I have found that I get out of camp about 40 minutes earlier by myself. I like this because my pasty white butt does not like cooking in the middle of the day. I say this now because I know tomorrow I will leave late and all that I said before will be negated.
The morning was nice. I not to hot, no wind to speak of, and my legs felt surprisingly good considering I pushed it yesterday. In the first 25k I saw a few things that I have never seen before. The first were grass farms. I guess this should not surprise me but I just found it odd to think that a farmer’s job is literally to watch grass grow. Next there will be a profession to watch clouds form…. Wait that a weatherman. Sorry many kilometres and a good day have brought out the lame jokes.
I was at my rest stop and managed to order myself two donouts when really I wanted one donout and chocolate milk. Then this specific Tim Horton’s would not take debit so I had to run out and grab my other wallet. When I come in I find that this gentleman I was talking to before had purchased my donouts for me. I thanked him multiple times and was off on the road. At this point I knew that it was going to be a day in Quebec I would look back fondly on.
I was trying to race off of the 158 because it is inland and I want to be next to the river, which is road 138. There I am time trailing down the road when I hear a whistle. It is a bike tourist at the side of the road and a shrine toping up on water. I considered just waving and leaving but for some reason I stopped.
This is where I meet Bruno. A young horticulturist from the grass-farming town I had just passed. Right away we started talking and getting to know each other. He is just on a short 3-day tour, so he was blown away that I got here in less than 40 days. I did not think much of Bruno in his wife beater shirt, sandals, and beanie on his head (while his helmet rested on his back bag). I was promptly proven wrong when my steady 27km/h tempo was pushed up to 30km/h. Never judge a book by its cover. I would like to think his cannondale bad boy also helped him with this.
Because we were going at a faster speed then I had anticipated we hit all of our stops in very good time. Just outside of Louisville we stopped for lunch at this sit down semi fast food place. It is hard to describe but at that point I was mainly paying attention to my stomach. I had my first poutine in Quebec and it set the bar a little higher then all of the ones I have had in BC. I can’t wait to experience the ones that are not from a semi-fast food joint.
I had a wow moment at a place called point-du-lac. All you see for kilometres are white beaches bordering the river, with a beautiful steel bridge in the background. It was a picturesque moment that I did not get a picture of.
Tois-rivers was where I was going to stop initially but we arrived there at 3pm so it was to early to stop when my legs were feeling good. This is also where I said good-bye to Bruno. It was very nice having someone to ride with and just talk to normally for most of the day. The town itself is very nice. The main drag was lined with old buildings, and every parking spot was filled with a motorcycle, which was cool to see. As a side note today I saw my first and second t-rex motorcycles. They sound really nice when they are ripping past you at a little above the speed limit. I was also blown away by the amount of can-am spyders I saw today. These road snowmobiles were everywhere. In total I counted over twenty of them which is odd because they are not the largest company in the world
After departing I got onto the chemin du roi. This road is wonderful if ever you are in Quebec and want to waste a little extra time spend it here. It was the road the king took when he visited Quebec back in the day so it takes you through all of these older towns. I love looking at dilapidated building but I was a little let down here because it seems like every house in Quebec is very well maintained.
By this time I was ready to camp so I stopped at this house that had three ladies sitting on the porch. Just my luck they speak English. They said the next campsite was 20minutes away. They then offered to top me up on water, and I was on my way.
Well I passed the campsite and it was not a place I was going to leave my equipment for the night so I made the educated choice to move on. The next town was another 10k down the road, which is a conversation piece because here in Quebec every 10-20k there is a village. It is not like in Ontario where we had to pack days worth of water with us just to survive.
When I stopped at the info centre they said the only campsite was at the marina. The way this guy said it made me think that it was going to be sub par. When I arrived I got to cross the coolest bridge so far. It was all steel with a gridiron base. No pavement and no shoulder. This meant that I got to ride right down the centre and take in the view.
The place where I pay for the camping is also a restaurant and the music is something else. I have to say the mix of music is amazing. In the time I have been blogging I have heard everything from 70’s funk, to modern electronic, and even jock jams. This has to be the first time I have heard jock jams played on the radio since a Vancouver grizzlies game back in the day. I have fond memories of those games. All you did was do the wave the entire game as they pump woop there it is, while you watch big country miss every free throw, and mike bibby do little to nothing. It was a great time to be had; even more so because the team was so bad that they gave away tickets.
Trip Distance: 199.51km (we can round that to 200)
Ride Time: 7:50hr
Avg. Speed: 25.46km/h
Total Distance: 5429km
Total Ride Time: 250hr
Destination: Batiscan, Quebec
ps I got rid of my gloves because they were falling apart. I regret that now because other then one round spot on my hands everything else is burnt to a crisp.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tour Day 36 The First Day On My Own July 30 2010
It was a late night last night because the conversation was flowing with Micheal, Sarah, ken, Rosemarie, and I. I felt as if I was a part of their family. It was a very good feeling that is hard to describe. The only downside is it made saying goodbye this morning a little harder. If I am honest I wanted to stay another night, but in my head I was thinking if I stay today then that is 180k that I will have to make up another day. I know that is a silly reason but it means that I will be home one day quicker to see the people that I have grown up with.
I did not realize how many places I have seen until I was playing Canadian monopoly with Sarah and Michael. 80% of the places on the board I had been and about 10% of the places are on what is left of the route. I found pride in myself being able to tell people about said places and what made them special for me. I also found that I tend to ramble on about stories on the bike more and more. I guess that makes sense seems how all I do is bike sleep and eat.
Anyways today started out early. I left at around 7:00am this morning thinking that because I am alone my average will drop so I need to make up for that with extra time. Well right out of the gate about 50meters into the ride I made a wrong turn. After a short 2k detour I went back to visit Rosemarie with my head between my legs. She said, “I tried to call you because we saw you made the wrong turn”. I said “so how do I get from here to hunt club road again”.
After getting my stuff together and fighting through a good amount of traffic I was out of Ottawa. I will always remember this place because I spent so much time getting lost it was ridiculous. I think I rode every street in the city in two days.
It was strangely quiet on the bike. No mashing of friction shifter on the two bikes that Olivier and Charles ride. At times the only thing I could hear were my tires rolling down the road. Just focusing on that drives you crazy very quickly so I focused more on my body. I think being alone I push myself a little harder because now I think about every pedal stroke. I think about ever metre. And I am forced to see what lies ahead. I don’t have someone blocking the wind for me or someone chamois shorts to distract me from the road.
I for lunch at a buffet where I stuffed myself again of course. At this buffet though everyone spoke French. This makes sense because I was 22k from Quebec but I was still surprised.
Quebec came at me about an hour later. It was strange being at the sign with no one to take a picture of me with it. This was the first time were I realized man I am alone. Quebec is an interesting place. The route I have planned is more scenic but will take more time. Which I am not sure how I feel about yet because I am amazed how many people don’t speak any English at all. I thought it would be simple to find people to ask questions to, but I was mistaken. When I saw an information centre sign I asked where it was to about 5 people before I extracted the information I needed.
This also scares me from a budget sense as well. At the end of the ride today I was thinking I was going to knock on some doors to sleep in a backyard because I thought there was no camping in either of the two closest towns. Fortunately there was a small campsite but it is hard for me to justify $25 because I take up such little space by myself. As a group of three it is very easy to justify this but as an individual it is a luxury that I will take into account in the Maritimes.
At the campsite I was greeted by a young drunk Montreal lady crying. I asked what was wrong and she had a few choice words for me. She would not stop ranting and just being a dunk upset girl. And she would not accept any help for what reason I do not know. All I can say is thank god I am not going to Montreal.
The day ended with a phone call to my dad because I wanted to hear someone’s voice that was not my own belting out songs while riding down the road. At one point today three guys passed me on road bikes and laughed. I asked if they wanted to join but they were not fans of the Celtic music I was singing. That explains why they hit the gas to pass me.
When I was talking with my dad out of the blue I started to cry. I had no reason to do this. It just happened. I even said to him “I do not know why im crying right now”.
As a side note to Charles and Olivier I hope you got home aright. I miss your company already. You guys are like family to me. If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to call or email.
Trip Distance: 185km
Ride Time: 7:53hr
Avg. Speed: 23.46km/h
Total Distance: 5228km
Total Ride Time: 242hr
Destination: 10k East of St. Jerome, Quebec
I did not realize how many places I have seen until I was playing Canadian monopoly with Sarah and Michael. 80% of the places on the board I had been and about 10% of the places are on what is left of the route. I found pride in myself being able to tell people about said places and what made them special for me. I also found that I tend to ramble on about stories on the bike more and more. I guess that makes sense seems how all I do is bike sleep and eat.
Anyways today started out early. I left at around 7:00am this morning thinking that because I am alone my average will drop so I need to make up for that with extra time. Well right out of the gate about 50meters into the ride I made a wrong turn. After a short 2k detour I went back to visit Rosemarie with my head between my legs. She said, “I tried to call you because we saw you made the wrong turn”. I said “so how do I get from here to hunt club road again”.
After getting my stuff together and fighting through a good amount of traffic I was out of Ottawa. I will always remember this place because I spent so much time getting lost it was ridiculous. I think I rode every street in the city in two days.
It was strangely quiet on the bike. No mashing of friction shifter on the two bikes that Olivier and Charles ride. At times the only thing I could hear were my tires rolling down the road. Just focusing on that drives you crazy very quickly so I focused more on my body. I think being alone I push myself a little harder because now I think about every pedal stroke. I think about ever metre. And I am forced to see what lies ahead. I don’t have someone blocking the wind for me or someone chamois shorts to distract me from the road.
I for lunch at a buffet where I stuffed myself again of course. At this buffet though everyone spoke French. This makes sense because I was 22k from Quebec but I was still surprised.
Quebec came at me about an hour later. It was strange being at the sign with no one to take a picture of me with it. This was the first time were I realized man I am alone. Quebec is an interesting place. The route I have planned is more scenic but will take more time. Which I am not sure how I feel about yet because I am amazed how many people don’t speak any English at all. I thought it would be simple to find people to ask questions to, but I was mistaken. When I saw an information centre sign I asked where it was to about 5 people before I extracted the information I needed.
This also scares me from a budget sense as well. At the end of the ride today I was thinking I was going to knock on some doors to sleep in a backyard because I thought there was no camping in either of the two closest towns. Fortunately there was a small campsite but it is hard for me to justify $25 because I take up such little space by myself. As a group of three it is very easy to justify this but as an individual it is a luxury that I will take into account in the Maritimes.
At the campsite I was greeted by a young drunk Montreal lady crying. I asked what was wrong and she had a few choice words for me. She would not stop ranting and just being a dunk upset girl. And she would not accept any help for what reason I do not know. All I can say is thank god I am not going to Montreal.
The day ended with a phone call to my dad because I wanted to hear someone’s voice that was not my own belting out songs while riding down the road. At one point today three guys passed me on road bikes and laughed. I asked if they wanted to join but they were not fans of the Celtic music I was singing. That explains why they hit the gas to pass me.
When I was talking with my dad out of the blue I started to cry. I had no reason to do this. It just happened. I even said to him “I do not know why im crying right now”.
As a side note to Charles and Olivier I hope you got home aright. I miss your company already. You guys are like family to me. If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to call or email.
Trip Distance: 185km
Ride Time: 7:53hr
Avg. Speed: 23.46km/h
Total Distance: 5228km
Total Ride Time: 242hr
Destination: 10k East of St. Jerome, Quebec
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tour Day 35 Goodbyes and Miss Direction July 29 2010
This morning I was awoken with a nice home cooked breakfast and some pleasant French conversation that I understood none of. It was also the time where I had to say goodbye to Charles and Olivier. I was expecting a huge goodbye filled with emotions and hugs, but that was not the case. Instead we left it with a handshake and a simple bon voyage. I think that actually worked out better that way that I do not look like the weird over emotional Vancouverite.
Today was also a test of my navigation skills. Liz gave me a map to get to Richmond road where all the stores I needed to go to where. This map had two directions on it so I thought it would be simple. Well that was not the case. I managed to miss the turn and go into Quebec again.
After turning around and getting my shopping done is as already passed what my daily total should have been. I had worked up an appetite so I stopped in at a local restaurant. Now I do not know if it is the fact I am by myself or the fact that people in Ottawa are super nice, but everyone was interested in the tour and what I was doing with a bike that was so heavily loaded. It made me feel good about what I am doing and what I am doing for my community. It was a great way to bring back my confidence in human nature.
After shopping I was off to my cousins (I think) house. This trip was supposed to be 20k but I decided to ask 5 people directions. Each person gave me different directions so I just picked one at random. Luckily I picked the right first road, which took me into Kanada. I came to a T in the road so I decide to call thinking I was smart and ask which way to go. I got word that I had to go south. Me traveling east all the time I assumed it was to the right so I went right.
Well it was the wrong choice. I kept getting further and further into the boonies. I was getting my “o my god you live in the boonies” speech ready. Because I saw a golf course called eagle golf course, which made me go father down the road because I was looking for a road with eagle in the name.
It was not the right road so I went 15km for no reason. I then had to make up time because I said I was going to arrive at 2pm and it was 4pm. I then tried to take a shortcut. You can tell where this story is going. It was not a shortcut so I had to backtrack again and go back the long way.
This takes me to the entrance to the correct community. This is where I ask for directions again. Bad choice. I got again conflicting directions, which I took blindly. This added more kilometres to an already long rest day.
Well I family made it to the family house. I have to say it is very nice meeting new people and getting to know my extended family. They have been super welcoming and where more then happy to hear me ramble on for hours about my random stories that really have no ending.
I have also noticed that I am talking with my hands more. It is from trying to translate so much and I am sure it will come in handy tomorrow.
Trip Distance: 84km
Ride Time: 4:26hr
Avg. Speed: 19.00
Total Distance: 5042km
Total Ride Time: 234hr
Destination: Kanada, Ontario
Today was also a test of my navigation skills. Liz gave me a map to get to Richmond road where all the stores I needed to go to where. This map had two directions on it so I thought it would be simple. Well that was not the case. I managed to miss the turn and go into Quebec again.
After turning around and getting my shopping done is as already passed what my daily total should have been. I had worked up an appetite so I stopped in at a local restaurant. Now I do not know if it is the fact I am by myself or the fact that people in Ottawa are super nice, but everyone was interested in the tour and what I was doing with a bike that was so heavily loaded. It made me feel good about what I am doing and what I am doing for my community. It was a great way to bring back my confidence in human nature.
After shopping I was off to my cousins (I think) house. This trip was supposed to be 20k but I decided to ask 5 people directions. Each person gave me different directions so I just picked one at random. Luckily I picked the right first road, which took me into Kanada. I came to a T in the road so I decide to call thinking I was smart and ask which way to go. I got word that I had to go south. Me traveling east all the time I assumed it was to the right so I went right.
Well it was the wrong choice. I kept getting further and further into the boonies. I was getting my “o my god you live in the boonies” speech ready. Because I saw a golf course called eagle golf course, which made me go father down the road because I was looking for a road with eagle in the name.
It was not the right road so I went 15km for no reason. I then had to make up time because I said I was going to arrive at 2pm and it was 4pm. I then tried to take a shortcut. You can tell where this story is going. It was not a shortcut so I had to backtrack again and go back the long way.
This takes me to the entrance to the correct community. This is where I ask for directions again. Bad choice. I got again conflicting directions, which I took blindly. This added more kilometres to an already long rest day.
Well I family made it to the family house. I have to say it is very nice meeting new people and getting to know my extended family. They have been super welcoming and where more then happy to hear me ramble on for hours about my random stories that really have no ending.
I have also noticed that I am talking with my hands more. It is from trying to translate so much and I am sure it will come in handy tomorrow.
Trip Distance: 84km
Ride Time: 4:26hr
Avg. Speed: 19.00
Total Distance: 5042km
Total Ride Time: 234hr
Destination: Kanada, Ontario
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tour Day 34 Anger Solves Nothing July 28 2010
Today started at 3 am with another Olivier scream. Through my earplugs I jolted to attention and opened my tent up. I heard flurry of activity around our picnic table so I scrambled to find my headlamp. When I managed to get it on I see a family of raccoons feasting on all of my food. I would say our food but it was only mine. The fruit left in the open in Olivier’s helmet was untouched. There food bang was untouched. My top box was picked clean, my bag in the vestibule (empty space in front of my tent) that was closed was opened by muddy paws and my bread had been taken, possibly the strangest was the fact my bag containing all of my cooking supplies and the rest of my food was missing. This had me flustered to say the least. This is a 20-pound bag that just up and left.
I got my other light to try to scare away the raccoons while I stand in my underwear looking very intimidating. I was so tempted to use my bear spray because I was so frustrated hat my bag was missing. I panicked and asked for help from Charles and Olivier. There we all are in our night attire hunting for a bag, and peeing on our campsite so that they do not come back. Nothing came of our search but Charles gave me some optimistic words “we find it tomorrow morning”.
The rest of the night was rough. I was in and out of sleep because I always was hearing sounds that I prompted me to become more alert. As well my tent was pitched on a slope so I was sleeping on the side of my tent.
If you are looking for a storybook morning search you are not going to find it here. The morning search did not turn up anything. I hunted high and low. Searched the lake banks and the foxholes with no success. The campsite next to us looked equally as torn up so that gave me a little piece of mind.
