We're on the uphill swing!

[LongRanger_imp]

Ottawa has become a very busy city since I retired. I never ride my bike in city traffic, except to my Honda shop for maintenance or an errand to the mall. I also book any appointments between 10AM and 1PM so I don't have to drive my car in the rush hours.

When I returned to motorcycling 5 years ago I went on a charity run with hundreds of other bikers. I quickly realized being jammed in double lines of strangers of unknown riding ability was very uncomfortable and not much fun.

There are rural roads surrounded by farms 5 minutes from my home. They have little traffic and 80 KPH speed limits. So I can get out of town quickly and safely. Most of my jumping off terminals are small towns 1 hour from my home.

My playground is the Ottawa Valley. It has lots of roads twisting around rivers, lakes and hills in cottage country. As most people only use their cottages on the weekends, I have the roads all to myself. Unlike the weekends, the bikers I encounter at rest stops are retirees with decades of motorcycling experience. They ride safely and are willing to exchange motorcycle stories no matter what you or they ride.

For me the real enjoyment of motorcycling is the freedom to ride when and where I like, at what ever speed I find most suitable or fun on any particular day.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.

 

[2017EX_imp]

Ottawa has become a very busy city since I retired. I never ride my bike in city traffic, except to my Honda shop for maintenance or an errand to the mall. I also book any appointments between 10AM and 1PM so I don't have to drive my car in the rush hours.

When I returned to motorcycling 5 years ago I went on a charity run with hundreds of other bikers. I quickly realized being jammed in double lines of strangers of unknown riding ability was very uncomfortable and not much fun.

There are rural roads surrounded by farms 5 minutes from my home. They have little traffic and 80 KPH speed limits. So I can get out of town quickly and safely. Most of my jumping off terminals are small towns 1 hour from my home.

My playground is the Ottawa Valley. It has lots of roads twisting around rivers, lakes and hills in cottage country. As most people only use their cottages on the weekends, I have the roads all to myself. Unlike the weekends, the bikers I encounter at rest stops are retirees with decades of motorcycling experience. They ride safely and are willing to exchange motorcycle stories no matter what you or they ride.

For me the real enjoyment of motorcycling is the freedom to ride when and where I like, at what ever speed I find most suitable or fun on any particular day.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.
+1! I find it much more enjoyable to ride by myself, or with a small group of friends that I know have riding skills equal to or better than mine.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

+1 solo and single pair riding (preferred)

I ride in any reasonable condition, even profuse traffic, although, I will avoid it whenever possible. Google Maps helps with the traffic pain points.

 

[peterbaron]

Ottawa has become a very busy city since I retired. I never ride my bike in city traffic, except to my Honda shop for maintenance or an errand to the mall. I also book any appointments between 10AM and 1PM so I don't have to drive my car in the rush hours.

When I returned to motorcycling 5 years ago I went on a charity run with hundreds of other bikers. I quickly realized being jammed in double lines of strangers of unknown riding ability was very uncomfortable and not much fun.

There are rural roads surrounded by farms 5 minutes from my home. They have little traffic and 80 KPH speed limits. So I can get out of town quickly and safely. Most of my jumping off terminals are small towns 1 hour from my home.

My playground is the Ottawa Valley. It has lots of roads twisting around rivers, lakes and hills in cottage country. As most people only use their cottages on the weekends, I have the roads all to myself. Unlike the weekends, the bikers I encounter at rest stops are retirees with decades of motorcycling experience. They ride safely and are willing to exchange motorcycle stories no matter what you or they ride.

For me the real enjoyment of motorcycling is the freedom to ride when and where I like, at what ever speed I find most suitable or fun on any particular day.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.
+1! I find it much more enjoyable to ride by myself, or with a small group of friends that I know have riding skills equal to or better than mine.

It took me years of quietly suffering through various charity events, club group rides, parades, etc., to realize exactly what you put so succinctly.
+1! I find it much more enjoyable to ride by myself, or with a small group of friends that I know have riding skills equal to or better than mine.

+1 solo and single pair riding (preferred)

I ride in any reasonable condition, even profuse traffic, although, I will avoid it whenever possible. Google Maps helps with the traffic pain points.

^ +1, solo and single pair riding (preferred)

 

[Bigskyorbust_imp]

Oh I know .... there are lots of places I wouldnt want to live/ride a motorcycle. NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami to name a few.

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[ohiorider_imp]

Oh I know .... there are lots of places I wouldnt want to live/ride a motorcycle. NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami to name a few.

