Day 33 - (so) Sault (me,) Ste. Marie

If any day on this trip could be routine, this was it. Just a bit shorter than recent days at 143 km and with a tailwind for some of that.The terrain continued to be hilly in the morning as I crossed the Montreal River valley. At that point, I met the young woman Ann(e?) and dad Hugh, who now finally have names. We probably won't meet again though because they're taking a shorter route through Ontario that bypasses Toronto. I wish them luck.

For a while after that, the terrain flattened out and I was in daydream land. I ate with Rick, Graham and Jim (I'm starting to think of them as the three musketeers because they're always together) at a large rest stop with native crafts around Pancake Bay. Sadly, there were no pancakes to be found.

After the rest stop, I stopped daydreaming, which was probably good for my safety but made the time pass much more slowly. There were lots of beaches, nice views of the lake, and Ontarionians on vacation. I didn't take many pictures due to my recent camera issues.


Coming into the Soo, there was a hill called something like One Mile Hill.


You could see it looming from quite a distance, but honestly it was no problem at all. In a strange way, I feel stronger now after a good climb. It doesn't hurt my knees the way headwinds do.

Although it was a "routine" day, at 9:50 I'm struggling to stay awake. It's a rest day tomorrow so I can count on a good night's sleep, and maybe some more after that.

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Day 32 - Ag(! We're h)aw(f w)a(y!)

Yes, a milestone today as we reached the official halfway point. Chelsea and Nieka (my phone wants to say nutella) met us at km 75 with sandwiches and treats.


This was our first good view of Lake Superior and, well, it might as well be an ocean. I dipped my feet in and imagined that I was connected to the Atlantic.


I was on my own the whole day, although I saw Ilan and Owen pulling out of the lunch stop as I came in, and three others coming in as I left. I also bumped into the young woman and her dad that I had seen weeks ago. Fortunately this time it wasn't while I was talking to myself on the bike (I did do quite a bit of that today). It's nice to see that they're still rolling along.

The campground here is right on the beach and as I write this I'm lying on the sand with the sun setting in front of me. Not bad at all.



Butt report: improving. Between 6 and 8 today.

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Day 31 - O (please don't swing that) bat (in) anga

The thundershowers last night went on for hours, at one point forcing some of us to take cover in the truck. Fortunately the rain had stopped by morning, but everything was still wet. My helmet had been sitting out in the rain all night, so when I put it on, there was a steady stream of cold water running down my forehead.

Although it wasn't raining, it was cold and damp, and still very foggy. I rode with Chris and Isabel to start and gave Chris my batteries because my tail light had stopped working (it does that when it gets wet, i.e. just when it's needed the most). We huddled together with Chris in the back, hoping that his light and our reflective triangles would keep us out of danger. At home I would never ride in those conditions, but we didn't have much choice.

The fog stayed with us for about three hours before finally lifting. At that point we'd only done 55 out of 150 km.

I was anxious to get into camp to dry out my stuff, so I went ahead on my own. The temperature rose quickly and I soon found myself removing layers. I was also working fairly hard and, thanks to the hilly terrain, passed all but two of the other riders up the road. My knees held together petty well but did occasionally remind me not to get carried away. Party poopers.

An aside... in the last two days we've seen a lot of other cyclists on the road. We even rode with one of them for a while yesterday, Sam, who is going across the country on his own. I would guess that on the trip so far, we've met at least a dozen other groups crossing the country on bikes. I would bet that at least 100 people are doing it this year. What a bunch of loonies!

I ended up at camp about an hour earlier than yesterday, despite leaving an hour later. I even had time for a quick dip in the lake and man, that felt good.

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Day 30 - (got me on my) Neys

What a day. We knew it was going to be tough at over 160 km, but conditions on the road raised the bar to another level.

We had headwinds, many big hills, roads in varying states of (dis)repair and with about 30 km left to go I noticed that I was surrounded by black clouds. Soon, the skies opened up and I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. I tried to find some shelter against a cliff face but out was no use. Eventually I carried on, glad that I had new batteries in my tail light because visibility was pretty bad. I was even worried I might miss the turn off to the campground.

