Woke up....not sure what time it is....my mobile seemed to register a time 3 hours behind when it found reception at Thunder bay the other day and I have crossed into a new time zone as I move westward so have no idea what time I'm at. Thought the clock was 2 hours behind but need to check and ask someone..
Stopped at Ignace....glad that I didn't have to ride the extra 60 k's to here instead of stopping at English River. Am struck by the fortune of finding Ron and Fran's place.....there were only 2 houses in English River...
Gentle tailwind gets me to Ignace at 1020 so I probably left camp at 8am this morning. Find a diner in town and order some breakfast. A curious thing is that with toast Peanut Butter and Strawberry jam are the only two options offered everytime!
As I wait for my order to arrive I fiddle with the back of my neck and feel the damage from last nights sleep.....midges have bitten just below my neck line...it feels like a basket of eggs as my finger runs across it...
In the diner various men congregate at different tables...some talk across these tables...it suggests people know people despite sitting in a variety of spots....baseball hats, shirts, jeans and trainers, some stay longer some go after they have eaten but it is unhurried easy paced conversation. Coffee refills are offered by the waitresses and some accept. It seems not that people dont have work to do but they are working to their own deadlines....It feels relaxed, laidback, natural and hints at being a regular occurence...a well oiled subtle eating tradition where local socializing has its place.
A radio is background music and Sheryl crow's beautiful mistake is not out of place in this moment....more the tune than the lyrics...her easy drawl voice fitting with atmosphere of the room
Later further along the road, 30km away I meet another cross canada-er, we exchange photos and notes on places to stay, road conditions and each persons story....he is doing it for the Scout movement in Canada and is scheduled to meet with different groups to talk with them about what he is doing. I feel a little more blase about our meeting and I have the dinner party affliction of forgetting his name almost immediately!
The wind seems to swirl and at times I ride like a professional with the wind at my back, others I struggle and have to gear down and patiently plod the kilometres to Dryden. I get really hungry near the end and eat two fruit bars and drink a dr pepper and feel sick for about half an hour but arrive in Dryden just after 4pm back in civilisation after the wilderness of the last 2 days along the edge of the Arctic watershed.
Friday, 29 June 2007
An Englishmen at English River
Climbed away from the city of Thunder Bay after a day of rest. Believed that i was on route 102 which the map looked like it would cut route 17 off and reduce the distance as I headed towards Winnipeg. Funnily the road was quiet and it took longer than the map suggested to meet the 17 that I began to doubt my 'oh so clever route choice' of getting out of Thunder Bay. Was scared I'd gone the wrong way....even though i was heading westward as the early morning sun had created the shadow of a touring cyclist in front of me to perpetually chase but not catch....
Once again though needing to hold the faith I found said mentioned route 17 and my sense of certainty and intent grew now firmly riding on the route across western ontario, with lake superior dissappearing into the distance behind me. As the afternoon began the wind got stronger into my face and I was being slowly pummeled by a long stepped climb up towards a small indian reserve called raith. The climbing was explained to me at Raith with a sign announcing that we had entered the Arctic watershed meaning that everything from now on flows not to Superior but to the Arctic circle.
Luckily after Raith the road flattened and I can still make good time towards Upsala. Here I had thought that I would stop for the evening but with only a small convenience store to welcome me into 'town' I decide to carry on through towards English River (another 50 kilometres further) with only a few more swigs of water left in my bottle.
An hour and a half later and I began to see signs for motels in English River but when I get there I am crushed to find that both Motels are closed. It is past 6pm and I am exhausted with little food and no water so am faced with camping wild or seeking some help from the two houses that make up the rest of this place!
I ask for water and explain my situation to the lady who comes to the door, low and behold they have an impromptu campsite out back. I set up shop (doing my ministry of silly walks body movements during the process to ward off mosquitos and sand flies and within 20 minutes and in Ron and Fran's house sharing photos from our respective collections sharing observations of the things I've seen. All this whilst munching on cheese sandwiches made by Fran!
Apparently it has been 190km from Thunder Bay...I have pushed back my daily limits. I wonder how my legs will feel tomorrow?
Ron shows me photos of him catching bears (not good for the morale when you are about to sleep outside) but he sends me off into the dusk with a bear joke and a smile....
