A little more about day 42. At the campground I met two Americans who had rode their motorcycle from Florida – what a long haul. They were circumnavigating Lake Superior and were going to be state side in a day or two. What a wonderful way to see the largest fresh water lake in the world – at least by surface area which is what matters to yours truly! I also met a family from Marathon who were just driving by my campsite and had a few questions. I love conversations like that were it starts as just a hello and you talk for 15 minutes or more about cycling, the area and kayaking!
It was a warm night for sure and I slept outside of my sleeping bag for most of the night. The night sky was again crystal clear and if I had the knowledge of why the 7 sisters ( Pleiades) sat on the shoulder of Taurus I could appreciate it more. I will learn in due time young Albatross (inside meaning).
I woke up around 5:30 and though things were a little damp I slept well for another hour in my cocoon. The little lake I was situated at had a mist over it like a November morning in a farmers field but it was warm. The town itself was fogged in literally and you could not see more than 500 meters in any direction. That and the need to make some progress convinced me to get going on the highway. I asked about directions from a local and he mentioned the Tourist office was up the highway near the ski resort – what?
The hill out of Marathon was really nothing but generally speaking my legs don’t seem to recover from the previous days ride. I have a lot of lactic aid buildup that doesn’t seem to go away. The highway was eerily quiet today and I rode along with not much more than the odd rustle in the near by bushes when I startled a bird. Low and behold 20 kilometers away from Marathon was the tourist office and get this the ski hill. The runs actually go down from the highway into a valley and there is one chair lift. I think though short this would be a good ski area and you could get some tree skiing although it would be tight by Whistler standards.
I waited until 9am to see if the office had wifi but it didn’t. No phone signal or data Bell Canada – you guys do not cover 94% of Canada! Off I went down the warm morning highway which was still quiet from motorized sound but I was sort of unmotivated. The road became hilly again and I was a little stiff so pulled over to stretch the hamstrings. About ten minutes passed and the Scotsman who I had met in Dryden caught up to me and stopped. He told me the ladies I had rode with the other day had stopped in Nays so I must have passed them but no idea where. He also mentioned there were two young men also riding. I offered to ride together and draft but he wanted to go solo and let me start ahead.
It is really beautiful with thick green evergreen forested trees but it is really remote in the sense there are no towns other than the odd closed gas station. I pedalled along for another 40 kilometer or so but had no more food or water left and the stomach was growling at me like a hungry grizzly bear. Eventually I came upon Gracies restaurant and Motel which did have wifi I was able to steal for a bit. I had the local burger (Gracies burger) and played with the wifi out in the scorching hot sun which was smiling at a good 35 degrees. Though not mentioned in previous weeks the temperature between Calgary and here was between 28 and 35 degrees when it was sunny. I neglected to mention because the heat normally doesn’t effect me too much but I now realize it has really worn me out.
The weather was now changing a bit with some clouds and I started to pick up some decent speed while keeping in a low crouched position (imagine Lance Armstrong but without muscles). I saw a rider up ahead and stepped into the pedals with a little more vigor. It is truly a mind game when you see another cyclist going slower than you up the road. I really wish they would ban radio contact in professional cycling to make it more of a race. Anyway it was the Scotsman I had seen in the morning and I caught him pretty easily. I slowed down to say high but kept it in a heavy gear and cruised onward. Not five minutes later I saw the two girls a kilometer or so up the road so I pushed forward around 34 kilometers an hour even through some rollers. Again it is more a mental game than you think.
It wasn’t long before I caught up to Kate and Robyn and we rode together the rest of the way to White River; the home of the “Pooh”! It was good to catch up with them and since they were determined to get to Wawa (another 100km) it motivated me to stick with it. The Scotsman eventually pulled up but was going to camp here tonight. It really is a picturesque little town with a small main street of the highway and well kept little houses with nice little picket fences. I did manage to steal some more wifi at the AW before finishing lunch and a wicked klondike bar.
This photo too funny…
Soon after leaving town Kate got a flat. At the time it always seems like a hassle but getting a flat just outside of town is the best thing to happen: you can turn around right away or see how long it takes to fix and still turn around or proceed. We proceeded.
On the road it was slow miles but as a group you don’t get discouraged as when you are alone plus Kate and Robyn are both mentally tough and willing to crash on the side of the road if necessary. It wasn’t though as we pulled into Obatanga park we decided as a group we made good progress and there was a nice clean lake we could dive into after a long day of riding. It was an early night though and we didn’t have much time to get to know each other as we were all pretty tired – me more so!
