Mission Accomplished!!!

August 20: Baddeck to Baddeck (0km)
As planned, I stayed an extra day in Baddeck and was quite busy. First, let's start with last night. I went to the Ceilidh (the Celtic ho-down that I mentioned in my last post - yes my Gaelic spelling needs work as I massacred the spelling in my last post. It was fun. There was a fiddler with piano accompaniment that played traditional tunes. In order to liven up the evening, they incorporated stories and taught some dance moves - even some "sitting tap-dancing":). At one point a 94 old lady got up and danced - if only we can be half as fit and sharp as her at that age. An all around good time.

This morning I went for a guided kayak tour of the lake. The wind was quite blustery. So I was the only person that signed up for the tour and, as a result, got personalized service. My lower body is clearly in better shape than my upper body. Even though the tour went really well and I had a good time, I could feel my muscles working more than I do when I'm on my bike.

As I was walking out of the restaurant where I went for lunch, I see a touring cyclist wiz by. I take a closer look and I'm pretty sure it's Serge - a cyclist I met while going up Paulson Pass in BC about two and half months ago. As he was on wheels and I was on foot, I never did meet up with him today, but it was funny seeing him. I'm guessing he's going to the ferry as well. So who knows, I may see him then.

Not much more to report. I simply ran some errands the rest of the day like doing laundry and buying a new book - Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues (oh yeah, my literary education continues:).

August 21: Baddeck to North Sydney (67.41km)
As I was eating breakfast this morning, I see someone outside the window loading up his bike. It was Serge. It turned out that he stayed in the same motel I was staying at and that he was going to take the same ferry to NFLD as I was. So we caught up on our trip experiences and agreed to hook up this evening as we were again planning to stay at the same motel - North Sydney doesn't have many to offer.

Today's ride was wonderful. It was short and the wind was in my back. So I took my time and checked out the sights which were really nice especially while climbing Kelly's Mountain – a fairly steep hill near the end of my ride. I really had a sense that my trip was coming to the end and I wanted to savour every moment – the scenery, the act of biking, etc. I didn't have that same sense when I rode toward Halifax even though it was the final few days if I had left from there. I think that the notion that I should go to St-John's prevented me from appreciating it.

Even with my slow pace I arrived at the motel fairly early so I biked into town to see what it had to offer since my ferry won't leave until 3:30 tomorrow after noon. Well apparently the town doesn't offer much. I think I might be hanging out at the terminal for a good part of the day:) Oh well, at least I'll have Serge's company.

August 22: North Sydney to North Sydney (9.73km)
All I had to do today was go from my motel to the ferry terminal by 3:30PM and since there didn't seem to be a lot of things to do “downtown” I took my time getting ready.

When Serge and I finally did make it into town, we met up with Philip and Ludwig - two cyclist who began their trip from Victoria a full month after I started mine. Needless to say they are in wicked good shape and have made incredible time. In fact, we kept on meeting more and more cyclist as the afternoon went on and there must have been about 15 cyclist on the ferry to Argentia most of whom started from Victoria or Vancouver.

The ferry ride was good in that it was uneventful. We were about two hours late getting started, but otherwise the trip was quite pleasant. I even had a chance to watch a movie – The Bucket List which was better than I expected.

August 23: Argentia to Holyrood(93.39km)
Considering I was sleeping in a dormitory on the boat with about 15 other people, I slept really well. The water was calm so the rocking of the boat was at a minimum.

We arrived in Argentia at about 9:00 and we were off. Initially, the skies were gray and threatening, but they cleared up a few hours later and it ended up being a beautiful day with a strong south westerly wind which pushed me along for the first part of the day, but after I turned a corner, I had it on my side for the rest of the day.

St-John's is about 120km from the ferry, but I decided to split the journey over two days. I wanted to do this in order that my last day be short so that I could take my time and soak in the last moments. I wanted in fact to read my whole blog tonight so that all my experiences be fresh in my mind for the final day, but alas, the internet service of the B&B where I'm staying is down. So as a second best option, I went through all my photos thus far and the only concrete thought that I had while looking at the photos was how lucky I was to be doing such a trip. For those who have read me whine for the past three months, you know that there have been many ups and downs, but the fact remains that I have wanted to do this trip for the past 15 or 16 years and I am very glad that I am doing it. I'm curious to see in the coming months if there have been any lasting changes in me because of this trip, but regardless, it was a trip of a lifetime and worthwhile if for no other reason.

August 24: Holyrood to St-John's/Cape Spear (91.83km)
The ride into St-John's today was relatively easy in that I had a really strong wind in my back pushing me along. However, my final destination wasn't St-John's, but rather Cape Spear which the eastern most point of North America. I therefore set off to the Cape and the journey there starts out with a monster steep hill. In fact most of the 15km to Cape Spear is marked with huge uphills and downhills. The whole time that I'm riding to my destination, I'm dreading the ride back, because not only would I have to ride those hills again, but I'd have to do it against the wind and as I mentioned earlier, it was a formidable wind.

In the previous weeks, I had always imagined my final moments at Cape Spear as having a sense of victory and of elation. Well this wasn't the case for two primary reasons: 1) any elation was dampened by the realization that my ride back would be hell and 2) I don't think I fully realize that my trip is over. I've been riding for so long that the end doesn't seem real. It will likely hit me in a couple of weeks when I'm back at work and getting into a different routine.

As promised, my ride back was sheer torture. The hills were significant and the wind was nasty. I arrived at my motel and was drained.

In the evening, I went to George street (party central in St-John's) to celebrate the end of my trip with a few of the cyclists that I had met on the ferry.

A couple of final statistics:

Distance: 6969.02km
Flat tires: 4
Bear sightings: 0
Moose sightings: 0
Wolf sightings: 2
Deer sightings: countless
Roadkill: Way too many

Well, that's about it. I may put another posting in a couple of months if I have any final thoughts that I would like to share. A big thank you to everyone for reading my ramblings and for posting. I very much appreciated it and it made my trip that much more enjoyable and prevented me from being lonely. Again thanks and here are a few other pictures.

