The next day started out with a cool ride up Highway 11, warming up to 19 degrees later in the day. I found the first roadside attraction that I had read about, just south of Iroquois Falls. It’s a 20 foot tall statue of a lumberjack, named Guy-Paul Treefall, a Canadian version of Paul Bunyan, sitting on a stump.

After a quick bike selfie, I continued to Cochrane and found another bike selfie opportunity at the train station. As soon as you arrive in town you’re greeted by the town’s mascot, a large statue of Chimo the Polar Bear. This marks the starting point of the Polar Bear Express, the train that travels to the town of Moosonee, near James Bay.

I’ve never been this far north in Ontario before so I was really excited just being there. I didn’t stop to explore the towns I was passing through, but I can always return to the towns that left the biggest impression on me. I would always enjoy another ride to this part of Ontario.

Before leaving Cochrane, I stopped at a Tim Hortons for a quick lunch. I sat and chatted with another biker, Steve, riding a big beautiful black Honda Shadow. He was from the area and had some great stories to tell. Tim Hortons is always a gathering place for bikers, especially in northern towns, where they meet up in their perspective groups before a ride.

I continued west along Highway 11 towards Kapuskasing and stopped for a quick pic in the town of Moonbeam. I thought this was an unusual name so I did some research and found out that, as rumour has it, this town got its name from the pioneers who often saw flashing lights in the sky they called “moonbeams.” Those lights eventually came to be known as the Northern Lights.

I continued west and about half an hour before arriving in the town of Hearst it started to rain. This town has a really interesting, unique wildlife display at the Visitor’s Centre, featuring two giant moose facing off against two giant wolves.

I stayed the night at a motel along Highway 11 and planned my next day’s ride and briefly considered continuing to Manitoba to visit friends in the western part of the province. But looking at a map and the distance still needed to cover, coupled with the drastic change in weather, I decided not to continue west and instead start heading south the following day and hope for warmer weather. Up ‘till now, the weather has been too cold to sleep in a tent. At least too cold for me.

After riding for many hours each day I was beginning to notice that my ears were ringing when I took my helmet off and was worried about potential hearing damage. I had intended to purchase ear plugs but every time I went into a store it completely slipped my mind.

The next morning’s ride was very cold. It was time to put on my cold weather gloves. They helped a lot but my finger tips still got cold and numb. The weather app on my phone showed the temperature as 8 degrees, but the temperature gauge on my bike showed 6 degrees. It was also raining and very windy. The wind was so strong that it kept blowing me towards the outer edge of the road and had to fight to remain upright. And every time large vehicles passed me from the opposite direction it was like being struck by a solid wall of wind. In cases like this I did reduce my speed for safety. I slowed down to 80km/h.

I headed south on Hwy 631 and experienced much less traffic and even some nice sweeping turns, which would have been much more enjoyable in better weather conditions. 631 ended at White River and I continued south along the Highway 17 to Wawa, then a scenic ride along Hwy 101, to the town of Chapleau. In my hotel room, I tested out the first bit of new camping gear: a laundry washing bag. It seemed to work well, better than just washing in a sink.

To be continued…

After a quick breakfast and some directions to Parliament Hill and the Quebec border, I was back on the road. I was hoping to take a “bike selfie” in front of Parliament Hill but the area was too busy and I wasn’t able to park in a suitable spot for a good photo. So I continued on. 

The previous night I had discussed with my buddy, David, the most suitable place for a bike selfie at the Bienvenue au Québec sign and he suggested the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge. This bridge is a six lane highway and I was in the outside lane at speed, doing 80km/h. 

The sign seemed to come up unexpectedly, forcing me to break hard and pull over onto the paved shoulder. I had passed the sign so I had to reverse my bike to get closer for the picture. And since motorcycles do not have a reverse gear I “waddled” the bike backwards. As I got closer to the sign, there was a sewer grate on the right side so my right foot wasn’t able to reach the ground. I could feel my bike falling in slow motion towards the right and I envisioned one of the episodes of Family Guy when Cleveland’s house gets destroyed while he’s in his bathtub on the second floor, and about to slide down into the debris, yelling, “No, no, no, no, no, no…!”. 

I was so close to the guardrail that my windscreen somehow bent and ended up under the guardrail, forcing me to drag my bike away from the guardrail before attempting to lift it. A passerby stopped to see if I was okay. I was. A nice Police Officer also stopped and helped me pick up my bike. I left the area and pulled over onto a side street and checked my bike over. The only damage were the scratches on the windscreen and the tip of the front brake lever having broken off. My clutch lever broke back in 2018 when I dropped my bike on my first trip so now both levers match. 

I was looking for a route to head north, but somehow I ended up back in Ottawa. After some adjustments on my iPhone GPS, and a few select curse words, I ended up returning to Quebec via Island Park Drive. No “Bienvenue” sign was in sight. The weather cooled down as I rode north on QC-148, re-entering Ontario just south of Pembroke and continued north along Highway 17 and spent the night in a hotel in North Bay.

The next morning was much cooler so I wore an extra layer under my riding gear. This is where my jacket’s original thermal lining would have been really useful. Before going on this trip I researched some good Northern Ontario routes and found some nice curvy roads as well as some cool roadside attractions with good bike selfie opportunities. 

To the west of Highway 11, just north of Temiskaming Shores, is the scenic Hwy 65 with its rolling hills. But this was just a prelude to Hwy 66, which was very curvy and hilly with good visibility in most corners. That was a great ride! I have read that this road has been compared to the famous Tail of the Dragon in eastern Tennessee, which has over 300 curves in just 11 miles. There really is no time for sightseeing.

I stayed on Hwy 66 through the town of Kirkland Lake to the Quebec border, still searching for the elusive Bienvenue au Québec sign. Just before returning to Ontario along QC-388/Hwy 101 it started to rain. But! I was successful in locating the sought-after Bienvenue au Québec sign! 

After my pics at the Quebec border sign, as well as the Ontario border sign, I continued west along Hwy 101. I had originally planned on riding to Timmins, but it was already getting late so I decided to return to Kirkland Lake for the night, detouring south on the scenic County Road 672. 

As would be expected for a small road away from big cities, 672 was not paved, just packed gravel. I still haven’t gotten over my nervousness on these types of roads. This is where I had my first wildlife sightings, two beautiful fawns which scurried off into the forest as I approached. I also saw a red fox, not to be confused with Redd Foxx.

Just before this trip, the touchscreen on my iPhone was getting twitchy, in that it kept changing screens and apps and even zooming out while I was using Google maps making it, at times, useless for navigation. I also had physical maps displayed on my tank bag which I was forced to use multiple times.

While riding on 672 I noticed ‘911’ displayed on my phone. I pulled over and spoke to the operator and tried to ensure him that there was no emergency and he transferred me to an OPP Officer. I assured the Officer as well that there was no emergency, that I was on a motorcycle trip, my current location, and that I don’t know how my phone dialled 911. So the nice Officer marked it down as an unintentional 911 call.

To be continued…