The joke goes "there are lots of bears around here so make sure you have your bear bell and pepper spray handy just in case. You can tell if bears have been around because of their droppings. They are rounded in shape.....the smaller ones are of the babies.....you can tell whether larger bears have been about because their droppings are bigger and if you look carefully you can normally see in them bear bells and cans of pepper spray!"
Thanks Ron
Once again though needing to hold the faith I found said mentioned route 17 and my sense of certainty and intent grew now firmly riding on the route across western ontario, with lake superior dissappearing into the distance behind me. As the afternoon began the wind got stronger into my face and I was being slowly pummeled by a long stepped climb up towards a small indian reserve called raith. The climbing was explained to me at Raith with a sign announcing that we had entered the Arctic watershed meaning that everything from now on flows not to Superior but to the Arctic circle.
Luckily after Raith the road flattened and I can still make good time towards Upsala. Here I had thought that I would stop for the evening but with only a small convenience store to welcome me into 'town' I decide to carry on through towards English River (another 50 kilometres further) with only a few more swigs of water left in my bottle.
An hour and a half later and I began to see signs for motels in English River but when I get there I am crushed to find that both Motels are closed. It is past 6pm and I am exhausted with little food and no water so am faced with camping wild or seeking some help from the two houses that make up the rest of this place!
I ask for water and explain my situation to the lady who comes to the door, low and behold they have an impromptu campsite out back. I set up shop (doing my ministry of silly walks body movements during the process to ward off mosquitos and sand flies and within 20 minutes and in Ron and Fran's house sharing photos from our respective collections sharing observations of the things I've seen. All this whilst munching on cheese sandwiches made by Fran!
Apparently it has been 190km from Thunder Bay...I have pushed back my daily limits. I wonder how my legs will feel tomorrow?
Ron shows me photos of him catching bears (not good for the morale when you are about to sleep outside) but he sends me off into the dusk with a bear joke and a smile....
The joke goes "there are lots of bears around here so make sure you have your bear bell and pepper spray handy just in case. You can tell if bears have been around because of their droppings. They are rounded in shape.....the smaller ones are of the babies.....you can tell whether larger bears have been about because their droppings are bigger and if you look carefully you can normally see in them bear bells and cans of pepper spray!"
Thanks Ron
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
The road to mattawa
Rode from pembroke (NW of Ottawa) to Mattawa intending to go for it and get to a place called North Bay but the plans didn't go to plan....heres what I wrote.....
Arriving in Mattawa.....My God did I underestimate the road between Deep River and Mattawa. The village of Deux Rivieres didn't really exist along the way (at least on route 17) and so along the way I ran out of food and water, got sun burnt, got bitten and then when I needed to step on it as the weather was changing from deep blue skies to storm clouds ahead I couldn't.....had no energy or horsepower. Also there were no signs along the way to tell me how far or close I was....just a series of ups and speed killing ups at that. Also no bends so that you feel like you are climbing a whizz wheel hill....nothing but the top to focus on.....like that climb from Chiddingfold to Wormley on that road race circuit.....every climb i do........
When the storm came I was a kilometre of uphill out of town but had to take cover in someone's porch (an old guys...he'd just abandonned cutting his grass) and he beckoned me under the porch for cover.....apparently he came to work in the area from Quebec in 1961 and one thing led to another and he stayed.....4 children, 10 grandchildren to his name....
Learning....if you go for broke early you could jeapodize the whole trip. I need to nuse my skin. Going to play conservative and limit myself to 100k's per day for the next few days.....The motorbike lady was right back at brunch who said that mattawa was more likely than North bay today....riding 205km....I laugh now at my arrogance....
Arriving in Mattawa.....My God did I underestimate the road between Deep River and Mattawa. The village of Deux Rivieres didn't really exist along the way (at least on route 17) and so along the way I ran out of food and water, got sun burnt, got bitten and then when I needed to step on it as the weather was changing from deep blue skies to storm clouds ahead I couldn't.....had no energy or horsepower. Also there were no signs along the way to tell me how far or close I was....just a series of ups and speed killing ups at that. Also no bends so that you feel like you are climbing a whizz wheel hill....nothing but the top to focus on.....like that climb from Chiddingfold to Wormley on that road race circuit.....every climb i do........
