It was pretty warm last night and I put in an extra effort to catch up on the posts so you are entertained. I woke up around 5:30am which is good because this will generally allow me to avoid some heat and traffic in the first part of the day. Today would be different as my host Andrew was taking me for Finnish pancakes at the Hoito Restuarant. I got dressed and tucked back into my sleeping bag and quickly fell into a deep sleep. I think around 6:30 I heard Andrew and Anson mention my name and I popped up. They were ready to go so I got up and we went to the Finnish Labourers Temple where people were already gathering outside.
The Hoito restaurant is down some stairs from the street level and it was added in 1918 to the Temple to provide an affordable meal to workers etc. We ordered the pancakes which is what this place is famous for. The pancakes are thin like a crepe but there are four or five of then stuck together. The pancake itself is pretty moist and unlike normal pancakes you do not need a lot of syrup. I had strawberry syrup with actual lumps of strawberries. I was barely able to finish breakfast and felt quite content I was ready to ride after that meal!
We went back to Andrews house after to wait for the childrens grandma who was looking after the kids that day. We discussed housing prices which were about an eighth of prices in Vancouver. Hmm might be moving to Thunder Bay soon! Our final stop was at Global Hydration which is the company Andrew and his brother Ian are running. He showed me where the equipment is assembled and the various products they produce including water purification tablets, mini filters for a five gallon bucket and compact water filtration system with a UV light which could be used in logging camps or disaster relief. I really love what these are doing at global hydration and love the fact they are working out a small town in a world market. Once again it was nice to be taken in and fed by a most gracious host. Thank you Andrew, Nicole, Anson and Ayla!
Back on the road I took the Lake shore drive as per Andrews suggestion. Andrew had mentioned that there was a lot old volcanic rock showing around the town and the river was no exception, take a look at this:
After the river I turned onto Lake shore Drive. It was a nice quiet road with houses and cabins lining each side with larger pine and evergreen trees with the odd birch poking through. Little glimpses of Lake Superior kept me occupied as I rode along. After about 20 kilometers the road merges back onto highway one and the little shoulder and big trucks. Oh course my phone has no reception or data with Bell. At least GPS works!
Even though today was going to be short (later I will learn I miscalculated a bit) my legs felt trashed and it was hard to keep motivated. A lot of the hills are actually a gradual run up of about a kilometer or two and then a small steep climb at the end. I don’t mind the climb part because I get off the saddle, my butt gets a break and it is over quickly. The run up however is depressing because it seems flat but it isn’t and you crawl along and readjusting every 500 meters for my butt. After a while I just started sitting down hard on my saddle sores. I figured I would numb them into submission which actually helped quite a bit. But honestly who really cares, I am now riding on highway Terry Fox ran on. How incredible is that!!!
Between Thunder Bay and Nipigon there are only closed gas stations and restuarants meaning there is no food or water unless you stop at someones property. It is approximately 110 kilometers, so bring extra stuff cyclists! I stopped in the tourist office near Nipigon to get water and free wifi. My friend Cassandra and her cousin Renate had both e-mailed me with further instructions on how to get to the cabin at Kama point. I stayed in the office for a while and drank a full bottle of water and let the air conditioning cool me down while I rested and chatted with the caretaker.
I rode into Nipigon for a quick large meal and then headed off for the final 27 kilometers. There is a beautiful mountain ridge with exposed red rock along the highway that i stopped a few times to capture on the camera. I also took a video on the final climb before Kama point which I will post on youtube when I get some service (I don’t want to use up the Evans’ bandwidth which I needed to post this).
After the hill there is a small pull out before the point where I stopped to turn off the camera. There was a couple who drove from Pemberton there who I chatted with. They had a couple of really close calls: the first in Ingance where a gas or oil trucker had slipped off the road coming in the opposite direction and when he tried to right himself spewed a massive cloud of gravel into their windshield which wrecked but they essentially thought they were goners and the second was getting a flat on their trailer which is bad enough, but the mechanic who put on the new tire didn’t tighten the bolts and they lost the tire on the road! I knocked on wood for them.
There was another man walking his dog along the highway who said hi as he passed by. I say him further up the road after talking to the couple and it turns out he also had a spot on Kama point. He was a neighbor of the Evans and we walked in together. His name was James Foulds and he offered for me to stay with them if the Evans’ were not around. What a nice guy!
It turns Cassandras uncle John and his wife Yvonne where here along with her uncle Tom and auntie Margie. I went for a nice swim, the water is very refreshing. The top 6 inches is warm and then there are little cold spots here and there which are prefect for a cyclist who just rode over 100 kilometers. I laid afloat on my back just letting my muscles relax and reduce the days impact. I then sat on the shore with me feet in the water just to observe the craggy mountainside where I just came from and Nipigan in the distance or I should the general direction of the town as I only saw some islands and trees in the distance.
I cleaned and changed into some dry clothes and went to meet the Evans’. Dinner was actually ready so we sat inside, had a few drinks and ate a great meal. Afterward we sat on the deck and where joined by Paul Evans for a few drinks. The point has about a dozen properties that are perpendicular to the point which means each property has a two shore lines: one on the South side and the other on the North side with a road going down the middle of the point. Basically if it is windy on one side they simply go to other. This place has all the little cabin intricacies as does Sakinaw lake back home in BC and of course their homes and fridges have been opened wide open to me the weary traveller. Nice to be home again!