Surrounded by fiddlers

August 17: Elmsdale to New Glasgow (120.65km)
Today I was back-tracking over some familiar territory. Since I changed my plans yesterday, I had to go back to Truro in order to veer east toward Cape Breton.

The weather was gray and heavy in the morning, but thankfully, the rain had stopped before I left at 9:00. After I stopped for lunch in Truro, the skie cleared and a heavy wind picked up. Thankfully, the wind was predominantly in my back and I was flying up some hills at about 30km/hr - faster than what I ride on flats on a calm day. According to the Weather Network, I won't be as fortunate tomorrow, but the forecast is still relatively positive.

I'm now in a B&B in New Glasgow and the couple owning the house are very nice. However, the lady of the house is originally from central England and I can hardly understand a word she says. I feel bad making her repeat everything, but I fear saying an inappropriate comment to what I think she says if I don't. Aah, the perils of travel:)

August 28: New Glasgow to Port Hastings (128.03km)
Today's ride was good if a bit frustrating. I switched back and forth all day from the Trans-Canada to the secondary highway. The secondary highway was twisty-turny and constantly had rolling hills which prevented me from getting any momentum or speed, but there was less traffic. The Trans-Canada allowed for greater speed, but it was busy and the shoulder (although good in general) disappeared when there was a passing lane. I won't have a choice in the coming days. Even though there are three main roads that could get me to the ferry, one would be a huge detour and another has no shoulder - in fact the police called the tourism office to ask them to tell cyclists not to take that road. That leaves one road which is unfortunately probably the busiest one and has some really big hills, but I'm told it has good shoulders. Fingers crossed that it is in fact the case.

I may or may not ride tomorrow. Since my ferry reservation is for Friday and it should only take me two days to get to North Sydney, I have a bit of time. And since the forecast is for thunder storms tomorrow, I think I may simply hole up in my motel room and watch the Olympics:) We'll see what the weather will look like in the morning.

August 19: Port Hastings to Baddeck (86.88km)
I woke up to clear skies and the forecast changed to rain only in the evening. So I thought I would try to do some mileage while the weather was favourable. I was a bit concerned with the wind however. It was howling all night and wasn't letting up in the morning. It was a southern wind though - so although not horrible it could be tiresome after a while. For most of the day, the wind was hardly a factor though and when it was it was generally in my back.

I am now in Cape Breton and it is really pretty. Some of the ride was deep in the woods and I couldn't see anything, but other times, I was next to water and the view of the lake and the rolling hills behind it was nice.

Since I was making pretty good time, I thought of making a stab at reaching North Sydney today in order to take the Wednesday ferry and have more time in Newfoundland. I wasn't sure if I could make it on time, but I thought if the ferry was late in the day, I could make it most of the way today and do a short ride to the ferry tomorrow. I stopped in the tourism office in Baddeck to get the ferry schedule and it turns out that the ferry is at 8:00 tomorrow morning. It may have been doable, but I would arrive in Argentia late tomorrow evening which meant I would have to ride at night which wasn't a good idea. So I opted to stay in Baddeck and take the ferry on Friday as originally planned.

Baddeck is a cute touristy town. Since I have a bit of time before my ferry, I may stay here an extra night as there is likely more to do here than in North Sydney. In fact, I met a guy who does kayaking tours around the lake. If the weather isn't too bad tomorrow (they're calling for rain), I may do that. And every night they have a kaylee (is that how you spell it? - anyways essentially a traditional performance of fiddle music and dancing). I'm going to check that out this evening. Maybe I should bring my bike shoes so that I can do some tap-dancing:)

Here are a few pictures of Cape Breton.

Change of plans

August 13: Moncton to Springhill, NS (87.56km)
It was difficult leaving Moncton today because it had been fun to see everyone. Also, I had taken a full 4 days off - more than I have taken since Saskatchewan and I had gotten out of the habit of riding. But alas, I had to leave at some point.

I got a slow start and only left at around 10:00. The weather had been gloomy the whole time I was in Moncton and this morning was no different. Aside from a few drops, I didn't get rained on however and the clouds started to disperse in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, I had to leave New Brunswick where the roads had been so good to enter Nova Scotia where there are very little shoulders. I had been warned of this by some cyclists whom I've met along the way and by my brother Rodrigue who was driving in these parts last week. So at my first opportunity I got off the main roads in favour of country roads. There is no shoulder but the traffic is a bit lighter and they drive a bit slower.

My enjoyment of the trip thus far has always been directly related to the quality of the shoulders. So I'm not anticipating great things from Nova Scotia. However, since I only have to be in Halifax next Monday, I will be doing shorter days and doing more of the tourist thing then I have been doing for most of the trip. So hopefully that will compensate for the bad roads.

August 14: Springhill to Five Islands (67.27km)
I must say that the people of Nova Scotia rival New Brunswickers on the friendliness meter. Almost everyone I crossed paths with in Springhill were quick to chat and to offer help. The sons owner gave me a number of tips on where to go and what to see. Unfortunately, I forgot most of it as he gave me so much advice, I couldn't keep it all straight.

My biggest challenge during today's ride were dogs. I'm now riding on country roads and thankfully, the traffic is quite light, but there are dogs all along the road that don't seem to like the sight of me. None chased me too far, so I suppose I shouldn't complain, but a few of them gave me a good fright.

I was thinking of going to Masstown today which is 50km further than Five Islands, but when I got to Five Islands, the sky had become overcast and gloomy and I figured in the spirit of my approach to the final days of my trip (i.e. shorter days and more “stopping to smell the roses”) I decided to stay there the night as it was a pretty town. I checked into a B&B and was hosted by Gerry and Judy – super friendly people and I recommend their hospitality if ever you should be in that neck of the woods. Judy even gave me a tour of the town by car (because it had started raining pretty hard).