When the storm came I was a kilometre of uphill out of town but had to take cover in someone's porch (an old guys...he'd just abandonned cutting his grass) and he beckoned me under the porch for cover.....apparently he came to work in the area from Quebec in 1961 and one thing led to another and he stayed.....4 children, 10 grandchildren to his name....
Learning....if you go for broke early you could jeapodize the whole trip. I need to nuse my skin. Going to play conservative and limit myself to 100k's per day for the next few days.....The motorbike lady was right back at brunch who said that mattawa was more likely than North bay today....riding 205km....I laugh now at my arrogance....
Fellow Cross Canaders
Something that I've learnt over the last couple of weeks is that there is a community of other cross canada cyclists that you will meet or pass on the journey. These are people who are doing some form of the same trip that I am.
The first that I met was a guy called Martine who stopped and hailed me down when I was about 40km's away from espanola. He had a somehwat grizzled but happy way about him and was full of details about general info to do with camping, bears, road conditions, his own start and finish destinations. he had been a departmental manager in a big store in Quebec and gave up his job to set off from Vancouver about a month before. He told me about making sure to put anything i owned that was sweet (including things like toothpaste and suncream) at least a 100feet away from my tent when camping. He had done so but had woken one morning to go and retrieve his gear to find his bag wripped to shreds by something during the night. Even his suncream had been consumed...a sober story told with an amusing laugh...one that made me re think the prospect of camping for the next few days....
Another guy was Ben who came up to me when I was sitting outside a Tim Hortons in Sudbury and just started talking to me and asking what my trip involved. Interestingly I was feeling pretty uninspired at this moment and he was full of friendship and comradeship when I told him i was going east to west....most go west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds...he had done same trip east to west 2 or so years before on a mountain bike and had done it in 31 days!!! He worked as a mountain bike/outdoor guide and was just so positive that it left me feeling re-invigorated again....I was blown away by the fact he aimed to do 160kms per day as a minimum and would often camp in peoples gardens having knocked on their doors to check it was ok.....It made me think about inspiration and how it often has come unexpectedly when I most need it....
Others I have met include a guy called Paul (who was going my way and we rode together for the morning), Matt and Dean I met near terrace bay (both from vancoover) and 3 girls I past on the way round from sault Ste Marie.
All the time poeple are friendly, share information of what is coming up in both directions and a little about their story of why they are doing it! In fact before I got into the swing of these chance 15 minute meetings I would feel guilty for not having passed on anything that I might know but having my map handy now helps for me to exchange what I know and feel like good about sharing what is known out there....
....the other thing (and this relates to inspiration) is that everyone is happy for everyone else and encouraging of them achieving what they have set out to achieve and also that people inspire people who inspire other people in sharing backgrounds...its liked we are all amped for everyone and you are part of an immediate bonded club.....congratulations, good luck, best wishes and watch out for the bears!!!
The first that I met was a guy called Martine who stopped and hailed me down when I was about 40km's away from espanola. He had a somehwat grizzled but happy way about him and was full of details about general info to do with camping, bears, road conditions, his own start and finish destinations. he had been a departmental manager in a big store in Quebec and gave up his job to set off from Vancouver about a month before. He told me about making sure to put anything i owned that was sweet (including things like toothpaste and suncream) at least a 100feet away from my tent when camping. He had done so but had woken one morning to go and retrieve his gear to find his bag wripped to shreds by something during the night. Even his suncream had been consumed...a sober story told with an amusing laugh...one that made me re think the prospect of camping for the next few days....
Another guy was Ben who came up to me when I was sitting outside a Tim Hortons in Sudbury and just started talking to me and asking what my trip involved. Interestingly I was feeling pretty uninspired at this moment and he was full of friendship and comradeship when I told him i was going east to west....most go west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds...he had done same trip east to west 2 or so years before on a mountain bike and had done it in 31 days!!! He worked as a mountain bike/outdoor guide and was just so positive that it left me feeling re-invigorated again....I was blown away by the fact he aimed to do 160kms per day as a minimum and would often camp in peoples gardens having knocked on their doors to check it was ok.....It made me think about inspiration and how it often has come unexpectedly when I most need it....
