Remembrance Day Ride

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Gummiente
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Posts: 3485
Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 11:34 pm
Real Name: Mike
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 38
My Motorcycle: 03 Super Glide
Location: Kingston, ON

Remembrance Day Ride

#1 Unread post by Gummiente »

After attending the Remembrance Day services earlier today, I decided to head out for a memorial ride afterwards to remind myself about what it is like to live in a free country. Not that I need constant reminding, but sometimes a ceremony honouring the war dead can give you a fresh perspective on things. So I grabbed my camera, fired up the Ural and headed out.

First stop was at the cenotaph in town. It’s on the side of a hill, so although it appears that it is falling over, it is actually straight - it’s just the photographer that had issues...
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I headed north out of town on the back roads, with the intent of making a large counter-clockwise loop of my part of the county. This area is a haven for horse owners and breeders and just about every road you travel down has at least one pasture with big jeezus horses hanging around it...
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I decided to head down a few roads I hadn’t been on yet and, after consulting the map, picked out a route that looked interesting. Somewhere along the way I spotted an unusual sign and wheeled about for a second look. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was Russian lettering but I’ve no idea what it said. There was an ominous looking sign shaped like a missile just below it and then a No Trespassing warning below that. Didn’t look to be a very friendly spot...
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There was a gate set well back from the road with a very military looking sign above it. The whole area was fenced off and there were some large buildings visible in the distance. I was very curious to find out more, but my healthy sense of self-preservation kicked in and I decided not to risk a closer look. For all I knew it was a secret Russian Commando training camp that the crafty buggers had managed to set up right beneath our noses. Best just to do some online research first before tramping on up to the gate...
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So I motored off, mindful of the prolific “NO TRESPASSING” signs on both sides of the road for the next kilometre. A little while later, I made a turn onto another previously unexplored side road and was greeted with a “No Winter Maintenance...” sign. Bonus! One thing I have learned since moving to this area last year is that a road with no winter maintenance also has very little summer maintenance, which usually results in a picturesque and thoroughly enjoyable ride...
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And it was indeed an enjoyable ride. Lots of trees, mud puddles, rocks, wilderness and... The Mad Pumpkin Guardian Of The River. I hadn’t a clue what the proper protocol was for traversing the bridge, so I mumbled a “Hail, Great Pumpkin” and scooted across before he could do anything about it...
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Eventually I emerged from the underbrush just outside the north end of Hanover, the nearest town to the west of home. I knew there was an old tank sitting on a pad in front of the old Armouries, so I headed over there for another photo. This is a WWII Sherman Firefly tank...
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I headed south out of town, still on the back roads, and headed for the town of Neustadt. This is one of my favourite places to visit any time of the year, as it has several antique/junk stores, a few very good restaurants and – my personal fave – the Neustadt Springs Brewery. After stocking up with some essential, um, “supplies”, I snapped another photo and then headed east for home...
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By now I was on a very familiar route leading towards another “No Winter Maintenance” trail which cuts through the Saugeen Conservation Managed Forest. This is my favourite trail of the region, as it is spectacular to ride down in any season and always brings a smile to my face. It’s long, winding and peppered with large rocks, ruts and mud puddles – a perfect Ural road...
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The last leg of the loop took me past a large pond that is home to a large flock of the most arrogant and ignorant birds in the country – the Canada Goose. I’ve had run-ins with this lot before and they clearly recognised me as I pulled up, because they immediately buggered off to the other side of the pond while I was fishing out my camera. These feathered peckerheads are known for wandering out onto the road en masse and blocking traffic, forcing you to wait until they’ve had enough fun crapping all over the place, honking and squawking and generally behaving like union workers on strike for more money. I don’t put up with that and they learned very quickly during our first encounter last year that I brake for nobody. I’ve never hit one, nor would I ever do so intentionally, but I’ve had to clean goose crap and feathers off the nose of the sidecar a couple times before they got the hint...
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After clearing Goose Central Station, I continued on towards home. Another great ride on a great day in a great country. I love being free.

Lest we forget.
:canada: Mike :gummiente:
It isn't WHAT you ride,
It's THAT you ride

User avatar
Gummiente
Site Supporter - Platinum
Site Supporter - Platinum
Posts: 3485
Joined: Wed May 11, 2005 11:34 pm
Real Name: Mike
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 38
My Motorcycle: 03 Super Glide
Location: Kingston, ON

#2 Unread post by Gummiente »

UPDATE: Did some online research this morning about that strange, Soviet military-ish looking place I came across on the ride yesterday. Turns out it's nothing even remotely nefarious in nature - it's actually the meeting place for a cultural group called the "Lemkos" who are "pastoral farmers who until 1947 inhabited the Lower Beskid range of the Carpathian Mountains" of Central and Eastern Europe, as stated on their website. The sign on the tree that I photographed, "Lem-Vatra", is the name of their annual folk festival. So, no sinister plots here, just a group of people preserving their ethnic heritage.
:canada: Mike :gummiente:
It isn't WHAT you ride,
It's THAT you ride

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