August 15: Five Islands to Brookfield (88.13km)
The conditions for the early part of my ride were ideal. The rain had stopped and I had a fairly healthy tail wind. I was planning to stay in Truro for the evening, but I got there so fast, that it seemed a waste to stop. So after stopping in the information booth and planning my destinations for my final few days, I made another short ride to the next town where I'm staying. Since I essentially turned a corner at Truro, the conditions were no longer as favourable. Nonetheless, the ride was enjoyable. There were especially some pretty sights on the first half of my day when the road was along the bay of Fundy.

I've been thinking in my past few days about my trip. If ever I were to do this again, there are several things that I would do differently. That being said, I did the trip that I wanted. I wanted a trip that got me out of my comfort zone and that would challenge me and that is what I got and for that among a whole lot of other reasons, I'm happy I am doing this trip.

August 16: Brookfield to Elmsdale (42.24km)
Last night I woke up around 4AM thinking that I might regret not finishing my trip in Newfoundland. Even though I had always been vague as to my destination goal, in my minds eye I always saw myself standing atop Cape Spear and seeing nothing but ocean. And in a strange way, I felt that I would be robbing myself of the cathartic experience of having truly completed my journey if I didn't finish at Cape Spear. There would always be a seed of regret that I would think I left the trip unfinished.

Along the ride, I debated myself about whether or not I should change my travel plans. Let's be honest, I'm tired of the trip and looking forward to the end. This statement contradicts what I said in yesterday's posting, but both assertions are true. I'm glad I'm doing the trip, but I'll be really glad when it's over.

The conclusion of my internal debate was that I would look at the possibilities of doing the trip when I arrived at my destination and I would act accordingly. As it turns out, rescheduling the trip was feasible and in fact my options were better then when I had checked initially. When I had done my initial research, I thought I saw that all ferries arrived in NFLD at around 2AM. This was a problem, because it would mean that I would have to find my way to the hotel - which was 7km away - at night. Either the information had been wrong or the times have changed, because now, the ferry would go overnight and I would arrive around 9AM. This was perfect because I could then get a full days ride in before having to find accommodations. So I changed my plans.

Now, I'm in a position where I have to backtrack about half a days ride so that I can get to Sydney on time. Oh well, all part of the adventure:)

A few more pictures.

Paradise revisited

August 5: Edmunston to Perth-Andover (100.68km)
The sky was gray upon waking this morning so I was slow to get moving. But I eventually got on my bike and was off. Since Erika and Marie-Anne were planning on different destinations, we left separately.

It eventually started to clear and the riding was generally pretty good. I stopped for my second breakfast in Saint-Leonard and as I was packing up to leave, I see Erika and Marie-Anne parking their bikes to go in a corner store. I joined them and we biked together until Grand Falls where they stopped for lunch. We decided not to say any goodbyes as we had already done so a number of times and since my progress wasn't as great as I had initially hoped, we thought that we might meet up at the campground which they were aiming for.

After I left them, I returned to the trans Canada, I rode with them on a side road that is quite nice, but a bit rougher than the highway. I chose the highway, because for some bizarre reason, my pannier "jumped the rail" of my pannier rack 5 times when I was on the rougher road. Once on the highway, the winds began to be in my favour and I was making very good time. I decided to go further than the campground that Erika and Marie-Anne were telling me about and checked into a motel instead. I'm thinking it was probably a good thing, because I have since learned that they are calling for a low of 8 degrees tonight (where has the summer gone?)

August 6: Perth-Andover to Pokiok (119.21km)
A good ride today. Even though it's relatively cool, there was no precipitation, so I won't complain.

I stopped at a motel in Pokiok at around 3:30, because it was the last one until Fredericton which was another 50km. There was nobody in the office, but there was a contact number which I called. The owner also has a motel in Fredericton and he was at the other place, but I was promised that he would be at Pokiok at 4:00. Three hours later, he arrived and I checked in. It wasn't all a waste however as I met Micheal - another guy who wanted a room and he drove me to the grocery store for supplies and we ended up sharing a room together.

August 7: Pokiok to Gagetown (113.70km)
I wanted to make as much distance as I could today in order to make tomorrow's ride into Moncton relatively easy. I was planning on reaching a motel in Youngs Cove because according to the information given to me at the tourism information center, it was the last one until close to Moncton. While I was eating lunch in Oromocto, I thought that maybe I should call ahead to make sure that they had room, because the accommodations are sparse around here. Calling ahead is something I never do during this trip, but this time around, I thought that it might be wise. Well lo and behold, they were full, because apparently there was a big dog show in Sussex. Holy crap! How could I have forgotten to check the dog show schedule? This just goes to show you kids that it's a good idea to listen to the little voice in the back of your head.

I called the next best option which was a B&B in Gagetown. This was not ideal as this little town is 10km off the highway, but alas, my options weren't numerous. I arrived at the B&B at around 3:30 and as it turns out it is owned by a former politician who I didn't know and it turns out he adores the sound of his voice. A nice man who has tried his best to liquor me up, but sweet Jesus can that boy talk. He will however remain nameless as I don't want to be pursued in law for slander:)

As a result of my relatively short jaunt today, I will have a longer ride tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather will hold and not pummel me with rain.

August 8: Gagetown to the center of the universe - AKA Moncton (139.29km)

There are long stretches of the New Brunswick highway system that have absolutely no population. In this way only did it remind me a bit of northern Ontario (in all other ways, the highway system here is so much more conducive to biking). That being the case, I was a bit concerned about getting enough calories in me as I knew that it would be a long days ride. As a result, I had two breakfast and a lunch by 12:00 to make sure that I would make it to the Shangri-La of eastern Canada.

As it turns out, my sister Renee's family and my other sister Monique were going the opposite way that day to visit a friend in Fredericton. So I was keeping an eye out for their car. At around 11:00 I see a bunch of hands waving from a Previa that was slowing down on the opposite side of the highway. I stopped as well and I had a reunion with part of my family on the side of the highway:)

After a long days ride, I arrived in Moncton at around 5:30. As I was cycling up to my parents house, I see baloons attached to the tree next to the house and a "Bienvenue" sign in the door window - a very sweet gesture that I very much appreciated - un grand merci Mom et Dad.

