Ontario Guzzi Riders Rally 2009

I guess we should have known. After perfect weather for the 2008 Ontario Guzzi Rally, it was really wishful thinking to even imagine that we might get 2 in a row.

The weather forecasts were not good, but then again, we’re always surprised when the weather man is right, so why shouldn’t we hope?

Turns out the weather man was right for once and we had pretty bad weather for most of the weekend, but we had about 40 people show up, and, as always, those that did come had a great time.

As usual, there were several arrivals on the Thursday, and that evening was spent getting to know each other and quietly relaxing before the rally proper. George, the Guzzi dealer from Toronto arrived with a motor home, lots of Guzzi goodies, several demo bikes plus two lovely young helpers, Jessica and Janis.

The rain started after we had gone to bed that night, and continued on and off for most of Friday, and the Guzzi riders began to trickle in and set up camp between showers. In spite of the gloomy weather, everybody was as upbeat as ever, even if there was not much riding going on, except maybe to the beer store! Luckily there is plenty of shelter at Anchor Bay Campground and there are a couple of pool tables in a nice bar area, so everybody managed to relax and have fun.

The Friday meal was pizza from a local restaurant plus some really nice salads made by Rose Schulz. I know you’re all saying “Salads?” but, even to this committed meat-lover, they were really very tasty. The rain did let up enough for us to have campfires so we could all get dried out and warmed up before going to bed hoping for a better Saturday.

Well, Saturday dawned pretty much the same and Georges demo bikes sat idle at least for the morning. He had brought a Stelvio, a Griso, an 1100 Breva, a 1200 Sport and a V7 Classic, and everybody was itching to get to try some of them. In the early afternoon the weather started co-operating and smiles were the order of the day when people returned from their rides. I personally got to ride the V7 Classic and I thought it was a great bike. I’m about six-two, but I didn’t feel cramped and my 250 pounds didn’t slow it down at all. I certainly wouldn’t mind having one of these in my garage.

The Saturday evening meal was a great roast beef dinner with lots of salads and veggies provided by This Little Piggy Went to Market. This year we had enough vegetables to go around and everybody had their fill and the chef was swimming in compliments. Dinner was followed by the awards and door prizes. Long distance guy went to Dan Parker from Forestdale, Massachusetts, long distance gal went to France Loranger from Ottawa, Ontario, and long distance two-up went to Keith Smith and Isabel from Paul Smith’s, New York. People’s choice went to Keith Smith’s black 1100 Sport. Keith’s a popular guy and I suspect that the ballot may have been rigged slightly, but I can only report what the counters told me, they told me it was close with Dave William’s leMans 1 and Dan Parker’s EV just one vote behind.

Big thank yous went to George Rufolo from Motoretta Eurosport for bringing his demo bikes, lots of goodies to sell, lots of goodies to give away and, of course, Jessica and Janis. Klaus and Rose Schulz also deserve big thanks for all the help they’ve given over the years.

I’d also like to thank Morey Chaplick from Canadian Scooter Corporation for providing the Saturday evening meal for us. I’d like to, but unfortunately I can’t, because the cheque never arrived, so campers, your Saturday roast beef was courtesy of the Ontario Guzzi Riders.

Again, the evening was spent gathered around the campfire listening to some great blues music courtesy of Rich Stevenson and his Harley entertainment system. Say what you like about Harley’s, but when they turn the engine off, the sound (system) is great!

Sunday morning again turned out to be pretty miserable but after a while it cleared up a little and several people showed up on the Sunday morning just to say hello as every one else was leaving!. Once again, goodbyes were said and everybody left determined to come again next year. I think being a real motorcyclist definitely requires a certain trace of masochism.

For 2010 the Ontario rally will be in a new location.

Guy Fortier owns a Guzzi and the Lavigne Tavern, which will be the rally headquarters for 2010. Lavigne is located at the west end of Lake Nipissing on Hwy 64 and the tavern is at the intersection with Caron Road. (GPS co-ordinates N 46° 19.563’, W 080° 10.227’, 64 & Caron Road, Lavigne) There are several campsites within walking distance, these campsites also have cabins for rent, some have several rooms and beds so the cost can be reduced by sharing. The date will be the same, the weekend before Labor Day weekend. This new site holds great promise for future Guzzi rallies and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed when you come to see for yourselves.

Phil T