In some ways, the start of our annual road-riding adventure on July 17th will mark a new beginning.

Glenn’s 1500 Suzuki has been freshly overhauled after a final drive failure that fortunately occurred fairly close to home and while Debbie was along to provide back-up transport on her 1400 Intruder. Bike and rider are now up to the challenge of acquiring more “time in the saddle” to add to an impressive trip history that boasts well over 100K of asphalt, consumed on some of the most interesting and diverse roads that Canada and the US have to offer.

Ian’s 1300ST continues to perform well in its Nuevo “Amish” sort of way and we are all both pleased and reassured that Jacquie has agreed to join the 2011 trip. For a bit of history, Ian and Jacquie’s new relationship was just taking form in the strange new world of Skype during our west coast trip in 2009. On that adventure, the ST was left with several “marks” due to some minor mishaps that we chalked up to Ian’s mind being elsewhere. We think it is likely that Jacquie’s “live” presence will act as a reasonable safety precaution against further damage to the ST’s paint and protruding parts by allowing Ian’s head to stay more fully “in the game”.

Neil’s Venture has sadly been put to pasture in Colorado after bike and rider skidded out in a turn and crashed in the summer of 2010. Since Neil has not yet replaced the Venture and truth be told, could benefit from bit more healing time, it is clear that the best and only remaining option will be to trail the bikes in the Cadillac. This grim reality is made much more pleasant with Jacquie’s happy acceptance to ride shotgun. We expect that this chase-car arrangement will benefit all concerned since the riders can shed the weight of gear and be alone with nimble bikes and their solitary thoughts. Neil and Jacquie are also excited about the prospect of interesting times in the Caddy including as we understand, a virtual plethora of planned musical swoonings and little known thought renderings that might stupefy those with lesser minds.

Our general trip plan has bikes and crew travelling approx. 2400 km on a northern Ontario loop starting with a ferry ride to Manatoulin Island, proceeding north and west via Chapleau and Wawa, across the top on TransCanada #11 to Kirkland Lake, and then south through North Bay on the return.

We invite you to travel along with us and to contribute to the nightly blog which will include pics of the day, opinions on our wanderings and accounts of all manner of self inflicted tomfoolery.