Blind river 140km

Al put on a huge spread again which was really nice and fueled me for most of the day. He got up early to get things going and made sure I woke up. After breakfast I was on the road pretty quickly and took the 17B instead of the Trans Canada highway. It went through a reserve and there was almost no traffic.

I really didn’t have much need to stop because of the large breakfast but eventually I pulled into Bruce Mines for breakfast which sits on Lake Huron. There were three bicycles parked outside so I investigated. There was a French couple from Quebec who were also riding to St. Johns and another man heading West who I didn’t speak with. The couple were very friendly and had also suffered through North Western Ontario. The man Mario almost ran over a skunk along the way but was lucky to avoid it. We had a good laugh over that!

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3 days of riding included here

As yesterday ended the day began with more hills but smaller in scale and our drafting was getting better so we made good time. We stopped in Batchawana Bay for breakfast which has a beautiful downhill heading south into the little town looking over its sandy beach. We had a fabulous breakfast in the Voyageur restaurant before moving on. There a lots of little beautiful homes here for sale right on the lake shore for those looking for a nice property.

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I a rushing through these posts as I am behind three days and I am forgetting to mention little things here and there. Some are not that interesting but others explain the flow of the story.

The park we stayed at had a water warning so I was able to use the purification pills supplied by Global Hydration. Even though I double dosed on the water to pill ratio the water tasted fine and did not have a heavy chlorine taste. I treated about 3 litres of water which not knowing the road ahead was truly a a great “piece of mind” feeling.

The night was pretty hot so I slept outside the bag for most of it and surprisingly woke up up before the girls did from what I could tell (no sounds from their tent). I got packing early and before long Robyn emerged and started prepping for the day. It is so different preparing for the day ahead with companions: pack quickly or not, take time eating breakfast or not, crank out the first 20km or ease into it. These things you do not even consider on your own but as you read on these things were less important than the group motivation.

It wasn’t too long into the ride before we put on our rain jackets. Now I am of course in Stormtech Blue but Kate was in purple and Robyn in lime green. Though the rain was gently soaking through I was happy the trees where getting some water and the air was cooling down.

We climbed a hill into Wawa to see the great goose. I liked it and other than the rain the town was quite beautiful with a view over the the bay. I ran into a Karen Dahl who is working with CES Canada to provide education to orphans and HIV effected children in Kenya. It was too bad we didn’t have more time to chat but I knew I needed to eat my food and get on the road as we had a lot of Kilometers to cover today.


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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).
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Started 8:15am ended 8:30pm

It was a little warm last night and I had trouble sleeping even though I relaxed all day yesterday. I had been waking up on and off all night and thankfully Margie rang a bell at 7am to wake me up. We chatted while I ate breakfast and I packed up reasonably quickly which included some leftover chicken from the night before.

Back on the road I was feeling lethargic and it took me a while just to get to 40 kilometers. The hills are deceiving here and there is a lot of steep grade between 6 and 7 percent. Near Rossport the Trans Canada wraps closely along the lake so I decided to take a break on a piece of Canadian shield on the lake shore. I ate the rest of the chicken and grabbed a 5 minute nap.

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Today I blogged,kayaked, swam, sat on the beach and had a wonderful dinner with the Evans crew!

140 kilometers of wild road!

Global Hydration website

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.

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195 kilometers of heat!

Other than the trains going by I had a good sleep and woke up on my own at 5:30. I managed to get out by 6:30 but had no food until I reached Upsala which was 40 kilometers away. Of note there is a tiny little gem of a place called English River which was only 20 km up the road that had lodging – oh well!

I had low energy but made it to the Upsala which is just a general store and two restaurants. There was a familiar looking bicycle outside and low and behold Mark was sitting inside! I couldn’t believe he was ahead of me based on his previous pace but he picked up some skinnier tires and was very persistent with riding most days. Unfortunately work called and he was taking a bus home but he really did awesome considering he never really biked before.

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July 10th. map my ride posts need fixing..

Today started early about 6:30am as the guy on the motorcycle tenting next to me was packing up. The other cyclist had already left by this point but I wanted to start the day with a shower. Everything was going fine until it was time to leave. There is a distinct wobblyness and crumply sound when the bike has a flat and this is just what I had. I figured it was a good time as any to change the tire and the tube outright to get rid of some unnecessary weight.

Surprisingly I found more of the metal from the previous day but this one was embedded in the tire liner itself. It should have already caused a flat by now and explains the problems from the previous days flat in Portage la Prairie. The new tire was really hard to put on but eventually I got it on there. Too bad I put it on backwards: the tread pattern has to go a certain direction. No matter I was going to Canadian Tire anyway to see if I could use a floor pump where I could change the tire properly there. When I got there I changed the tire no problem and the manager let me use a pump off the shelf. He was super nice about it and we talked a little about my trip. When I came back out the tire was flat – what?
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Ride details pending

I got up around 6am and as quietly as possible packed up my things but I couldn’t find my Ironman Switzerland hat. Of well, this will make a good parting gift for Craig. I couldn’t resist one more photo of the lake though!

It was warm already even this time in the morning but this was to be expected so I just got on with it. I rode about 20 kilometers into Kenora. On the approach to this gem of a town you cross a bridge or two that appeared to be part of an island. In town the highway cuts through the middle but I decided to ride along the waterfront which is spectacular. It is like Gibson’s BC except not on the ocean.


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