August 9-12: Moncton to Moncton (0km)

It is nice to take a few days off and relax. Even when I was in Ottawa I was constantly on the go repairing my bike or doing some things for the house that needed to get done. So in a way, I'm getting my first complete break since Thunder Bay and it made me realise just how tired I was. It's as if now that I'm not straining myself, the body just wants to completely slow down. I figure that my body is trying to tell me something and I'm going to do as little as possible until I leave.

Luckily, I saw my whole family while in Moncton. This is a rare occasion as my sister Monique lives in Chicago and doesn't get the chance to visit often. It was really fun seeing all my family and friends while I was in town.

I'm currently looking at my options for the final step of my journey. I always said that St-John's would be my end point, but the stars don't seem to be lining up in favour of that destination. Halifax is another end point destination option, but I feel like I'd be cheating if I don't go to NFLD. Oh well, I have to make a decision in the next little while, otherwise there won't be any plane tickets left to go to Ottawa.

Later: well I just bought my plane ticket and the end point of my journey will be in Halifax. I was really torn about not going to St.-John's and debated with myself whether I was making the right decision, but in the end the little voice in my head that has served me well a number of times during the trip was telling me to not rush through the last couple of weeks and sort of putts around Nova Scotia for a few days seeing places that I haven't been to in years. I am a bit disappointed, but I told myself I'd try to let my intuition guide me along this trip. So I'll be arriving in Ottawa on August 20 and will have about 10 days off before returning to work.

Here are a few pictures.

Weather woes 2 - the sequel

August 1: Levis to St-Jean-Port-Joli (96.11km)
If I remember anything from this day in a month, it will be the wind. All day, I was struggling against a strong head wind from the St-Laurence. The road was often close to the shore and, as a result, nothing impeded its path. The howling in my ears drowned out the grunting noises that I was making.

I hoped to get further today, but alas, I decided this little town was good enough. And as it turns out, its probably a good thing. The town is quite pretty and seems to have a large artistic community as I see galleries all over the place. In fact, there is an "International Festival of Sculptures" in town this weekend and after I write this, I'll be heading off to the tent where all the activities are taking place to check it out.

I think I may have entered a new phase in my trip. At the beginning of my trip I was very enthusiastic and positive about anything that happened. Then when the roads became stressful in Manitoba, I started seeing everything through dark lenses. Presently, I seem to be neutral about the trip. Maybe it's because the roads have gotten better, but I'm not as negative as I was a few weeks ago and, as can be expected, the trips luster that was there in the beginning has passed. As I was thinking about this today, I initially saw this as being negative in that I'm bored with the trip because it has become routine. But then I thought that maybe it was just a different phase of the trip that one goes through.

August 2: St-Jean-Port-Joli to Riviere du Loup (95.87km)
I met a number of bikers today. While I was having breakfast at a restaurant in town, in walks another biker. This lady and I leaped-frogged over one another a few times the day before, but we hadn't spoken. As I was getting ready to leave, I went over to introduce myself. Hedy is 63 years old and is doing her second cross-country ride. A very nice lady and we spoke for about 20 minutes.

As I was leaving, I hear someone calling me. I look over and there was Jim and Mike, the two bikers I had met on my last day in Manitoba and whom I have mentioned on this blog. I was shocked. I hadn't seen them since Kenora and as they are faster and hardier than I am, I figured they had completed the trip or were nearly there. I chatted with them a while and we agreed to rendez-vous in Riviere du Loup where we were all planning on staying at the hostel.

So I was off. Shortly after I left town, I see two touring bikers ahead. The meeting with Jim and Mike made me think that it would be cool if I had already met these bikers as well. Alas, I hadn't. When I caught up to them, I met Erika and Marie-Anne. I had heard of them along the way because they were ahead of me by a couple of days and some people had remarked how they admired the courage of these two young ladies (they are both in their early 20s). I biked with them for a while and up ahead we saw another touring cyclist with a guitar on his back. This seemed curious so we sped up to meet Amira (I may have his name wrong), a young guy from Japan who only spoke broken English had been traveling all over the place. He started by planning to walk across Canada, but quickly realized that we have a vast country and bought a bike instead.

To look at Amira, my first impression was that he was ill suited for such a trip, because his bike looked to be in mediocre condition, he was biking with sandles, as mentioned he traveled with a guitar that he said he didn't know how to play and only bought it in the hopes of learning along the way. But, I clearly underestimated him, because he has come a long way (he started in Calgary and zig-zagged throughout North America) and he said his plan after this “warm-up trip” was to bike from Japan to England.

Later, the four of us (Amira, Erika and Marie-Anne) stopped for lunch in Kamouraska. After lunch we separated as we were all traveling at different speeds, but Erika and Marie-Anne were planning on going to the hostel as well for the evening.

The second half of the ride was marked by heavy head winds which slowed my progress considerably. For much of the afternoon I was averaging 14km/hr on flat ground which is nearly 10km/hr slower than I would usually ride. But I eventually made it to the hostel where all the above mentioned bikers reconvened except for Amira – I think he camped on the side of the road somewhere.

