I awoke early and jumped out of bed with all the vigour of a small child on Christmas. This kind of excitement this early in the morning is normally as uncommon for me as attending an art gallery, but this wasn’t just any morning. This day I would be embarking on my first motorcycle ride of the 2009 season. A flurry of activity circled the hotel room as visors were cleaned and bags were packed amid the scrounging for coffee and bagels hastily being buttered to get a good base for a morning of riding. Not satisfied with my usual local tours and not wealthy enough to make a large scale expedition, I headed to Northern Ontario where I had been told there were miles of smooth, empty highways and byways just waiting to be ridden. I would soon find out just how much of an understatement that was.
I arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, or ‘The Soo’ as it is often referred, just before dinner the night before. The ride from Toronto had been scenic and smooth, but rather uneventful since I had stuck to Highways 400 and 17 to make tracks as quickly as possible. I was promised that this was all about to drastically change as I would be making the trek to Wawa, Ontario, a route that is touted as one of the 10 best rides in all of Canada. Having done my fair share of riding in this incomparably beautiful and vast country of ours, my expectations were high after hearing a claim like this.
While travelling by motorcycle can create a multitude of hassles when it comes to bike washing, storage and safety, many Northern Ontario accommodations are accustomed to hosting snowmobilers in sub-arctic weather conditions. As a result, many hotels and motels have secured storage and maintenance facilities to keep expensive recreational machines protected from the elements and away from prying eyes, so that your bike is just the way you left it the night before.
Under sunny skies and chillier than normal temperatures our group of riders assembled, which were about as diverse as they come. Men and women ranging from beginner to expert aboard crotch rockets and cruisers, we set out. Having only a couple of days to spare in the area known as Algoma Country, it was decided that we would tackle what was known as the Grand Circle Tour. One could literally spend months in the area and never see the same scenery twice if you had enough time to invest.
The trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa follows the coastline of Lake Superior along Highway 17. No two turns are the same with each one offering a new and different view of the greatest of the great lakes. Our scenic afternoon ride to Wawa (yes, we saw the giant goose) was broken up by lunch as well as a few stops for photo opportunities and restroom facilities.
After a casual afternoon of riding, we parked the bikes directly outside our private cabins. My own personal cabin complete with rock star parking, which overlooked a nine hole golf course, had two large bedrooms with four queen-sized beds, a large sitting room with fireplace and a kitchen–all for less than you would spend on a jail cell sized room at a Comfort Inn. The true beauty of Northern Ontario for those who choose to embrace it, is the incredible value. If a group of riders were to chip in and rent this cabin and cook their own food, each person’s accommodations for the night would work out to being cheaper than a case of beer. High value with surprisingly little expense makes such a trip all the more worthwhile during these difficult economic times. Not only that, but we were treated to unprecedented hospitality wherever we went, which only added to the experience.
Bright and early the next morning, we topped ourselves up with Tim Horton’s coffee (Yes, Wawa even has a Timmies) and our bikes with gas to set out on a totally different day of riding. Where Highway 17 boasts wide-open views of Lake Superior, Highway 101 towards Chapleau darts inland providing tighter turns and an equally impressive backdrop with sparkling rivers and mountain ranges.
Millions of years ago, during the Precambrian era, a multitude of lakes and rivers were carved out of the earth, creating unique rock formations and stunning views amidst the landscape. Much of this incredibly diverse and distinctive geographical entity remains virtually untouched, allowing a co-existence with nature unseen in most of the world. Smooth two-lane blacktop winds its way past majestic waterfalls, sparkling rivers and massive rock shelves which photographs hardly do any justice whatsoever.
A total of eleven National parks as well as nature and wildlife preserves span this landscape where it is not uncommon to come across fox, deer, hawks, moose or beavers during a ride. This isn’t just tourism department mumbo jumbo either, as I came across much of the aforementioned wildlife firsthand during my brief experience in the area. Lacking in gridlock, road rage and even streetlights for the most part, this area has become a playground for nature and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, with good reason.
After topping up the bikes and ourselves in Chapleau, we set off down Highway 129 back towards the Soo, stopping by St. Joseph Island. The most western of the Manitoulin Islands, St. Joseph Island sits within the channel between Lakes Huron and Superior and offers a combination of majestic views and small town hospitality. The Hilton Beach Inn on St. Joseph Island is often a favoured destination for bikers of all kinds and host their own version of a Friday the 13th gathering.
We assembled our formation once again to return to the Soo and the completion of our ride. In just 24-hours, we experienced equally diverse yet spectacular scenery and northern Ontario wildlife. The stunning landscape and smooth roads will keep you entertained for as much time as you have to invest. Regardless of the riders in your group, Algoma Country provides a landscape that is vastly accessible and interesting to enthusiasts of all skill levels.
While there are many fair-weather motorcyclists who are content to tear up the same local tarmac week after week, there are others who constantly gaze towards the horizon, ever searching out new roads that will prove more picturesque and interesting than those outside their front door. There are thousands of astoundingly beautiful, scenic routes across this great country that await those who are willing to take the time to search them out, and some are even closer than you think.
For more information on riding or accommodation in Ontario go to www.gorideontario.com
