A nice Sunday drive in the country can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Some like to get together with their loved ones and take a slow drive through the back roads, enjoying the freshness that only the back roads can offer. Spring time is off course the best time of year in Canada, as the trees are beginning to bud and there is a crisp fresh spring smell in the air. The animals start coming out to frolic in the still warming air. Everything seems new at this time of year.

That is exactly what several dozen V Strom drivers decided to do this past Sunday, ( and a couple of BMW drivers) Though perhaps not in the conventional  sense of a “slow” country drive.

For some years now the Stromtroopers Forum group has met for lunch in Bancroft Ontario, Canada.  Bancroft is a quaint little village set near Algonquin park. It is nestled in ” cottage country’ surrounded by large hills and ten of thousands of hectares of forest. Roads leading to and from the village are a bikers dream. Peppered with tight twisting curves, mostly smooth and well maintained asphalt and on an early Sunday morning very few cars.

I started off at 6:30 am. It was a chilly 1 degree outside, though I was layered well with a Merino wool base layer, then a layer of fleece, and finally my Klim motorcycle gear with all vents tightly sealed. I had a two hour drive before meeting up with riders from Ottawa to finish the 250 km ride to Bancroft.

When I arrived in Carleton Place the temperature had risen to a balmy 4 degrees. I had a bit of a chill in my toes, though nothing a good coffee and good conversation in a heated coffee shop couldn’t help warm up.

At 9:00 a.m we left to finish the 250 km drive to Bancroft. The ride was spectacular. Sadly the video never does it justice. The hours seemed to fly by as we throttled our motorcycles through the twisting and winding roads. Hitting each corner like it was going to be the last, only to immediately to our delight finding we were leaning down again into another tight twisty.

We arrived just after 12:00 to meet some 25 other V Strom riders and two BMW riders. We spent the next couple of hours sharing stories of the roads and trails and ” comparing notes” on each others bikes. For a model of bike that only has a 650 cc and 1000 cc it is amazing how many modifications and farkles one can come up with to make these bikes personal to each owner looks, and riding styles.

After a great lunch, meeting and talking to new and old friends a dozen of us headed out for a ” meandering” ride through the back roads. With a mix of beautiful scenery, great riders, some awesome tarmac, as well as a few ” butt puckering” roads and moments we ended the day as a group in Perth. I then headed out on my own to finish the two hours drive home, arriving just shortly after 7:00 pm. 781.5 km’s, 10.5 hours in the saddle and a few hours of chatting made for one hell of an awesome day!!. Thanks to everyone!.