When I first started trail riding with Frank Wood, we often set out on the defunct rail lines that started out behind Frank’s house in the Stirling area and deposited us in various places around southern Ontario.
At first, the rails and ties were still in place and riding over and along them could present many challenges and obstacles. Frank was a master at finding the right pace over the ties. At the proper speed you could get into a rhythm that put you somewhere between jarring your teeth loose and just barely destroying your kidneys. I would vibrate bravely behind Frank until my glasses would work their way to the bottom of my nose. Eventually this snobbish riding posture would force me to pull over, replace my glasses to their proper location and start vibrating all over again. We would, in time find ourselves at some great location to get off the rail bed and do some regular trail riding. One of our favorite spots and usually the first spot we took a visiting trail riding buddy to, was the old Marmora mine site.
Frank and I had been riding here for several years. It was now a quiet setting but once was one of the busiest and productive mines in Ontario. For years iron ore miners had created this enormous hole in the earth. Railcar after railcar carried away its iron ore bounty and now nature was reclaiming it. They had pierced to a depth of 850 feet when the water rushed in and recaptured the land. It is still 350 feet down before you can dip your toes in that cold spring water. The vacated terrain man left behind was a great trail-riding venue. The mounds of tailings and slag piles made for many impromptu moto-cross races, hill climbs and informal flat track races. The top of the mountains of rock, gravel and ore tailings offered a panoramic view of the sleepy village of Marmora.
To get into the mine we could just slip off the rail line and through some trees. Here the landscape opened up to reveal a rise of some 20 feet where the deposited cinder stone created acres of dirt track like terrain. Once on top of this table top area, you had the option of going to the dirt hills and riding some motocross, riding on the ore crushings like your favorite dirt track hero, or just exploring the vast emptiness of the mine and it’s scenic beauty. We often followed the corkscrew roads down into the deepest reaches of the mine just to appreciate the incredible depth of this man-made abyss.
It was on one of these many rides that both Frank and I encountered one of our biggest obstacles. One after the other we plummeted some twenty feet into a ditch carefully placed at the mine entrance by some misdirected site foreman who wanted to keep us out. This served a rude notice that man had returned and now planned once again to make profit from this riding playground we had come to call our own. The machinery was moving in and we had been served eviction notice.
Frank crashed into the ditch first and in a flurry of dust and bouncing motorcycle, I went in right on top of him, crashing my bike into Frank’s broken motorcycle and narrowly missing a now scrambling fallen rider.
Thankfully our injuries were only minor but our motorcycles and riding gear received major damage. Frank’s XL 250 had the entire fork assembly broken off at the steering head. My XR 200 had the handlebars twisted into a nice set of clubman bars. The front wheel had tried hard to make itself square. The gas tank was caved in right around where the seat and other important parts first meet it. I could have sang a great soprano aria at the church choir the following Sunday had I been in the mood. We spent the whole afternoon dragging our twisted bikes back to a rescue truck. Bruised and battered, we limped home. On closer inspection we found we had to toss out our helmets. Both had received extensive damage.
Every trail ride is a pleasure and sometimes an adventure. All have their own obstacles. Just as in life these obstacles can be natural or man-made. How we overcome them is greatly dependant on how prepared we are when they emerge. Spend the extra on proper riding gear. Take the time to do a proper set up of the bike. Expect the unexpected and above all, have fun and ride safe!