Guten abend mein Herren!
Lakeview, TotalFool and I went for a little boot on the weekend and Gretel performed like a champ. She really is a
"gentleman's express" sort of a bike on which you can belt along at a pretty good clip in a remarkably unruffled fashion.
I left Windsor at about 9:30 AM and picked up Lakeview at his country estate an hour later and then we rode to a place between London and Chatham, ON called
Park's Blueberries where we met TotalFool who had ridden west from his home in London (not
THAT London, the other one). Park's is a sort of a combo country market, massive fruit stand and really good diner - plus they sell
THE BEST butter tarts anywhere. After a delicious and healthy
lunch, we all went for a ride on what is about the only twisty road in this part of Ontario along the banks of the muddy Thames (no - not
THAT Thames, the other one).
Unfortunately, I only took one photo (
bad Pete - bad!!) but everyone's bike ran great and Gretel was comfy and smooth the whole 285 km. Lakeview was riding his new '77 blue XS650D and it looked and sounded just great with a really nice bark from the exhausts and reliable starter performance, and TotalFool was on his 2011 Yamaha V-Star XVS650 which he is really enjoying too - after many years away from bikes.
On Sept. 26, TotalFool and I are going on the CVMG
Trunk of the Elephant ride around Essex and Kent counties. It is a sort of 140 km timed rally where you lose points for being too fast or too slow and you must have a photo of you and your bike at three waypoints on the route. The name of the event comes from the odd appearance of a map of this part of Canada which resembles an elephant and his trunk.
Unfortunately, Lakeview will be in the shop for some minor repairs, but we hope he will turn up for lunch.
Cheers,
Pete