Day 33 , the great Lake Superior comes into sight !!!

First sighting of Lake Superior

29 July

So here I sit on a rock in the middle of a stream typing away on my Mac , tranquility and technology blended together , strange !. This is a very nice campground on the outskirts of Nipigon, it’s sunny and breezy but warm , dinner is in about 15 minutes so I’m taking the opportunity to enter the days events . 

Today with much regret we left out beds behind , we lingered as much as we could , had breakfast at the university cafeteria , but finally we left to continue our adventure across the country. The first stop today was just outside of Thunder Bay at the Terry Fox memorial , we got there and already about ten riders had arrived before us , bikes neatly parked against the trees leading to the statue , riders quietly ready the plaque and taking pictures , few words being said as we acknowledged his great courage and sacrifice, and were humbled by his truly epic voyage across  this country so sadly cut short here in Thunder Bay, we left as quietly as we came. 

Todays route was a short one , right from the start Lake Superior made an appearance  as we climbed out of town and for a good part of the journey would play peekaboo with us ( we will be following it’s shore line for the next week or so ) . The scenery today was of softer rocks and mixed in with the evergreens were poplar and other deciduous trees, even some farm land every now and then would appear. We took it easy today , none feeling overly energetic and Bob not having a good day at all , and we had to contend with a bit of a head wind also , so no records were set today.

We spent the first part of the day on nice quiet roads but eventually had to get back on the trans-Canada , it was busy but at first had good shoulder , unfortunately they despaired for the last 30 km and that part was not pleasant at all , add to that a long session of chewed up road waiting to be re-paved and I would say that today ( the last part ) was the most unnerving ride we have had so far. 

Great dinner was had again , burritos !!! and fruit salad for desert, we quickly were back to our camping routine: arrive and head for the truck to get your tent polls, grab your duffle bag ( tent in it ) and head out to find a spot to pitch it , about 10 minutes later the tent is up ( we are getting real good at it ) and then it’s time to find the showers , usually a line up forms so patience is a must and usually lots of joking goes on. Once showered , head back to the tent and arrange your stuff , get clothing ready for tomorrow, do some blogging or bike cleaning before dinner is served at 6 . After dinner more bikes get cleaned , some socializing , try to get hocked up to the internet to upload blog and then sleep. 

Today we once again are under bear alert so no food to be left in the tent .

Total ridden today: 118.4 - Average speed: 21.0 - Ridding time: 5.37 

My peaceful little stream and snoozing rock 

Day 32 - Hair cut day

Relaxing in Thunder Bay !!!

28 July

( I have posted the missing pictures for post : Day 21-22-23-24-25 & 26, so now I am up to date with all blog posts and pictures , thank you for all your comments, I don’t answer because most days there just is not enough time . The next 4 days may be bad for reception again so if nothing appears here it’s just because I’m out of range )

Rest day today and I started it by sleeping in !! something very easy to do with the isolation of being in a room , ah what a luxury this is !!, going back to the tent tomorrow will be hard. 

I lost track of time as I was updating the blog this morning until there was a knock at my door , the guys informing me that it was a quarter to ten !! wanting to know if I was going for breakfast as we had arranged last night , so after a mad scramble I joined Murray , Bob , Ed and Janice and off we went in search of food. 

Thunder Bay has the largest Finnish population in Canada and we were recommended a Finish restaurant for breakfast that was a good long walk away ( increasing the appetite !!! ) unfortunately it is no secret that this place is good as there was a line up of about 20 people there , so Janice proceeded to ask three elderly gentleman sitting on a bench outside if they had any recommendations and they sent us to another Finnish restaurant about five blokes away where there was only a 5 minute wait, a western omelet and home fries followed by a huge cinnamon bun made all the walking worth while !!!

From there we headed towards the shopping district as we all had things we wanted to get , more walking !!. Me , I desperately needed a hair cut and beard trim which I got after about a 10 block walk when I found the air-conditioned Mall, I also needed to buy a razor as mine had malfunctioned and I was starting to grow a full beard .