Others I have met include a guy called Paul (who was going my way and we rode together for the morning), Matt and Dean I met near terrace bay (both from vancoover) and 3 girls I past on the way round from sault Ste Marie.
All the time poeple are friendly, share information of what is coming up in both directions and a little about their story of why they are doing it! In fact before I got into the swing of these chance 15 minute meetings I would feel guilty for not having passed on anything that I might know but having my map handy now helps for me to exchange what I know and feel like good about sharing what is known out there....
....the other thing (and this relates to inspiration) is that everyone is happy for everyone else and encouraging of them achieving what they have set out to achieve and also that people inspire people who inspire other people in sharing backgrounds...its liked we are all amped for everyone and you are part of an immediate bonded club.....congratulations, good luck, best wishes and watch out for the bears!!!
The first Camping experience
At la Plaisance (just to the east of Ottawa) I stayed at my first Campground....it was a national park and when I turned up at about 5.30 there weren't too many people around....it seemed to stretch in length for about 5km's from the entrance and was surrounded by rivers and lakes. The weather had been wet and although it wasnt raining there was heavy clouds and things didn't look like they were going to get drier.
I had had a broken French/Quebeccois conversation with a lady who was leaving for the day at the recption door and she seemed unconcerned about me paying or not. therefore I pedalled off into the site and searched out a camp place under some trees with what I have know realised is thre standard wooden bench next to each place for people to sit. managed to get my tent up in about 10 minutes and whilst it dumped rain on me for about 3 hours during the night this had discouraged bugs so I remained reklatively unbitten.
Woke at 6am and then about a zillion times more until 8.30 when a park guide appeared and we had a quick chat. He spoke English which helped, and I confessed that I hadn't paid yet....he seemed unconcerned about that and he enquired to my trip and talked about the weather.
Talking about the weather isn't as banal in outdoor life as it contains vital information on what you might expect later in the day. He mentioned cold northerlies and the blessing that this might kill off mosquito eggs which were due to release soon for their high season. he then left with a warm shake of the hand and I was left to methodically pack my stuff and search out somewhere for breakfast and then head for Ottawa.
I had had a broken French/Quebeccois conversation with a lady who was leaving for the day at the recption door and she seemed unconcerned about me paying or not. therefore I pedalled off into the site and searched out a camp place under some trees with what I have know realised is thre standard wooden bench next to each place for people to sit. managed to get my tent up in about 10 minutes and whilst it dumped rain on me for about 3 hours during the night this had discouraged bugs so I remained reklatively unbitten.
Woke at 6am and then about a zillion times more until 8.30 when a park guide appeared and we had a quick chat. He spoke English which helped, and I confessed that I hadn't paid yet....he seemed unconcerned about that and he enquired to my trip and talked about the weather.
Talking about the weather isn't as banal in outdoor life as it contains vital information on what you might expect later in the day. He mentioned cold northerlies and the blessing that this might kill off mosquito eggs which were due to release soon for their high season. he then left with a warm shake of the hand and I was left to methodically pack my stuff and search out somewhere for breakfast and then head for Ottawa.
The travelogue updated
Folks as you can see there are large spands of time where it has been difficult to get to the internet access so I reckon that I should give you a quick update and then fill in the blanks later....
Its June 20th now and I'm at Thunder Bay which is about 1600km's round....I've gone round the top of Lake Superior after having travelled from Ottawa (where I spent a day of rest).
The route has worked out as follows
Quebec, la trois rivieres, joliette, la plaisance, ottawa, pembroke, mattawa, mattawa, sturgeon falls, espanola, ironbridge, sault ste marie, montreal river, wawa, white river, marathon, terrace bay, nipigan and now Thunder Bay where I'm having a second rest day... Each place I've written is where I have stayed for a night and currently in the duke out between motels and campgrounds...the motels are winning it.....
Basically with the cycling each day I have found it physically and mentally tough and have opted for motels at more places than camping to help myself recover better and help me find my feet....once the first few days enthusaism faded away it has been a challenge to get mileage done and the clean bed motel existence has helped lower the challenge to a level i could cope with....
