OK, so mother nature pissed all over us yesterday on International Female Ride Day, spearheaded in Canada last year by Vicki Gray, a motorcycle racer, instructor and coach who has been riding since 1983. She also founded the RaceGirl MotorSport and Motoress websites to promote motorcycling among women.

Vicki’s the blonde on the far right in the first photo, with Chic Riders Gina (far left) and Brandi (middle). She kicked off the day in Toronto Friday morning at Princes’ Gate at Exhibition Place next to the Lakeshore. The pissy weather had an impact on how many women turned out for the kickoff, but it was followed by a short ride along the Lakeshore.

Ontario Chic Riders came into town to a dinner to celebrate the day from as far south as Hamilton, as far west as London, and as far west as Ajax. That’s us in the group photo in Shopsy’s at Yonge and Front — which, incidentally, is where Chic Rider Bike Nights are gonna be every Wednesday all summer. Left to right, bottom row, are: Lori, Sarah, and Gina. Left to right, top row: Me, Karen, Melissa, Camille, Nina, Vicky, Sarah and Alexandra.

I’d promised Ontario Chic Rider prez Lori (far left, first seated row) that I’d swing by our meeting spot at the Goose & Firkin on Leslie north of York Mills to see if any of our members showed up to ride down together to our IFRD dinner.

But most of the gals would have to ride in from the outskirts. Just getting to the Firkin would have been a long, soggy ride for most of ’em, so I had a lonely wait. Everybody else ended up taking their cages (cars) downtown. And were glad they did, cuz when we left after dinner there was a major downpour going on.

The ride home? Damn. I climbed into my raingear and soldiered on home. I just LOOOOVE riding in the rain, especially in city traffic (NOT)!

My raingear kept me dry but the steam from the engine kept fogging my visor cuz traffic wasn’t moving fast enough for the air to clear it. I had to lift the visor just to see where I was going, so the rain was stinging my face. Annoying, but the worst part of riding in the rain with an open visor is that I wear glasses. When glasses get wet, you get halos around all the lights. Which, as all of us who wear corrective lenses know, improves visibility (all sarcasm intended) SOOO much. Ack.

I coulda sworn I ordered that rainstorm for AFTER I got home. There musta been a mixup.

This is my friend, Wally. Last summer I joined a riding group called the Southern Cruisers on his recommendation. He belongs to the chapter in Brampton and I belong to the one in Toronto.

Every Southern Cruiser ride has a Road Captain, who rides in front and is responsible for setting the pace and leading the group through traffic. It also has what members of the SC call a Tail Gunner, who rides last and helps the Road Captain by doing things like changing lanes at the same time as the Road Captain so the rest of the group can change lanes safely in between the two of them.

Most riding groups have some version of both. Members of GTAMotorcycle.com have a Ride Leader and a Sweeper, who brings up the rear and makes sure no one gets left behind.

This past Sunday, Wally took his Road Captain test with his Brampton chapter, and led his first SC ride.

Here is the group before the ride.

The last photo shows Wally discussing the ride route with Bill, the senior road captain who was along to observe. He still has to get input from the other road captains before Wally gets the green light to become a road captain. Fingers crossed!

Postscript: Wally totally aced the whole thing and has been leading rides for his chapter of the Southern Cruisers all summer. I borrow him sometimes, too. He’s a great ride leader!

My riding buddy Timothy had to go to Sturgess Cycle in Hamilton to pick up his new bike and the day was gorgeous, so I went with him. Here he is, with his new love.

And here he is, gearing up to ride!

We hit up Snake Road in Burlington first. But that’s a very short ride — you can do it end to end and back the same way in 20 minutes. Timothy wanted to get a good feel for his new baby.

After my disappointment checking out the condition of Southwood 13 yesterday, we figured most of the twisties up north would be in similar condition. Some of the fellas on the GTAMotorcycle.com boards said Forks of the Credit Road near Caledon here in Ontario was still pretty sandy. Highway 507 isn’t very technically challenging, but it slaloms nicely and gets a lot of traffic, so decided to head up there to see if it was any cleaner.

Here’s a map of how to get to the 507 from the 401. The section from B to C is the part that is the 507. And here’s a link to the complete Google map.

It was almost pristine. Here’s a pic I took of Baby while I was waiting for Tim to ide by so I could get action shots of him on his new baby. There was some sand on the side of the road, but the road itself was quite clean. We were able to push the speed limit a little bit. Fast enough to get some nice leans on the sweeping curves.

Here are some nice shots of Timothy putting his new ZX-6R through her paces.

You gotta admit the lad has excellent taste in his choice of colour. (grin)

We looked *GOOD* riding together. I’m not prejudiced at all! (laughing)