Last embarrassing note: For a good part of my ride today, the song that was stuck in my head was “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain. I have no good reason to have this inappropriate song in my head except that it's catchy and I had heard it a couple of days earlier. Thankfully, it was later replaced by “Time After Time” by Cindy Lauper. Clearly, I shouldn't have left my Ipod in Ottawa:)

August 3: Riviere du Loup to about Saint-Honore-de-Temiscouata (about 50km – I forgot to put my bike computer on for the first couple of km)
The plan today was to make it to Edmonston which is about 130km from Riviere du Loup. As I was changing direction and would no longer be on the shore, I hoped that the winds would be less of a factor in today's ride. Luckily, I was right. However, it started to rain not long after I left town. For the first while, the rain was constant and not much of a concern. I stopped for my third breakfast after about 25km (my first two were quite small by my current travel diet). After I ate, I was a bit sluggish and thinking that maybe I should stop at the next motel as the weather was not getting any better. I reproached myself for being so lazy. However, in the following hour, the rain really started to come down. I no longer thought it wimpy to stop at a motel, but a necessity as visibility was becoming an issue. I was never in serious danger because the shoulders are quite wide here, but I still thought that it would be wisest to get off the road as quickly as possible. I had earlier seen a sign for the next motel and it advertised that they welcomed cyclists. I thought to myself that I would put that promise to the test as I looked like hell. I was soaken wet and dirty. True to their word however, they took me in.

Ironically, I'm looking outside right now and I see that the pavement is drying. The rain stopped about an hour or so after I arrived. The skies still look ominous, however. No regrets on stopping where I did though. I was cold and wet and, at the time, it looked foolish to continue.

A last note on the weather. With the exception of the Prairies, locals have consistently told me that the weather this summer has been the worst in memory. In fact, in talking to Jim yesterday, he said that they hadn't had two consecutive days of sunshine since Calgary. I was a bit more fortunate than them I believe, but in general, the weather has been exceptionally foul. When I stepped outside this morning, it felt like it was early October. I'm expecting the leaves to change colours in the next few days:)

August 4: Saint-Honore-de-Temiscouata to Edmonston (77.00km)
The day started out rainy once again, but the forecast was more favourable than yesterday. So I set off around 9:00. Initially, I was quite frustrated with the weather as it had been foul for several days and I again had a head wind.

At around 11:00, I had to stop to make an adjustment to my saddle bag that was falling off. As I was about to leave, I saw two bikers that were coming my way. I waited for them and then realized that it was Erika and Marie-Anne – the two cyclists that I had met two days ago. We biked together all day and the company made the ride much more enjoyable as I was no longer focusing on the weather and the kilometers just seemed to drop off.

Once I arrived in God's country (err New Brunswick), we decided to stop in Edmonston as it was starting to get late (another time change after all). We also noticed that the winds miraculously turned in our favour as we entered the province (God's country indeed:).

A few more pictures this time around.

Zigzagging in Quebec

July 29: Rosemere to Sorel-Tracy (95.25km)
I deliberately started late this morning. Even though I wasn't in Montreal proper, I figured that I was in its sphere of influence and would therefore prefer to avoid its rush hour traffic. So, I took my time and got on the road at about 9:30.

Progress was slow initially because my road choice was meandering with a lot of stop signs. This was a good thing in a way, because it forced the cars on the road to go slow. Once I got to Repentigny, I could ride faster and the roads for the most part were great. After riding in Manitoba and Ontario for what seems like forever, I realize just how fortunate I am when I have a good shoulder and for about 90% of my ride, I had ample room. Thank you oh wise Quebec legislators.

I was a bit wimpy today as I ended in Sorel after I took the ferry across the river. I guess I could have gone further, but I felt like resting up a bit.

July 30: Sorel-Tracy to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade (118.88km)
My intent was to go south of the Saint Laurence river in order to avoid Trois Rivière and Québec city - two large cities especially Québec as it is celebrating its 400 anniversary all summer and will likely be busy. I made this decision to go south even though "La route verte" (a recommended bike route) is the northern route. Well, my decision was the wrong one. The southern road is a pretty one, but I couldn't look at the scenery too much as I was concentrating on the road because the pavement was really bad and there was no shoulder. In sum, it was much like Ontario except that there was less traffic. Well, there was no use prolonging a bad decision. So I crossed the bridge at Trois Rivière and have since been riding on the recommended route and will do so from here on in, because the road is fabulous. For the most part there are wide shoulders and the scenery is very pretty.

The road is called "Le chemin du roi" which translates to "The King's Road". Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it holds this name, because it is the road that Charles de Gaulles was transported on while traveling from Québec to Montréal where he made his "Vive le Québec Libre" speech in I think 1968. I may be completely wrong on this, but regardless it is a very nice road and would recommend it to anyone traveling in this area by bike or otherwise.

I stopped at a rest stop about 20km prior to my final stop. While there two groups of bikers (motorcycle) asked me about my trip and they were absolutely astonished with it. The only reason why I bring this up is because it made me think about the different reactions I've been getting along the way. In BC, you could tell the people were sizing me up and making a determination of whether I would make it or not. In the Prairies, most of the people looked at me like I was the dumbest guy that walked this earth. Northern Ontario is a bit like a funnel in that all the bikers take the same route. So the people are a bit bored about the whole cross-country biking thing. And in Québec, eyebrows raise up in shock that one has made it this far. Anyways, it's sort of entertaining to see the different perceptions that people have. Sorry, I'm on a bike 8 hours a day, small things entertain me now:)

July 31: Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade to Levis(96.49km)
While I was in Ottawa, I bought a new rain coat and today I got to test drive it and boy am I happy I got it. It kept the rain out (which my old jacket could only do for the weakest of sprinkles) and kept my perspiration to a minimum. So even though I had steady rain for about 3 hours, I was actually pretty comfortable.

Once the rain slowed down, I was approaching Quebec city along some side roads that were getting more undulating. At one point I came upon what I think is the steepest road I ever saw. Why someone decided to pave a cliff is beyond me, but that sucker was steep. I'm loath to admit it, but about half way I decided to spare my knees and to walk it up - something that I hadn't done since day 2 of my trip when I wasn't in the shape that I should have been. Anyways, as I was climbing up the hill, I could hear a leak from my front tire. Upon reaching the top, I went about changing my tube and discovered that a big chunk of glass was lodged in my tire. It took me a while to pry it out and I patched the inside of my tire because of the small hole that it left (thankfully the rain had stopped by this point). I don't know if you're supposed to patch a tire (usually we patch a tube), but I figured I'd give it a try anyways.