The ride today sucked for the most part. My legs felt like garbage from the rough nights sleep. My muscles had no energy from the spicy burrito last night. And my mind was distracted by the bag. The only thing getting me down the road were my friends ahead of me. It is a feeling that kept bubbling inside of me because I was battling with my miss-weighted bike all day. I would relax and it would slip and slip everywhere. I would get out of the saddle and the bike would loose its mind. When you change something so large when you have ridden with it for close to 5000k before it is a little rough.
We dodged into Quebec to ride some isolated roads. When I say isolated I mean that half of them were not paved. This is also where we made a few wrong turns that cost us about 6km. I found it funny that the first 3 people in Quebec we talked to did not speak a lick of French.
Lunch was next. Here is where Charles planted the thought that the bag may have been stolen not taken by the racoons. At first I thought nothing of it because I was so convinced it was the racoons. I mean I saw them with my own eyes. But throughout the day I kept obsessing over these words. I then realized that there was no drag marks on ground which means it was picked up, which then means it was stolen. This frustration with nature now became anger for human nature. At first I was mad at myself. Why would someone do this to me? How does karma work if this happens to me? It better be taking points that I can redeem at a later date. That then changed to anger at this person. You are a lowlife. You do not own that stuff. You do not realize that that bag is 1/6th of my life. You have cost a charity as well as me valuable time on the road that could be used to promote a better life for people who deserve it and need it.
From this point my day improved. We saw the parliament buildings, which were a lot larger then I though they would be. As well we get the fortune of spending our last night together with family. I sit here nice and cozy in the condo of Charles sister Liz and her boyfriend Jacque. I sit here after a nice supper wathcing the end of the tour de france with Olivier. It is a prefect way to end our fantastic trip as a unit.
So again I must thank all of the Gauthier family for welcoming me into their lives. I know I did not speak the language, but it was still a privilege to spend time with you.
In regards to the missing bag. I have come to the decision to continue. It will be an expensive unexpected replacement, but I will only be here once on my bike and I intend to see the Maritimes and complete Canada in its entirety.
Trip Distance: 134km
Ride Time: 6:20hr
Avg. Speed: 21.12
Total Distance: 4958km
Total Ride Time: 229hr
Destination Ottawa, Ontario
I got my other light to try to scare away the raccoons while I stand in my underwear looking very intimidating. I was so tempted to use my bear spray because I was so frustrated hat my bag was missing. I panicked and asked for help from Charles and Olivier. There we all are in our night attire hunting for a bag, and peeing on our campsite so that they do not come back. Nothing came of our search but Charles gave me some optimistic words “we find it tomorrow morning”.
The rest of the night was rough. I was in and out of sleep because I always was hearing sounds that I prompted me to become more alert. As well my tent was pitched on a slope so I was sleeping on the side of my tent.
If you are looking for a storybook morning search you are not going to find it here. The morning search did not turn up anything. I hunted high and low. Searched the lake banks and the foxholes with no success. The campsite next to us looked equally as torn up so that gave me a little piece of mind.
The ride today sucked for the most part. My legs felt like garbage from the rough nights sleep. My muscles had no energy from the spicy burrito last night. And my mind was distracted by the bag. The only thing getting me down the road were my friends ahead of me. It is a feeling that kept bubbling inside of me because I was battling with my miss-weighted bike all day. I would relax and it would slip and slip everywhere. I would get out of the saddle and the bike would loose its mind. When you change something so large when you have ridden with it for close to 5000k before it is a little rough.
We dodged into Quebec to ride some isolated roads. When I say isolated I mean that half of them were not paved. This is also where we made a few wrong turns that cost us about 6km. I found it funny that the first 3 people in Quebec we talked to did not speak a lick of French.
Lunch was next. Here is where Charles planted the thought that the bag may have been stolen not taken by the racoons. At first I thought nothing of it because I was so convinced it was the racoons. I mean I saw them with my own eyes. But throughout the day I kept obsessing over these words. I then realized that there was no drag marks on ground which means it was picked up, which then means it was stolen. This frustration with nature now became anger for human nature. At first I was mad at myself. Why would someone do this to me? How does karma work if this happens to me? It better be taking points that I can redeem at a later date. That then changed to anger at this person. You are a lowlife. You do not own that stuff. You do not realize that that bag is 1/6th of my life. You have cost a charity as well as me valuable time on the road that could be used to promote a better life for people who deserve it and need it.
From this point my day improved. We saw the parliament buildings, which were a lot larger then I though they would be. As well we get the fortune of spending our last night together with family. I sit here nice and cozy in the condo of Charles sister Liz and her boyfriend Jacque. I sit here after a nice supper wathcing the end of the tour de france with Olivier. It is a prefect way to end our fantastic trip as a unit.
So again I must thank all of the Gauthier family for welcoming me into their lives. I know I did not speak the language, but it was still a privilege to spend time with you.
In regards to the missing bag. I have come to the decision to continue. It will be an expensive unexpected replacement, but I will only be here once on my bike and I intend to see the Maritimes and complete Canada in its entirety.
Trip Distance: 134km
Ride Time: 6:20hr
Avg. Speed: 21.12
Total Distance: 4958km
Total Ride Time: 229hr
Destination Ottawa, Ontario
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tour Day 33 Another Hot Day July 27 2010
Last night I had the rest of my maps for Canada open while Charles was helping me plan the rest of the trip. Thank god I found Charles because he gave me so many hints and tips that were so helpful. As well I found out that I am only half way done the Canada leg of the trip. I could shorten it up but I want to see the Cabot trail, and go to France, which will take a little bit more time. Massa our Japanese bike tourist friend and Charles seemed to hit it off really well. It was kind of funny overhearing their conversation because it consisted of a mix of Japanese, French, and English.
Today was another morning where we got to wake up to dry tents and an easy morning take down. Again the only negative was the fact all you could see were clear skies. Over hearing the radio I heard the news that it was going to get up to 35 which was not good news.
Hearing the weather report changed the way that I approached riding today. It was all about saving energy and drinking a ton of water. In total today I went through 8 litres of water, and even had a Gatorade, which was a first for the trip. I am sorry but anything that is lime green cannot be good for me no matter what the label looks like.
Well the weatherman did not lie. By 10 am it was getting warm enough for sweat to be dripping off of my beard and moustache. I can officially say I have a moustache because I got cookie crumbs stuck in it this morning.
The terrain was up and down as well which was not helping the situation at all. Fortunately my legs were feeling really good so I was at the front of the back pulling up most of them.
I know today’s blog is kind of all over the map so I apologize. I have been thinking about all the weird things we have seen in Ontario because we are going to be leaving tomorrow afternoon. The forest was cammo painted boats. Who are you hiding from? And last time I checked water is blue not army green. As well we passed a few cemeteries today that were really odd. One had “Jesus saves” sign right above it, which I found nice and ironic, and the other had an all day breakfast restaurant in it. The final thing that I have been thinking about are all of these truck stop and campsites that offer gifts. If I showed up to a relative’s house at Christmas with a truck stock gift they would not be the least bit impressed.
The day was pretty long because we broke up our riding. So instead of cooking we stopped at a local bbq Cobden. I order the spice wrap, which I thought nothing of because I usually like spicy things. I then sit down and see an in house hot sauce which sent up a red flag because that usually means it’s really hot. Well I get my wrap and it felt as it my tongue was going to get burned out of my mouth. I drank three glasses of water and it was still stinging. Me being me I refused to throw it out and managed to choke down 75% of it. The lady at the till looked over and said, “Hot isn’t it” when she saw that I was sweating from the heat.
The heat has prompted me to change something. I was at the pharamsave and decided to take the plunge for a new hair clipper set. The $17 was so worth it. Cutting all of the hair from my head beard and nipples felt awesome. It also revealed the horrid tan lines that have been brewing. It is worth it though now I can maximize my cookie intake without loosing any to the beard.
Anyways I have to jet the store im hijacking power from is about to close so enjoy your night.
Trip Distance: 157km
Ride Time: 7:09hr
Avg. Speed: 22.01km/h
Total Distance: 4822km
Total Ride Time: 223hr
Destination: Cobden, Ontario
Today was another morning where we got to wake up to dry tents and an easy morning take down. Again the only negative was the fact all you could see were clear skies. Over hearing the radio I heard the news that it was going to get up to 35 which was not good news.
Hearing the weather report changed the way that I approached riding today. It was all about saving energy and drinking a ton of water. In total today I went through 8 litres of water, and even had a Gatorade, which was a first for the trip. I am sorry but anything that is lime green cannot be good for me no matter what the label looks like.
Well the weatherman did not lie. By 10 am it was getting warm enough for sweat to be dripping off of my beard and moustache. I can officially say I have a moustache because I got cookie crumbs stuck in it this morning.
The terrain was up and down as well which was not helping the situation at all. Fortunately my legs were feeling really good so I was at the front of the back pulling up most of them.
I know today’s blog is kind of all over the map so I apologize. I have been thinking about all the weird things we have seen in Ontario because we are going to be leaving tomorrow afternoon. The forest was cammo painted boats. Who are you hiding from? And last time I checked water is blue not army green. As well we passed a few cemeteries today that were really odd. One had “Jesus saves” sign right above it, which I found nice and ironic, and the other had an all day breakfast restaurant in it. The final thing that I have been thinking about are all of these truck stop and campsites that offer gifts. If I showed up to a relative’s house at Christmas with a truck stock gift they would not be the least bit impressed.
The day was pretty long because we broke up our riding. So instead of cooking we stopped at a local bbq Cobden. I order the spice wrap, which I thought nothing of because I usually like spicy things. I then sit down and see an in house hot sauce which sent up a red flag because that usually means it’s really hot. Well I get my wrap and it felt as it my tongue was going to get burned out of my mouth. I drank three glasses of water and it was still stinging. Me being me I refused to throw it out and managed to choke down 75% of it. The lady at the till looked over and said, “Hot isn’t it” when she saw that I was sweating from the heat.
The heat has prompted me to change something. I was at the pharamsave and decided to take the plunge for a new hair clipper set. The $17 was so worth it. Cutting all of the hair from my head beard and nipples felt awesome. It also revealed the horrid tan lines that have been brewing. It is worth it though now I can maximize my cookie intake without loosing any to the beard.
Anyways I have to jet the store im hijacking power from is about to close so enjoy your night.
Trip Distance: 157km
Ride Time: 7:09hr
Avg. Speed: 22.01km/h
Total Distance: 4822km
Total Ride Time: 223hr
Destination: Cobden, Ontario
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tour Day 32 Hotter Then Hell July 26 2010
Last night was the best night of the tour so far. Charles, Olivier, Lynette, and Claude all sat around the campfire and talk for what seemed like hours. All was nice and calm with a beautiful view of the lake while the sun was setting. The sound of country music filled the air as we swapped stories of the road. It was a great way to end a good day. What was also nice was not hearing the traffic in the background while you tried to sleep.
The morning was the morning. Today was nice because the tents were 100% dry. No morning dew and no rainwater. We were finally able to simply roll them up and leave it at that.
The first few k I could tell I stayed up late because I was struggling to keep my eyes open on the bike. For moment I would shut them for an extended period of time, which probably was not a good thing. About the only thing that kept me awake was the taste of the horrid water. Luckily when we stopped at a gas bar the young lady said, “I know the water is bad so take some of our bottled stuff.
At this point it was starting to get warm and it was only 10 in the morning. I knew that it was going to be a rough end to the day because I do not do so well in the hot weather. I figured I would be able to make it to lunch without getting burnt…. well that did not work. Luckily lunch came fairly quickly so it was only a slight tint of red not purple like my arms were before.
This is where the day started to go downhill. I ate my typical lunch for 2 but today’s lunches were a little larger then usual. But I am not one to throw away food so I had to eat everything. That was mistake one. Mistake two was drinking a dr. pepper, which only made things worse. Mistake three was getting on the bike right away and pedaling.
The km went by slow and as the food started to settle I started to feel worse and worse. It was like a lump in my stomach that just would not go away. When we stop at the info site in Twin Rivers I downed a ton of water, which helped a little. But I was still left hunching over the bike for a good amount of time.
After our pit stop it was back on the road at the same pass we had been going at all day which was not good news for me because I kept getting dropped, then had to sprint to catch up. Getting out of twin rivers id this very large hill as well. This was exactly what I did not need. It was roughly 36 degrees out, I was hurting, and I was going the speed of smell, which as a side note is about 8km/h. Getting up this hill I had never wanted to puke more I could feel my body jerking and pulling at itself to make it happen but of course nothing did.
I kept drinking water trying to replenish my fluids, which seemed to help with the stomach. When they say laughter is the best medicine they don’t joke either. One of the better moments was when I got to flip off an idiot driver and laugh it off with Olivier.
The 6 litres of water that I carried on my bike was gone by the time we reached the support vehicle for another rider. Luckily this was about 2k from a campsite. The support vehicle gave us a nice cool ginger ale and some shade to rest in which is exactly what I needed. I thought we would stay at the campsite 2km away but they wanted to push on to the one 40k away. I was not stoked about that fact
Luckily they broke down as bad as I did and we stopped at this campsite and now instead of being dead we have some time to relax, swim in the river and catch up on a few chores that have to get done.
I also just uploaded some new picture on my face book if you want to check them out.
Trip Distance: 145km
Ride Time: 6:39hr
Avg. Speed: 21.79km/h
Total Distance: 4664km
Total Ride Time: 216hr
Destination: 40km outside of twin rivers, Ontario
The morning was the morning. Today was nice because the tents were 100% dry. No morning dew and no rainwater. We were finally able to simply roll them up and leave it at that.
The first few k I could tell I stayed up late because I was struggling to keep my eyes open on the bike. For moment I would shut them for an extended period of time, which probably was not a good thing. About the only thing that kept me awake was the taste of the horrid water. Luckily when we stopped at a gas bar the young lady said, “I know the water is bad so take some of our bottled stuff.
At this point it was starting to get warm and it was only 10 in the morning. I knew that it was going to be a rough end to the day because I do not do so well in the hot weather. I figured I would be able to make it to lunch without getting burnt…. well that did not work. Luckily lunch came fairly quickly so it was only a slight tint of red not purple like my arms were before.
This is where the day started to go downhill. I ate my typical lunch for 2 but today’s lunches were a little larger then usual. But I am not one to throw away food so I had to eat everything. That was mistake one. Mistake two was drinking a dr. pepper, which only made things worse. Mistake three was getting on the bike right away and pedaling.
The km went by slow and as the food started to settle I started to feel worse and worse. It was like a lump in my stomach that just would not go away. When we stop at the info site in Twin Rivers I downed a ton of water, which helped a little. But I was still left hunching over the bike for a good amount of time.
After our pit stop it was back on the road at the same pass we had been going at all day which was not good news for me because I kept getting dropped, then had to sprint to catch up. Getting out of twin rivers id this very large hill as well. This was exactly what I did not need. It was roughly 36 degrees out, I was hurting, and I was going the speed of smell, which as a side note is about 8km/h. Getting up this hill I had never wanted to puke more I could feel my body jerking and pulling at itself to make it happen but of course nothing did.
I kept drinking water trying to replenish my fluids, which seemed to help with the stomach. When they say laughter is the best medicine they don’t joke either. One of the better moments was when I got to flip off an idiot driver and laugh it off with Olivier.
The 6 litres of water that I carried on my bike was gone by the time we reached the support vehicle for another rider. Luckily this was about 2k from a campsite. The support vehicle gave us a nice cool ginger ale and some shade to rest in which is exactly what I needed. I thought we would stay at the campsite 2km away but they wanted to push on to the one 40k away. I was not stoked about that fact
Luckily they broke down as bad as I did and we stopped at this campsite and now instead of being dead we have some time to relax, swim in the river and catch up on a few chores that have to get done.
I also just uploaded some new picture on my face book if you want to check them out.
Trip Distance: 145km
Ride Time: 6:39hr
Avg. Speed: 21.79km/h
Total Distance: 4664km
Total Ride Time: 216hr
Destination: 40km outside of twin rivers, Ontario
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Tour Day 31 Christams in July? July25 2010
This morning something funny happened. I am sitting in the washing brushing my teeth when I hear the shower turn on next to me. This was at 6 in the morning so we were the only ones up. I go to the campsite and see Olivier and ask, why is your dad taking another shower”? His response was “He used that bathroom and has to after”. I chuckled to myself and continued to pack up all my stuff.
The first few kilometres were rough. I could tell that I pushed it a little to hard the day before. We were set on going to Sudbury though and I knew that my muscles would warm up and start to feel less then horrible… I wont say well.
It is kind of cool because you can watch as your body settles into the bike for the day. You can watch you average speed go from 20km/h up to 25km/h in a matter if minutes. It also helped that the wind was at our backs and was pushing us forward.
Getting into Sudbury all you see are two HUGE stacks that dominate the landscape. Fortunately we made the most illegal manoeuvre in the world by cutting across the highway to get to the site of the worlds largest nickel. This is when I clued in that Sudbury was a nickel-producing town. Infact it is the second largest in the world as I found out. The first is owned by the same company in Brazil. This company has a monopoly on the world’s supply of nickel, which is good for them but bad for the rest of us.
The town itself well lets just say the roads were so rough that it popped my fuel canister out from my triple overlapped bungee cord. It felt as is we were dodging mines we had to swerve so much.
Lunch was at a little motel restaurant. It was packed so we knew that something had to be up. Low and behold it is the only restaurant in town that had an entire staff of French speaking Canadians. So intern it attracts a lot of French speaking people. I do not know how Charles picks this up because he told Olivier “no don’t go to the tim hortons” just a block away. It was almost like he knew that this place was around.
