Sunday morning...

I was up at 5 am, feeding Sir William and Lady Abby.  By quarter to six, is was beginning to light.  I let out a shiver sampling the 9 degree weather in my shorts standing outside the garage door on the sunny side of the house.

By 6 30, the temperature was well into the double digits, nearly 12 in fact, so warm that I decided to go for the quintessential Sunday morning ride.  I haven't ridden the 600 since Friday evening after I installed all the new parts, after all it was raining much of the day.  Yesterday I geared up all the remaining bikes except for the TY 175, it needs an oil seal replaced before I ride it.  Of all my bikes I chose the Suzuki VX 800 for today.


                                                                  

7 am

Weather forecast was sunny with potential of showers, but it was looking good standing there in my boxers, so I would chance it.  I haven't ridden this bike since changing out the head bearings and this was a good opportunity to shake it down (No pun intended)

last of its kind on the Island

Everyone was still asleep, as I prepped the bike and picked appropriate gear.  Only thing special was two pairs of gloves in case it warmed substantially.


By 6 50 after checking the little red line and satisfied that at 15 degrees, I was good to go, the final countdown had begun.  Shortly after seven I was taking my first photos in a very quiet Kensington, nary another human or moving vehicle in sight.

very neat and quaint little "downtown" in K'ton

I had a loose (the only kind I like) plan to ride central Queens county, counterclockwise, by heading directly south across the Island to Borden before riding through Crapaud east to Victoria by the Sea and then Port la Joye otherwise known as Fort Amherst, directly across the bay from our quaint capital city, Charlottetown.

Mossies are biting just fine

After leaving K'ton, I headed XC crossing the Dunk on route 110, stopping to ask a fly fisherman how the trout were biting.  His answer "not at all... but the mosquitoes were more than making up for it!" 

and they come even older than this burg!

At Middletown I hooked up with the 1A.

Gateway village shopping in Borden

On the approach to Borden, I remembered very well the long line-ups during summer tourist season, vehicles waiting for the next ferry crossing.  The Confederation bridge has changed all that.  No more line-ups and no more 'stuck in the strait' during an ice jam!

No ice today, except at Cow's, which wasn't yet open.  In fact Borden was sleeping in, there was only myself on my Suzuki V twin and a couple of busloads of tourists doing what tourists do, snap countless photos of the bridge, the nearby caboose and the defunct lighthouse!  I backtracked a few kilometers to the Trans Canada junction with 1A and nearly got clipped passing a Quebec sedan that at the very last second crossed from the Summerside off ramp, across the faded yellow median and right into my path... just as I was picking up speed overtaking them.

Yup, that'd be the bridge 14km to New Brunswick Canada

A quick stab at both brakes and there was no harm done, but just goes to show me yet again, how vigilant one must be when flitting about the world on a motorbike.

I turned at the Victoria junction and surprised a small red fox, just chowing down on something at roadside.  For a second I thought he/she may dart out across my path but I was past before he/she had a moment to react.

Busloads of Asian tourists

My road speed had been right on the speed limit, which for most Island roads is 80 or 90 kph. There are numerous towns and villages where the posted limit drops to 60 or even 50.  In fact 90 is the fastest allowed speed on the Island.  Guess being so small, the powers that be, decided that they didn't want tourists leaving too quickly...

Seat 46... seats two!

Victoria is a very pretty place.  Unlike its counterpart on the other Island on the other coast, this Victoria by the Sea has barely five streets and there is no downtown.

A mecca for those that like traditional little seaside villages in the summertime, today there was no one about and even the Beachcombers wasn't yet open.  I took a few snaps to add to my burgeoning collection of some 30,000 photos, and at some point it crossed my mind that whoever inherits my photos albums (including the hard drive) will have quite a record of my life.  Hopefully, they will love looking at them as much as I loved taking them.  You know what they say... a picture is worth a thousand words, right!

This is Victoria and it's by the sea!

The sun was beginning to poke through the cloud cover just perceptibly and the temperature reflected that, as I changed into my regular gloves from my gauntlets.  The next 30 minutes I cruised to DeSable, Argyle Shore and Canoe cove, where not a single canoe was spotted!  The road was filled with potholes, either recently filled to yet to be.  Island roads are not for the faint of heart, once off Highway 1 or 2, known as the "All weather highway"  Shoulders are none existent and you wouldn't want to lose you concentration, the ditches tend to be made to carry away rain water or unsuspecting motorcyclists.

I see an upcoming story here...

Route 19 is one of my old Island favorites, busy with cottage goers and tourists in the warmer months but not today.  The only thing I saw this morning of any number were mobile bowling pins in the form of small furry bunnies!  And I am not talking the Playboy mansion residents.  These little guys bounce like the proverbial "eight" ball into the corner pocket, no matter... I was enjoying just cruising at 80-90 kph.  A sign greeted me just past Nine Mile Creek turn-off, warning me of a bridge out at kilometer 9.  The Fort was 8 kilometers in, so I pretended to be 'local' traffic and rode on in.

Hmmmm, what's going on here?

Once there, memories flooded my head, I was in for a nasty surprise...