Taking in the sights and roads of Manitoulin Island and the eastern shore of Lake Superior.

We are getting old and maybe a little decrepit, but like all motorcyclists, we want to keep experiencing riding adventures. Motorcycle touring gets in your blood. This year, John Anderson, Jim Oliver and I decided to keep the ride in Canada and answer the call of the north. We would head off on a ride after the heat of the summer had dissipated but hoped to catch an elusive autumn Indian summer. 

The plan for me was to take a leisurely two days riding the backroads of Southern Ontario from my home north of Kingston to Owen Sound visiting family and friends before meeting up with John and Jim. 

Before joining my riding buddies, I met Ian Davis (we were surgical residents at Queens University in the late 1970s) on his fishing boat in the marina out of Hope Bay on the Bruce Peninsula. The afternoon fishing expedition was not very successful (although an afternoon fishing on Georgian Bay can never be considered a bust). I had promised fresh fish when I met up with my riding friends later that day, but John had backup: steaks on the barbeque.

Saying goodbye to Owen Sound the first morning of our joint ride, we took the less-travelled roads hugging the rugged limestone east coast of Georgian Bay from Wiarton, and past the spectacular Lion’s Head to catch the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry, our ride across Georgian Bay from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island. As many hundreds of motorcyclists over the years can attest, the ride on the Chi-Cheemaun is wonderful, particularly on a bike. The trip starts with conversing on the dock with like-minded riders and then continues to the experience of securing your bikes from tipping over deep in the hull, then enjoying quite good cafeteria fare and finally taking in the gorgeous sights as the boat glides across Georgian Bay…