We all had separated by then so I walked back by my self and because I had not paid to much attention of were we had come from ended up a slight bit lost which added another 5 to 10 blocks to my walk , so suffice to say I got my exercise today on my rest day !!!!

By 6 PM we were all gathered again to go out for dinner ( decadent , I know! ) after a few  options were tossed around we decided to head for Boston Pizza, so Janice , Nan , Murray, Bob , Ed and I piled up into a taxi for the 5 block drive . Once there it kind of turned into a celebratory half trip dinner and we all eat very well , so much so that we had to walk home to try and start the digestion process , my poor bike will be complaining tomorrow !!!

My home for 2 nights

Post breakfast photo, haven't made it out of the restaurant yet !!!

Wondering if we have to cross those hills tomorrow ??

Dinner , Ed, Janice, Murray, Bob, Nan & Myself. 

I finally got a shot of a moose !!!!

Day 31 - Thunder Bay

27 July

( I have posted the entries for the last three days , getting on the internet up here has been almost impossible )

Last night we all went to bed happy, it was hot so many tent flies were left open, and of course in the middle of the night it started to rain , at first the sound of raindrops was all I heard but very soon after the sound of zip , zip could be heard all through the camp as people started closing up , it then downed on me that my shoes were out there and I also needed to close up so I joined in with the chorus of zippers.

A consequence of the rain was that once again we were invaded by mosquitos, making it quite unpleasant to pack up and eat breakfast , so it was rush rush and out of camp as soon as you could .

The route today was long , lots of climbing although not severe hills , but they do add up. It was overcast and humid and the temperature soon climbed into the 30s, thankfully the wind gods were once again in our favor and we mainly enjoyed a nice tail wind that pushed us and refreshed us at the same time. Not many opportunities to stop as we continued cycling in the northern wilderness, the stores were far apart and lightly stocked, but we made the best of it snacking were we could and keeping our water bottles toped up. 

We crossed the Arctic / Atlantic watershed were waters either flow north or east, then we crossed into another time zone , ( Eastern Time Zone ) actually my own time zone so now I don’t have to calculate the time anymore when I check my bike computer. 

I rode with different people at different times today and actually spent a long time out on my own  setting my own pace, I am at the point were I like the hill climbing so I tend to ride them by myself. At the 100 km mark a lot of us ended up at the restaurant at Shabaque Corners, lots of discussion as to route options as people were getting tiered and wanted to take a short cut home , I together with Kelly and Judy opted to go on to Kakabeka Falls even though there was some questions about the road back into Thunder Bay being a no bicycle allowed road. 

The falls were beautiful , when we got there we found Serge and Pierre-Alain snoozing under a tree and a number of other milling around, Kelly did some consultation about the route and was told out map was perfectly correct , that the Hwy south of it had become a none bicycle road, so after enjoying a nice relaxed visit at the falls we headed out on this nice road that took us through farm land breaking up the wilderness scenery that had dominated the day until then. 

In Thunder Bay we got to the university and checked into our rooms ( yes real ROOMS with walls and a roof !!!!! ) it has been a month since I last stayed in a room!!! Showered we headed to the dinner location and enjoyed chicken breasts and salad I even spoiled myself and had a beer !!!, it was Nan’s birthday so there was cake for desert, all in all a long hard day but a good day !! After I got my laundry done and cought up on some Blogging before retraining to my bed , a real bed !!!!

Total ridden today:171.3 - Average speed : 25.3 - Ridding time: 6.45

Mark reliving a memorie from his last time across Canada 15 years ago , he tried very hard to talk us into joining him but there were no takers.

This is how we found Serge and Pierre-Alain in Kakabeka Falls

Serge, Pierre-Alain, George, Bob C & Greg

Day 30 - Wilderness

26 July

Today was again one of those perfect mornings , peaceful , sunny, warm , I didn’t want to leave camp but I did after eating my usual bowl of cereal-gorp-banana and then chancing it down with the hot breakfast of tuna-mashed potatoes-scrambled egg , have to fuel up the body !!!!

