South Texas

We are now located in Aransas Pass Texas about half an hour's ride north of Corpus Christi. The whole of south Texas is very flat with long straight roads and very little traffic especially on the side roads. Even Barb was creeping up around 140 kph yesterday on our Breakfast Ride which ended up in Palacios, a rather small town with a huge shrimp fleet. Lots of oil rigs, natural gas wells and wind generators throughout the countryside but despite the wealth that this would bring, there are still many small towns that appear totally run down. First picture is the Cooks Truck at our breakfast spot, the other two pictures are of the water front in the beautiful town of Palacios.

Mississippi to Texas

Beautiful white sand beaches along the Gulf mainland shore of Mississippi. Saw many workers walking the beach looking for globs of oil from the recent BP oil rig explosion. Fish for the table is still in abundance, see picture of our "Shrimp Lady" that was selling fresh table shrimp for $3/pound heads on in Bay St. Louis. Next stop was Baffin Bay, Texas for American Thanksgiving. Also met up with a group of biker friends from the Rio Grande Valley for Sunday Breakfast in Ramondville at the Casa Blanca Restaurant.

Dahlonega Georgia

Gold, pretty much sums up the small town of Dahlonega in the northern part of Georgia. The main road in the town centre splits to surround the Gold Museum and just about everyone here pans for gold on a regular basis.

Situated at the southern edge of the Appalatian Mountains, riding anywhere to the north is a spectacular event on well maintained roads with breathtaking scenery. A typical 150 kms ride will take most of the day with a lunch stop if your lucky to find somewhere along these mountain roads with numerous hairpin bends and little more than a 100 feet of straight road on the entire trip.

Most days are frosty to start with but soon rising close to 80 degrees by afternoon with totally clear blue skies. Perhaps life does begin at 73 or so.

"The Magnificent Seven"

Thanks to Blanka for sending in these pictures on the ride around the lake, Simcoe I presume. Brrrr, looks a bit cool.

Last Sunday's Ride to Meaford

I believe the final count was 20 bikes that headed out on a beautiful mild and sunny Fall day through Stayner and Duntroon to our destination, Ted's Range Road Diner west of Meaford. The diner is pretty rustic but the food and the service are excellent. Took the quick route home through Meaford, Collingwood and Stayner arriving home just as the rain moved in at about 5.00 pm.  Great day, Great Ride. Sorry, didn't have time for pictures, maybe next time.

Thanksgiving Rides

A busy Thanksgiving weekend with a ride to Fenlon Falls on Sunday and Bala on Monday. Both days were perfect Fall weather, little cool to start but warming up nicely as the day progressed. Thanks to Blanka and Keith for the pictures, more to see by clicking on "Photo Gallery 2010".

Chapter 523 BBQ

Many thanks to everyone that showed up for last Sunday's Chapter 523 BBQ. The day started off with a little frost on the pumpkin but with clear skies we thoroughly enjoyed a short ride up to Gravenhurst and Bala, across Muskoka Road 38 where I once lived and never tire of riding through. A quick detour along Quarry Road and in the back door to the village of Coldwater for the BBQ at our house. A very special thanks to all the ladies that turned out for this event, your presence is not only always welcome but actually makes us old guys look so much better. Every member ended up with a door prize of some kind and letters have been sent out to all the businesses that donated and supported our Chapter. You may notice that I have included a link to these businesses under "Friends of Chapter 523" on the right hand side of this page. Please visit these web sites and give them the same support that we have enjoyed from them. A special presentation from Georgian Bay Yamaha, the newest Yamaha dealer in Midland yielded a great 15% discount coupon for all our members on parts, labour and heated Winter storage plus a cheque for $100 to be credited to our Chapter funds.
Steve Shane has now been elected as our 4 th. Officer, congratulations Steve.
Sunday rides will now meet at Arby's at 11.00 am and depart at 11.30 am including this coming Thanksgiving Sunday.

Chapter 523 BBQ

Sunday October 3 is our Chapter BBQ. A short ride starting at Arby's at 10.30 am will end at my home in Coldwater for the BBQ. Spouses or a friend are welcome to this event and the cost is $10 per person. If you decide to arrive by car, be at the house about 1.00 pm.
The last mid week ride of the season took place last night with a great turnout of nine bikes plus meeting up with two couples that reside in Wasaga Beach which was our destination. The evening was quite mild with fairly clear skies, a perfect end to our mid week rides.