I did make it to camp some time after 6. I left Nipigon at 7:40 this morning so it was as long day. My mistake was having two long lunch stops on the road, but then hindsight is 20/20, isn't it?

In other news, I'm sad to announce the passing of my Nikon point-and-shoot camera that I was using for almost all my pictures. A bump in the road yesterday threw its lenses out of wack. I did manage a few pictures with my phone along the route, which was quite scenic in spots as it climbed rocky cliffs beside Lake Superior. It reminded me a bit of the Cabot Trail.

To do: look up the definition of escarpment.

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Day 29 - Nipi (-t in the bud and the pain will be) gon (-e)

The troops were restless this morning when there was no sign of our support truck at breakfast time. The truck has had some problems lately, to put it mildly. First, it wouldn't go above 80 km/h, then a day later it was 60, and finally it could only crawl along at 10 km/h. After breakfast at the cafeteria, the girls picked up a new but identical truck from the rental company and moved all our stuff into it. By the time we got to Nipigon, the only evidence anything had happened was fewer dead bugs on the front of the truck.

The ride was another relatively easy one, about 110 km with a tailwind. Chris, Isabel and I made a detour to the Terry Fox monument, in a nicely maintained park off the main highway out of Thunder Bay.

I was moved by the monument, maybe because I have a better appreciation now for what he did. As I rode on, the number 3,339 stayed in my head. That is the number of miles (yes, miles) that he ran until he had to stop around where that monument stands. We're almost halfway across the country and we've only done about that many kilometers. So he was not cutting corners, that's for sure. And with all the obstacles he faced, it makes my sore butt seem pretty insignificant. I think it's a real testament to the human spirit that someone would do that for a cause. Here's a link, by the way, to the Terry Fox Foundation.

Speaking of my butt, it was hovering between 5 and 7 out of 10, with 10 being perfectly comfortable. Still room for improvement but heading in the right direction. Zincofax has found another convert, by the way, so we're up to 5 users out of 8 riders.

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Thunder Bay Rest Day

I forgot to mention how hot it was on the days leading up to Thunder Bay. I remember arriving in Chabaqua Corners covered in a shining later of sweat, dirt and sunscreen. The value of a post-ride shower cannot be overemphasized on days like those.

At Lakehead University, we were in 80's era townhouses.

I spent most of the rest day around the house catching up with email and reading. The coolest place in the house was on the living room floor, on the orange carpet that was probably as old as the building. I read my book there for a while, drifting in and out of sleep.

At one point, I psyched myself up to get on the bike for an errand, and rode by streets with names like "Tungsten" and "Alloy". It definitely had the feeling of an industrial town, from what I saw of it.

Unfortunately, I failed in my mission to try Thunder Bay's local delicacy, the "Persian" pastry. Persian Man was closed. Something for next time!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3

Day 28 - Thunder (-ing across the country) Bay

The ride into Thunder Bay was a piece of cake - less than 70 km with the wind at our backs. We had lots of time to stop and check out Kakabeka Falls.

After a foot long sub for lunch and pizza at around 3 pm, I forgot about food for a while, but by 8:00 I was shaking with hunger and there was absolutely nothing to eat within walking distance. Reluctantly, Chris and I got back on our bikes and rode to Swiss Chalet. We got our meals to go so we wouldn't have to find our way back in the dark, and decided to stop into Shopper's on the way for some butt meds.

Unwilling to wait any longer before eating, I had my supper outside on the garbage can while watching the bikes as Chris did his shopping.

Now that's atmosphere! Then we switched places and I went in to get the same thing he had just bought: Zincofax (diaper rash cream) and baby powder. I wonder what was going through the mind of the woman on the cash.

Four of the eight riders on the trip are now Zincofax users. Maybe we should consider sponsorship...

Today's track

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.3