Why I Effing *Loathe* Riding In Ontario

So, like any good scientist, I put this theory to the test and rode this over the weekend (2-day ride).

My impressions: "mehhhhhhhh, ok I guess". If this was right next door to Toronto, then it might be acceptable, but to have to spend two days going all the way out there to see just this is like having to walk all day through a desert to get to a moderately murky lake.

Oh and also, on the early morning of Day 1, dressed in our safety gear with our kit on the bike, some Metro Toronto coptard marches up to us just as we hop off our bikes at the Leslie/Lakeshore Tim Hortons for breakfast and lectures us about some BS or another, then claims he can't see our plates, even though they're maybe 15 degrees off of vertical and are PLAINLY VISIBLE at any and every angle angle and distance any non-ant exists. No cop has ever hassled me about this in 40-something US states, and never before here in Ontario. He was clearly looking to instigate nonsense with us. I suspect his inferior genitals had something to do with his raging jealousy of how awesome riders are, versus how useless and insignificant his existence is.

Thanks a lot, Ontario, for absolutely nothing whatsoever.


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I find if you're a 50-year old guy with a cruiser or something, Ontario can probably be ok. No offense to 50-year old guys with cruisers or anything, I'm sure they love riding just as much as anyone else -- it's just... Ontario is not nearly enough for my personal tastes. Pennsylvania might be ok, I went through it last year on the Florida-Newfoundland route, and some stuff there was similar to Northern Ontario.

It's nice when you're not running through a road with limited visibility with trees lining both sides (never the case in Ontario, this land of never-ending marshlands and forests). I have a dashboard GPS with me that shows me the curvature of everything ahead of me at a reasonable distance, and yet I can't go fast enough to have any fun because of that lack of forward visibility. If I ran the same roads day after day and became familiar with them, that might be a different story, though it would mean I would live out in Butt-Eff Nowhere, Ontario, which would be an excellent reason to commit suicide.
 
Two things I miss about Ontario compared to other places are elevation changes and decent tarmac on the side roads. Every now and then I come across the latter, but the former is always lacking. There's no end of twisty roads following lakes near where I live but to attempt them at maximum enjoyment speeds is inviting trouble from massive potholes or random piles of grit and sand. I take them a bit slower and enjoy the ride and seeing new things instead. Still, if everything we wanted was on our doorstep there would be no need to travel would there?
 
viper84737 said:
I find if you're a 50-year old guy with a cruiser or something, Ontario can probably be ok. No offense to 50-year old guys with cruisers or anything, I'm sure they love riding just as much as anyone else -- it's just... Ontario is not nearly enough for my personal tastes. Pennsylvania might be ok, I went through it last year on the Florida-Newfoundland route, and some stuff there was similar to Northern Ontario.

It's nice when you're not running through a road with limited visibility with trees lining both sides (never the case in Ontario, this land of never-ending marshlands and forests). I have a dashboard GPS with me that shows me the curvature of everything ahead of me at a reasonable distance, and yet I can't go fast enough to have any fun because of that lack of forward visibility. If I ran the same roads day after day and became familiar with them, that might be a different story, though it would mean I would live out in Butt-Eff Nowhere, Ontario, which would be an excellent reason to commit suicide.
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Ya I'm a 50 somethin cruiser rider who enjoys all Ontario has to offer...sucks to be you...move....sell your sporty bike...join track days and quit your whinning...and suck it up buttercup
 
viper84737 said:
I find if you're a 50-year old guy with a cruiser or something, Ontario can probably be ok.
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What an ignorant statement.

Yeah, once you hit 50 years old and you ride a cruiser you no longer enjoy curvy roads.

Sometimes it's better just to keep your mouth shut than to come off looking like an idiot.
 