We set off from Sudbury for our destination, which was 80k away in sturgeon falls. It was getting hot by this time and we did not have the fortune of seeing clouds on the horizon, so we knew that it was going to be a long hot end to the day.
The heat was starting to get to us around km 40 so we stopped in a little side town for some chocolate milk and ice cream. Now I do not know if it was that, something I ate, or not drinking enough water during the day but my stomach turned in a knot. I tried ignoring it and continue pedaling but it was getting worse and worse. By the end I was hunched over on the bike like I lived in a bell tower. This promoted me to shout out “pull over right here”. Luckily we were right near a gas station and you can guess what happened next.
Today was also shopping day, which is always strangely thrilling. I find it exciting deciding what fruit I want to enjoy for the next couple days. I even enjoy being a math geek and crunching the number to figure out down to the gram and cent, which is going to give me the most products. This works as a plus and a minus though. The plus is it saves me money in the long run. The minus is that I am left strapping food onto the top of my bags. I was a little sceptical at first of this because last time I tried this my bananas ended up on the road never to see my palate. Adding to that was the fact that the road to the campsite was complete wacked. I actually liked the unpaved part more then the paved part.
The campsite is amazing. We strolling in tired and fully loaded to a crowd of people say “take some food your just in time”. It turns out we stumbled upon Christmas in July at deutrisac cottages and campsite. It was awesome the people were very friendly, and the food was a great way to end the day. After 4 hot dogs and 2 hamburgers I was ready to sleep, but I had to set up camp. This is where we meet out neighbours. Again a very welcoming ground that were willing to give there lives to us if we needed them. I also came to a realization here. I do not like country music. However I do like the people who listen to country music.
So from here in sturgeon falls merry Christmas in July.
Trip Distance: 162km
Ride Time: 7:19hr
Avg. Speed: 22.11km/h
Total Distance: 4519km
Total Ride Time: 209hr
Destination: Sturgeon Falls, Ontario
Ps It is the simply things that make the days fun. Today as I sit here in the little store front blogging were being pestered by the fastest flies in the east. I managed to kill on and released one oif the biggest “wooooo’s” yet. The girl next to me just shook her head and left.
The first few kilometres were rough. I could tell that I pushed it a little to hard the day before. We were set on going to Sudbury though and I knew that my muscles would warm up and start to feel less then horrible… I wont say well.
It is kind of cool because you can watch as your body settles into the bike for the day. You can watch you average speed go from 20km/h up to 25km/h in a matter if minutes. It also helped that the wind was at our backs and was pushing us forward.
Getting into Sudbury all you see are two HUGE stacks that dominate the landscape. Fortunately we made the most illegal manoeuvre in the world by cutting across the highway to get to the site of the worlds largest nickel. This is when I clued in that Sudbury was a nickel-producing town. Infact it is the second largest in the world as I found out. The first is owned by the same company in Brazil. This company has a monopoly on the world’s supply of nickel, which is good for them but bad for the rest of us.
The town itself well lets just say the roads were so rough that it popped my fuel canister out from my triple overlapped bungee cord. It felt as is we were dodging mines we had to swerve so much.
Lunch was at a little motel restaurant. It was packed so we knew that something had to be up. Low and behold it is the only restaurant in town that had an entire staff of French speaking Canadians. So intern it attracts a lot of French speaking people. I do not know how Charles picks this up because he told Olivier “no don’t go to the tim hortons” just a block away. It was almost like he knew that this place was around.
We set off from Sudbury for our destination, which was 80k away in sturgeon falls. It was getting hot by this time and we did not have the fortune of seeing clouds on the horizon, so we knew that it was going to be a long hot end to the day.
The heat was starting to get to us around km 40 so we stopped in a little side town for some chocolate milk and ice cream. Now I do not know if it was that, something I ate, or not drinking enough water during the day but my stomach turned in a knot. I tried ignoring it and continue pedaling but it was getting worse and worse. By the end I was hunched over on the bike like I lived in a bell tower. This promoted me to shout out “pull over right here”. Luckily we were right near a gas station and you can guess what happened next.
Today was also shopping day, which is always strangely thrilling. I find it exciting deciding what fruit I want to enjoy for the next couple days. I even enjoy being a math geek and crunching the number to figure out down to the gram and cent, which is going to give me the most products. This works as a plus and a minus though. The plus is it saves me money in the long run. The minus is that I am left strapping food onto the top of my bags. I was a little sceptical at first of this because last time I tried this my bananas ended up on the road never to see my palate. Adding to that was the fact that the road to the campsite was complete wacked. I actually liked the unpaved part more then the paved part.
The campsite is amazing. We strolling in tired and fully loaded to a crowd of people say “take some food your just in time”. It turns out we stumbled upon Christmas in July at deutrisac cottages and campsite. It was awesome the people were very friendly, and the food was a great way to end the day. After 4 hot dogs and 2 hamburgers I was ready to sleep, but I had to set up camp. This is where we meet out neighbours. Again a very welcoming ground that were willing to give there lives to us if we needed them. I also came to a realization here. I do not like country music. However I do like the people who listen to country music.
So from here in sturgeon falls merry Christmas in July.
Trip Distance: 162km
Ride Time: 7:19hr
Avg. Speed: 22.11km/h
Total Distance: 4519km
Total Ride Time: 209hr
Destination: Sturgeon Falls, Ontario
Ps It is the simply things that make the days fun. Today as I sit here in the little store front blogging were being pestered by the fastest flies in the east. I managed to kill on and released one oif the biggest “wooooo’s” yet. The girl next to me just shook her head and left.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tour Day 30 Rough Day For The Emotions July 24 2010
I am going to start off with the big news of the day. Over lunch Charles says to me “Evan I have changed my plan”. I simply thought we were going a little further today or something of that nature, but that was not the case. The next sentence was “I go home”. That is all he needed to say. I felt my heart sink as soon as those words came out of his mouth. At first I was thinking of myself what will happen at night? I am going to have to start knocking on doors asking to use a backyard some nights. Who will I spend my meals with? Man, I am going to be by myself a lot. This is going to get a lot harder and a lot lonelier very soon. This is just a sample of the 1000 ideas that rang through my head all at once
After that I started to think about us as a group. Reflecting back on what we have accomplished so far. I am sitting here on a plastic chair in a shower room and just thinking about it again has brought me to tears. We have come so far, seen so much, and learnt so much about each other. I have spent every hour with these people for a month. I am going to miss waking up to Charles snoring. I am going to miss all of the small things that made turning over the pedals a little easier. They have let me into their lives and I have let them into mine. Even with our language barrier I feel as close to Charles and Olivier as I do to my family. I am not looking forward to this goodbye even though I knew it was going to come eventually.
In all honesty the rest of the day I was simply thinking of that. I zoned out on the bike I was looking about 20feet in front of me staring blankly as the road goes by. The radio was simply background noise to the thoughts going through my head.
The km’s came easy my legs felt good and I was pulling for most of the day. We pulled into one of the small town visitor centres to ask about camping in Espinosa a town about 30k away from where we were, and a town that would make our day a good 170k. Things were looking good so we went into the town and asked the city folk where we could find said campsite. Well they informed us the campsite we were talking about was not one. That the closest site was a 5k backtrack to highway 17 then about 15k down the road. I was gutted again. By this point my legs were dead and I was as hungry as a beaver. On the plus side Charles got a couple new tubes because he had two flats today and vice grips to fix his bike from his crash in the campsite last night; so the trip into town was not for nothing.
I am actually glad that the campsite was further away because Espinosa is a paper town. All you see and smell from anywhere is this plant that is constantly pumping out sheets and rolls of paper.
The campsite could not have come soon enough. It was starting to rain so we attempted to book it double time, but because we were so sore our double time was only 23km/h. The campsite well it has a toilet that has one door with two toilets in it. I have to say it does not get more relaxed then poo'ing next to someone.
Anyways I am a bit of a mess today and need to get some rest because it was a long day on the bike. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 193km
Ride Time: 7:50hr
Avg. Speed: 24.70km/h
Total Distance: 4357km
Total Ride Time: 202hr
Destination: 12k east of Espinosa, Ontario
After that I started to think about us as a group. Reflecting back on what we have accomplished so far. I am sitting here on a plastic chair in a shower room and just thinking about it again has brought me to tears. We have come so far, seen so much, and learnt so much about each other. I have spent every hour with these people for a month. I am going to miss waking up to Charles snoring. I am going to miss all of the small things that made turning over the pedals a little easier. They have let me into their lives and I have let them into mine. Even with our language barrier I feel as close to Charles and Olivier as I do to my family. I am not looking forward to this goodbye even though I knew it was going to come eventually.
In all honesty the rest of the day I was simply thinking of that. I zoned out on the bike I was looking about 20feet in front of me staring blankly as the road goes by. The radio was simply background noise to the thoughts going through my head.
The km’s came easy my legs felt good and I was pulling for most of the day. We pulled into one of the small town visitor centres to ask about camping in Espinosa a town about 30k away from where we were, and a town that would make our day a good 170k. Things were looking good so we went into the town and asked the city folk where we could find said campsite. Well they informed us the campsite we were talking about was not one. That the closest site was a 5k backtrack to highway 17 then about 15k down the road. I was gutted again. By this point my legs were dead and I was as hungry as a beaver. On the plus side Charles got a couple new tubes because he had two flats today and vice grips to fix his bike from his crash in the campsite last night; so the trip into town was not for nothing.
I am actually glad that the campsite was further away because Espinosa is a paper town. All you see and smell from anywhere is this plant that is constantly pumping out sheets and rolls of paper.
The campsite could not have come soon enough. It was starting to rain so we attempted to book it double time, but because we were so sore our double time was only 23km/h. The campsite well it has a toilet that has one door with two toilets in it. I have to say it does not get more relaxed then poo'ing next to someone.
Anyways I am a bit of a mess today and need to get some rest because it was a long day on the bike. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 193km
Ride Time: 7:50hr
Avg. Speed: 24.70km/h
Total Distance: 4357km
Total Ride Time: 202hr
Destination: 12k east of Espinosa, Ontario
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tour Day 29 An Awsome Start To The Day July 23 2010
Last night I was cooking my dinner as usual and it was time to drain the noodles so that I could add the sauce. I was dancing and twirling with the boiling water when all of suddenly I see my noodles on the ground. I released a little f bomb because I was pretty upset with myself for being dumb. So my back up was again nutella sandwiches. This is when I found out why the bread was on sale; the last 4 pieces of the not so wonder bread had mold spots on them. It didn’t stop me from eating it because I paid for it im not going to simply throw it out that would be very wasteful of me.
Anyhow morning came and it was time to make breakfast. I usually have a nice cup of hot chocolate in the morning to start the day off right. Well when I went to grab the pouch of hot chocolate it decided to rip and spray all over the inside of my bag. I then had to pull everything out and wash it, which was an extra chore I did not want to do. In my head I was thinking “great another good start”.
Getting on the bike I was ready to get out of that cursed campsite so we booked it double time down the road. This is when we run into the hill before st. marie. Everyone over hyped it because in all honesty it was not that bad. It could have been the overcast weather, the fact my legs felt good, or the fact when I saw the hill I started to smile that could have persuaded me to this conclusion but it is all the same.
When we came into Sault St. Marie it looked like any other highway town. A Wal-Mart to you left, a Canadian tire to your right, check this box here, and build a road there. But when you peal back the face of the town and get into the downtown you are welcomed by tree lined street and very well kept old houses. The downtown itself seemed quite busy as well which I can take as a good sign.
Lunch. Always a conversation piece, and today was no different. We decided to stop at this little all day breakfast and lunch place that was a converted house smooshed in-between two new building. You walk in the door and you have to shut it behind yourself. Then you look ahead and see an old style grill top with one guy wear a baseball cap working at his max speed which is roughly half that of a normal man. At the old beaten up chrome counter were three people. It was like a scene out of chips. On the right-hand side we had Aundry wearing a semi unbuttoned Hawaiian tee shirt with a well groomed grey Afro. In the centre was the crazy lady. Matted hair, and no real distinct features to talk about other then her wacky teeth. On the left was Phil who was just a normal 50-year-old balding man trying to eat his late breakfast? Andrey would help himself to the coffee in the kitchen, then help out clearing tables while he chatted up the owner who always seemed to be disappearing to do who knows what. The crazy lady would keep talking to seemingly no one, and when it was to someone it was to Phil. Phil was having none of it and tried to ignore it while he quietly ate. After 30min he finally started to speak quietly which only open the floodgates for more crazy rants from the crazy lady. Really it was a case of you had to be there to experience it for yourself.
Afterward I was talking with Olivier and he said the exact same thing to me. He said “back home we have a show where a cab driver goes to eat lunch at the same restaurant every day and you watch his antics”. Sounds strongly like the plot to chips if you ask me but who am I to tell.
We were rolling down queen street taking the sight of the town in and looking at all of the lovely old houses when Charles made a sudden left hand turn into this old garage for some air. This garage was about 44 years old and was in a residential area, which was odd. We then were greeted by bob the 84-year-old owner and sole employee of the shop. He gave me a brief look into what I am going to be like when I am older. He ranted as much, and about the same random stuff that I do to any audience that was willing to listen.
That brings us to lovely bruce bay 70k east of st. marie. This town of 600 is actually a hive of activity in proportion to the population. I am left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth though because coming into the town this semi decided to cut into the shoulder and force us off into the gravel just because we are on bikes. I then see said trucker 2 blocks down the road pulled over at a rest stop and give him the thumbs up and shake my head.
Trip Distance: 153km
Ride Time: 7:02hr
Avg. Speed: 21.81km/h
Total Distance: 4162km
Total Ride Time: 194hr
Destination: Bruce Mine, Ontario
Anyhow morning came and it was time to make breakfast. I usually have a nice cup of hot chocolate in the morning to start the day off right. Well when I went to grab the pouch of hot chocolate it decided to rip and spray all over the inside of my bag. I then had to pull everything out and wash it, which was an extra chore I did not want to do. In my head I was thinking “great another good start”.
Getting on the bike I was ready to get out of that cursed campsite so we booked it double time down the road. This is when we run into the hill before st. marie. Everyone over hyped it because in all honesty it was not that bad. It could have been the overcast weather, the fact my legs felt good, or the fact when I saw the hill I started to smile that could have persuaded me to this conclusion but it is all the same.
When we came into Sault St. Marie it looked like any other highway town. A Wal-Mart to you left, a Canadian tire to your right, check this box here, and build a road there. But when you peal back the face of the town and get into the downtown you are welcomed by tree lined street and very well kept old houses. The downtown itself seemed quite busy as well which I can take as a good sign.
Lunch. Always a conversation piece, and today was no different. We decided to stop at this little all day breakfast and lunch place that was a converted house smooshed in-between two new building. You walk in the door and you have to shut it behind yourself. Then you look ahead and see an old style grill top with one guy wear a baseball cap working at his max speed which is roughly half that of a normal man. At the old beaten up chrome counter were three people. It was like a scene out of chips. On the right-hand side we had Aundry wearing a semi unbuttoned Hawaiian tee shirt with a well groomed grey Afro. In the centre was the crazy lady. Matted hair, and no real distinct features to talk about other then her wacky teeth. On the left was Phil who was just a normal 50-year-old balding man trying to eat his late breakfast? Andrey would help himself to the coffee in the kitchen, then help out clearing tables while he chatted up the owner who always seemed to be disappearing to do who knows what. The crazy lady would keep talking to seemingly no one, and when it was to someone it was to Phil. Phil was having none of it and tried to ignore it while he quietly ate. After 30min he finally started to speak quietly which only open the floodgates for more crazy rants from the crazy lady. Really it was a case of you had to be there to experience it for yourself.
Afterward I was talking with Olivier and he said the exact same thing to me. He said “back home we have a show where a cab driver goes to eat lunch at the same restaurant every day and you watch his antics”. Sounds strongly like the plot to chips if you ask me but who am I to tell.
We were rolling down queen street taking the sight of the town in and looking at all of the lovely old houses when Charles made a sudden left hand turn into this old garage for some air. This garage was about 44 years old and was in a residential area, which was odd. We then were greeted by bob the 84-year-old owner and sole employee of the shop. He gave me a brief look into what I am going to be like when I am older. He ranted as much, and about the same random stuff that I do to any audience that was willing to listen.
That brings us to lovely bruce bay 70k east of st. marie. This town of 600 is actually a hive of activity in proportion to the population. I am left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth though because coming into the town this semi decided to cut into the shoulder and force us off into the gravel just because we are on bikes. I then see said trucker 2 blocks down the road pulled over at a rest stop and give him the thumbs up and shake my head.
Trip Distance: 153km
Ride Time: 7:02hr
Avg. Speed: 21.81km/h
Total Distance: 4162km
Total Ride Time: 194hr
Destination: Bruce Mine, Ontario
Tour Day 28 SHort Of The Goal July 22 2010
Today started early. This is how it worked I woke up, put shorts and a shirt on, and we were out the door to go eat breakfast at a local restaurant in Wawa that opened at 6am. The lady who helped us looked at me strangely and proceeded to question me when I asked for 2 complete breakfasts. She said asked” are you sure?” I responded yes we are cycling from here to st marie. She clued in the and said “can I get anything else for you?” Today was also the first time that I can remember that I drank coffee. I know realize why I haven’t in so long because it tastes like garbage.
Over breakfast we talked about the ride. We knew that it was going to be rough because our maps showed us that the first 140k were very mountainous. Still we decided that we would attempt to get there come hell or high water.