Algonquin Fall Colour Ride

Last Sunday saw thirteen riders turn out for the Fall Colour Ride up through Algonquin Park. It seems that once again I failed miserably to forecast the weather correctly, so despite my prediction of having a dry ride, we rode through fairly constant rain showers all the way to Whitney. Arriving at Whitney about 1.30 pm we found that the hydro had been out since 7.00 am, so NO gas pumps and NO food. The Rain Gods must have looked at this pitiful group and decided to not only quit raining at this point, but have a word with Hydro 1 and supply the hydro again to this small community. The Fall colours were spectacular and everyone appeared to be in good spirits so the ride home was down the Peterson Road, one of the nicest rides I have done. One country kilometer of gravel road, but the rest of the journey was fantastic. Thanks to the Ride Captains, Murray Beers, Steve Shane and Keith Leigh for a really great and safe ride. Thanks also to the "Eyes" at the rear, Steve Ballantyne.

Sunday Memorial Ride

In honour of our "Brother" David Keeler that passed away last year, sixteen members turned out for a memorial ride along the Forks of the Credit Road south of Orangeville. Also took advantage of what the town of Erin had to offer in the way of a lunch and shopping at the local bike store.

Wasaga Beach Wedding

Congratulations to Bill and Lou Banks on their Marriage in Wasaga Beach on Saturday September 18. We all wish you every happiness and many enjoyable miles on two wheels.

More pictures of the SCRC Bash

More pictures of the SCRC Bash in Port Severn sent in by Jim Wright, even more by clicking on "Photo Gallery 2010"

Orangeville Bike Day

Following the SCRC Bash, it was off to Orangeville on a rather dismall day that turned into clear skies. Great company, good food and a successful ride. Thanks to Keith for some pictures, more by clicking on "Picture Gallery 2010".

SCRC Bash in Port Severn

The Sun Goddess shone on the Southern Cruiser's Riding Club for the BASH in Port Severn this past Friday and Saturday. Twenty of our Chapter Members turned out for this event which started with a corn roast on the Friday evening, then on the Saturday we enjoyed a spectacular ride up Cooper Falls Road through Bracebridge, Port Carling, lunching at the Bass lake Restaraunt and continuing through Bala and ending at Muskey's Motel in Port Severn. Chapter 523 had one successful pull in the Tug of War, not bad at all for a team that really hadn't prepared for this event. Several of our members collected door prizes to round off the afternoon. Great buffet dinner followed the games and prizes. Thanks to everyone that participated. For more pictures, please click on "Picture Gallery 2010". Also, thanks to Lou for some of the pictures.

Americade 2011

Jim Wright is organizing a trip to Lake George NY next year to Americade 2011. Please click on "Events & Rides" on the right hand side of this page and scroll to the bottom of the page to access more information. You may contact him directly at  afer@rogers.com

Sonny and Cher are in the building

I've got you Babe, pretty hard to tell the difference between Larry and the real Cher. Great party by the lake last Saturday.

Baysville Car & Boat Show for our Sunday Ride

The day looked great to start the ride off and we did manage to get to Baysville without getting wet. Over lunch, the skies opened up with quite the downpour and the air was as humid as a sauna. The first picture is what wealthy folk spend $275,000 on, this is a brand new boat with a Corvette engine. The second picture at the Bala Falls. See more pictures in the Photo gallery. From Baysville, everyone seemed to be parked all over the place so it was difficult to arrange a route home as a group. Four of us chose to head up to Bala and across Muskoka #38 with a side trip along South Bay Road before returning home.

Friday the Thirteenth

Excellent turnout for the Port Dover Ride on Friday the Thirteenth. Some members went down the day before and stayed over, 15 of us went down for the day, while others went down on the Friday and stayed over Friday night. My experience as a lead rider coming home suggests that my capabilities in that capacity are flawed. Leaving Port Dover I could see bikes behind me in the rear view mirror, sad to say it was just a different group that was following me. Oh well, everyone arrived home safe. See some pictures that Jim Wright and Blanka sent me this morning. Only in Port Dover you say. More pictures in the gallery.