I suppose after a certain age it becomes easy to both misinterpret a statement and also miss the one that immediately follows (or is it just an Ontarian thing? :P)

viper84737 said:
No offense to 50-year old guys with cruisers or anything, I'm sure they love riding just as much as anyone else
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Don't get your panties in a bunch, this isn't about what kinds of roads 50-something cruiser riders enjoy versus other riders. To each their own, as long as to me mine. I've actually occasionally gone on multi-day rides with 50-something cruiser riders (and also have encountered older riders all over the continent, the kinds of roads they seem to enjoy and the ways they seem to enjoy them appear follow a certain, discernible pattern that one cannot ignore). I'm just calling Ontario as I see it.
 
triggerhappy said:
Although I would agree that Ontario doesn't have the greatest roads, I think this is a bit more of a 'southern ontario' has crap roads. After living in Ottawa the past few years and now moving back to the GTA I am selling my street bike, nothing worth riding, that I would agree (plus I rather be on a track). But Eastern Ontario and into Quebec has some great routes. This one I would do all the time - 250km of nothing but fast sweepers, tight switchbacks, trees, lakes and cool little places to grab a bite. Is it a destination route, probably not, but great riding none the less....oh, and the majority of it there is not another car or bike for km's and km's

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Thank you, I guess I have a new route to try! I don't live too far from the area, and I skip by the Calabogie area all the time just to get to Ottawa faster.
I'm not racing MX for a few weeks due to a pretty good back injury so I can actually tour around on the street bike this summer a bit... I almost did more riding this past weekend than I did all of last summer!
 
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without looking at details it's hard to tell but that looks like a whole of standard highways to me.

This part might be okay but without knowing the best little side roads it would be like doing HWY 6 in PA and wondering what all the fuss is about.



We did part of it up to Gooderham but via less slab ( got to Port Perry and went south of the lake and some nice sweepers but really aside from a nice day and chill off Lake Simcoe it was 550k of not much of interest.

SOme of the most interesting rides are the side roads and one 12 hour day was only 320 km but a whole lot of fun in some of the odd side roads along Lake Erie. Doing distance and doing twisties are not all that compatible.

My guess is you did 1300-1500k. bit of a push AND do twisties but then the map is not detailed.
At least you had good weather. Got a link to that route as we want to do something similar.
 
rmemedic said:
Thank you, I guess I have a new route to try! I don't live too far from the area, and I skip by the Calabogie area all the time just to get to Ottawa faster.
I'm not racing MX for a few weeks due to a pretty good back injury so I can actually tour around on the street bike this summer a bit... I almost did more riding this past weekend than I did all of last summer!
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Really not that much to get excited about. Some of the roads were ok, but the surface on many of the good parts left a lot to be desired (sand, potholes, gravel, etc). Really takes the fun out because if you push it around a corner and find the entire road covered in sand on the backside of the turn you're going down. I don't care how good you are or what tires you're on, decent lean angles and sand just don't mix. I rarely ever got past my "50% ability level" over the 2 days.

Are roads in northern/mid Ontario that dirty all year round or is this a spring thing?

Overall not a bad experience, it's far and away better than anything around the GTA, but my next weekend trip will be south of the border instead.

P.S. I you're going up there, bring bug repellant and something to clean your visor frequently. I think I took out at least 300 with my helmet over 2 days.
 
Two things, if you live where I live, I can ride River Road, Hockley, the recently paved road through Terra Nova south, and do it all in an hour and a half, that's great for me but sucks for those in Toronto who have to ride an hour just to get to Loretto to start the Hockley road. So yes Ontario basically sucks, try the Tony Clement G8 paved roads in Muskoka and Haliburton, a few surprises. Now, the over 50 cruiser riders and scooter riders who feel compelled to ride side by side in giant packs you are a problem, you ride so slowly and so unsafely you ruin the fun for any reasonably sporting rider who has the misfortune to stumble upon you. With all the fringe and bandannas flapping in the breeze I don't see how you can control your bike/scooter. Look, nobody is confusing you with any of the "real clubs", they would never be caught riding that slow, and with fringe, so quit dressing like that. You guys are the reason I can't ride on the weekend anymore, you're clogging up the roads with your packs, and making so much noise the locals have the cops everywhere (oh yeah, I'm a local). Remember life begins at 10,000 rpm.
 
