Saturday, 26 Nov 05: We woke up this morning to find that 10cm of snow had fallen overnight. Normally this would be cause for a severe rant and sulking performance by yours truly, but today was different. I was actually looking forward to the snow so that I could take the Ural out and see how it handled in winter conditions. So after shoveling the driveway and the sidewalk, I hauled the rig out of the garage and went inside to get dressed for the ride. I had originally planned to throw some heavy objects into the chair for ballast, but as I was getting suited up Hector started prancing about and squeaking because he knew I was going out on the bike. I didn't have the heart to leave him behind, so it was one happy puppy that followed me outside.
For some reason my digital camera insists on automatically darkening the exposure every time I take a picture under bright light conditions, so even though it appears dark out in these pics it really wasn't. It was overcast with light winds and a temp of -3C but we were dressed for the occasion. I had my thermal undies, electric vest, sweatshirt, parka, track pants, riding pants, cold weather gloves, two pairs of socks, insulated riding boots and a full-face helmet while Hector opted for his usual fur coat and Doggles to keep him warm. Despite sitting unused in the cold garage for over a week, the Ural fired up right away on full choke and then settled down to it's usual steady idle.
Despite the thick layer of snow in the alleyway we made it out onto the plowed streets of the town with no trouble. First stop was at the gas station, where we had the first of many compliments by passers-by; the guy who owns the van in the background was absolutely amazed that we were out riding in this weather. He saw Hector in the chair as we pulled up and he was laughing as he asked, "Are we having fun today?" The Ural/Hector combo, as usual, attracted lots of looks from the traffic out on the streets and I didn't have to worry about not being seen by inattentive cagers as we rode around - EVERYONE was looking at us as we passed.
We left town and headed down the Parkway with the intent of stopping at the Lighthouse LCBO outlet to get some wine for supper, but the winds were blowing cold off the water and strong across the road. My parka, helmet and electric vest were no match for this and I was getting chilled, so we pulled off into a rest area to get a couple pics before heading back into town in search of a less windy route. Had to endure and return more waves, honks and smiles as I got off the bike... sometimes it's tough being an instant celebrity.
Of course I had to let Hector out for a romp before leaving as it was his first snowfall of the season, too, and he was eager to get out and play in it. When it was time to go I discovered the first rule of Ural winter riding - as long as the bike is in motion while in deep snow, traction is not a problem. Starting off in it, though, requires a bit of clutchwork, body shifting and countersteering until some speed is built up. I now know why the Ural has such a low first gear; it really comes in handy when navigating at low speeds through soft road surfaces. A few cautious squeezes of the front disc brake resulted in the bike locking up the front wheel and "plowing" straight ahead despite all counter-measures, so the rear brake got a lot of use today while the front saw duty only when absolutely necessary.
The stock Russian tires have a fairly aggressive tread and seem to work well in the snow and slush; I didn't experience any loss of traction due to clogged treads and as long as the speed was kept to a reasonable level in the corners there was no sliding about. Once we got off the Parkway and out of the wind, I decided to take a short hop down HWY2 east and take some back roads leading up and around the north end of town. Traffic was light and we averaged about 70kmh on roads like this one. This is Station Road, which goes past the VIA Rail station and ends up at HWY32 about 2km north of town. Just after I took this photo a CN Rail service truck passed from behind, the driver was staring at me with a look that clearly and obviously stated he thought I was nuts. Oh well, not everyone is a fan.
As we rode back into town I spotted the empty, unplowed parking lot across the street from the Home Hardware store. Ural + snow + parking lot = FUN! I spent about a good 10 minutes doing doughnuts and low speed sliding turns, much to the delight and amusement of traffic passing by on the road. Hector was a little freaked out and kept himself tucked down low in the sidecar, refusing to pop up even when I called him while lining up this photo. I had to take a break when the bike started running rough and idling erratically; at first I thought it had overheated, but closer inspection revealed an air intake slot blocked solid with snow! I took a few minutes to clear it out and let the bike cool down a bit before firing it up for more fun.
Had a scary moment when we attracted the attention of the guy plowing the Home Hardware lot with his front-end loader; he came flying across the road and headed straight for us; I moved out of his way but he swerved right back into my path. He kept coming and at the last minute he veered away and came to a sliding stop beside us. I looked up into the cab, expecting to be greeted with an angry tirade and was surprised to see the old fellow laughing and jabbering away, pointing at Hector and giving us the thumbs up. I guess he just wanted to get a closer look at the cool doggy in the sidecar.
We rode through town and crossed the Gananoque River, then headed back up the other side and out into the country again. There was a road I'd been wanting to explore ever since I first saw it while on a run with my old Dnepr earlier in the year; it was gravel surfaced and had a "Dead End" sign at the entrance, but seemed to go on for a distance. It was worth a look, anyway especially since we were the first ones to travel down it this morning. The Ural took to it like, well, like a Russian bike to deep snow. I was laughing my *ss off, it was an absolute hoot to rip down a deserted road on a bike in the winter. Hector must have thought I'd gone nuts; he kept looking in my direction with his ears perked up for most of the way. It's been a long time since I've had this much fun in winter.
The bike tracked straight as an arrow in the deep snow, so I just had to stop and get a pic of our tracks. We cruised along in third gear at 50kmh, enjoying the ride. I wicked it up a bit once I got more confident and we ended up scaring the hell out of some guy on an ATV plowing his driveway; turns out there are four houses along this quiet road and when we suddenly appeared in full slide from around the corner and went whooshing by him in a cloud of snow, it was totally outside his frame of reference. He almost fell off his ATV, he was so startled.
The road ended a few km's later, so I turned the rig around and let Hector out for another romp and another photo. Almost got stuck when it was time to go; the Ural dug in its rear wheel and sat there spinning away when I tried to launch. Put it in reverse and got about 2' back before it dug in again and I realised we were on some very soft and unused gravel surface. Put it back into first gear and feathered the clutch, but it just kept spinning and digging in deeper. I was about to get off and drag/push it clear when the tire hit some harder gravel and the bike began to move forward. Once we got about 10' we were in the clear and away we went. I think I'll ring my friendly Ural dealer to expedite delivery of a knobby tire for the rear.
Rode back into town one more time, but I wasn't ready to call it quits just yet so we took the long way south all the way down to the St Lawrence River. By now it was around 9:30am and many people were out shoveling their driveways and sidewalks, so Hector had lots of admirers as we motored along. I lost count of how many waves and smiles we'd received since starting out; my left hand seemed to be spending a lot of time in the air returning waves. Anyway, I was going to get right up to the waterfront for another photo but the winds were so strong that the blowing snow was creating near whiteout conditions. We rode inland a bit to the boat launch beside the town's Public Utilities Office (the limestone building on the left) for one last pic before heading home. Hector was starting to get chilled by now and stayed huddled on his blanket in the nose of the sidecar.
Some 24km after leaving, we returned to the garage. I led Hector into the house so he could get warm while I brushed the snow and salt off the rig. I was surprised at how clogged up the wheels were; there was snow and slush everywhere but the bike still rode like it was a normal summer day on dry pavement. I am impressed by how easy it is to ride this rig in all weather conditions - it's the ATV of motorcycles.
One thing I'm going to do next time check the rear lights more often. I'm sure the traffic behind me couldn't see any of the signal or brake lights; if we'd been spotted by the police we would probably have been pulled over for a brief lecture on the importance of vehicle lighting. Next time I'll be more safety conscious. And warmer - even though I was dressed in layers I was starting to feel cold by the time we got home. I'm definitely going to ask Santa to bring me a snowmobile suit; then I can go out all winter and play in the cold snow with my new toy!