Initially I was hoping to go beyond Levis, because I figured the festivities in Quebec City (across the river) would make finding an accommodation challenging. But with the delays that I encountered, I could make it no further. Thankfully, I did find a motel (Terry, as this is your former hood, I'm on Boulevard de la Rive Sud). If worst came to worst, I could have camped, but with today's inclement weather, I wanted a hot bath and dry sleeping conditions.

Just a few pictures of some rivers I drove by.

Short break

Sorry for the tardy posting, but I have been finding it next to impossible to get an internet connection. I even tried a number of places when I was in Ottawa with no success.

July 21: Sudbury to Rutherglen (156.48km)
Today, I was defiant. In the morning, everything seemed to be working against me again. It was raining, I had a head wind, I hadn't slept a lot (my fault, I went to bed late), etc. But I had a big breakfast and my attitude was to hell with it, I'm going to make some serious mileage today.

I wanted to get past North Bay because I figured there would be a lot of traffic until then and I wanted to get that over with. All in all, it went pretty well. Going through North Bay was touchy as there was a lot of traffic and the signs indicated that bicycles shouldn't be on the highway. I ignored that suggestion:), because I didn't know how else to navigate the city. I suppose I could have asked someone, but that would have been in violation of the male credo.

I figured I'd find a motel just past the city – I decided that I would take a motel until Ottawa in order to maximize my daily mileage. This was the first time in my trip that I found it difficult to find accommodation. I had been told at the tourism office in Sturgeon Falls that there were motels in the first three towns after North Bay. The first town had one, but 12km off the road, the second was full and the third one only had a campground. By this time, I was getting hungry and tired. So I went for the campground which was 2km off the highway on a dirt road.

Point of note: From Sturgeon Falls onward is the first bit of road that I have been on before since the beginning of my trip. Everything up to that point was new territory for me. Why Sturgeon Falls you may ask, well Stats Can has an office there and I had to go there for work a few years back.

July 22: Rutherglen to Deep River (138.32km)
The past few days, I've been riding for the destination. The only concrete thought I had was that the earlier I arrived in Ottawa, the more time off I could take. As a result, I wasn't looking at the scenery much. Mind you up until North Bay, there isn't much to see except for some views of Lake Nipissing which are quite nice. This focus on arriving was making me impatient with the wind, the road (the pavement in some stretches are embarrassingly bad) and the traffic (mind you since Mattawa I have been blessed with lighter traffic). As a result of this impatience, curses could be heard under my breath a number of times when the wind picked up or when I saw a particularly steep hill ahead. I even yelled out an expletive at one point since my silent reproaches weren't having the desired effect.

I then realized that my focus was all off. I was sacrificing the present for the future. Everything was about making good time and not on the sights that surrounded me. I'd like to say that I became all Zen about the obstacles after this realization, but that would be a lie. It did however bring my frustration level down a few notches and I did pay more attention to the scenery and it actually is quite pretty in parts. Deux Rivieres is a nice stretch of highway in particular.

I had a vague hope of making it to Pembroke today in order to be able to reach Ottawa tomorrow, but I quickly saw that the conditions weren't going to allow for this. I therefore settled on Deep River. As the traffic will pick up shortly going into Ottawa, I'm going to go on some side roads. I think I may in fact cross the river into Quebec and go into Ottawa from there. I've been told it was quite pretty and that it has little traffic which would be nice. Reaching Ottawa tomorrow is very unlikely.

July 23: Deep River to Eardley (168.36km)
As I mentioned yesterday, I had chosen to cross the river into Quebec in order to get to Ottawa on a road that had lighter traffic. The traffic was a bit lighter and there were a lot less trucks which was good, but the road conditions in parts was deplorable (I know, there is just no satisfying me:).

I also remembered that morning that I had a friend (Sarah) who lived along the road that I was going to ride on. I figured it would be great to see her and her 2 month old that I hadn't seen yet. However, I didn't know how far it was. As it turned out, it was far – notably the longest day of my journey so far.

The conditions were ok most of the day except for a downpour that lasted about ten minutes and got me completely drenched. After a very long day of riding, I arrived at Sarah and her partner Christopher's at 7PM and I was spent. It was great to just sit down and chat with them. Thanks again Sarah and Christopher for taking me in:)

July 24: Eardley to Ottawa (29.50km)
Today was even shorter than I anticipated. I knew I had covered some good distance yesterday, but I figured I still had 40 to 50km ahead of me. In any case, I slept in to catch up on rest and in order to miss the morning rush hour. I took my time so much, that I only got on the road around 10:30. After a relatively easy ride, I was back in my house.

It's weird being in my home. Some of the things that I didn't even notice before look strange now. There are no major shocks, but when I walked into my kitchen, for instance, I was struck by how blue it was. Like I say, this is nothing extraordinary, but I was just surprised how I didn't recognize the house. A big thank you to Brian actually who has been taking care of my house while I've been gone.

As I'm writing this, a thunder storm is falling outside and the rain is coming down in sheets. And I am thanking my lucky stars that I am not riding at this instant:)

July 25 and 26: Ottawa to Ottawa (0.76km)
These past couple of days have been incredibly busy, but fun. I met up with a number of friends. It was good to talk to people I knew and about subjects other than my trip. It's easy on such a trip to become self-involved, because all that I talk about is me and my trip. It was fun to hear about other things happening in the world.

I was also very busy doing paper work type stuff around the house and fixing my bike – nothing major, but I had to change a few components as they get pretty worn after approximately 5000km.

Well, enough lazing about, I'm getting back on the road tomorrow morning as long as the weather isn't overly foul.

July 27: Ottawa to Papineauville (73.47km)
This was a short day for a number of reasons. First, my day started with a flat tire. I had gone to the bike shop to top up my tires and I think I asked them to put too much air in because my rear tire was flat yesterday and my front one was flat this morning. Anyways, it was sort of a blessing in disguise because I then discovered that my pump was broken. Better to find this out in Ottawa where I could buy a new one then in the middle of nowhere. Second, my friends Ginette and Denis had kindly invited me to breakfast. Since the company and the food were so good, I lounged around for a while and only got on the road around 11:00.