Marcfolch said:
Really not that much to get excited about. Some of the roads were ok, but the surface on many of the good parts left a lot to be desired (sand, potholes, gravel, etc). Really takes the fun out because if you push it around a corner and find the entire road covered in sand on the backside of the turn you're going down. I don't care how good you are or what tires you're on, decent lean angles and sand just don't mix. I rarely ever got past my "50% ability level" over the 2 days.

Are roads in northern/mid Ontario that dirty all year round or is this a spring thing?

Overall not a bad experience, it's far and away better than anything around the GTA, but my next weekend trip will be south of the border instead.

P.S. I you're going up there, bring bug repellant and something to clean your visor frequently. I think I took out at least 300 with my helmet over 2 days.
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The road conditions in that area are why I haven't explored in there very much. Calabogie road is ok but the cops are there frequent enough you can't risk having too much fun.
Most side roads up here are crappy (heck, even HWY 17 is a disgrace) road surface wise. We use more sand up here in the winter so it takes a while for it to disapear and it never does 100%.
My tires are starting to square off so I really wish I could find a nice little tour up here to do, but there really isn't that much.

I have a route that is fun for about 30-40 minutes on my way to Bancroft, and when I used to do it frequently it was a blast knowing the corners and almost no cops.

Get used to the bugs up here I guess. It's almost pointless to clean your visor as in 20 minutes you'll need to clean it again lol.
 
I use a bit of RainX on the screen and that helps with the bugs - at least easier to get off..might help with the visor as well.
The Burgman was well fed with protein after a couple rides this year.
 
MacDoc said:
I use a bit of RainX on the screen and that helps with the bugs - at least easier to get off..might help with the visor as well.
The Burgman was well fed with protein after a couple rides this year.
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Personally I clean my helmet and then spray it with glass cleaner to make sure the fine stuff is off. Then apply wax. I find with the bugs as of late not much sticks.
 
No build up with the wax ? would have thought it might cause some distortion.
I generally prefer visor up with sunglasses or safety glasses ( at night ) and then visor down only with rain or serious bugs.
But then my screen is variable height so more control of what hits.
Got a couple good whacks from bigger bugs nailing my cheeks - but not wild about the little bit of distortion from the shield.
 
Pledge and a microfibre cloth. Visor, shell, windshield, headlight, fairing, rims... the entire bike. All in one cleaner, dust/water/bug splatter repellent, anti-fog and smells nice, all in one easy to carry can with no visible residue. And wait 'til it hits the black plastics such as mirrors, they will look better than ever.
(Actually using Home Depot HDX Lemon Furniture Polish)
 
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Marcfolch said:
Really not that much to get excited about. Some of the roads were ok, but the surface on many of the good parts left a lot to be desired (sand, potholes, gravel, etc). Really takes the fun out because if you push it around a corner and find the entire road covered in sand on the backside of the turn you're going down. I don't care how good you are or what tires you're on, decent lean angles and sand just don't mix. I rarely ever got past my "50% ability level" over the 2 days.

Are roads in northern/mid Ontario that dirty all year round or is this a spring thing?

Overall not a bad experience, it's far and away better than anything around the GTA, but my next weekend trip will be south of the border instead.

P.S. I you're going up there, bring bug repellant and something to clean your visor frequently. I think I took out at least 300 with my helmet over 2 days.
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Pretty well anywhere you ride and depending on the time/season of the year, you're going to come across some bug life. The farther south you go, the bigger and harder they get. Ask any rider that frequent's Florida or Georgia.


As for the thrills Ontario has to offer to those finding it boring, I guess it's really just a matter of preference. It sight seeing and adventure are what you seek, Niagara is nice, north is nice and east is nice. SW Ontario is farm land mostly and if you need some twists, you'll have to look for roads along any water. Even then the roads are slow and well traveled. If it's dragging a knee, there are a few tracks to get the heart rate up.

Personally, I know there are other places in North America that offer amazing roads and sights. But, Ontario beats the heck out of Saskatchewan any time of the year.
 
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