The small things become bigger things either in your favour or against you it seems so far. Getting up early to avoid the rising winds in the afternoon, cleaning cycling gear each day, eating a 'four square' meal each day and getting away from a host of midge life has made the 6 hour cycling days more do-able.
Its funny too that in many places the things you see are on route rather than in the towns of villages so there aren't many reasons not to get more kilometres under your wheels each day...
Its June 20th now and I'm at Thunder Bay which is about 1600km's round....I've gone round the top of Lake Superior after having travelled from Ottawa (where I spent a day of rest).
The route has worked out as follows
Quebec, la trois rivieres, joliette, la plaisance, ottawa, pembroke, mattawa, mattawa, sturgeon falls, espanola, ironbridge, sault ste marie, montreal river, wawa, white river, marathon, terrace bay, nipigan and now Thunder Bay where I'm having a second rest day... Each place I've written is where I have stayed for a night and currently in the duke out between motels and campgrounds...the motels are winning it.....
Basically with the cycling each day I have found it physically and mentally tough and have opted for motels at more places than camping to help myself recover better and help me find my feet....once the first few days enthusaism faded away it has been a challenge to get mileage done and the clean bed motel existence has helped lower the challenge to a level i could cope with....
The small things become bigger things either in your favour or against you it seems so far. Getting up early to avoid the rising winds in the afternoon, cleaning cycling gear each day, eating a 'four square' meal each day and getting away from a host of midge life has made the 6 hour cycling days more do-able.
Its funny too that in many places the things you see are on route rather than in the towns of villages so there aren't many reasons not to get more kilometres under your wheels each day...
lunchtime in lachute....
Felt pretty low today...i'm having lunch in lachute having travelled up from la trois rivieres to a place called Joliette last night and now am heading across country towards Ottawa....the weather has been really heavy this morning although i have again been blessed with something of a tailwind. Stayed in another motel last night (and feel somehwat guilty about this but lost about an hour yesterday evening riding around the town trying to find a campsite).
Found an amphitheatre though but it was all shut up. Yesterday was hot and was punctuated with arriving in tiny villages where I constantly wonder what the people who live here do for work...certainly Joliette had a nice array of houses (I know I rode around it for long enough!!!)
This morning I had hoped that the Canadian weather forecasters would be wrong about the rain but it was raining either heavily or lightly until now....
Aware that my setting of goals of destination each day is creating a large impatience in me and gets in the way of being satisfied and enjoying the present. My riding question is how to set goals and then almost forget about them and just truly 'be'....This was my moment of inspiration on route 158 whilst dodging the rain and big trucks that steam past on the road.
In this weather I worry about feeling exposed and getting sick...have fallen in love with a place called Tim Hortons (like the name their!!) which is a healthy fast food place you can find out many intersection road junctions along the way.....the windows are always big and clear so I can put my bike outside and keep an eye on it whilst eating inside....they also do great soups which provides good nourishment along the way.....
Still struggling with spending longer than 4 hours on the bike in the saddle undercarriage regard... also aware that I'm just trying to get through rather than enjoy the trip at the moment
Found an amphitheatre though but it was all shut up. Yesterday was hot and was punctuated with arriving in tiny villages where I constantly wonder what the people who live here do for work...certainly Joliette had a nice array of houses (I know I rode around it for long enough!!!)
This morning I had hoped that the Canadian weather forecasters would be wrong about the rain but it was raining either heavily or lightly until now....
Aware that my setting of goals of destination each day is creating a large impatience in me and gets in the way of being satisfied and enjoying the present. My riding question is how to set goals and then almost forget about them and just truly 'be'....This was my moment of inspiration on route 158 whilst dodging the rain and big trucks that steam past on the road.
In this weather I worry about feeling exposed and getting sick...have fallen in love with a place called Tim Hortons (like the name their!!) which is a healthy fast food place you can find out many intersection road junctions along the way.....the windows are always big and clear so I can put my bike outside and keep an eye on it whilst eating inside....they also do great soups which provides good nourishment along the way.....
Still struggling with spending longer than 4 hours on the bike in the saddle undercarriage regard... also aware that I'm just trying to get through rather than enjoy the trip at the moment
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