 

 

Wasaga Beach

Another great turnout for a short Wednesday night ride to Wasaga Beach. One problem on the way home with Luc having a rear tire blowout on a fairly quiet farm road north of Phelpston. Thanks to cell phones and Larry Purdy that had a CAA plus card, Luc was picked up less than a hour later on a flat bed truck and transported home. No injuries from this unfortunate occurance due to some skillfull manoeuvrering by Luc who ended up with the front wheel down the ditch at the side of the road.

Classic Car Night in Barrie

   Last Wednesday evening was a short ride to see the Classic Cars in Barrie. Quite an impressive collection of these precious cars to view and enthusiastic owners to chat with. Here is a picture of one of our member's standing next to a Cobra.
   Sunday's ride took us north on hwy. 11 and east on hwy. 117, one of the most scenic roads we have in this area, through Baysville and Dorset to the Firehall Restaurant on hwy. 35 for a very enjoyable lunch. From here, Barb and I had to get our Granddaughter back to Parry Sound, so broke away from the group on hwy.118 up through Bracebridge, and Rosseau clocking up over a 400 kms, day.

  

Sunday July 25 Ride to Orangeville

Seventeen members enjoyed a perfect sunny day's ride through Beeton and Hockley Valley for a lunch stop at "The Deck Pub & Grill" in Orangeville. Don't forget to click on "Events & Rides" on thye right hand side of this page for important upcoming events. Also please notice a couple of NEW items on this page. "For Sale & Wanted" column and "Group Riding".

Last Sunday's Ride to Buckhorn

16 bikes left Arby's for the ride through Lindsay to Buckhorn on a beautiful sunny day that gradually changed to overcast skies and a light sprinkle of rain on the way back to Orillia. Lunch at the Main Street Landings turned out fairly good for the ones that got served, but four of us ended up walking out after waiting close to an hour with no food in sight. The ice cream store across the road was real handy though.

More pictures by clicking on "Photo Gallery 2010" on the right hand side of this page.

Haugan's in Port Perry

12 bikes turned out for last Wedneday night Ride. Decided on the Classic Car Night at Haugan's in Port Perry. Car show was a little dissapointing with only a sprinkling of classic cars in attendance and the whole event was over about half an hour after we arrived. Here are a couple of pictures showing the best of both sides of the Atlantic Pond.

Sunday Ride to Thornbury

Seems like I confused Thornbury with Thornton. What do you expect from an old guy who forgets his name from time to time. 19 bikes showed up for this great ride with Bill and Lou meeting us in Stayner and Steve Shane catching up to us after a late start. Lunch in Thornbury was excellent before following the Georgian Bay shoreline back through Wasaga Beach to see what a parking lot looks like that was actually the road in to the beach. Totally missed a huge rain storm that had recently passed through only to catch up with it in Moonstone. Oh well, nobody melted.

Biker's Reunion 2010

Perfect weather for this year's Biker's Reunion at new Liskeard last weekend. Thirteen member's of our Chapter showed up for this event for all or part of this fantastic weekend. About 250-300 rider's went on the "Early Bird Ride" on the Friday through Haileybury, Cobalt, Latchford ending in Temagami for a snack and some good social time. Saturday was a day of many activities in New Liskeard including dirt bike jumps and Mr. Rocket Man. Our Chapter went on a short ride over to Quebec past rolling farm land with neat well kept farm houses for lunch in Ville-Marie. Sunday was the Freedom Ride to the Cancer hospital then on through many small friendly town's for about 160 kms. The reception we received from the local people made us all feel proud to be biker's. Here are a few pictures with lots more by clicking on "Biker's Reunion 2010 Pictures" under Chapter 523 on the right hand side of this page. Any member's wishing to join us next year, please contact me as soon as possible to secure your camp site.

Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctury

Didn't quite make it to the Aspen Valley last Sunday due to rain shower's. Great lunch stop at Bass Lake Restaurant, then up through Port Sandfield, Minet and Rosseau, returning through Bracebridge and home. Eleven bikes turned out for the ride. Picture above is at the dock in Rosseau.

Penetang Ride

Great ride last Thursday to the Penetang waterfront taking to back door into town avoiding all the traffic tie up in Midland due to the recent tornado devastation. More pictures in the Gallery and thanks to Jim Wright for bringing along the camera.