Saturday marked the first actual ride of 2009 for me. It started out pretty early around 8:30am when my girlfriend Susie and I hopped on my bike and headed out for a proper breakfast. Both of us looking rather plump from all the layers we were wearing, which were certainly needed as the temps hovered around minus 6degrees celius.
After breakfast, we made a quick run up to Markham where we were hoping to meet some fellow riders who expressed some interest in tagging along. Alas, nobody showed so it was just Susie and me for a nice, although chilly country tour.

Eventually the cold tempuratures took their toll on us and we had to stop for 30min to regain sensation in our fingers. I know all too well what it’s like to get hyperthermia while riding and I certainly didn’t want either of use to endure that today.

Our ride eventually continued through Orangeville and then onward to Creemore where I planned to stop for lunch. Along the way we ended up taking some especially beautiful roads and had my fingers not been so cold at that point, I would of loved to stop to take some pictures. I had to remind myself to concentrate on the road, which was still covered in sand with barely 2ft wide sections of actual pavement to ride on through the corners. It was at this moment that I was glad that I didn’t have anyone with us who was new to riding or rusty from the off season. Without a doubt, mistakes on this road would have been costly to both body and bike.

Eventually we arrived in Creemore and were grateful for another chance to warm up and for a bite to eat. For those who haven’t been through this town before, it is very much a town that time forgot and reminisce of a town from the 1800’s…less the horse drawn carriages. We stopped at “The Mill Street” restaurant which is right across the street from the Creemore Brewery (founded in 1987). If you are a beer fan, they offer tours of the facility several times a day, which would be worth checking out.

From Creemore, we began heading home. Being a little pressed for time, we needed to take the most direct route, which I trusted my handy GPS to figure out for us and as expected, it choose the 400. This was an issue because riding at highway speeds in those cold temps meant getting very cold, very quickly. I found that it was more tolerable when we tucked in behind a truck but the turbulent air from the truck and the cross winds made for a very rough ride with the bike skittering around beneath us.

Eventually we had to get off and I decided to head east on HWY 9 across into Newmarket. This allowed for a break from the cold highway speeds and a chance to warm up at a coffee shop. 20min later, we were rolling again and made a final push home down the 404.

All in all it was a great day riding but all those stops made it a very long one. We only covered 300km but it was nice just to get out and actually ride again in spite of the cold. A Birthday Party at a club Saturday night will mean a late start to any riding on Sunday though.