Well now I know

[Heavy]

I decided to play hooky from my haying duties yesterday.  I hadn't ridden more than 50 miles on my 2 bikes, combined, last month.  Farming is stupid ... I'm going riding!

I enjoy looking at maps and plotting adventures, even short ones are enticing. As I only had a 1/2 day, I couldn't venture too far from home. I've been curious about a road, to the north of me, that parallels the Ontario/Quebec border and looks pretty remote, for being relatively close to civilization.  Well, yesterday was the day to find out what it's about.

Ontario highway 533 runs south-east from highway 63, north of North Bay, down to the town of Mattawa and is only about 30 miles in length.  ( https://goo.gl/maps/h8Nb7oVsysDj7K557 ) On Google maps it looked to have some fairly good squiggles in it.

I figured out early on that it was more of a "V-Strom" road than a Tracer road.  The extra suspension travel and larger front wheel would have been better suited to the lumpy and poorly patched road.  Avoiding the bad stuff with the Tracer just improves your riding skills, I guess. The ends are a little straight but the centre section had a good amount of twists and turns with elevation changes. There is really not much civilization along the route and I can only imagine trying to avoid the deer and moose if riding it at night.

https://goo.gl/maps/qPG3UWu1YcSvrPzQ6

All in all, a fun bit of exploring.  I think I would have been better off on my CRF250 Rally, but maybe next time.

I got home around 5:00, happy and hungry and before I could even finish getting my gear off my wife phoned ... GET YOUR ASS TO THE FARM, I HAVE A BALER FIRE!!!  So much for the day away.  😢

Edited August 2, 2023 by Heavy

[arthur]

Oh my goodness - hope everything works out for you, and maybe a neighbour can loan you a baler for this cut.

[duckie]

Yikes……

[knyte]

Looks like a VERY fun stretch!  What's up with all the road closures - farm equipment on fire ?

(j/k j/k - I hope it worked out OK)

[Heavy]

23 hours ago, arthur said:

Oh my goodness - hope everything works out for you, and maybe a neighbour can loan you a baler for this cut.

We lucked out ... she noticed smoke early on and emptied a fire extinguisher into it then drove to the house and used the garden hose to soak everything down.

We came away with 2 valuable bits of knowledge ...  Clean out the machine on a regular basis and keep a fire extinguisher handy.

I tore into it yesterday.  Found a bearing had gone bad and the heat ignited some dust/chaff that was behind a sprocket.

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Heavy

[Heavy]

9 hours ago, knyte said:

Looks like a VERY fun stretch!  What's up with all the road closures - farm equipment on fire ?

(j/k j/k - I hope it worked out OK)

They weren't closures.  That was places where they had replaced culverts.  A section of loose gravel, maybe 20 feet across.

Farm equipment on fire out there would be way scary ... trees and brush right to the edges of the road, and all tinder dry.  Enough of Canada is burning.  We don't need more.  😉

[duckie]

Where I live now, people pile up their  brush,tree limbs and such into burn piles. 
 
Got a couple out back but I won’t use them yet cause I havent got a moble water tank and pump. I aint gonna start a fire if I aint got no way to control it.

When I designed my shop, I had a door put in the middle of the back wall as a emergency exit. I tell everyone its to the bathroom.