The pass was different today because we were all aware of what laid ahead so we scaled back the effort level and cruised through the first 30k giving us a nice little warm up. The scenery through lake superior Provincial Park is nice, but really the coolest thing was the fog today. It gave everything that sleepy hallow feel. All we needed was the headless horseman riding beside us and we would be set.
I was pretty zoned out on the bike just focusing on putting consistent power into the pedals so that I do not burn myself out when a group of about 10 bikers ride by honking and waving. It took me a second to process because I was about to flip them off because most honks here are because we are on the road because most of the shoulders are a complete mess. I then realized that they were the bikers from our motel last night. By that time it was to late and if I waved I would have simply looked a little special.
Montreal River came up at km 115 and it was about 3pm. Over a lunch of nutella sandwiches, dr. pepper, and carrot cake we decided that the additional 105k was simply to far. Especially considering that we have to get into st. marie which is a 6 mile hill apparently that has a grade up to 12%. For those who don’t know that is the equivalent of vertical when you are on a 140lbs bike.
Instead we made in to pancake bay. The camping is expensive, the shower was garbage, but the view is super nice especially with the sun setting. While that’s happening though im stuck in a hot laundry room cleaning all of my junk so that I am not cycling nude tomorrow.
Really not too much happened today we simply got the job done and ran into a few people that we have seen in previous days that bike then drive ahead and repeat. The one lady has a bike I would gladly swap for a nice Trek Madone 6.9 that I ogled for a little while. Other then that I have just been obsessing over plans for after newfound land. It is not really a stress thing it is more of a which challenge do I want to take on. In all honesty I am leaning towards R.A.A.M. because it makes more financial sense for me, but then again I only am going to be in this position once. This battle goes on in my head for about 5 hours a day before I get sick of it and plug in my ipod.
Trip Distance: 159km
Ride Time: 8:00hr
Avg. Speed: 19.90km/h
Total Distance: 4004km
Total Ride Time: 186hr
Destination: Pancake Bay, Ontario
Over breakfast we talked about the ride. We knew that it was going to be rough because our maps showed us that the first 140k were very mountainous. Still we decided that we would attempt to get there come hell or high water.
The pass was different today because we were all aware of what laid ahead so we scaled back the effort level and cruised through the first 30k giving us a nice little warm up. The scenery through lake superior Provincial Park is nice, but really the coolest thing was the fog today. It gave everything that sleepy hallow feel. All we needed was the headless horseman riding beside us and we would be set.
I was pretty zoned out on the bike just focusing on putting consistent power into the pedals so that I do not burn myself out when a group of about 10 bikers ride by honking and waving. It took me a second to process because I was about to flip them off because most honks here are because we are on the road because most of the shoulders are a complete mess. I then realized that they were the bikers from our motel last night. By that time it was to late and if I waved I would have simply looked a little special.
Montreal River came up at km 115 and it was about 3pm. Over a lunch of nutella sandwiches, dr. pepper, and carrot cake we decided that the additional 105k was simply to far. Especially considering that we have to get into st. marie which is a 6 mile hill apparently that has a grade up to 12%. For those who don’t know that is the equivalent of vertical when you are on a 140lbs bike.
Instead we made in to pancake bay. The camping is expensive, the shower was garbage, but the view is super nice especially with the sun setting. While that’s happening though im stuck in a hot laundry room cleaning all of my junk so that I am not cycling nude tomorrow.
Really not too much happened today we simply got the job done and ran into a few people that we have seen in previous days that bike then drive ahead and repeat. The one lady has a bike I would gladly swap for a nice Trek Madone 6.9 that I ogled for a little while. Other then that I have just been obsessing over plans for after newfound land. It is not really a stress thing it is more of a which challenge do I want to take on. In all honesty I am leaning towards R.A.A.M. because it makes more financial sense for me, but then again I only am going to be in this position once. This battle goes on in my head for about 5 hours a day before I get sick of it and plug in my ipod.
Trip Distance: 159km
Ride Time: 8:00hr
Avg. Speed: 19.90km/h
Total Distance: 4004km
Total Ride Time: 186hr
Destination: Pancake Bay, Ontario
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tour Day 27 Our First Big Rain July 21 2010
So I was trying to think of a way to phrase this yesterday without sounding dumb but I could not think of a way to make it sound any better. I had a crash. It was possibly the slowest crash of my life, and one that I could only laugh at after. We were coming up to this gas station in marathon and I see this yellow curb. I think to myself o Evan just put your foot on it that way you do not have to get off the seat. Well my body did not respond because I passed the curb and still has my foot down with nothing underneath it. I then panic and unclip both feet, but for some reason still am seated on the saddle. Well I then released an “Oooooooo (boom)”. Charles and Olivier look at me and just start to laugh as I sit there thinking wow those hotdogs were not worth all of this.
Today well it started off on the wrong foot because it rained last night, which made the ground super tacky, which then made the dirt, stick to everything. I am super anal about keeping my tent, and ground sheet clean. By the time I was finished taking it all down both were muddy and gross so I used some water to attempt to clean it. Little did I know that the park tap water was not good to drink so I wasted all of my good drinking water cleaning something that goes on the ground. So there I am thinking o crap I have to ride 40k with no water, a dirty ground sheet, and a dirty tent. Great morning. About the only thing that went right was my bug hunting abilities. I was like Rambo cleaning the flies out of my vestibule.
The other pest we had to deal with today were squirrels. Yes they are cute and such, but the cuteness does not appeal to me when it is trying to naw through my top nut bag. Then I would scare off said squirrel and it would go over to Olivier’s bag and start chewing it. Now thinking back on it we should have placed them both in the same area, but in the heat of the moment we were not thinking. Once we sent it back into the woods you could hear it talking to its buddies. Man I have way too much time on my hands if the mornings highlight is a group of squirrels.
Well back to the riding. When we got to White River we stopped in to a Robins Donouts. I have never experienced this before and we seem to keep passing them. If I were a betting man I would bet that we have passed more of them then Tim Horton’s. Well robins did not let down because they had the most delicious double chocolate donout I have ever tasted. And even better I finally got some water.
After doming 1.5 litres of water in the space of 5 minutes you can guess what I had to do next. At the side of the road in a ditch there I am feeling at one with nature when I feel something hit me in the back. It was Charles. He had thrown his banana peal at me and hit me square in the back. Luckily I was done and did not make a mess of myself and we were able to press on.
This is when our luck ran out. From km 68.5 on we were stuck battling heavy rain and lighting. We tried our trick with the shoe covers, but that did not work. We tried out trick of eating and waiting out the storm, but that did not work. We were forced to deal with this storm head on. Because I was the only one with waterproof shoe covers, waterproof pants, and waterproof coat I was happy (ish). The game I played for the last km’s was watch the one dry spot disappear on Olivier’s shorts. Every time he would sit down you would hear it smoosh down. I was thinking was that has to chafe, and man I am glad my feet are dry.
Because of how miserable we were and the fact the only campsite for 50k was a backtrack down the hill out of Wawa we decided to book a motel. Every square inch of this place is covered with something that is either being dried or aired out so that it does not give us some sort of disease. The shower was hot, and the bed is nice and comfy to blog on. I am going to bed honest though I find my sleeping mat as comfortable as my mattress at home, which makes me sleep like a bear.
Just as an update the weird dreams are continuing. Last night I had a dream that I was Mario from the super Mario bros. I was running and jumping collecting power ups and such, but this one had a twist. For some reason I had a power bar that showed how much further I could run and to refill it I had to jump on these daisies, which flung me in the air so I could not get greedy, and take to much energy or I would fall to my death. It means nothing but it just shows how weird things can get on the road.
Trip Distance: 134km
Ride Time: 6:18hr
Avg. Speed: 21.33km/h
Total Distance: 3843km
Total Ride Time: 178hr
Destination: Wawa Ontario
Today well it started off on the wrong foot because it rained last night, which made the ground super tacky, which then made the dirt, stick to everything. I am super anal about keeping my tent, and ground sheet clean. By the time I was finished taking it all down both were muddy and gross so I used some water to attempt to clean it. Little did I know that the park tap water was not good to drink so I wasted all of my good drinking water cleaning something that goes on the ground. So there I am thinking o crap I have to ride 40k with no water, a dirty ground sheet, and a dirty tent. Great morning. About the only thing that went right was my bug hunting abilities. I was like Rambo cleaning the flies out of my vestibule.
The other pest we had to deal with today were squirrels. Yes they are cute and such, but the cuteness does not appeal to me when it is trying to naw through my top nut bag. Then I would scare off said squirrel and it would go over to Olivier’s bag and start chewing it. Now thinking back on it we should have placed them both in the same area, but in the heat of the moment we were not thinking. Once we sent it back into the woods you could hear it talking to its buddies. Man I have way too much time on my hands if the mornings highlight is a group of squirrels.
Well back to the riding. When we got to White River we stopped in to a Robins Donouts. I have never experienced this before and we seem to keep passing them. If I were a betting man I would bet that we have passed more of them then Tim Horton’s. Well robins did not let down because they had the most delicious double chocolate donout I have ever tasted. And even better I finally got some water.
After doming 1.5 litres of water in the space of 5 minutes you can guess what I had to do next. At the side of the road in a ditch there I am feeling at one with nature when I feel something hit me in the back. It was Charles. He had thrown his banana peal at me and hit me square in the back. Luckily I was done and did not make a mess of myself and we were able to press on.
This is when our luck ran out. From km 68.5 on we were stuck battling heavy rain and lighting. We tried our trick with the shoe covers, but that did not work. We tried out trick of eating and waiting out the storm, but that did not work. We were forced to deal with this storm head on. Because I was the only one with waterproof shoe covers, waterproof pants, and waterproof coat I was happy (ish). The game I played for the last km’s was watch the one dry spot disappear on Olivier’s shorts. Every time he would sit down you would hear it smoosh down. I was thinking was that has to chafe, and man I am glad my feet are dry.
Because of how miserable we were and the fact the only campsite for 50k was a backtrack down the hill out of Wawa we decided to book a motel. Every square inch of this place is covered with something that is either being dried or aired out so that it does not give us some sort of disease. The shower was hot, and the bed is nice and comfy to blog on. I am going to bed honest though I find my sleeping mat as comfortable as my mattress at home, which makes me sleep like a bear.
Just as an update the weird dreams are continuing. Last night I had a dream that I was Mario from the super Mario bros. I was running and jumping collecting power ups and such, but this one had a twist. For some reason I had a power bar that showed how much further I could run and to refill it I had to jump on these daisies, which flung me in the air so I could not get greedy, and take to much energy or I would fall to my death. It means nothing but it just shows how weird things can get on the road.
Trip Distance: 134km
Ride Time: 6:18hr
Avg. Speed: 21.33km/h
Total Distance: 3843km
Total Ride Time: 178hr
Destination: Wawa Ontario
Tour Day 26 The Radio Sounds Like A good Choice July 20 2010
Last night I had a bit of a rough sleep because we were so close to the highway. It seemed like every time I was about to bonk a huge semi would pass riding its air brake down the hill. Eventually however I did manage to get a little bit of rest.
The morning we were greeted by what else but some more hills. Usually I don’t plug in my ipod till after lunch but today was another day when I needed music all day. I decided to change it up though and listen to the radio. Now here in the depths of northern Ontario the only station that comes in clear is the soft rock station. I swear that every song had at least on e sax solo in it and was required to talk about love at one point. I had to chuckle to myself while climbing to rod stewarts classic if you want my body. As well I think it was the first time since the late 90’s that I have heard shaggy played on the radio.
About the only song that was not soft rock was one that reminded me of home again. Adam lamberts hit (I forget what its called). The week before I left on the trip Cody and I headed up to ride whistler on our mountain bikes. For some reason I am not too sure of that became the theme song for said trip. One thing I find a little finny is that a few of the cuts I got from that trip are still healing, because my body is so focused on muscle recovery it is not working as hard on the healing.
One other thing that I learned and will pass it along because it is now engrained in my head they played the add so much. Kenny Loggins is coming to the Thunder Bay community centre. So if you ever wanted to experience the danger zone this is the time.
Now you might ask why did I not just go to my own music. I would put a question mark but I have done something to my computer so it comes up as a French É. Well the reason is that I am very stubborn. I made a deal with myself that I would listen to it till lunch. If I cant make it through crummy music for half a day how can I possibly finish a bike tour.
Well lunch could not come fast enough, and it just so happened to be in a town called Marathon. Getting to marathon you get off the highway and go down a 4k descent, which was awesome after doing 80k of climbing already. Well once we got our groceries and found out that the only restaurant in town was one that had 0 windows we were forced to eat hot dogs, but at least the proceeds went to the food bank. So we made that decent for no name pasta and hot dogs. Needless to say it was a bad choice.
On the plus side we were rewarded for our hard work with an awesome final 80k. The roads started to level out a little (still enough hills to make it fun). And for some reason the traffic seemed to disappear. All the way to Marathon we were fighting for space but afterward we were able to have the road to ourselves for minutes at a time. Even better the last 20k was brand new pavement. It didn’t even have road lines on it yet. This is when the 4 hotdogs for me started to kick in.
I was pulling hard the entire way into our second rest stop just outside of white lake. Sweat was pouring off of my face, and my arms were thoroughly lubricated when this motel showed up in the distance. It had a trailed out front that said restaurant, which was perfect because we were all feeling very lazy today and that, is just what we needed. Dinner was HUGE. It was the first time I have seen Charles not clear a plate. It was delicious as well which always helps.
I went for something lighter thinking we still had some riding left. For once I was thinking right. The road down to the campsite was amazing. It was this super narrow road that was super twisty it little birmed up hills that where there for seemingly no reason. The only thought in my head now is that if it was that fun to come down it is probably going to suck going up tomorrow.
Trip Distance: 156km
Ride Time: 7:33hr
Avg. Speed: 20.71km
Total Distance: 3708km
Total Ride Time: 172hr
Destination: White Lake, Ontario
Thank go. It took me 40 minutes but I managed to get my word back to normal ?’s and all. It is an amazing thing that I managed to hit 3 keys at the exact right time to change it beforehand.
The morning we were greeted by what else but some more hills. Usually I don’t plug in my ipod till after lunch but today was another day when I needed music all day. I decided to change it up though and listen to the radio. Now here in the depths of northern Ontario the only station that comes in clear is the soft rock station. I swear that every song had at least on e sax solo in it and was required to talk about love at one point. I had to chuckle to myself while climbing to rod stewarts classic if you want my body. As well I think it was the first time since the late 90’s that I have heard shaggy played on the radio.
About the only song that was not soft rock was one that reminded me of home again. Adam lamberts hit (I forget what its called). The week before I left on the trip Cody and I headed up to ride whistler on our mountain bikes. For some reason I am not too sure of that became the theme song for said trip. One thing I find a little finny is that a few of the cuts I got from that trip are still healing, because my body is so focused on muscle recovery it is not working as hard on the healing.
One other thing that I learned and will pass it along because it is now engrained in my head they played the add so much. Kenny Loggins is coming to the Thunder Bay community centre. So if you ever wanted to experience the danger zone this is the time.
Now you might ask why did I not just go to my own music. I would put a question mark but I have done something to my computer so it comes up as a French É. Well the reason is that I am very stubborn. I made a deal with myself that I would listen to it till lunch. If I cant make it through crummy music for half a day how can I possibly finish a bike tour.
Well lunch could not come fast enough, and it just so happened to be in a town called Marathon. Getting to marathon you get off the highway and go down a 4k descent, which was awesome after doing 80k of climbing already. Well once we got our groceries and found out that the only restaurant in town was one that had 0 windows we were forced to eat hot dogs, but at least the proceeds went to the food bank. So we made that decent for no name pasta and hot dogs. Needless to say it was a bad choice.
On the plus side we were rewarded for our hard work with an awesome final 80k. The roads started to level out a little (still enough hills to make it fun). And for some reason the traffic seemed to disappear. All the way to Marathon we were fighting for space but afterward we were able to have the road to ourselves for minutes at a time. Even better the last 20k was brand new pavement. It didn’t even have road lines on it yet. This is when the 4 hotdogs for me started to kick in.
I was pulling hard the entire way into our second rest stop just outside of white lake. Sweat was pouring off of my face, and my arms were thoroughly lubricated when this motel showed up in the distance. It had a trailed out front that said restaurant, which was perfect because we were all feeling very lazy today and that, is just what we needed. Dinner was HUGE. It was the first time I have seen Charles not clear a plate. It was delicious as well which always helps.
I went for something lighter thinking we still had some riding left. For once I was thinking right. The road down to the campsite was amazing. It was this super narrow road that was super twisty it little birmed up hills that where there for seemingly no reason. The only thought in my head now is that if it was that fun to come down it is probably going to suck going up tomorrow.
Trip Distance: 156km
Ride Time: 7:33hr
Avg. Speed: 20.71km
Total Distance: 3708km
Total Ride Time: 172hr
Destination: White Lake, Ontario
Thank go. It took me 40 minutes but I managed to get my word back to normal ?’s and all. It is an amazing thing that I managed to hit 3 keys at the exact right time to change it beforehand.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Tour Day 25 The Hills Feel Like I Am Back Home July 19 2010
The showers at the marina last night were something else. It felt as if I was getting sprayed with a hot fire hose. Not gunna lie it was pretty awesome, and it was free to boot so I really have no complaints. One thing I forgot to write about yesterday was Olivier’s new friend that he met. Hidden under his bob trailer was a baby squirrel that once released ran directly over his feet which caused him to release I have to say the funniest shriek I have ever heard.
