Another day, another ride planned. This time it’s one of my favorite roads; the Bidwell. It follows the north side of the biggest lake on the island, Lake Manitou.  There are a lot of tourists on this road so you have to be careful with traffic if you want to carry a lot of speed. You also have to watch the signs which give you road direction prior to cresting a hill because there are a lot of blind corners. Heading west it seems most of the apexes are on the downhill. I ran the length of the Bidwell, then turned back and ran it the other way followed by one final time. Sometimes I would purposely lug the engine, then pin the throttle just to watch the tank shake as the old thumper’s torque amasses.
I was on a smooth blacktop and I passed tons of two track, but it was a sign that was posted on one of them that caught my attention and made me turn around. Unmaintained Road Use at Your Own Risk.


Hey, are you challenging me? Up the road I went. The road went into the bush for several kilometers and circled a swamp and several ponds. It appeared there were loops attached to the main road but I didn’t want to get lost so I kept it simple. It was like a maze in there. It was pretty hilly at times as well. On one big hill I started out in 1st gear and had to upshift when the rear wheel broke traction to allow the thumpers torque to pull me up and over. There hadn’t been much rain lately so the road was fairly dry and the occasional mud I seen was only a couple of inches deep.



I never seen anything in there so I assume the land was probably used for hunting and fishing.



Back on the pavement and into cruising mode. Most of the rest of the day was spent in absolutely no definite direction. Just follow any road that looks interesting, or like Yoggi Berra said “If you come to a fork in the road, take it. “
I rode for about five hours today and wanted to save myself for the 350 km ride home for the day after next.
I take the 9AM crossing on the ferry on a perfect August morning for my trip home. I’ve been lucky with the weather although a bit hot. I have a different attitude when I’m riding home compared to when I’m starting my trip. I choose not to poke around but take the most direct route home and stop less often. On the ferry, motorcycles are loaded first and released first, so it is a bonus to have trailers; campers and such start behind you. In fact it always seems like a bit of a race once you take off. It is 100 kilometers down the peninsula and no mater what you are driving you don’t like to see anyone get past you. I make good time, the Savage is running great (as usual), the sheepskin is keeping me in the saddle longer and traffic is light. I stay on Hwy #21 which parallels Lake Huron and stop after an hour for fuel. An hour later I stop for lunch and top up the tank. I check the oil again because of that plug/seal leak and find the level is at the lower limit so I bring it up to just over the upper limit. If I didn’t stop I could get home in two hours so I though this would be a good test to see if I could avoid monkey butt. I almost did it but stopped 45 minutes from home for a walk about to also stretch my legs.
Do you ever find yourself doing strange things after you are ridding for a long time and become tired? I sing in my helmet. There are about four songs that always strike me as appropriate when I’m tired. The only one that makes sense is Grand Funk’s I’m your captain but I only sing the chorus “I’m getting closer to my home”, over and over maybe 20 times. The other songs that only come to me when I’m tired are quite goofy.
Anyways I made it home in 4 ¼ hours and was quite satisfied with my ride. The whole trip was a pleasurable summer ride and I know there will be more another day.