first ride the highlands solo loop of 2025
I didn’t go far and I didn’t go fast.
I didn’t ride any of my favourite Ride the Highlands’ roads – Appleton, Tennyson, Tatlock, Centennial Lake, Crow Lake, Letterkenny, Opeongo, River, Rosetta, Pucker, Pinnacle, Waba, Whelan, Wolfgrove, Galbraith, North Shore, the 511, 32, 143, 60 or the 29, among others.
Nor did I visit any of my favourite Ride the Highlands’ destinations – Calabogie, Perth, Denbigh, Barry’s Bay, the hilltop church at Schut, the Highlands Country Store in McDonald’s Corners, the General Store in Quadeville, The Quartermaster’s Quirky Café in Tamworth, Tooey’s Lake or the Antrim Truck Stop, also among others.
But I did get on Kit, my new-to-me 2019 V-star 250. And I did a little Almonte loop. (If you haven’t yet visited Almonte, it’s a great little town on the edge of Lanark Highlands). I did my little Almonte loop eight times – five times clockwise and three times counterclockwise.
I rode for three-quarters of an hour, stopped and started more than 50 times, averaged 9.7 kph and hit a top speed of 35 kph. I didn’t drop the bike. I didn’t collide with a curb, a ditch or another vehicle. I didn’t think about anything but staying upright.
Then I came inside and had a nap.
Because I was exhausted
Because I’m a beginner again.
Next time, I hope to go farther, faster and for longer. Like I used to…
© 2025 Susan Macaulay. I invite you to share my poetry and posts widely, but please do not reprint, reblog or copy and paste them in their entirety without my permission. Thank you.