The conditions initially were good, but slow moving. I got out of Ottawa-Gatineau region via bike paths and while very useful, one cannot go very fast. Once I was on a major road, I could pick up the pace and the conditions were excellent. The shoulders and the pavement were the best since Saskatchewan and I could relax even though there were quite a few cars on the road.

I stopped for lunch in Thurso and while I was there the skies darkened and there was torrential rain. Thankfully, I was inside and when I left, the rain was stopping. Thinking I wouldn't get too far because of the threatening skies, I stopped in Papineauville.

It was difficult leaving Ottawa this morning. In the final few days prior to my arrival, the prime motivation was arriving, but I've lost this motivation. I have another stop over point (Moncton), but it seems so far away that it's not spurring me on at the moment (this will change as I get closer I guess). In any case, I'm off and curious to see what experiences await me.

July 28: Papineauville to Rosemere (about 120km - I don't have my bike computer with me)
I was unsure how to choose my route today. The thing is, Velo Quebec (a volunteer organization) has identified "La route verte" which is a network of roads that they consider to be bike friendly. In my short time in Quebec so far, I followed some of their recommendations and they were spot on. However, the next stage of my trip would take me across Montreal if I followed their suggestion and I wanted to avoid Montreal as much as possible. So I opted for a compromise. I would try the road that I wanted to take (the 148/158) and if I saw that the road wasn't great, I'd take a side road down to a road they recommended (the 344), but not go into Montreal. As it turned out, neither road was particularly good, but it got me this far, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Finding accommodations in Quebec will be challenging I suspect. So far I've been traveling mostly on the Trans Canada or other busy roads. This had its disadvantages in that there was a lot of traffic and stress, but there were always motels or campgrounds. In Quebec, I now have more road options and I will be going on minor roads to be able to enjoy the ride. However, these roads take me through small towns that don't have a lot of tourism and, as a result, don't supply accommodations. Today, for instance, I didn't see any place to stay between Montebello (a tourist trap) and Rosemere (about 100km apart) and I only found this place by chance.

Other than that, things are going well. Check out my photos of the past week.

Bikers everywhere

July 19: Thessalon to Massey (126.98km)
The ride today was mostly uneventful, which means it was good:)

I found the provincial campground in Massey around 4PM and found out there was another group of cyclists staying there. I went over to introduce myself and they were a group of around 10 bikers from Victoria, BC all between the ages of 50 and 60 I'd say. Ironically, they left Victoria a day before I left Vancouver and this is the first time that our paths crossed – mind you, for much of the prairie provinces, we took different routes.

A really friendly group of people that gave me good suggestions on the roads to take leading up to Ottawa.

By the way, if you ever find yourself in Massey with a burning desire to sleep on the ground, I recommend the campground. Very pretty and dead quiet. I slept like a baby.

July 20: Massey to Sudbury (108.41km)
All the circumstances were working against me today. I was riding into a head wind all day, there were a few hills that weren't big, but annoying. The worst part however was the traffic. I wanted to get past Sudbury over the weekend in order to miss the traffic. Well apparently it didn't work, because I got the most traffic I've seen since Winnipeg. I was talking to a policeman when I stopped for lunch (no I wasn't speeding:) and he was telling me that there was a lot of cars, because there was a drag race in Elliot Lake which was drawing a lot of people – why a drag race in Elliot Lake would attract people is a mystery that someone will have to explain to me. Moreover, all these drag racing fans were jacked up on octane and driving way to fast on the road. Since the province is exceptionally stingy with the shoulders in these parts, cars were wizzing past me all day. Another irksome circumstance was my butt. Don't worry, I won't get to graphic, but this is one of the first times on my trip that sitting on my saddle was a chore. Maybe it's because I haven't taken a day off since Thunder Bay, but zowie, it was tender. I may be wearing two pairs of bike shorts until Ottawa.

The day wasn't all negative however. I stopped at a Tim's at around 10 and met up with a cyclist from Australia who is biking in the other direction. A super nice guy that gave me a lot of tips and we ended up talking for about an hour.

When I left the Tim's I started talking with this guy coming in. He was asking the regular stuff about where I've been and how far I go every day. Anyways, we spoke for a few minutes and then we both went on our way. Four hours later as I was getting closer to Sudbury this car pulls up ahead of me and out comes the man from Tim's with a bottle of Powerade for me. He figured I would need it at this point in a long days ride. A very nice gesture.

According to my calculation, I'm about 500km from Ottawa. If all goes well and the conditions aren't too bad, I hope to be sleeping in my bed Thursday or Friday evening (knock on wood). I'll stay two or three nights and then I'll be off to the sunny eastern provinces. Hope to see a lot of you Ottawans while I'm there.

Only one photo this time of the biker I met at Tim's.

I think I've finally lost my baby fat

Holy Toledo, I'm burning some serious calories these days. I'm eating like a pig and I just can't keep up. I'll be curious to weigh myself when I get a chance. I'm guessing I lost 5 to 10 pounds, and for those who don't know me, I didn't have 5 to 10 pounds to lose. I'll probably vanish into thin air pretty soon.

July 14: Terrace Bay to White Lake (139.13km)
I wanted to sleep in as much as possible today, but again I slept poorly. It's as if yesterday I hadn't biked enough and I was restless. Oh well. I got a huge breakfast and was off. I had been forewarned that the stretch to Marathon would be quite hilly and as such I suspected my day would be a relatively short 75km. It didn't disappoint. The roads were constantly up and down, but it made for some of the best scenery since Kenora.

Thankfully, the wind was in my back and I arrived in Marathon at around 1PM. Thinking there wasn't anything for another 100km, I started looking for a place to stay. Again motel owners seem to be suspicious of cyclists, because one of them gave me really good info about a motel about 50km away. She said the roads were flat until then and that it should only take me a couple of hours. Since it was still early in the day, I decided to go for it. Well never trust a non-biker to give an assessment on terrain. The road was “flatter”, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was flat.

