Family matters

COBOURG - Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been 12 days since my last blog post!

I headed into sweltering Toronto nearly two weeks ago and into whirlwind of visits with family and friends. Not much time for riding and even less time for blogging.

After living in the dry climate of the Canadian Prairies for nearly 20 years, I’d forgotten what temperatures in the 30s Celsius and 100 per cent humidity felt like! It was like a sauna, even at highway speeds!

I'm usually a believer in ATGATT -- all the gear all the time --  but for the first time in years, I shed my riding jacket and rode into the city each day in just a shirt. Even then, the sweat rolling into my eyes combined with sunscreen nearly blinded me!

On top of that, after 10 years, countless thousands of kilometers -- many of them strapped to my back or my bikes -- and a million words or more, my little ACER Aspire One notebook finally wore out. Its little screen gave out for good after a decade of yeoman service.

So here’s a quick rundown of the past few days:

·         Stayed in Thornhill, north of the city, with my wife’s sister and her husband Kevin, who surprised me with a key ring in the shape of a BMW K1200LT, my Bike-a-Lounger, sent to him by his brother John in Watford, England. John has been following my adventures and thought I might like it. Like it?  I love it, John! How very thoughtful of you.
·         Escaped the heat of the city with a visit to a posh yacht club on one of the Toronto islands. My brother Liam and his wife were celebrating their 27^th anniversary with their two oldest kids, Padraig and Brigitte. Congratulations and thanks for a delicious meal and some amazing views of the city.
·         Visited with my brother Michael who’s dealing with some major health problems, but manages to remain upbeat and positive. Here’s to you and me back fishing soon, bro!
·         I also had a too-short lunch with my brother Paul at a trendy dim sum eatery. Very nice!

·         Had a great barbecue with former Welland and Brampton colleague Paul, his wife Diana and their son Mark, the 10-year-old technical whiz who put my pix up on the TV screen.
·         Back in Thornhill, had dinner with Mindy’s other sibling Brooke, his wife Kim and their energetic six-year-old Claire. What a dynamo. I was exhausted just watching her go!
·         Took my 14-year-old nephew to meet his bus to summer camp. Liam was the only one who showed up on the back of a motorcycle and there were some envious looks from his fellow campers!
·         I even managed to get his mom Sonia up for a little ride, long enough for her to start acting a little wild! What is it about motorcycles?
·         I also squeezed in a visit with Guy and Toby, two brothers from my high school days in Cobourg. They are two of the coolest people I know and have been since we first met in the early ‘70s.

·          I spent a night in Port Hope listening to my sister, a two-time breast cancer survivor and helmsman for a racing dragon boat -- The Survivor Thrivers. Watching her guide her boat out of Cobourg's busy yacht harbour was a wonder to me! I’m very proud of these courageous women, especially Siobhan.
·         I’m about 9,000 kilometers into my ride now and the Beemer was in need of an oil change. Not the easiest thing to arrange from the road – especially over a long Canada Day weekend. But full marks to Owen at Endras BMW in Ajax, Ont. I was waiting for him when the shop opened on Wednesday morning and was back on the road less than two hours later!!

See what I mean about a whirlwind!

I finally got back into riding mode with a tour around beautiful Rice Lake, named for the wild rice harvested by the local Ojibway natives who called the lakeshore home. Starting in Gores Landing, I rode the lakeshore-hugging County Road 18 through the hills of old Northumberland County in gorgeous summer weather ­– bright sunshine, temps in the high 20s, humidity bearable because of the breeze off the lake.

Country Rd. 18 became 45 through Roseneath and on up to Hastings at the eastern edge of the lake. I cut back across the northern shore on County Road 2, a road I had never travelled, through several First Nations territories, to Keene and eventually Bailieboro, towns that are still as Irish today as when they were settled back in the mid-1800s!!

It was a great 100-kilometer round trip that put me back into road mode. Felt great to be twisting and turning again, setting my own course and my own speed rather than dodging hyperactive commuters on the four lane where the 100 kmh is merely a suggestion and 140-150 kmh is the average pace!!

After a quick lunch at Rhino’s Roadhouse in Bewdley, I made my way back to Cobourg and a night out visiting with my cousins Chris, John and Paul, their mom Roisin, and Johnny’s wains Grace and Charlie who were more than happy to climb aboard the bike! No fear there!

Chris and Paul and their friend Tyson play in Madman’s Window, a Celtic-Canadiana band named for a geographical oddity on the wild north Antrim coast in their parents’ native Northern Ireland! I wisely called it an early night and headed home feeling I’d really made a good effort in seeing my often elusive family, Mindy’s sibs and some old friends. I hope they all had as much fun as I did.

But the lake run reminded me I still have several thousand clicks to ride before I’m back in my baby’s arms and the sooner I’m down the road and over the next horizon, the sooner that will happen. So, it’s on to Eastern Ontario and my old stompin’ grounds in our nation’s capital.