Today well it was fun if you are into self-torture. My legs felt a lot better today so I was pulling a lot more then I was yesterday, but really most of the day we were forced to push ourselves at 100% because the peaks and valleys of the shore line are getting a lot steeper. Most would complain about having to do 6 5k climbs in a day but when you are feeling good you just want to do more. Olivier and I we messing around with each other again on the hills playing games of hiding in each other blind spots then attacking when the other was not expecting it. When you are pinned side by side with someone going so slow, on such heavy bikes you can help but look over at each other and smile. And if you looked down all you would see are beads of sweat dripping off your face. The nuts that were in my top bag were a little extra salty today.
The scenery today was defiantly worth the hard work climbing. Every time we would come down all of sudden the surround trees would seem to disappear to reveal the lake and surround inlands. The one moment that stuck with me today was when we were rifling down at about 57km/h and just over this little bridge you could see the most uninterrupted view of the lake so far. It left me saying wow lets do that again.
Our first stop was in a sketchy little can-op in the middle of nothing land. In this store he carried candy, fireworks, and booze. We asked if he had any milk or nuts. Something to keep us going, but his response was “I don’t sell enough of that stuff”. I was thinking about that afterward. As a gas station you would think you would sell a lot of “that stuff”. He has to be selling a lot of fireworks and booze to justify not carrying the basic amenities of life. What does that say about that surrounding area? My guess is that the town slogan is “don’t come here on new years”.
By the time lunch rolled around I was ready for a feast. A chilli pizza was exactly what the doctor ordered. At that point I felt that I needed the little addition thrust that it would give me about 15mintues after eating. When we left the restaurant we decided to make it a short day today simply because my bike was making a weird clicking sound and I needed to take everything around the bottom bracket apart and grease it.
After a quick grocery shop in Terrace bay we got to our campsite, which was backwards 2km. This is the first time I have backtracked since day one but it was the only option because we did not want to go the extra 57k to the next site. The one thing I though was a little weird was although they could have put a site in the bay with a beautiful view, they decided to put it next to a swampy little creek next to the highway. I really have not complaints though because for $7 I got a free shower, a large site, time to fix my bike, and free wifi (while it worked).
I am going to cut things a little short today because I would like to spend some time socializing with the other bike tourists here. 2 of them from last night made it to here I am not sure what happened to the other 2 but I hope they made it through the hills alright.
Trip Distance: 111km
Ride Time: 5:32hr
Avg. Speed: 20.14km/h
Total Distance: 3551km
Total Ride Time: 164hr
Destination: Terrace Bay, Ontario
Today well it was fun if you are into self-torture. My legs felt a lot better today so I was pulling a lot more then I was yesterday, but really most of the day we were forced to push ourselves at 100% because the peaks and valleys of the shore line are getting a lot steeper. Most would complain about having to do 6 5k climbs in a day but when you are feeling good you just want to do more. Olivier and I we messing around with each other again on the hills playing games of hiding in each other blind spots then attacking when the other was not expecting it. When you are pinned side by side with someone going so slow, on such heavy bikes you can help but look over at each other and smile. And if you looked down all you would see are beads of sweat dripping off your face. The nuts that were in my top bag were a little extra salty today.
The scenery today was defiantly worth the hard work climbing. Every time we would come down all of sudden the surround trees would seem to disappear to reveal the lake and surround inlands. The one moment that stuck with me today was when we were rifling down at about 57km/h and just over this little bridge you could see the most uninterrupted view of the lake so far. It left me saying wow lets do that again.
Our first stop was in a sketchy little can-op in the middle of nothing land. In this store he carried candy, fireworks, and booze. We asked if he had any milk or nuts. Something to keep us going, but his response was “I don’t sell enough of that stuff”. I was thinking about that afterward. As a gas station you would think you would sell a lot of “that stuff”. He has to be selling a lot of fireworks and booze to justify not carrying the basic amenities of life. What does that say about that surrounding area? My guess is that the town slogan is “don’t come here on new years”.
By the time lunch rolled around I was ready for a feast. A chilli pizza was exactly what the doctor ordered. At that point I felt that I needed the little addition thrust that it would give me about 15mintues after eating. When we left the restaurant we decided to make it a short day today simply because my bike was making a weird clicking sound and I needed to take everything around the bottom bracket apart and grease it.
After a quick grocery shop in Terrace bay we got to our campsite, which was backwards 2km. This is the first time I have backtracked since day one but it was the only option because we did not want to go the extra 57k to the next site. The one thing I though was a little weird was although they could have put a site in the bay with a beautiful view, they decided to put it next to a swampy little creek next to the highway. I really have not complaints though because for $7 I got a free shower, a large site, time to fix my bike, and free wifi (while it worked).
I am going to cut things a little short today because I would like to spend some time socializing with the other bike tourists here. 2 of them from last night made it to here I am not sure what happened to the other 2 but I hope they made it through the hills alright.
Trip Distance: 111km
Ride Time: 5:32hr
Avg. Speed: 20.14km/h
Total Distance: 3551km
Total Ride Time: 164hr
Destination: Terrace Bay, Ontario
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Tour Day 24 A Rough Day That Ended Well July 18 2010
So last night I crawled into my sleeping bag and listened to a song called changes by kings of Leon. The reason I turned that song in particular is because it reminds me of home. It reminds me of riding down the road with kev with our mountain bikes on back of his little red civic beating up a service road. As much as these days are pack with activity you do get the urge to get back into what normal used to be. Those thoughts are what put me to sleep… until Charles let the loudest fart I have ever heard go. To put it in prospective I can sleep through a train going by behind my tent, but I can evidently not sleep through a Charles fart in a small hotel room.
95% of the ride today sucked. It started from the get go when we did not eat breakfast before we started riding. We decided as a group to ride to thunder bay and eat breakfast there. Before we hit the road though we stopped at the shell where everyone but me picked up a muffin and coffee. Now I have no excuse for not eating because I was hungry I was simply too cheap and though “well I can man up and make it to thunder bay”. Well I did not make it to thunder bay in one piece. I was so hungry that I started to sweat. All I could focus on was the hungry. I ate what little I had in my top bag but it did nothing. I drank a bottle of water and still nothing. I was drafting off of Lauren and struggling to hole this 60 year old mans wheel. We passed the 16km to thunder bay and I was crushed.
Once we got to thunder bay we started passing restaurants and all I could think was please let us stop here. We were pretty much out of Thunder Bay when we decided to stop at a small bistro. Here is where I downed 3 breakfast’s in the time it took Lauren to eat 1. I was finally starting to feel good when we hit the road again.
Well that good feeling sure did not last. I very quickly realized that food was one of the issues and my legs were the other. The days of small rolling hills had zapped them for the larger hills that we encountered today. They simply did not want to turn over. I kept standing up out of the saddle to try to get some more leverage but as soon as I sat down I lost all of my speed.
The wind was the other issue it was abusing me. Because I had trouble keeping the wheel I would keep getting dropped and would then be forced to ride solo in a direct head wind. For 5 kilometres I saw the gap getting larger and larger and I could not do anything about it. Thankfully Charles looked back and saw I was struggling and told them to slow down to let me catch up.
Lunch could not come fast enough. That esso station seemed so far away when you are going so slow, and watching your distance down to the meter. I had my usually lunch for two but changed things up with milk today and boy did that do the trick. I was like the tv commercial. Right after lunch I was back at the front puling with Olivier who had been doing all the work all day. We were doing our usual match sprints up the hills and sweating like beavers on this lovely overcast day.
We were rolling onto the destination when we came to a sudden halt. Oliver had got a bee stuck in his lip that then proceed to bite him. I did the nice thing and said “it does not look to bad” when really his lip looked like mike Tyson had punched him in the face then bit his lip off.
That brings us to our stop in Nipigon, which I would say was the highlight of the day. We pull in and are greeted by a campsite right near the water filled with only bike tourists. By filled I mean 4 other bike tourists. It is odd because we are all the same type of person, it is odd how we all get along so well, and it is odd that conversations do not start off with hello what’s you name but rather where are you coming from. I actually had to stop after talking for about 30 minutes and say “I think we forgot to introduce ourselves”. We were also met by a character named Jim a local here that talked a mile a minute and never seemed to finish a statement he started. It was like having dinner and a show. I would love to tell you what he had to say but even I had trouble fallowing it at points. All I know is that we all had a good laugh about it after. Anyways I have to free up one of the 8 outlets because we all need to charge everything we have.
As a side note thank you to the women at the visitor centre here in nipigon they were some of the most helpful people we have met thus far.
Trip Distance: 148km
Ride Time: 6:55hr
Avg. Speed: 21.41km/h
Total Distance: 3439km
Total Ride Time: 159hr
Destination: Nipigon, Ontario
95% of the ride today sucked. It started from the get go when we did not eat breakfast before we started riding. We decided as a group to ride to thunder bay and eat breakfast there. Before we hit the road though we stopped at the shell where everyone but me picked up a muffin and coffee. Now I have no excuse for not eating because I was hungry I was simply too cheap and though “well I can man up and make it to thunder bay”. Well I did not make it to thunder bay in one piece. I was so hungry that I started to sweat. All I could focus on was the hungry. I ate what little I had in my top bag but it did nothing. I drank a bottle of water and still nothing. I was drafting off of Lauren and struggling to hole this 60 year old mans wheel. We passed the 16km to thunder bay and I was crushed.
Once we got to thunder bay we started passing restaurants and all I could think was please let us stop here. We were pretty much out of Thunder Bay when we decided to stop at a small bistro. Here is where I downed 3 breakfast’s in the time it took Lauren to eat 1. I was finally starting to feel good when we hit the road again.
Well that good feeling sure did not last. I very quickly realized that food was one of the issues and my legs were the other. The days of small rolling hills had zapped them for the larger hills that we encountered today. They simply did not want to turn over. I kept standing up out of the saddle to try to get some more leverage but as soon as I sat down I lost all of my speed.
The wind was the other issue it was abusing me. Because I had trouble keeping the wheel I would keep getting dropped and would then be forced to ride solo in a direct head wind. For 5 kilometres I saw the gap getting larger and larger and I could not do anything about it. Thankfully Charles looked back and saw I was struggling and told them to slow down to let me catch up.
Lunch could not come fast enough. That esso station seemed so far away when you are going so slow, and watching your distance down to the meter. I had my usually lunch for two but changed things up with milk today and boy did that do the trick. I was like the tv commercial. Right after lunch I was back at the front puling with Olivier who had been doing all the work all day. We were doing our usual match sprints up the hills and sweating like beavers on this lovely overcast day.
We were rolling onto the destination when we came to a sudden halt. Oliver had got a bee stuck in his lip that then proceed to bite him. I did the nice thing and said “it does not look to bad” when really his lip looked like mike Tyson had punched him in the face then bit his lip off.
That brings us to our stop in Nipigon, which I would say was the highlight of the day. We pull in and are greeted by a campsite right near the water filled with only bike tourists. By filled I mean 4 other bike tourists. It is odd because we are all the same type of person, it is odd how we all get along so well, and it is odd that conversations do not start off with hello what’s you name but rather where are you coming from. I actually had to stop after talking for about 30 minutes and say “I think we forgot to introduce ourselves”. We were also met by a character named Jim a local here that talked a mile a minute and never seemed to finish a statement he started. It was like having dinner and a show. I would love to tell you what he had to say but even I had trouble fallowing it at points. All I know is that we all had a good laugh about it after. Anyways I have to free up one of the 8 outlets because we all need to charge everything we have.
As a side note thank you to the women at the visitor centre here in nipigon they were some of the most helpful people we have met thus far.
Trip Distance: 148km
Ride Time: 6:55hr
Avg. Speed: 21.41km/h
Total Distance: 3439km
Total Ride Time: 159hr
Destination: Nipigon, Ontario
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Tour Day 23 I Am A Believer July 17 2010
It is official I am now a believer in fate. I will not spoil the end for you now so just keep reading.
This morning it was a full table at breakfast. We had Charles, Olivier, Julian, and me. As well we met up with Lauren at his motel to fill our water bottles, and brush our teeth because the water tasted like dead fish. It might have had something to do with it being in the tackle shop but I can no say for sure. But anyways we were off down the road to encounter some more rolling hills.
Lunch came very quick today only 50k into the ride because from that restaurant to the next one was a distance of 75km which was not doable on just porage and hot chocolate. In this esso restaurant laid the most fowl woman we have met to date. When we got in there was only two tables in the whole place occupied but she gave us this sort of attitude that completely put me off. When I took a minute to translate for the gang she had the nerve to say, “come on”. Then just the way that she processed everything just seemed a little too brash for my nature but maybe that how this little town operates.
By this time I was feeling a like listening to some music but did not want to plug in because the truck here pass you with what seems to be inches to spare. It scares the poop out of me sometimes and from living in Vancouver I am pretty comfortable in traffic. Luckily my ipod has a built in speaker so I thought I would be smart and play that. Well again I was not smart because all you could here with the passing traffic was the odd beat to a crazy techno song. I then proceeded to put that away and not waste my time.
Time that is also something else that changed today which always sucks because we now have to wake up an hour earlier. Not that we have TV or anything but we can’t watch our reality shows 3 hours ahead any more.
I don’t know how to say this so I will just blurt it out. I was taking a pee on the side of the road and heard a sound so I stepped back. I then heard it again and it was a meow, which was odd because the reason I was taking a pee on the side of the road was because we were 40k from any city, town, or even a house. I then meow back and forth with said animal for a minute. The out of the woods come bounding a 1-year-old black male cat. He was super friendly and wanted some loving. The others were down the road but I could not leave the cat in the woods to die. I then flag down a passing car and they take the cat in and were off down the road to give it a loving home.
The next 30k you could not have wiped the smile off of my face. I felt so good that I saved this cat. I mean what are the chances of me stopping in that exact spot, at that exact time, and finding a family that was normal and willing to take it in. I think about the same odds of me finding a group at the same skill level as me, the same distances as me, and all because I forgot a bottle at a bike shop.
Really that was the highlight of the day. Yea the next hills got steeper and were more fun for Olivier and I to mess around on. Yes the waterfalls we saw were beautiful and made for a great photo opp. And yes it is nice to be staying in a seedy motel because it was the same cost as a campsite. But I could not get that cat out of my head. Remember if life is worth living its worth recording. Especially if you are recording it while Charles and Olivier try to have a conversation with a man who lives in the bush with no running water and traps his own food. Only on a bike.
Trip Distance: 167km
Ride Time: 6:45hr
Avg. Speed: 24.74km/h
Total Distance: 3291km
Total Ride Time: 152hr
Destination: Keckabecka Falls, Ontario
This morning it was a full table at breakfast. We had Charles, Olivier, Julian, and me. As well we met up with Lauren at his motel to fill our water bottles, and brush our teeth because the water tasted like dead fish. It might have had something to do with it being in the tackle shop but I can no say for sure. But anyways we were off down the road to encounter some more rolling hills.
Lunch came very quick today only 50k into the ride because from that restaurant to the next one was a distance of 75km which was not doable on just porage and hot chocolate. In this esso restaurant laid the most fowl woman we have met to date. When we got in there was only two tables in the whole place occupied but she gave us this sort of attitude that completely put me off. When I took a minute to translate for the gang she had the nerve to say, “come on”. Then just the way that she processed everything just seemed a little too brash for my nature but maybe that how this little town operates.
By this time I was feeling a like listening to some music but did not want to plug in because the truck here pass you with what seems to be inches to spare. It scares the poop out of me sometimes and from living in Vancouver I am pretty comfortable in traffic. Luckily my ipod has a built in speaker so I thought I would be smart and play that. Well again I was not smart because all you could here with the passing traffic was the odd beat to a crazy techno song. I then proceeded to put that away and not waste my time.
Time that is also something else that changed today which always sucks because we now have to wake up an hour earlier. Not that we have TV or anything but we can’t watch our reality shows 3 hours ahead any more.
I don’t know how to say this so I will just blurt it out. I was taking a pee on the side of the road and heard a sound so I stepped back. I then heard it again and it was a meow, which was odd because the reason I was taking a pee on the side of the road was because we were 40k from any city, town, or even a house. I then meow back and forth with said animal for a minute. The out of the woods come bounding a 1-year-old black male cat. He was super friendly and wanted some loving. The others were down the road but I could not leave the cat in the woods to die. I then flag down a passing car and they take the cat in and were off down the road to give it a loving home.
The next 30k you could not have wiped the smile off of my face. I felt so good that I saved this cat. I mean what are the chances of me stopping in that exact spot, at that exact time, and finding a family that was normal and willing to take it in. I think about the same odds of me finding a group at the same skill level as me, the same distances as me, and all because I forgot a bottle at a bike shop.
Really that was the highlight of the day. Yea the next hills got steeper and were more fun for Olivier and I to mess around on. Yes the waterfalls we saw were beautiful and made for a great photo opp. And yes it is nice to be staying in a seedy motel because it was the same cost as a campsite. But I could not get that cat out of my head. Remember if life is worth living its worth recording. Especially if you are recording it while Charles and Olivier try to have a conversation with a man who lives in the bush with no running water and traps his own food. Only on a bike.
Trip Distance: 167km
Ride Time: 6:45hr
Avg. Speed: 24.74km/h
Total Distance: 3291km
Total Ride Time: 152hr
Destination: Keckabecka Falls, Ontario
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tour Day 22 The First English In A Week Is A River July 16 2010
Let me start off with this. Wind is awesome if it is at you back and if the sky is clear. In any other case wind sucks. Case and point today. We had a nice back wind again which meant we could munch up the kilometres but it also caused the clouds to move faster then us. One minute we had nice beautiful sun the next minute we were in pouring rain blowing sideways. In total I had my rain gear on and off 5 times today there was not wining. The only constant was the curse that is on my booties. But we will get to that later.
