Follow me on a map!

If I’m not riding my Suzuki Vstrom DL1000 motorcycle I’m either sorting out and editing pictures that I’ve taken http://GordBinnington.SmugMug.com or researching and cataloging all the rocks that I’ve collected, or I’m planning my next adventure ride. In between, I do some writing and more recently spend time dog training my young Toller, so don’t expect to read much.

Unfortunately the Covid19 pandemic has upset travel plans, so my SPOT device is not active. Don’t bother to check out this map, which is usually created by my SPOT. Bummer for all of us; stay close to home, wear a mask, get vaccinated and hope to do some serious riding another year.

5 days of bliss

Larry and I often get-together to ride and put our normal lives behind us. Going stromabout is my expression for just wandering around; my GPS keeps us from getting too lost. Larry’s sense of direction and and knowledge of roads is great….except when it fails. Occaisionaly stopped along the side of the road, we debate with my trusty infallible Garmin Zumo 396. Sometimes Garmin will let Larry lead just for laughs! U-turns and wrong turns don’t bother us much. Both of us and our Suzuki Vstroms are capable of riding highways, gravel scenic remote backroads, or perverted twisted pieces of asphalt like hwy #518. We had – 5 easy days – with few commitments to anyone or any need to flog ourselves long distances. Only 1,500km in 5 days is very leisurly, but back roads near Parry Sound, like Orange Valley when freshly graveled with a deep covering of stone marbles aren’t for everyone. The concentration for me to ride 20 km in deep fresh gravel is more tiring than 100km of pavement. I’m more at ease riding on wet rain soaked roads than I am trying to float my tires over gravel ball bearings.

We stumbled upon Mike Moloney’s celebration of the old Parry Sound Sport Bike Rally. I happened to live in PS many years ago when Mike Moloney started it. Good on ya Mike! (Peak Rider Adventure)

The River Bakery

in Tamworth Ontario was a great cafe for lunch today. I enjoyed a circuitous loop of backroads today and stopped at a favourite bakery. Expecting just coffee and a snack I discovered that since my last visit there are new owners. The menu got my attention and so I had a wild boar blueberry burger with cheese and sat on the shaded patio. Wow…together with the best coffee in town. Very friendly welcoming service thanks to LJ and her husband Stephen who is certainly a capable chef; as well as a motorcycle rider. Good location to ride some backroads and stop for food. I highly recomend supporting their bussness.

15 Years – Bancroft

15 years ago Bruce, Tom, Gerhard and Gord arranged to meet for lunch. During the winter we had planned a ride south to go to the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in North Carolina and the four of us needed to meet one another. Of course Tom and Gerhard were already well acquainted. I picked a spot more or less equadinsant and we met for lunch in early April. That was many thousands of kilometers ago! Today by my count 24 riders continued the tradition. The four of us became the “Road Toads” because of the fact we all had Frogg Toggs Road Toad raingear, and of course Suzuki Vstroms. I was a relatively new Vstom rider, although MC licensed since 1969…ya do the math I’m the old guy with white hair and beard. I’ve learned a lot about riding from these 3 guys and subsequently caught the dreadful long-distance disease. Kudos to Tom especially for yearly keeping us all together and encouraging many of you to join us.

Nice to see you all today, thanks for coming and I hope you all enjoy a safe season.

Sunset

Beginning in January I promised to look for something each week to photograph and worthy of sharing. I got lucky last night at midnight while I was out walking my dog, although I had only my phone to capture our wintery neighbourhood.

But just now as the sun was setting I got a beauty (unedited) right from our deck.

Ukraine

The news of the Russian invasion, the brutal slaughter and disregard for human life is overwhelming. Other than donating money to the Red Cross there seems to be little that I can do to support or help the Ukrainian people. So a week ago I planted some sunflower seeds and most of the seeds sprouted in only 6 days.

Frosty the Snowman

Sometime yesterday afternoon Frosty arrived on our street for a visit with some neighbours. We meet late last night and walked back this morning for a closser look. My dog is well socialized and likes meeting new people; but she isn’t prepared to get close or trust Frosty.

Serious Problems

Serious problems need serious actions. In the last month there is more than enough national issues in the news to stress out any Canadian.

So here is my solution guaranteed to solve a sticky mess that bothers most of us. Our regular kitchen knives have handles that fit perfectly into my rechargeable drill and I recommend very slow speed. Natural almond and peanut butter, although a healthy food, isn’t homogenized and doesn’t stay creamy and spreadable. Just how does one mix up the near solid mess at the bottom?

Billi’s Birthday

Today my Toller turns six years old. She is a wonderful companion always ready to take me outdoors in any kind of weather and play fetch with her frisbee. She is a relentless retriever, equally excited to jump off a dock into water and being double coated happy to plunge through deep snowdrifts in sub-zero temperatures. Always wanting to carry her red Kong rubber frisbee when we walk, she is entertainment for most of our neighbors. Daily she privides some amusement and activity in this otherwise bleak hermit-like covid lifestyle.

Ahhhh it’s white

Overnight winter has returned to Ontario. Enough of the freezing cold temperatures and icy conditions that were good for nothing but slipping and falling. At least it looks like winter now. My dog loves it and I’ve been outside to play with her twice already today, she will fetch but won’t shovel. This view from my garage shows drifted snow and unplowed roads; I doubt that even my Subie could travel anywhere today.

Winter isn’t …

Winter isn’t supposed to be just frozen and dull grey and icy. It can be a winter wonderland, and yesterday I went looking for it to photograph. Yes winter is often cold, damp and uncomfortable in Kingston but the sparkle of sun and fresh snow can produce some great pictures. I hoped that the Great Cataraqui River might offer a winter scene but I found it to be bleak and frozen with the sky overcast. So this picture of the frozen river is the best I could do. Shortly before I took this picture I slipped on an icy patch of grass that had been dusted over with a scuff of snow and I wiped out, but luckily didn’t get hurt. This morning our thermometer on the deck showed -21 C and wasn’t inspiration, but my dog seems oblivious to the weather so we went out anyways.

In an attempt to keep my wife and I upright we now both have tungsten carbide Icetrax traction aids on our warm winter bog boots. The rubber traction aids fit securely on the rubber bog boots and I highly recommend wearing them for anyone who walks a dog. We have friends who have recently broken their arms or wrists while out walking their dogs.