Flirting with Spring...

Beautiful day for March 30 in southern ON. (ON = Ontario - Canada Post came up with the acronym, not me)

I have to be realistic though - it's still just the end of March. Easter in mid-April will really (hopefully) be the start to spring here. The southern US is about a month to six weeks ahead of us. If you are from there (or Australia, or South Africa or Malaysia etc), please try not to look too smug!

All this means, living with such an abbreviated season, is that we must savour every moment we get. We must cram as many miles in a weekend or opportunity as we can. Mowing the lawn can wait. Or can be delegated to non-riders within the household. ("gee honey, if you had your own bike and license, you could come with me and not stay behind to pull weeds out of the flowerbeds...")

I went out to cram. Snow on the fields everywhere and still have to watch for leftover sand and salt on the roads. And the occasional large puddle or minor creek of spring run-off in the road too (excess water from melted snow - yes the snow does melt EVENTUALLY)!

So took Rana (my 97 Ninja 500) for a spin today... beautiful sunny day and there were quite a few bikes around.

Rana didn't seem to be content to do small town, country stopsign-to-stopsign riding, but wanted to stretch her... um... tires and go for some highway miles then a straight run on Hwy 2 (formerly anyway I still call it that) to the near side of Brantford ON (home of hockey - that's ice hockey for any of you "from away" - Canadians understand the surface by default - legend Wayne Gretzky - you may have seen titillating photos of his daughter Pauline on the internet... I'll wait...)

Then back on the country roads, farm after farm until I picked up road 99 a.k.a. Governer's Rd which took me back to Ancaster ON then slight detour up the Niagara Escarpment again to Crooks Hollow where there are the ruins of a grist mill. Rana very patiently put up with my photo op stops and posed for a pic but was clearly anxious to keep going.

Stopping at a store in Dundas ON, I noticed a rather sharp-looking BMW K1200 - outfitted with adventure-tourer aluminum hard bags etc. And yet not a speck of dirt on her. Rana, with her dirty undersides, looked like she had seen more mud than that BMW ever had. I felt we could hold our heads high amongst the "wannabes".

After a bike to eat it was back on to have a go up Snake Road to Waterdown ON, then north to Carlisle ON. Rana cheekily played some hide and seek while I hit the bank machine. Then it was on the road again, east on Carlisle Rd (Concession 9) to Milbourough Line. This is the dividing line between two municipalities and winds quite prettily and quietly through a wooded area - very nice in summer - it has a touch of the feeling of Ontario much further to the north and gives a hint of being "off the beaten path". East on Campbellville Road to Campbellville ON - not a motorcycle mecca exactly but certainly a popular rider meeting place - I guess it's equidistant from everywhere, somehow, on some map that nearly everyone owns.... South on Guelph Line to Britannia Rd then east. Turn south onto Cedar Springs Rd - those of you from the Hamilton-Wentworth, Oakville, Milton and Burlington ON area know these roads like the backs of your hands (or should, by now) - to No. 2 (I think) sideroad twistily west into Waterdown ON again. South on Mill St which turns into Waterdown Rd (through Smokey Hollow again, for those of you keeping score at home) then pick up highway 403 back to Hamilton. And a needed bathroom break.

And now... the pics!

Basking in the sun....

I know it's not a mountain - but it's the closest thing we have around here.

By the way, if it seems like I spend a lot of time on and around the Niagara Escarpment, it's because, well I do. The best roads seem to be found winding up and down and around the rock formations, cliff faces, rivers and valleys. Also the best views where you can see for miles and miles on clear days like today.

I'll be heading to the Niagara Falls area soon - lots of new (to me) roads and pics to share!

Enjoy!

Cheers!