Today was basically a riding day , the scenery stayed the same for the whole trip and it was basically the highway with pines on both sides and rocks with the occasional lake and marsh areas , so apart for looking for moose ( I badly want a picture of one before the trip is over , I did see one in BC but only his hind end and that just would not have been a very representative picture of a moose as most people only would be able to recognize one from the front ! ) there was nothing much to stop and photograph , so It became a day to enjoy pedaling and that I did , started with my usual group then joined the youngsters for a bit then went off on my own sprinting for about 60 km powering up the hills and flying down the other side , it was fun but hard work as the hills came one after another , finally I rejoined my group and went into Atikokan for lunch ( burger and fries and gravy ) after rode to camp with them , it was hot and humid out there today and lots of water was consumed .

Now we are camped in Quetico Park about 3 km in again by a lake , it’s a very nice place and I’m going to try and come back one day to do some canoeing here.

I hate to keep talking about food , but there are two constants in our lives and that is pedaling and eating , everything else is secondary . Dinner today was rigatoni and a bean salad and then flambéed banana with ice cream and it was to die for , cooking crew # 1 outdid them selfs !!!! ( the rum just made it special !! )

On a side note , I did have to take a couple of aspirins this evening as my knees are stinging a bit from the big sprit I did , they seem to be working as they don’t sting anymore, or maybe it was the desert ?? !!

Total ridden today : 165 - average speed 24.1 - Ridding time : 6.50

Bob

Mark

Beach at Quetico

Day 29 - Heaven by the lake

Emo

25 July

We are camped by a beautiful lake , our bellies are full of delicious chili, John is strumming away at his guitar on the dock, some like me on there computers writing up the days events , conversation and laughter can be heard everywhere, socializing made possible by the absence of the dreaded mosquito, today for us we are in heaven !!

Last night after our epic mosquito battle I finally retired to my tent and as darkness neared I must admit I was worried about laying down to sleep as I knew the likely consequences , but eventually I succumbed and built up a pillow with cloths and my own pillow so that my head would be elevated and I laid on my side all night that way , most uncomfortable but it worked !!!, this morning I woke and no dizziness !!!!!! what a relief !!!, I was able to function right from the get go and I was able to eat breakfast !!!

Speaking of breakfast , what a challenge it was , last nights mosquitos had all night to muster the troops , they brought lots of reinforcements and met us head on this morning , swarms of them attacking every little bit of exposed flesh. We cooked  pancakes , oatmeal and the usual dry cereals were laid out, cyclist eat on the run , many leaving even without eating just to escape the onslaught , the ones that eat did it quickly , packed up and were on the road , camp emptied early !!! , we loaded the truck and left relived to be on the road away from the attacking hordes !! . We had been told to look out for the Saskatchewan mosquito, but they pale in comparison to our Ontario devils !!!!

Today I left last with Janice as we were sweeps , nether one of us felling particularly strong so we took it easy , about an hour up the road we caught up to Ed and the three of us spent the day together , the riding was pleasant to start with the rolling hills and lakes , then it changed to farm land as we started nearing Fort Frances, the temperature  pleasant early in the morning quickly changed to HOT  ( mid 30s ). We stopped for a bacon and egg breakfast in Emo a very scenic town on the shores of a large river ( don’t know the name ) latter in Fort Frances we stopped at a Tim Horton for coffee and to linger in the air conditioning . As we left town we were surrounded by lakes on all sides and the scenery returned to stone , pine and lakes .

About seven km from camp we were moving along silently just eating up the miles to get to camp when I looked ahead and saw a black bear crossing the road , I snapped a few picture as we rolled towards it ( can hardly see the bear ), and we lost sight of him when he went down into the ditch , but as we neared the spot we saw that he was just there munching on berries looking at us, we prudently moved to the other side of the road and then Ed spoke to him and all of a sudden he ran off into the trees , an exiting moment !!!!

A note of interest is that we have been cycling on Young Street , the longest street in Canada - world ? , and if I where to stay on it I would end up very close to home.