The day started off pretty normal I woke up last as usual so I had to rush to take everything down as usual. Breakfast was the usual porage with a side of hot chocolate. Today however I spiced things up with a nice cinnamon bun because I knew it was going to be another up and down day in the Canadian Shield. When you look at you map and it zig zags all over the place you die a little inside and hope that you don’t have any super steep sections that zap the legs.
We got no more then 10mins into the ride when we ran into Lauren again. After talking we found out he was headed to inglace (our pit stop for the afternoon). Lauren as always was rocking a super high cadence to save his legs and was making Charles and Oliver laugh all day. It defiantly lightens the mood when you have three a group that speak the same language. The only minus of the morning is the fact that my bananas fell off of my bag so I was down half of my fruit. So at every stop instead of enjoying a nice snack I got the treat of nice soggy nuts. No one likes wet nuts, and I have found that out first hand.
Here is where the weather started to get funky. We were 2k outside of inglace and it starts to dribble so I turned up the speed a little. Then it starts to pour and Charles sprints past me rocketing for town. We stopped at the gas bar where the owner says “not a good place to park busy day guys”. To sum up my response it went like this. You live in a town or 1400 people and have 4 separate islands, unless everyone comes at once you should be ok. This town also had 12 restaurants, which was a little odd. We of course chose the one that was a truck stop for reasons beyond me.
The weather kept switching after lunch it was beautiful and sunny. I even put on my sunscreen. 5k into the second half to our ride it’s pouring again so I put on my gear. Then it gets sunny so thinking I am smart and stuff I leave it on see the dark clouds on the horizon. Well I was not smart because the wind was blowing the other way and I just cooked in my gear instead. The only constant was the fact that whenever I put on my booties it stopped raining within 2 minutes when I took them off it would start to rain again within about 15 minutes.
English bay is our stop for the night. It was not easy getting here, but once here we ran into you guessed it another Quebec bike tourist going west. He has found out how hard it is going the other way and is stopping in Winnipeg not in Vancouver.
The place we are staying at is a little weird in the sense that she is charging us for a piece of grass and Internet. But the site has not bathroom and not running water. Priorities seem to be in the wrong places. As well the storefront closes at 5pm. While writing the blog I have seen 5 people come in and drive away just because it’s closed.
Trip Distance: 168km
Ride Time: 6:28hr
Avg. Speed: 26.02kméh
Total Distance: 3122km
Total Ride Time: 145hr
Destination: English River, Ontario.
I have been doing somethinking as well becaus ethe fund raising aspect of this trip is not living up to what I had hoped it would. This is primarily because i didnt have things rolling till a month before the trip. What has been going through my head is a plan b of coming home after canada saving nearly double the cost per day in the states and training to compete in raam (race across america) next year. We will see but i wanted to keep you guys in the loop as to what im thinking.
The day started off pretty normal I woke up last as usual so I had to rush to take everything down as usual. Breakfast was the usual porage with a side of hot chocolate. Today however I spiced things up with a nice cinnamon bun because I knew it was going to be another up and down day in the Canadian Shield. When you look at you map and it zig zags all over the place you die a little inside and hope that you don’t have any super steep sections that zap the legs.
We got no more then 10mins into the ride when we ran into Lauren again. After talking we found out he was headed to inglace (our pit stop for the afternoon). Lauren as always was rocking a super high cadence to save his legs and was making Charles and Oliver laugh all day. It defiantly lightens the mood when you have three a group that speak the same language. The only minus of the morning is the fact that my bananas fell off of my bag so I was down half of my fruit. So at every stop instead of enjoying a nice snack I got the treat of nice soggy nuts. No one likes wet nuts, and I have found that out first hand.
Here is where the weather started to get funky. We were 2k outside of inglace and it starts to dribble so I turned up the speed a little. Then it starts to pour and Charles sprints past me rocketing for town. We stopped at the gas bar where the owner says “not a good place to park busy day guys”. To sum up my response it went like this. You live in a town or 1400 people and have 4 separate islands, unless everyone comes at once you should be ok. This town also had 12 restaurants, which was a little odd. We of course chose the one that was a truck stop for reasons beyond me.
The weather kept switching after lunch it was beautiful and sunny. I even put on my sunscreen. 5k into the second half to our ride it’s pouring again so I put on my gear. Then it gets sunny so thinking I am smart and stuff I leave it on see the dark clouds on the horizon. Well I was not smart because the wind was blowing the other way and I just cooked in my gear instead. The only constant was the fact that whenever I put on my booties it stopped raining within 2 minutes when I took them off it would start to rain again within about 15 minutes.
English bay is our stop for the night. It was not easy getting here, but once here we ran into you guessed it another Quebec bike tourist going west. He has found out how hard it is going the other way and is stopping in Winnipeg not in Vancouver.
The place we are staying at is a little weird in the sense that she is charging us for a piece of grass and Internet. But the site has not bathroom and not running water. Priorities seem to be in the wrong places. As well the storefront closes at 5pm. While writing the blog I have seen 5 people come in and drive away just because it’s closed.
Trip Distance: 168km
Ride Time: 6:28hr
Avg. Speed: 26.02kméh
Total Distance: 3122km
Total Ride Time: 145hr
Destination: English River, Ontario.
I have been doing somethinking as well becaus ethe fund raising aspect of this trip is not living up to what I had hoped it would. This is primarily because i didnt have things rolling till a month before the trip. What has been going through my head is a plan b of coming home after canada saving nearly double the cost per day in the states and training to compete in raam (race across america) next year. We will see but i wanted to keep you guys in the loop as to what im thinking.
Tour Day 22 The First English In A Week Is A River July
Let me start off with this. Wind is awesome if it is at you back and if the sky is clear. In any other case wind sucks. Case and point today. We had a nice back wind again which meant we could munch up the kilometres but it also caused the clouds to move faster then us. One minute we had nice beautiful sun the next minute we were in pouring rain blowing sideways. In total I had my rain gear on and off 5 times today there was not wining. The only constant was the curse that is on my booties. But we will get to that later.
The day started off pretty normal I woke up last as usual so I had to rush to take everything down as usual. Breakfast was the usual porage with a side of hot chocolate. Today however I spiced things up with a nice cinnamon bun because I knew it was going to be another up and down day in the Canadian Shield. When you look at you map and it zig zags all over the place you die a little inside and hope that you don’t have any super steep sections that zap the legs.
We got no more then 10mins into the ride when we ran into Lauren again. After talking we found out he was headed to inglace (our pit stop for the afternoon). Lauren as always was rocking a super high cadence to save his legs and was making Charles and Oliver laugh all day. It defiantly lightens the mood when you have three a group that speak the same language. The only minus of the morning is the fact that my bananas fell off of my bag so I was down half of my fruit. So at every stop instead of enjoying a nice snack I got the treat of nice soggy nuts. No one likes wet nuts, and I have found that out first hand.
Here is where the weather started to get funky. We were 2k outside of inglace and it starts to dribble so I turned up the speed a little. Then it starts to pour and Charles sprints past me rocketing for town. We stopped at the gas bar where the owner says “not a good place to park busy day guys”. To sum up my response it went like this. You live in a town or 1400 people and have 4 separate islands, unless everyone comes at once you should be ok. This town also had 12 restaurants, which was a little odd. We of course chose the one that was a truck stop for reasons beyond me.
The weather kept switching after lunch it was beautiful and sunny. I even put on my sunscreen. 5k into the second half to our ride it’s pouring again so I put on my gear. Then it gets sunny so thinking I am smart and stuff I leave it on see the dark clouds on the horizon. Well I was not smart because the wind was blowing the other way and I just cooked in my gear instead. The only constant was the fact that whenever I put on my booties it stopped raining within 2 minutes when I took them off it would start to rain again within about 15 minutes.
English bay is our stop for the night. It was not easy getting here, but once here we ran into you guessed it another Quebec bike tourist going west. He has found out how hard it is going the other way and is stopping in Winnipeg not in Vancouver.
The place we are staying at is a little weird in the sense that she is charging us for a piece of grass and Internet. But the site has not bathroom and not running water. Priorities seem to be in the wrong places. As well the storefront closes at 5pm. While writing the blog I have seen 5 people come in and drive away just because it’s closed.
Trip Distance: 168km
Ride Time: 6:28hr
Avg. Speed: 26.02kméh
Total Distance: 3122km
Total Ride Time: 145hr
Destination: English River, Ontario.
The day started off pretty normal I woke up last as usual so I had to rush to take everything down as usual. Breakfast was the usual porage with a side of hot chocolate. Today however I spiced things up with a nice cinnamon bun because I knew it was going to be another up and down day in the Canadian Shield. When you look at you map and it zig zags all over the place you die a little inside and hope that you don’t have any super steep sections that zap the legs.
We got no more then 10mins into the ride when we ran into Lauren again. After talking we found out he was headed to inglace (our pit stop for the afternoon). Lauren as always was rocking a super high cadence to save his legs and was making Charles and Oliver laugh all day. It defiantly lightens the mood when you have three a group that speak the same language. The only minus of the morning is the fact that my bananas fell off of my bag so I was down half of my fruit. So at every stop instead of enjoying a nice snack I got the treat of nice soggy nuts. No one likes wet nuts, and I have found that out first hand.
Here is where the weather started to get funky. We were 2k outside of inglace and it starts to dribble so I turned up the speed a little. Then it starts to pour and Charles sprints past me rocketing for town. We stopped at the gas bar where the owner says “not a good place to park busy day guys”. To sum up my response it went like this. You live in a town or 1400 people and have 4 separate islands, unless everyone comes at once you should be ok. This town also had 12 restaurants, which was a little odd. We of course chose the one that was a truck stop for reasons beyond me.
The weather kept switching after lunch it was beautiful and sunny. I even put on my sunscreen. 5k into the second half to our ride it’s pouring again so I put on my gear. Then it gets sunny so thinking I am smart and stuff I leave it on see the dark clouds on the horizon. Well I was not smart because the wind was blowing the other way and I just cooked in my gear instead. The only constant was the fact that whenever I put on my booties it stopped raining within 2 minutes when I took them off it would start to rain again within about 15 minutes.
English bay is our stop for the night. It was not easy getting here, but once here we ran into you guessed it another Quebec bike tourist going west. He has found out how hard it is going the other way and is stopping in Winnipeg not in Vancouver.
The place we are staying at is a little weird in the sense that she is charging us for a piece of grass and Internet. But the site has not bathroom and not running water. Priorities seem to be in the wrong places. As well the storefront closes at 5pm. While writing the blog I have seen 5 people come in and drive away just because it’s closed.
Trip Distance: 168km
Ride Time: 6:28hr
Avg. Speed: 26.02kméh
Total Distance: 3122km
Total Ride Time: 145hr
Destination: English River, Ontario.
Tour Day 21 Welcome to Swift Current Again? July 15 2010
Well I must say any night that you can sit on a dock with your feet in the water and dinner in hand while you watch the sun go down is a good day. When I woke up I was kind of sad to leave Kenora because I think to date it is the most beautiful place we have stayed. My only complaint is our campsite however beautiful it was, was on a wicked slope so going to sleep I felt like one of the cone heads that sleep completely upright.
When we got on the road I realized that my legs felt pretty good which was really fortunate for me because all of today I think we had about 3k of flat. Now you wont here me complain because these roads for the most part were a bikers dream. Constant up and down hills that were just big enough to force you to decided whether to relax of push to top it faster to keep you average speed up.
It was not all nice smooth pavement though. When we were leaving kenora we ran into an 8-kilometre stretch that was all gravel because the entire road had been torn up. It felt as if we were in a cycolcross race we were slipping and sliding so much. I could not stop smiling though because I like being right on the edge of control like that. In the dirt we saw the tracks of what looked like another bike and trailer. After talking about it Olivier and I decided to push hard to catch the person ahead of us. We saw a walker and asked how far ahead they were? They said I saw him a long time back, but that did not stop us.
15 minutes later we caught up to our old friend from in town yesterday who Charles and Olivier are quite fond of. I quickly realized why. Lauren is a very funny guy who does not take life to serious. His little bit of English either does not make sense or cracks me up. So even when I does not make sense it usually makes me laugh because I know something was lost in translation.
One thing about bike touring that you learn is that you never know what is around that next corner. Today’s biggest surprise came just around one of those corners about 20k before our pit stop in vermilion bay. We were riding Olivier was leading and I was trying to keep his wheel when out of the bush fly 8 HUGE eagles all together. It was an amazing sight to see. I have no idea what they were all doing together but to be honest I didn’t care because it was just such a sight to see.
By kilometre 95 we were ready for lunch, and o my was it good. We stopped at the best lunch spot to date. It was called dusters barbeque and initially I was sceptical because the prices seemed fairly high for a sandwich. Well the 20 or so awards on the wall for there barbeque sauce from events around the world did not let down. The sandwich was a piece of prime rib on a bun with simply the sauce. But trust me that all it needed. I also opted for the yam fries with the same sauce and my mouth was in heaven. So much so that after one helping even though I was borderline full I decided to order another complete helping.
Getting on the bike I must say was a little rough because I had an awful lot of fries and beef inside my belly and I could feel it settling as I rode down the road. One of the highlight I would have to say is about every 10k I would either have to burp or fart and you felt about 100000 times better after each of those. The burps were the best because then I got to taste that delicious bbq sauce again. Gross I know but I a simple man that enjoys the simply things in life. If regurgitating food and eating it is one of those things so be it.
Well that brings us to Dryden the home of one of Chris progner. My entail impression… “O no another swift current”. The reason I thought that was because when you turn the corner all you see is a huge pulp mill spewing god knows what out of its smoke stacks. Well it was our rest stop so we had to make do and hit up the local information centre where I think possibly the only emo girl in northern Ontario works. It was defiantly a change from the usually little old lady that run most of them.
After getting our directions we settled into our camp where I am pretty sure the older Swiss one tried to pull a fast one on us because he though we all did not speak English. I quickly piped up and said $17.50 per person for a tent site that bull lets get out of here. Very quickly that price came down to $10, which we were happy with. Anyways my laundry is just about dry and I must go cook dinner. Night.
Trip Distance: 141km
Ride Time: 5:47hr
Avg. Speed: 24.43km/h
Total Distance: 2954km
Total Ride Time: 138hr
Destination: Dryden, Ontario.
When we got on the road I realized that my legs felt pretty good which was really fortunate for me because all of today I think we had about 3k of flat. Now you wont here me complain because these roads for the most part were a bikers dream. Constant up and down hills that were just big enough to force you to decided whether to relax of push to top it faster to keep you average speed up.
It was not all nice smooth pavement though. When we were leaving kenora we ran into an 8-kilometre stretch that was all gravel because the entire road had been torn up. It felt as if we were in a cycolcross race we were slipping and sliding so much. I could not stop smiling though because I like being right on the edge of control like that. In the dirt we saw the tracks of what looked like another bike and trailer. After talking about it Olivier and I decided to push hard to catch the person ahead of us. We saw a walker and asked how far ahead they were? They said I saw him a long time back, but that did not stop us.
15 minutes later we caught up to our old friend from in town yesterday who Charles and Olivier are quite fond of. I quickly realized why. Lauren is a very funny guy who does not take life to serious. His little bit of English either does not make sense or cracks me up. So even when I does not make sense it usually makes me laugh because I know something was lost in translation.
One thing about bike touring that you learn is that you never know what is around that next corner. Today’s biggest surprise came just around one of those corners about 20k before our pit stop in vermilion bay. We were riding Olivier was leading and I was trying to keep his wheel when out of the bush fly 8 HUGE eagles all together. It was an amazing sight to see. I have no idea what they were all doing together but to be honest I didn’t care because it was just such a sight to see.
By kilometre 95 we were ready for lunch, and o my was it good. We stopped at the best lunch spot to date. It was called dusters barbeque and initially I was sceptical because the prices seemed fairly high for a sandwich. Well the 20 or so awards on the wall for there barbeque sauce from events around the world did not let down. The sandwich was a piece of prime rib on a bun with simply the sauce. But trust me that all it needed. I also opted for the yam fries with the same sauce and my mouth was in heaven. So much so that after one helping even though I was borderline full I decided to order another complete helping.
Getting on the bike I must say was a little rough because I had an awful lot of fries and beef inside my belly and I could feel it settling as I rode down the road. One of the highlight I would have to say is about every 10k I would either have to burp or fart and you felt about 100000 times better after each of those. The burps were the best because then I got to taste that delicious bbq sauce again. Gross I know but I a simple man that enjoys the simply things in life. If regurgitating food and eating it is one of those things so be it.
Well that brings us to Dryden the home of one of Chris progner. My entail impression… “O no another swift current”. The reason I thought that was because when you turn the corner all you see is a huge pulp mill spewing god knows what out of its smoke stacks. Well it was our rest stop so we had to make do and hit up the local information centre where I think possibly the only emo girl in northern Ontario works. It was defiantly a change from the usually little old lady that run most of them.
After getting our directions we settled into our camp where I am pretty sure the older Swiss one tried to pull a fast one on us because he though we all did not speak English. I quickly piped up and said $17.50 per person for a tent site that bull lets get out of here. Very quickly that price came down to $10, which we were happy with. Anyways my laundry is just about dry and I must go cook dinner. Night.
