Monster Weekend of riding:
Thursday June 14, 2012.
The Ride started on Thursday at 5 AM to prepare for the trip to Camp Ooch. Took the back roads starting with highway 27 to Barrie, and then old Barrie Road to Orillia. The ride was slightly cool, 11°C, but not a lot of traffic and a nice sunny morning. From Orillia, the goals was to take some back roads to see a bit of Northern Ontario. It turns out that the GPS took me into the middle of nowhere.
Lesson # 1: A GPS is just a navigation aid. Don't use it in place of a map.
The GPS simply does not give a proper sense of where you are in relation to the rest of the map. As you zoom out, the GPS looses details.
It runs out that I haven't figured out how to use the GPS using a route downloaded from Base camp, the Garmin mapping program. It seems when you get off the route, the GPS tries to establish a new route, and that will take you on a brain dead path. Garmin routing uses math, not understanding of your ride requirements.
It turns out that I ended up on the road that I was looking for: Sparrow road. This takes you across the Trent canal by Sparrow lake and then winds through the Ontario interior to highway 69. I should have stopped for photos because the scenery is spectacular. The road, which is narrow and winding, passes through true precambrian wilderness and few people ride the road so it's isolated. One problem - the road has sand on the pavement in many places, making for a hairy ride on the bike if you push it into corners. This is likely winter sand that hasn't washed off yet, or it's an attempt to prevent bikes from using the road at speed, in which case - it works.
Because the GPS doesn't show your position relative to the big picture, and because the routing math does not align with the kind of trip you want to take, I was guessing which road to take. In fact, at the end, the GPS route took me in the right direction, past Bala ( was really confused why it would take me there - but that was because I didn't have a map, and the map would have explained it all) and then via Muskoka road 26, to Brackenrigg road, Windemere road and finally Deebank to 141, just south of Camp Ooch. That was some fine riding. New pavement, winding with all the scenery you expect from the Precambrian shield.
Two full bus loads of Rexall staff, volunteered to help prepare Camp Ooch for it's opening. We painted picnic tables, benches and other equipment, raked/cleaned the breach, painted the moose, back filled the outdoor stage after the electricians laid new cables to illuminate the steps. Camp Ooch is an oasis for kids with cancer. They have an incredible facility in the woods to ensure that the kids can put their cancer treatment to the side and be kids again for a week.
Camp Ooch info
Then, it was off to Windsor to celebrate Elizabeth's accomplishment and attend her MBA convocation. Leaving at 3:30PM, this was going to be a balls to the walls forced march to Windsor.
Thursday June 14, 2012.
The Ride started on Thursday at 5 AM to prepare for the trip to Camp Ooch. Took the back roads starting with highway 27 to Barrie, and then old Barrie Road to Orillia. The ride was slightly cool, 11°C, but not a lot of traffic and a nice sunny morning. From Orillia, the goals was to take some back roads to see a bit of Northern Ontario. It turns out that the GPS took me into the middle of nowhere.
Lesson # 1: A GPS is just a navigation aid. Don't use it in place of a map.
The GPS simply does not give a proper sense of where you are in relation to the rest of the map. As you zoom out, the GPS looses details.
It runs out that I haven't figured out how to use the GPS using a route downloaded from Base camp, the Garmin mapping program. It seems when you get off the route, the GPS tries to establish a new route, and that will take you on a brain dead path. Garmin routing uses math, not understanding of your ride requirements.
It turns out that I ended up on the road that I was looking for: Sparrow road. This takes you across the Trent canal by Sparrow lake and then winds through the Ontario interior to highway 69. I should have stopped for photos because the scenery is spectacular. The road, which is narrow and winding, passes through true precambrian wilderness and few people ride the road so it's isolated. One problem - the road has sand on the pavement in many places, making for a hairy ride on the bike if you push it into corners. This is likely winter sand that hasn't washed off yet, or it's an attempt to prevent bikes from using the road at speed, in which case - it works.
Because the GPS doesn't show your position relative to the big picture, and because the routing math does not align with the kind of trip you want to take, I was guessing which road to take. In fact, at the end, the GPS route took me in the right direction, past Bala ( was really confused why it would take me there - but that was because I didn't have a map, and the map would have explained it all) and then via Muskoka road 26, to Brackenrigg road, Windemere road and finally Deebank to 141, just south of Camp Ooch. That was some fine riding. New pavement, winding with all the scenery you expect from the Precambrian shield.
Two full bus loads of Rexall staff, volunteered to help prepare Camp Ooch for it's opening. We painted picnic tables, benches and other equipment, raked/cleaned the breach, painted the moose, back filled the outdoor stage after the electricians laid new cables to illuminate the steps. Camp Ooch is an oasis for kids with cancer. They have an incredible facility in the woods to ensure that the kids can put their cancer treatment to the side and be kids again for a week.
Camp Ooch info
Then, it was off to Windsor to celebrate Elizabeth's accomplishment and attend her MBA convocation. Leaving at 3:30PM, this was going to be a balls to the walls forced march to Windsor.
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