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk Any event that requires me to ride in formation with a bunch of riders I don't know is something I don't do ..... after doing it one time several years ago. If its a charitable ride, I'd as soon send a check and avoid the ride.

Bob

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Oh I know .... there are lots of places I wouldnt want to live/ride a motorcycle. NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami to name a few.

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .
No worries Bigsky*. Very likely any major city in North America has similar challenges as Atlanta, and will probably get worse before it gets better.

I hung out in Atlanta a few times and didn't find it too bad at all, even during a weekday Braves game. But everything is relative. Locals there hated the situation and felt pretty strong about it.

For some reason Washington, DC stands out for me as being a simply horrible place to be during afternoon rush hour. I didn't detect any accidents, just sheer volume.

 

[jitaylor_imp]

Heading out in the morning for a 160 mile round trip to Cave in the Rock, IL. Temps starting at 35 ending at 55.

Right now I'm so lucky to have a group of guys that like to ride in anything above freezing.

They've told me don't ride with "sand or salt" on the road.

The weekend routine is about 2 hour trip to eat lunch somewhere, then 2 hour trip back home....makes for a good day!

Cave in Rock is cool.

 

[the Ferret]

Just got in from a ride before it started sprinkling. CRazy 59 degrees today in sw Ohio

 

[Bigskyorbust_imp]

Oh I know .... there are lots of places I wouldnt want to live/ride a motorcycle. NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami to name a few.

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .
No worries Bigsky*. Very likely any major city in North America has similar challenges as Atlanta, and will probably get worse before it gets better.

I hung out in Atlanta a few times and didn't find it too bad at all, even during a weekday Braves game. But everything is relative. Locals there hated the situation and felt pretty strong about it.

For some reason Washington, DC stands out for me as being a simply horrible place to be during afternoon rush hour. I didn't detect any accidents, just sheer volume.

Hey now .. that hits a little close to home on the Atlanta ! .. Lol .. you are right though .. you might ( or in this case I might ) have to have a screw or two loose to commute long miles daily in that environment. But overall .. just being on the bike is enjoyable .. would not trade it .
No worries Bigsky*. Very likely any major city in North America has similar challenges as Atlanta, and will probably get worse before it gets better.

I hung out in Atlanta a few times and didn't find it too bad at all, even during a weekday Braves game. But everything is relative. Locals there hated the situation and felt pretty strong about it.

For some reason Washington, DC stands out for me as being a simply horrible place to be during afternoon rush hour. I didn't detect any accidents, just sheer volume. Agreed .. I would take Atlanta over DC any day ( in more ways than just traffic as well)

I commute freeway at times but mostly run small back door smaller roads into and out of the city .. definitely not as fast but alot more fun to ride .. as fun as commuting can be anyway!



Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

 

[the Ferret]

I've never ridden in DC. (but have ridden in all the cities I mentioned). I don't enjoy riding in major cities, as I guess most motorcyclists don't. I find it so miserable that even as dedcated a rider as I am, if my dialy commute or ride required riding in/ through a major city, I might not even own a motorcycle.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

I've never ridden in DC. (but have ridden in all the cities I mentioned). I don't enjoy riding in major cities, as I guess most motorcyclists don't. I find it so miserable that even as dedcated a rider as I am, if my dialy commute or ride required riding in/ through a major city, I might not even own a motorcycle.

No kidding. If one had to ride in a [North American] big city, might as well "save it up" for NYC. At least with the CB, you have a decent chance of finding [free] parking.

 

[tommymck]

As a DC native, I say you guys are missing something. Sure, rush hour commute on the beltway isn't terribly fun, but riding through the city is an awesome experience, even for a local....

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

As a DC native, I say you guys are missing something. Sure, rush hour commute on the beltway isn't terribly fun, but riding through the city is an awesome experience, even for a local....

W.DC is definitely a fun place to ride, cycle and walk. Been there a few times. Still not enough visits.

 

[the Ferret]

As a DC native, I say you guys are missing something. Sure, rush hour commute on the beltway isn't terribly fun, but riding through the city is an awesome experience, even for a local....

Tommy.. why so? The buildings?

I still need to hit 4 states up that way, maybe I will visit DC and see.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

I would say the buildings would be a factor. After all, the capital of a country ought to be attractive in some way. I would say Canada's and U.S.'s capitals are compelling in their own North American way and old and nice enough to attract visitors. Certainly, DC is also well known by way of Hollywood.

Arlington cemetery is pretty compelling. Lincoln Memorial is powerful, ... and so on.