for a couple of days out Haliburton way in October for a last big ride and a chance to soak up the colours.

Last time up that way I did Highway 60 through Algonquin Park.  This time I'm going to stitch together another route that is as different as possible.

Algonquin does a colour report that I'll keep an eye on and see if we can time a couple of days up that way when the colours are peaking.  Discover Muskoka does one too.  Last year we went up to the Kawarthas for Thanksgiving (early October in Canada): 

...and it was right before the colours changed.  Only the somac was in full colour.  I'll see if I can time it a bit better this time around at sync it up with a big last ride before the snows come.

Autumn on the Canadian Shield is a beautiful thing.