June 21: Dah Bears

It's been many years since I've taken the ~160 km connector road from Hwy 17 to 11, known to everyone as the "Hornepayne Rd". Just prior to getting on this road, I was fueling the Glide and asked the attendant about any construction or other issues ont this particular day. "No" he said, "just watch out for the bears". Is that all? Just watch for BEARS! So, I headed out on what should have been a great ride, on a winding road with blue sky. There's a few reasons why it wasn't exactly so.

First, this Bear thing; when I'm riding, I feel rather naked out there and I don't like seeing any mammal on the road, whether its Bambi or Thumper. Bears I don't like at any time, naked or not. Evidently the concentration of black bears in this part of Ontario resembles what deer population is like in most other parts of our nation. It's not a question of "if" you'll see one, it's a question of "when".

Second, this road is full of blind corners. In fact, that's all there seems to be for the first 90 kms. Combine that with the trees being up against the road and, well you get the picture: no time to react to a sighting with some evasive maneuvre and there's really no need to anyway as there's nowhere to go.

Third, I'm alone. Usually, the rumble of 4-5 Harleys guarantees that within a radius of 200 metres, creatures go the opposite direction.

Fourth, they've assigned a speed limit of 80 kph on this road. Yep, you read that right. Presumably, this is so you would be able to stop in front of the bear. This is starting to feel like that salmon run when the grizzlies stand there in the river swatting at the fish for a snack. This biker doesn't want to die like a fish out water. 80 kph also means that if you're traveling at a respectable 120 kph, they could pull your license right there (I wonder if they would give me a ride...).

Curiously, there were no tractor-trailers on this road effectively clearing my path if I were to stay a short distance behind: you can never find a good semi when you need one.

So, I did the only thing I could think of: sped up to 119 kph, dropped from 6th to 4th gear to bring the rpm's up (as well as the decibel level) and away we go.

That worked, because the mother bear and her 3 cubs were looking at me well before I saw them. Thank the lord they scattered into the bush. I relaxed after that figuring I had a winning formula. If anyone doubts that "loud pipes saves lives", they haven't walked the Hornepayne mile. I did feel sorry for that Goldwing rider who was heading in the opposite direction though. I gave him the thumbs up as he went by. Hey, it was his decision to buy that thing.