GCMR-6

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0018dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="00ba0a00.gif" border=0 width="160" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B> <script language=javascript>var city = 'Smiths_Falls_ON';</script> <script language=javascript src='http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weatherbutton/test.js'></script>  </B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://stopspamhere.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://stopspamhere.ca"><B><IMG SRC="03846630.jpg" border=0 width="70" height="99" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #999980;" BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0028dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Main</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Main"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Main">Main</A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About the GCMR">About the GCMR</A>   |   <B>GCMR-6</B>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GCMR6 Attendees">GCMR-6 Attendees</A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GCMR7">GCMR-7</A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Accommodations">Accommodations</A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directions">Directions</A>   |   <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gallery">Gallery</A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marks GL1500">Mark's GL1500</A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Santas Run">Santa's Run</A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lennys 1500 FOR SALE">Lenny's 1500 - FOR SALE</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0028dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>GCMR-6</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> GCMR-VI</div> <div> Recap</div> <bR> <div> Jul.  30th-31st and Aug.  1st, 2005</div> <div> Smiths Falls & Merrickville ON</div> <div> <IMG SRC="0440e100.jpg" border=0 width="526" height="272" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <I>Photo by George Hockhousen - 2005        </I></div> <bR> <div> Well, another GCMR done come and gone ...  but what a great weekend! Where the roads weren't challenging they were wonderfully relaxing.  Gravel sections caused by construction amounted to no more than a few hundred feet worth over the whole two days.  The weather stayed under 27 Celsius/80 Fahrenheit (540 Rankine/21.6 Reaumur/300 Kelvin, for those who get meaning out of that ;-) and no rain!  There were no go-downs, no camel-dismounts, and no real breakdowns except for Dennis Marshall needing a new front breakpad ...  and even that would have been taken care of thanks to the Kevin Banks Sunday Acquisition and Delivery System and the Trusty Joe Drummond Roadside Service, except for the absence of one correct size allen wrench!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04317d10.jpg" border=0 width="279" height="209" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5">As nearly as I could see no one went hungry over the weekend, although a few of us will want to consider that now that we're back to our real lives.  BIG HONKIN' THANKS to Br'er "Furface" for hosting us at his Hippie Haven by the Rideau for a fantastic feed of Burgers 'n Maple Sausage 'n Corn-on-the-Cob 'n beer 'n little individually wrapped pads of butter 'n loads of fixins 'n side flavors (an' a little splash of rum if ya knew where the cache was kept ;-))</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04804c30.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="195" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5">I sent a big Thank-You on behalf of WOTI's GCMR to Barry Brown and his wife Gayle for letting us drop in on them unexpectedly to view his historic homestead and his singular collection of antique motorcycles that he has revived from a condition just this side of oblivion, in many instances making the parts himself.  Dave Evelyn and Joe Drummond will probably be able to tell you more about that part of the weekend.  We damn near had to tie and gag them to get them back on the road!<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="041b4c00.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="448" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10">And we almost didn't have a single U-Turn! In fact, I faked a U-Turn in one of the parking lots when it looked like we were going to finish the weekend without a single one because I forgot that we had one earlier that day, but it involved only three of the bikes so it barely counts, right?! And the secret to no U-Turns is to have a "Plan B" handy so that I could go around the block and make only half a U-Turn at a time! Which no one would have noticed if I hadn't opened my big mouth.</div> <bR> <div> And the roads?!  You wouldn't believe me if I told you ...  but I'm gonna tell you anyway.   We took the back roads from Smiths Falls to a lot of places so we did indeed ride a few roads more than once, but we tried to make it both ways so it looked different!  </div> <bR> <div> Saturday's back roads west from the 'Falls had some titillating hills and tantalizing curves as we tootled our way out to Tweed.   A few had some of those sharper WOWS ...  you know the kind I mean, where riding them a little faster than the speed limit gives you that levitating out of the saddle feeling ...  WOW!  There was a nice mixture of long, undulating curves along with blessings from the Gods of Tight Roads.   We had to cut off the top of our northerly planned route to make up some time, but we'll get back to those roads next year or my name isn't ... ol' whatsisface!</div> <bR> <div> Sunday morning saw us heading south out of Da 'Falls through Westport and on down to Sydenham so we could pick up Desert Lake Road back up through the woods.   And if you aren't sure what lake country can do to a road, come along with us next year but I warn you, you won't get out of third gear much!  Our lunch at the Desert Lake Resort featured ...  (drum rollllll) ...  POUTINE!  That's right, that late day staple of the all round Canadian.   From head to foot, all round!</div> <bR> <div> The stretch from lunch onward covering the rest of Desert Lake Road was my own treat for the day.   When I realized that I was pushing beyond the pace I had been setting all weekend, I did the only gentlemanly thing and called for a "Ride Yer Own Ride!" and started playing the clutch and brake levers like a grip exerciser.   I think I must have floated through there 'cause at no time did my feet touch the ground!  I was getting the onset of whiplash from the rocking left and right to catch the curves before they caught me.   The only thing that went through my mind as the oncoming cars and trucks passed me going the other way was the hope that no one had their face out over the center line on those tight left curves.  ;-)))</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="04c9a7d0.jpg" border=0 width="410" height="125" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> And just at mid-afternoon, or not, where should we find ourselves but outside the place in Perth where they cook beavertails (not that anyone would want to eat them raw) just like the ones made by Hookers downtown on the market.   And no matter what you may have eaten in your life, a well done beavertail is a real treat!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="05640750.jpg" border=0 width="320" height="117" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> And as I get some time, I'll be updating this site with more pictures from 2005's GCMR-6 "ride-in and scharf-down" (ok, I just made that up).   Since I know many of you are wondering just when the GCMR-7 is gonna be next year, you can click on the GCMR-7 link above.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Road Ranger</I></div> <div> <I>(Mrs.  Cotton's little boy, Lenny!)</I></div> <div> <I>Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada</I></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>