Trip Distance: 141km
Ride Time: 5:47hr
Avg. Speed: 24.43km/h
Total Distance: 2954km
Total Ride Time: 138hr
Destination: Dryden, Ontario.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tour Day 20 Lovely Ontairo... So Far July 14 2010
As Charles says “relax day”. We only did a few kilometres today because there is large gaps in between the cities so today I get to catch up on a few more obligations, and relax with a nice view of Kenora lake.
I woke up this morning and heard pouring rain outside so I do what most would do and put on all of my rain gear. My thinking is I would rather be smelly instead on cold and wet. Well take a guess what happened. As soon as I put on my shoe covers it stopped raining. It still did not stop me for leaving them on and cooking under one of the patios in the park though. After eating my morning gruel I had to take down my site which I was not stoked for because when I woke up it felt like a water bed under my tent so I new all the outside stuff was going to be wet. All I can say is thank god for waterproof bags and a great tent.
Once all packed the four of us (jean-François included) were about to set off when the same deer from yesterday came into our site and started harassing us. It gave us the glare as we were leaving as if to say this is my campsite feed me next time.
The wilderness here is something else. I have never seen a hawk before and within the first 15k I saw 7. One of which was at the side of the road and took flight as we rode past. I pooped a little when this happened because this things wingspan was the size of me. You could hear the wind when it flapped its wings. When they are in a group it is really cool to watch they circle in search pattern very thoroughly for food and don’t move on till they have scanned everything. As well we saw a deer on the side of the road munching on some grass until stupid me goes “O my god a deer” in my loud Evan voice and it takes off into the bush.
Just like that we were in Ontario. I find it amazing how climates and terrain change as soon as you switch provinces. Literally as soon as we got into Ontario the rolling hills started. JF man that guy must have some huge power in the legs because while Olivier and I spin up the hills at a high cadence he is massing up them on flat pedals at a cadence that I could not even ride on the flats. The hills here are fun so far it allowed Olivier and I a chance to practice our match sprints up hills. We are getting closer in terms of our strength I think because he is no longer leaving me in the dust.
Half way through the ride we stopped at a little log cabin where I picked myself up some of their home made turtles as well as peanut butter and dark chocolate fudge. This stuff was like a heart attack waiting to happen. I ate one chunk then saved the rest for the last half of the ride. I swear it made my feet go faster then ever. Maybe that was m issue in the Rockies I simply did not have enough fudge.
The day cleared up when we got into a little town called kenora. This place is lovely it seems like everywhere has a lake view, and a nice dock in front of it. No joke even the hospital had a dock in front of it which was odd to say the least. When you stroll into the downtown you see a few old building on the hill but a bustling downtown once you enter. Here is where we said goodbye to JF and hello to another Quebec bike tourist Charles met last night. We ate a delicious lunch together and shared some common stories, as well as some common glove tan lines.
Anyways I must be off to go make some dinner and get the rest of my housekeeping done because I think I may have left my tent open while I was uploading my pictures and blog. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 73km
Ride Time: 3:23hr
Avg. Speed: 21.61km/h
Total Distance: 2807km
Total Ride Time: 132hr
Destination: Kenora, Ontario
I woke up this morning and heard pouring rain outside so I do what most would do and put on all of my rain gear. My thinking is I would rather be smelly instead on cold and wet. Well take a guess what happened. As soon as I put on my shoe covers it stopped raining. It still did not stop me for leaving them on and cooking under one of the patios in the park though. After eating my morning gruel I had to take down my site which I was not stoked for because when I woke up it felt like a water bed under my tent so I new all the outside stuff was going to be wet. All I can say is thank god for waterproof bags and a great tent.
Once all packed the four of us (jean-François included) were about to set off when the same deer from yesterday came into our site and started harassing us. It gave us the glare as we were leaving as if to say this is my campsite feed me next time.
The wilderness here is something else. I have never seen a hawk before and within the first 15k I saw 7. One of which was at the side of the road and took flight as we rode past. I pooped a little when this happened because this things wingspan was the size of me. You could hear the wind when it flapped its wings. When they are in a group it is really cool to watch they circle in search pattern very thoroughly for food and don’t move on till they have scanned everything. As well we saw a deer on the side of the road munching on some grass until stupid me goes “O my god a deer” in my loud Evan voice and it takes off into the bush.
Just like that we were in Ontario. I find it amazing how climates and terrain change as soon as you switch provinces. Literally as soon as we got into Ontario the rolling hills started. JF man that guy must have some huge power in the legs because while Olivier and I spin up the hills at a high cadence he is massing up them on flat pedals at a cadence that I could not even ride on the flats. The hills here are fun so far it allowed Olivier and I a chance to practice our match sprints up hills. We are getting closer in terms of our strength I think because he is no longer leaving me in the dust.
Half way through the ride we stopped at a little log cabin where I picked myself up some of their home made turtles as well as peanut butter and dark chocolate fudge. This stuff was like a heart attack waiting to happen. I ate one chunk then saved the rest for the last half of the ride. I swear it made my feet go faster then ever. Maybe that was m issue in the Rockies I simply did not have enough fudge.
The day cleared up when we got into a little town called kenora. This place is lovely it seems like everywhere has a lake view, and a nice dock in front of it. No joke even the hospital had a dock in front of it which was odd to say the least. When you stroll into the downtown you see a few old building on the hill but a bustling downtown once you enter. Here is where we said goodbye to JF and hello to another Quebec bike tourist Charles met last night. We ate a delicious lunch together and shared some common stories, as well as some common glove tan lines.
Anyways I must be off to go make some dinner and get the rest of my housekeeping done because I think I may have left my tent open while I was uploading my pictures and blog. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 73km
Ride Time: 3:23hr
Avg. Speed: 21.61km/h
Total Distance: 2807km
Total Ride Time: 132hr
Destination: Kenora, Ontario
Tour Day 19 Manitoba Wants Us To Stay July 13 2010
I think I may be missing a page in the Manitoba handbook because 2 days ago we saw 2 Bradley tanks rolling down the road on flatbeds, the next day we saw 2 military helicopters buzzing around together, and then today we saw another armoured troop carrier on a flatbed. Now the boy in me loves seeing this because I have always considered the military as a career option. As well as a Canadian I like seeing it because as lame as it may sound it is nice to know that I am somewhat protected.
Now although I like Manitoba it seems to like me even more. I though the last two days were bad for wind well today was even worse. It was actually comedic at points because for hours we had a 40km/h head wind that was causing us to go slower then the speed of smell.
The scenery is also changing. We are now in on e of Manitoba’s provincial parks and we are surround by trees again. It reminds me a lot of BC sans the mountains. One of the coolest things that happened today was I actually pet a deer. This thing was massive. It was roughly the size of a cow with huge I guess they would be called antlers. Now in retrospect it probably was not smart to touch a wild animal but I think everyone does the same thing when they see an animal they go “oooo something new lets touch it”.
Our last night in Manitoba is actually a very pleasant one we got up early and got I into our campsite at good time so I actually got some time to be vacation Evan. Not just cyclist Evan. Sitting on the beach was kind of an odd experience because I could not help but think about all the other things that needed to get done.
Well all the others things did get done as well. I managed to wash my tent, charge everything that needed charging, get showered, and clean out the base of my tent. Clean being the operative word as I sit once again in a bathroom blogging. This one is even more special because the ducts in it are getting cleaned and as we speak I am getting dust and who knows what else rained down upon me in a fine mist. I am pretty sure it is good to be breathing in this stuff.
On another note this is going to be a bit of a rant. How is every camper on the road perfectly clean? I mean every one we have seen does not have a spec of dirt on it. The car may be dirty but the RV is clean. As well how is possible that you can drive this thing as big as a bus and tow a car behind it on a class 5 license? Is that even camping? I think as soon as the equipment is larger then the vehicle that carries the equipment that is not longer camping.
Another rant I have is signs. So many of them are missing letters, and most don’t even inform you of anything. If you are going to pay for a billboard keep it up. No kidding today I saw one with 5 letters on 2 lines of script I was left wondering what this person wanted. As well make you sign informative or funny. I saw this sign back in Kelowna that has stuck with me because I have been trying to figure it out. It read “man who runs in front of car gets tired” with a phone number under it.
Anyways I am going to hit the sack early tonight my dinner is settling in nice and is making me just want to huddle up with a nice book. It’s something about uncle bens Chinese rice, and baked beans that just does it to me.
Trip Distance: 122km
Ride Time: 6:40hr
Avg. Speed: 18.42km/h
Total Distance: 2734km
Total Ride Time: 129hr
Destination: Falcon Lake, Manitoba
Now although I like Manitoba it seems to like me even more. I though the last two days were bad for wind well today was even worse. It was actually comedic at points because for hours we had a 40km/h head wind that was causing us to go slower then the speed of smell.
The scenery is also changing. We are now in on e of Manitoba’s provincial parks and we are surround by trees again. It reminds me a lot of BC sans the mountains. One of the coolest things that happened today was I actually pet a deer. This thing was massive. It was roughly the size of a cow with huge I guess they would be called antlers. Now in retrospect it probably was not smart to touch a wild animal but I think everyone does the same thing when they see an animal they go “oooo something new lets touch it”.
Our last night in Manitoba is actually a very pleasant one we got up early and got I into our campsite at good time so I actually got some time to be vacation Evan. Not just cyclist Evan. Sitting on the beach was kind of an odd experience because I could not help but think about all the other things that needed to get done.
Well all the others things did get done as well. I managed to wash my tent, charge everything that needed charging, get showered, and clean out the base of my tent. Clean being the operative word as I sit once again in a bathroom blogging. This one is even more special because the ducts in it are getting cleaned and as we speak I am getting dust and who knows what else rained down upon me in a fine mist. I am pretty sure it is good to be breathing in this stuff.
On another note this is going to be a bit of a rant. How is every camper on the road perfectly clean? I mean every one we have seen does not have a spec of dirt on it. The car may be dirty but the RV is clean. As well how is possible that you can drive this thing as big as a bus and tow a car behind it on a class 5 license? Is that even camping? I think as soon as the equipment is larger then the vehicle that carries the equipment that is not longer camping.
Another rant I have is signs. So many of them are missing letters, and most don’t even inform you of anything. If you are going to pay for a billboard keep it up. No kidding today I saw one with 5 letters on 2 lines of script I was left wondering what this person wanted. As well make you sign informative or funny. I saw this sign back in Kelowna that has stuck with me because I have been trying to figure it out. It read “man who runs in front of car gets tired” with a phone number under it.
Anyways I am going to hit the sack early tonight my dinner is settling in nice and is making me just want to huddle up with a nice book. It’s something about uncle bens Chinese rice, and baked beans that just does it to me.
Trip Distance: 122km
Ride Time: 6:40hr
Avg. Speed: 18.42km/h
Total Distance: 2734km
Total Ride Time: 129hr
Destination: Falcon Lake, Manitoba
Tour Day 18 No English Here July 12 2010
I woke up this morning with a pep in my step because I thought we would have a tail wind the whole way through wnnipeg. Well I was mistaken. When we got on the bike and got the first few pedal strokes in I remarked to charles, “the wind. It has changed”. To which he said nothing. We were left grinding out the first 60k into Winnipeg each pedal stroke getting harder and harder. Usually I save my ipod for after lunch but for today I needed that extra little pick me up. Well that did not really work. I was left laughing on the bike because as I was grinding through the k’s what comes on but carol of the meows. Which for those of you who do not know is a song that has no lyrics just meows. Needles to say not the best work out song in the world.
While not paying attention grooving out on the road my rear wheel slipped in a crack in the road immediately I knew that I hit the sidewall of my tire, but thankfully I kept riding and nothing so I though all was good. While when we got to our pit stop before Winnipeg I found out all was not good. I indeed had a slow leak in my tube and had to change it. Thankfully though it was a slow leak so I pumped it up and we were off. I knew Charles needed a bike shop for his axle anyways so I did not want to hold up our slow progress.
When we got to Winnipeg we were greeted by a row of seemingly endless stop lights, and again nice busted up roads. I never thought that one city would have more lights then Vancouver but I was wrong. When we made it to the bike shop they were super cool about helping us out. They let me use a repair stand to carry out the needed work on my bike, and they gave charles priority servicing with not labor charge. As well they let us store all of our junk there while we went for lunch. As a shop geek the only thing that I did not like about the shop was the shop itself I really don’t like having bikes hanging from the ceiling and the way the floor was merchanadized made me cringe a little. But my recommendation still stands if ever you are in Winnipeg and need bike servicing visit Olympia cycles.
Lunch was Chinese food, which was a first for the trip. I think it is safe to say it will be the last as well. When we got back to pedaling again we were all struck by pretty wicked cramps. So what is the best cure for cramps? A slurpee! From reading a sing that said slurpee capital of the world 9 years running I could not say no to a delicious cold treat. Here is where true and blue goofy Evan came out. These older women were eyeing me up as I stand next to my bike enjoying my drink and putting on my sunscreen. I see them looking at me so I gave them a little show. Unzipped the jersey and rubbed the sun tan lotion on as if I was a 1980’s tanning model. Needless to say we were all left laughing. I took that as my cue to leave and we were out of there in a jiffy.
My one comment on Winnipeg as a whole is the fact that dental care seems to be severely lacking. I think in the whole of Winnipeg they have 2 maybe three sets of teeth.
Our destination for the night is st. Anne. A little town about 30k outside of Winnipeg. Getting here was just has hard as the first half of the day and was made only more interesting by the fact that half of the highway was shut down because they are taking it all out and re-doing it all. It almost makes me want to come back and do the trip again in a couple years once everything has been completed.
St. Anne is a cool little town. When we got here we strolled down the main drag and noticed all the usual things. The one thing that was out of the ordinary was the cop shop. For this small town of 1500 people they have a private police department that has at least 5 people working at all times. This is interesting because the town only has two streets. When we stopped in after grocery shopping to ask where to camp they responded (in French) go to the park we will not bother you tonight it is all right. We collectively let out a sigh thinking “not another park”. We decided to eat dinner first at the local restaurant where our server a young lady was very helpful and also spoke French.
After dinner we left for our park for the night. It is beautiful. It has power outlets, a toilet, a river running beside it, fewer mosquitoes then normal, and even a theatre. It is also located behind one of the nicest churches I have ever seen. Here is also where we meet another bike tourist. Take a guess where he is from. Quebec. This trip has really opened my eyes to the language and I almost find it frustrating because I can not share in these same laughs that are happening just behind me right now simply because I do not speak the language. Like I say it is pushing me towards furthering my education into the language. I live in a country that speaks two languages so I should be able to communicate in both. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 131km
Ride Time: 6:42hr
Avg. Speed: 19.54km/h
Total Distance: 2611km
Total Ride Time: 122hr
Destination: St. Anne, Manitoba
While not paying attention grooving out on the road my rear wheel slipped in a crack in the road immediately I knew that I hit the sidewall of my tire, but thankfully I kept riding and nothing so I though all was good. While when we got to our pit stop before Winnipeg I found out all was not good. I indeed had a slow leak in my tube and had to change it. Thankfully though it was a slow leak so I pumped it up and we were off. I knew Charles needed a bike shop for his axle anyways so I did not want to hold up our slow progress.
When we got to Winnipeg we were greeted by a row of seemingly endless stop lights, and again nice busted up roads. I never thought that one city would have more lights then Vancouver but I was wrong. When we made it to the bike shop they were super cool about helping us out. They let me use a repair stand to carry out the needed work on my bike, and they gave charles priority servicing with not labor charge. As well they let us store all of our junk there while we went for lunch. As a shop geek the only thing that I did not like about the shop was the shop itself I really don’t like having bikes hanging from the ceiling and the way the floor was merchanadized made me cringe a little. But my recommendation still stands if ever you are in Winnipeg and need bike servicing visit Olympia cycles.
Lunch was Chinese food, which was a first for the trip. I think it is safe to say it will be the last as well. When we got back to pedaling again we were all struck by pretty wicked cramps. So what is the best cure for cramps? A slurpee! From reading a sing that said slurpee capital of the world 9 years running I could not say no to a delicious cold treat. Here is where true and blue goofy Evan came out. These older women were eyeing me up as I stand next to my bike enjoying my drink and putting on my sunscreen. I see them looking at me so I gave them a little show. Unzipped the jersey and rubbed the sun tan lotion on as if I was a 1980’s tanning model. Needless to say we were all left laughing. I took that as my cue to leave and we were out of there in a jiffy.
My one comment on Winnipeg as a whole is the fact that dental care seems to be severely lacking. I think in the whole of Winnipeg they have 2 maybe three sets of teeth.
Our destination for the night is st. Anne. A little town about 30k outside of Winnipeg. Getting here was just has hard as the first half of the day and was made only more interesting by the fact that half of the highway was shut down because they are taking it all out and re-doing it all. It almost makes me want to come back and do the trip again in a couple years once everything has been completed.
St. Anne is a cool little town. When we got here we strolled down the main drag and noticed all the usual things. The one thing that was out of the ordinary was the cop shop. For this small town of 1500 people they have a private police department that has at least 5 people working at all times. This is interesting because the town only has two streets. When we stopped in after grocery shopping to ask where to camp they responded (in French) go to the park we will not bother you tonight it is all right. We collectively let out a sigh thinking “not another park”. We decided to eat dinner first at the local restaurant where our server a young lady was very helpful and also spoke French.