And now I’m enjoying this heavenly camp ground , without mosquitos !!!!

Total ridden today: 132.9 -  Average speed: 22.9 - Ridding time: 5.46

Beaver seem to be everywhere up here.

Ed and I having fun in Fort Frances

Fort Frances , pulp paper town

The little dot far in the distance on the right hand side is the bear, I took this with my big camera while peddling !!, trying to stay on the road.

Camp

Camp

Day 28 - Ontario mosquitos are voracious !!!

24 July 

Well once again this morning I awoke dizzy so it must be an ear problem affecting my balance . It took me a good two hours to just be able to walk straight , I was not sure I’d be able to ride so I let all my ridding buddies go ahead and I stayed till almost the end then walked the bike down to the parking lot and rode about a km there before being satisfied I was ok to ride . 

I headed out slowly and luckily there was a good road with wide shoulders for the first 15 km and I was able to get my confidence up to start pushing a bit more , by mid morning I caught up with my ridding buddies and was having a good time on the road, I just love this kind of scenery , the weather was a bit overcast but hot ( up to 32 ) and we felt humidity for the first time , luckily there was a bit of a breeze to cool us down. 

The scenery on the road today was beautiful , winding road , ups and downs , lakes around every bend , rock and trees and not a lot of traffic , it made for a perfect cycling day. 

I had not eaten breakfast so I stopped in Sioux Narrows and had a quarter bounder with cheese , fries and a strawberry milkshake and boy did it ever hit the spot !!! I felt much better after that .Latter a second stop at a bakery for coffee and a large cookies.  I also then found out that our galley crew was on cook duty tonight , bummer !!! , but we were doing good time so no rush was needed to get into camp .

Finally and before we new it we arrived at the park and we were in for a rude surprise : Ontario mosquitos , they were here in hordes waiting for us and the attacked the minute we arrived with out mercy !!!. there was no water by the truck so we had to haul it from nearby taps and wash potatoes , salad , and cool hard boiled eggs , well I can not tell you the amount of mosquitos bites I have as I can’t count that high !!!! , but we managed to serve dinner which was a mix of , tuna salad , egg salad , mash potatoes and salad , with pudding for desert all garnished with mosquito !!! , all cyclist were quite satisfied and immediately despaired to there tents, as did the cooking crew as soon as clean up was done. 

Total ridden today: 129.5 - average speed : 23.2 - Ridding time : 5.33

Use to be one of the longest wooden bridges, they saved the timber when they enlarged it and used it as you see.

Day 27 - Rest day, sick day

23 July

Last night the wind blew the rain fell and I slept like a baby , that is until I woke up dizzy and hot , just walking to the bathroom was a challenge as I was walking like a drunk and just sweating like crazy. I am not sure what happened as at first I thought maybe food poisoning , but this morning when every one else woke they were all well , so the best guess is that a few days ago some liquid detergent was spilled on my boxes and I wipe them down with one of my towels , yesterday I used the same towel in the tent to wipe down the little moisture in there and I left it in the tent overnight with me , perhaps the fumes made me sick ??? or I just got a 24 hour virus ???

Little by little I’m felling better , did laundry this morning and eat a bowl of cereal , then spent a good while in the store using the Wi-Fi to enter my blog postings from the last few days , for some reason my turbo stick has let me down these last few days . had another bowl of cereal for lunch and later a peanut butter sandwich. It's a good thing that today was a rest day because I don't thing I would have been able to cycle, by tomorrow I should be fine.

The highlight of the day was a deer wondering through camp by the kitchen , she obviously had raided food before so we tossed her an apple and she eat it with us just feet away from her , she stayed for a while eat two apples and then decided she had enough and just walked through us ( about a foot from me ) and left camp.

Sunny and hot today , managed to dry all my stuff and air out the tent.  

This evening I headed into town with Mark on our bicycles for dinner , I was pleased to find I had a good appetite and good legs for cycling. 

For those of you who have asked what is "Gorp" here you go , a mix of nuts , raisins & coconut , yum yum !!!