After dinner we left for our park for the night. It is beautiful. It has power outlets, a toilet, a river running beside it, fewer mosquitoes then normal, and even a theatre. It is also located behind one of the nicest churches I have ever seen. Here is also where we meet another bike tourist. Take a guess where he is from. Quebec. This trip has really opened my eyes to the language and I almost find it frustrating because I can not share in these same laughs that are happening just behind me right now simply because I do not speak the language. Like I say it is pushing me towards furthering my education into the language. I live in a country that speaks two languages so I should be able to communicate in both. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 131km
Ride Time: 6:42hr
Avg. Speed: 19.54km/h
Total Distance: 2611km
Total Ride Time: 122hr
Destination: St. Anne, Manitoba
Tour Day 17 The List July 11 2010
Well we are back to blogging in the bathroom. Fortunately this one is actually pretty nice (comparatively speaking). I don’t know why but I enjoy Manitoba. I have every reason to hate it I mean the bugs are as bad as sask, the roads for sections have no shoulders and are pretty beat up, and the winds never seem to be in your favour. But I have found a way to look beyond all of that. It helps that the province is working to correct its issues. The roads are getting rebuilt, and most cities have been or will be getting aerial sprayed for mosquitoes, which is something I was sure to thank the owners of this campsite about.
The morning was really awesome today. I woke up at the same time as everyone else so we all had breakfast together near the mosquitoes infested forest, and packed up most of my camp. This is when Charles says, “don’t pack up the tent”. They were off to visit the local bike shop so I took the extra hour and a half and used it to relax. I have no clue why but I decided to listen to the Mexican radio station, which through its frantic beats somehow managed to put me to sleep for a few minutes.
Today’s ride was hard. I was thanking my friends every minute for giving me that extra few minutes of sleep. We traveled less then 150k and it felt like we but in the same effort as the day we summated Rogers pass. There is not much to look at here in Manitoba so for most of the day I was plugged into my ipod listening to the radio. This is when I found out “o crap the time has changed” so we were an hour further behind.
Bike touring is like nothing else you see everything differently. To you passing by you see a splat on the window of a dead dragon fly. To us today we rode through something beautiful. We rode through a flock of dragonflies. I mean hundreds of these dragonflies in this one small area. It left me speechless.
Lunch is always interesting. Today was no exception. We stopped and this obscure little café which had 4 people working in it. All of who were women under the age of 20. Our service… well let me just say it was the first time I have never tipped in my life. They lost that privilege when I had to get up and go to the bathroom to get more water. It frustrates me when a server who is supposed to be serving here 2 tables is in back with her chums not doing anything. I was living life on the crazy side and had two sandwiches I have never tasted, a Rubin and a Denver. The Rubin I was not to fond of, but the Denver kept me going through the day.
Once we got to our destination in Portage La Prairie we strolled through the downtown core trying to find the visitor centre. Funnily enough the most helpful place turned out to be the gas station attendant. We went to the campsite in town first right near the lake (which is a beautiful addition to the city) where we were greeted by the county fair. The place was packed. It explained why the downtown core had no traffic and we were able to mess around a little bit on the main road. Olivier and I let our inner racers come out cutting every corner as tight as possible trying to make the mundane 20km/h a little more exciting.
The fair was interesting. I did not realize that many young people lived here, and I was amazed how honest everyone was. We were pretty dead-set on staying there because we did not want to go any further but the ladies at the office said “you guys do not want to stay here” they even took the time to look up find the prices for the other campsites near by.
Our journey out of Portage was short only another 5km down the road to our destination. Before we set up camp we decided to eat out instead of cooking. I could tell that beans tonight were not going to cut it. The esso truck stop was our dinner choice. These truck stops continue to impress me. The people are usually very friendly, we always get people asking us what we are doing, and the food is usually quick. I am also learning the value of the daily special. You get so much extra bang for your buck if you are willing to live life a little on the wild side.
That brings us to this bathroom where I am left reflecting on our first full day in Manitoba. I have to say the funniest thing thinking about it now is the fact we used the words “only in Manitoba three times today”. Once when we saw that the roadwork was being done with farm equipment. Once when we saw farm equipment going down highway 1. And once when a car was stopped and abandoned in the middle of the main street in Portage with 4 way flashers that were next to useless. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 143km
Ride Time: 6:36hr
Avg. Speed: 21.77km/h
Total Distance: 2480km
Total Ride Time: 116hr
Destination: East of Portage of Prairie, Manitoba
As a bonus here is a list of thing I am glad I brought or glad I did not cheap out on.
-Great tent. Hilliberg or nothing
-iPod
-Stool
-Ear plugs
-Good sleeping bag
Thing I wish I brought:
-Can opener
The morning was really awesome today. I woke up at the same time as everyone else so we all had breakfast together near the mosquitoes infested forest, and packed up most of my camp. This is when Charles says, “don’t pack up the tent”. They were off to visit the local bike shop so I took the extra hour and a half and used it to relax. I have no clue why but I decided to listen to the Mexican radio station, which through its frantic beats somehow managed to put me to sleep for a few minutes.
Today’s ride was hard. I was thanking my friends every minute for giving me that extra few minutes of sleep. We traveled less then 150k and it felt like we but in the same effort as the day we summated Rogers pass. There is not much to look at here in Manitoba so for most of the day I was plugged into my ipod listening to the radio. This is when I found out “o crap the time has changed” so we were an hour further behind.
Bike touring is like nothing else you see everything differently. To you passing by you see a splat on the window of a dead dragon fly. To us today we rode through something beautiful. We rode through a flock of dragonflies. I mean hundreds of these dragonflies in this one small area. It left me speechless.
Lunch is always interesting. Today was no exception. We stopped and this obscure little café which had 4 people working in it. All of who were women under the age of 20. Our service… well let me just say it was the first time I have never tipped in my life. They lost that privilege when I had to get up and go to the bathroom to get more water. It frustrates me when a server who is supposed to be serving here 2 tables is in back with her chums not doing anything. I was living life on the crazy side and had two sandwiches I have never tasted, a Rubin and a Denver. The Rubin I was not to fond of, but the Denver kept me going through the day.
Once we got to our destination in Portage La Prairie we strolled through the downtown core trying to find the visitor centre. Funnily enough the most helpful place turned out to be the gas station attendant. We went to the campsite in town first right near the lake (which is a beautiful addition to the city) where we were greeted by the county fair. The place was packed. It explained why the downtown core had no traffic and we were able to mess around a little bit on the main road. Olivier and I let our inner racers come out cutting every corner as tight as possible trying to make the mundane 20km/h a little more exciting.
The fair was interesting. I did not realize that many young people lived here, and I was amazed how honest everyone was. We were pretty dead-set on staying there because we did not want to go any further but the ladies at the office said “you guys do not want to stay here” they even took the time to look up find the prices for the other campsites near by.
Our journey out of Portage was short only another 5km down the road to our destination. Before we set up camp we decided to eat out instead of cooking. I could tell that beans tonight were not going to cut it. The esso truck stop was our dinner choice. These truck stops continue to impress me. The people are usually very friendly, we always get people asking us what we are doing, and the food is usually quick. I am also learning the value of the daily special. You get so much extra bang for your buck if you are willing to live life a little on the wild side.
That brings us to this bathroom where I am left reflecting on our first full day in Manitoba. I have to say the funniest thing thinking about it now is the fact we used the words “only in Manitoba three times today”. Once when we saw that the roadwork was being done with farm equipment. Once when we saw farm equipment going down highway 1. And once when a car was stopped and abandoned in the middle of the main street in Portage with 4 way flashers that were next to useless. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 143km
Ride Time: 6:36hr
Avg. Speed: 21.77km/h
Total Distance: 2480km
Total Ride Time: 116hr
Destination: East of Portage of Prairie, Manitoba
As a bonus here is a list of thing I am glad I brought or glad I did not cheap out on.
-Great tent. Hilliberg or nothing
-iPod
-Stool
-Ear plugs
-Good sleeping bag
Thing I wish I brought:
-Can opener
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Tour Day 16 A New Province. A New Start. July 10 2010
Thank heavens for being young that’s all I have to say. I was so tired last night that I did not even inflate my sleeping mat. I simply sprawled out on the base of my tent and slept. I was amazed by this school the ground was perfectly level, and the grass was perfect so all in all for a night to be super lazy and sleep on the ground it coulf have been worse.
However nice the school may have been we were still out of there quicker then ever because we could not be done with saskachewan quicker. We did not even make breakfest we wanted to get out so bad. Our breakfast stop was in Moosmin our destination from the night before and was an all you can eat brunch. I don’t need to describe anymore because from previous readings you know me and all you can eat. I defiantly made them pay for letting me eat for $8.
We reached the boarder into Manitoba and you could physically see our faces change. A change of province does so much for you attitude it is amazing. The funniest part was that about 20ft after the welcome to Manitoba sign we got our first flat. It still did nothing to dim our spirits though because we were just excited to be somewhere new.
The k’s and dead deer where just flying by because we had a nice tail wind pushing up into Virden. This is where my love for Manitoba was solidified. We stopped for lunch but I finished early so went for a quick stroll. I was in AMC heaven. At a house to the side a bright green 304 (rare) javelin, then in the scrap yard next door I spot a rambler wagon and another javelin. I just about started hyperventilating. As a car geek and an amc nut I was over the moon. Lunch was a conversation piece in itself because we were just going to eat a quick sandwich but we look and all of the sandwiches where covered in mold. At that point we said ok lets splurge for the over priced restaurant called fancies. It was not fancy let me tell you that.
Unfortunately this high from lunch was fairly short lived because the 70k run into Brandon was directly against the wind. We were going 13km/h and were pushing hard. My estimation of time to Brandon quickly doubled when this happen but what can you do.
Once in Brandon we explored the downtown and bit and got settled into our campsite. While exploring I saw magazine for Vancouver. I got a little home sick when I saw that because it is so beautiful. The campsite is a thing of beauty. Yes it may have a ton of mosquitoes but at least I have power, a shower, and actual people to talk to in an office. Not a shed that says, “If closed leave money in bucket”. The people running this place were kind enough to let me use their high speed Internet so that was a wicked bonus. I was going to upload pictures but there are only so many hours in the day and a shower took priority. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 179.73km
Ride Time: 7:20hr
Avg. Speed: 24.48km/h
Total Distance: 2336km
Total Ride Time: 109hr
Destination: Brandon, Manitoba
However nice the school may have been we were still out of there quicker then ever because we could not be done with saskachewan quicker. We did not even make breakfest we wanted to get out so bad. Our breakfast stop was in Moosmin our destination from the night before and was an all you can eat brunch. I don’t need to describe anymore because from previous readings you know me and all you can eat. I defiantly made them pay for letting me eat for $8.
We reached the boarder into Manitoba and you could physically see our faces change. A change of province does so much for you attitude it is amazing. The funniest part was that about 20ft after the welcome to Manitoba sign we got our first flat. It still did nothing to dim our spirits though because we were just excited to be somewhere new.
The k’s and dead deer where just flying by because we had a nice tail wind pushing up into Virden. This is where my love for Manitoba was solidified. We stopped for lunch but I finished early so went for a quick stroll. I was in AMC heaven. At a house to the side a bright green 304 (rare) javelin, then in the scrap yard next door I spot a rambler wagon and another javelin. I just about started hyperventilating. As a car geek and an amc nut I was over the moon. Lunch was a conversation piece in itself because we were just going to eat a quick sandwich but we look and all of the sandwiches where covered in mold. At that point we said ok lets splurge for the over priced restaurant called fancies. It was not fancy let me tell you that.
Unfortunately this high from lunch was fairly short lived because the 70k run into Brandon was directly against the wind. We were going 13km/h and were pushing hard. My estimation of time to Brandon quickly doubled when this happen but what can you do.
Once in Brandon we explored the downtown and bit and got settled into our campsite. While exploring I saw magazine for Vancouver. I got a little home sick when I saw that because it is so beautiful. The campsite is a thing of beauty. Yes it may have a ton of mosquitoes but at least I have power, a shower, and actual people to talk to in an office. Not a shed that says, “If closed leave money in bucket”. The people running this place were kind enough to let me use their high speed Internet so that was a wicked bonus. I was going to upload pictures but there are only so many hours in the day and a shower took priority. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 179.73km
Ride Time: 7:20hr
Avg. Speed: 24.48km/h
Total Distance: 2336km
Total Ride Time: 109hr
Destination: Brandon, Manitoba
Tour Day 15 Last Night In Sask July 9 2010
I am tired, sweaty, and sitting in a tent naked how do you think the day went?
The morning started early with mom saying goodbye and leaving at around 5am. But I was not to worried because I did not get much sleep in the night before. It was something about that bed that just rubbed me the wrong way. I slept one way it hurt my one shoulder. I slept the other it would hurt the other shoulder. Now I have no Idea why but it got to the point where I took a Tylenol, which for those who know me know that that means I was in a bit of pain.
Once I got up I stuffed myself with another complimentary breakfast and left to meet up with Charles and Olivier at the travel lodge. After we put some air in our tires we ere off like rockets thinking that today was going to be a nice easy 130km day. Immediately I realize today was not going to be easy because the first 30k we were dealing with a headwind that would not let up. We all took our pulls and hammered it out thinking that once we got to Indian head that we would be cruising with the wind at our backs.
Well once we got to Indian head we had a quick bite to eat and left with a nice crosswind now. At this point I could feel something weird in my knee almost as if it was floating when I pedaled a certain way. Right then I knew that the muscle I pulled was starting to act up again. 30k later I tried standing up and was met with a nice pain. I decided then that the rest of the ride I was going to sit down and just power it out.
Luckily Charles and Olivier were not feeling so hot as well. Olivier’s leg was a little sore and Charles butt was killing him. This meant more frequent stops. Which meant some time to rest, massage, and get some cold liquids in me.
When I saw the 1k to go to Whitewood our destination point for the day I was so relived because the day was now pushing 180km’s. We took a look at the campsite and it was over priced, mosquito infested, and the bathrooms were out of order. We decided to eat dinner and think about what to do. Over dinner we decided to push on to Moosmin. Another 50k but probably worth it. The sun was at our backs and we had archies special pizza inside of us so we were trucking down the road at roughly the pace of a snail. The whole time I was thinking I could be in an air-conditioned house drinking ice-cold water. Instead I am on a bike crawling with mosquitoes (no joke you have to keep moving or else you will regret it).
The sun was setting and we had no other option but to pull into so super small town called Wapella where a nice lady met us called Marie. She understood our situation and kindly let us use the school grounds as our site for the night. I have to say though the only thing that got me to this point in the day was knowing I had 2 Tim Horton’s muffins, and a donut in my back bag waiting for me. So for helping me get through the day I have to thank Dr. D, my mom, and Kristi who I called while riding and while a train was passing telling her to post that we are burning the midnight oils on the bike. Remember if life is worth living its worth recording.
Trip Distance: 213.81km
Ride Time: 8:28hr
Avg. Speed: 25.20km/h
Total Distance: 2156km
Total Ride Time: 102hr
Destination: Wapella, Saskatchewan
The morning started early with mom saying goodbye and leaving at around 5am. But I was not to worried because I did not get much sleep in the night before. It was something about that bed that just rubbed me the wrong way. I slept one way it hurt my one shoulder. I slept the other it would hurt the other shoulder. Now I have no Idea why but it got to the point where I took a Tylenol, which for those who know me know that that means I was in a bit of pain.
Once I got up I stuffed myself with another complimentary breakfast and left to meet up with Charles and Olivier at the travel lodge. After we put some air in our tires we ere off like rockets thinking that today was going to be a nice easy 130km day. Immediately I realize today was not going to be easy because the first 30k we were dealing with a headwind that would not let up. We all took our pulls and hammered it out thinking that once we got to Indian head that we would be cruising with the wind at our backs.
Well once we got to Indian head we had a quick bite to eat and left with a nice crosswind now. At this point I could feel something weird in my knee almost as if it was floating when I pedaled a certain way. Right then I knew that the muscle I pulled was starting to act up again. 30k later I tried standing up and was met with a nice pain. I decided then that the rest of the ride I was going to sit down and just power it out.
Luckily Charles and Olivier were not feeling so hot as well. Olivier’s leg was a little sore and Charles butt was killing him. This meant more frequent stops. Which meant some time to rest, massage, and get some cold liquids in me.
When I saw the 1k to go to Whitewood our destination point for the day I was so relived because the day was now pushing 180km’s. We took a look at the campsite and it was over priced, mosquito infested, and the bathrooms were out of order. We decided to eat dinner and think about what to do. Over dinner we decided to push on to Moosmin. Another 50k but probably worth it. The sun was at our backs and we had archies special pizza inside of us so we were trucking down the road at roughly the pace of a snail. The whole time I was thinking I could be in an air-conditioned house drinking ice-cold water. Instead I am on a bike crawling with mosquitoes (no joke you have to keep moving or else you will regret it).
The sun was setting and we had no other option but to pull into so super small town called Wapella where a nice lady met us called Marie. She understood our situation and kindly let us use the school grounds as our site for the night. I have to say though the only thing that got me to this point in the day was knowing I had 2 Tim Horton’s muffins, and a donut in my back bag waiting for me. So for helping me get through the day I have to thank Dr. D, my mom, and Kristi who I called while riding and while a train was passing telling her to post that we are burning the midnight oils on the bike. Remember if life is worth living its worth recording.
Trip Distance: 213.81km
Ride Time: 8:28hr
Avg. Speed: 25.20km/h
Total Distance: 2156km
Total Ride Time: 102hr
Destination: Wapella, Saskatchewan
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