I'm staying in the middle of nowhere with a nice lake in front of the motel. I hope to make an early start tomorrow and see if I can make it to Wawa.

July 15: White Lake to just north of Wawa (112.72km)
The wind Gods may have been in my favour yesterday, but they apparently didn't appreciate my smug attitude, because they turned on me with a vengeance today. The first 40km weren't too bad because I was going in an eastern direction, but then the road veered south which was where the wind was coming from and it was just pounding me. At 80km into the ride I had the option to stay in a motel or continue on to Wawa. Even though I was tired, I thought I could make the remaining 50km into Wawa and arrive at a reasonable hour. As the afternoon progressed, however, the wind got stronger and got head winds even when climbing hills (usually the hill blocks the wind). When I saw the first motel 15km outside of Wawa, I thought it was time to pack it in.

The motel is a dump, but it was cheap. The owner is a bit off-putting in that he is too keen to please. He's, I'm guessing, in his late sixties and insisted on giving me a hamburger and wanted to give me popcorn and insisted that I could use his kitchen if I wanted too or to bother him if ever I needed something. It gave a Bates'ian (Psycho) feel to the whole transaction. But, I think he's simply a lonely nice guy who wants to have company.

I have a bit of trepidation about the next two days ride between Wawa and Sault Ste Marie, because every time I ask people about that stretch of road, a knowing smile comes to their face and their eyebrows raise and they say how much I'm going to hurt. Apparently it has very steep rolling hills. In order to allay my fears, everyone assures me that the scenery is quite beautiful. We'll see. Apparently, the terrain flattens out after that however.

July 16: Wawa to Agawa Bay campground (110.55km)
I got a late start today, sort of. Since I had very little food left, I had decided to bike into Wawa for breakfast. So when I woke up at 7:00, I prepared to leave. I then looked outside and saw that fog had settled in the area. I could however see the sun through the fog and assumed this was a good sign in that the sun would burn off the fog in no time. So I set off for Wawa.

Well, my assumption was wrong and the fog got thicker. I could barely see anything through my glasses because the mist left little drops on them. I could tell that the cars had difficulty seeing me even though I had a light flashing on my bag. Luckily there wasn't much traffic and I pulled over anytime I thought it might be too close (e.g. if I didn't have much of a shoulder and a truck was coming).

I finally did make it to Wawa and decided I wasn't budging until the fog lifted. So I had my breakfast and did some groceries and finally the sky cleared. By this point I was debating whether to take the day off or not. It was already a bit late (10:30) and I hadn't slept well the night before (the Bates Motel had many mosquitoes and some strange noises – no regrets leaving that place). Finally, I decided that it was too nice a day to sit on my butt in Wawa.

The ride was better than I had hoped. As I said yesterday, I had been warned about the hills and even though there were some significant ones, it wasn't too bad. I don't want to speak too soon as I'm told I'm not out of the woods until the Sault. I was a bit disappointed with the scenery most of the way. It was nice, but it had been oversold as being some of the best in Canada. Well, most of it is just ok. The last bit before the campground that I'm staying at is really nice though. There a few spots where you have a great view of Lake Superior and some land on the other side of the bay – nicely done God/random geological formations (depending on your inclination).

The accommodations are few and far between in these parts and I'm staying at a nice campground, but my site is right next to the Trans Canada. We'll see how well I'll sleep tonight.

July 17: Agawa Bay campground to Heyden (121.75km)
Today I was riding in the hills that I had been expecting for the past few days. They were numerous, some were quite steep, but they were relatively short (usually about a kilometer or two). The scenery was nice and the air was very muggy which made for a sweaty day.

I was hoping to reach Sault Ste Marie today, but as I was getting closer to the city at around 5:00 the traffic was getting heavier. I was going against the traffic, but there were still a lot of cars passing me way too fast (Mike and Erin, your compatriots drive like Brian:) and way too close for my comfort especially considering that the shoulders were pretty meager. When I got to Heyden which is about 20km north of the Sault, I stopped for the evening.

Since tomorrow morning I will be going with the traffic when I'm going into the Sault, the owner of the motel gave me a few tips on how to get around. So sorry Mike and Erin. I will be skirting around your home town and miss the beauties that it has to offer.

July 18: Heyden to Thessalon (102.84km)
This was a relatively short day, because I deliberately left late. Even though I was planning to avoid much of the busy roads, I couldn't avoid them all together. So I slept in and left at around 9:30 (after rush hour).

The roads have flattened out considerably compared to yesterday and the going was pretty good. However, there were a lot of cars on the road and the province is stingy with the shoulders in some parts. It's not as bad as Manitoba, but some areas did give me flashbacks. I'm going to try and do as much mileage as I can over the weekend to avoid traffic. Hopefully, I'll be past Sudbury by Monday.

I decided to stop relatively early, because I had some groceries to do and I wanted to update my blog. Thessalon is a pretty town whose reason for being seems to be summer tourism. It's right on the lake and has picturesque scenery.

Check out my pictures.

The coldest winter I ever had was my summer in northern Ontario

Sorry, I'm stealing a line from Mark Twain, but I've never considered myself to be above plagiarism:)

July 11: Thunder Bay to Pass Lake (46.50km)
This was an unplanned short day, but I think I made the right decision.

The forecast today was not promising: rain, an easterly wind and cold (a high of 16 degrees). And they were right on all counts. I planned on leaving early to get as much distance done before it got too ugly. So I went to bed early last night, but alas, I only woke up at 7:00. Clearly, I needed the sleep.

I had a huge breakfast, packed my bike and I was off. Outside of the city, there is a monument to Terry Fox, because this is where he had to stop his Marathon of Hope. I stopped at the monument and the statue of the young man struggling to run and the text was quite poignant. I'm happy I stopped.

I continued on and the roads were quite good for the most part in that they had wide shoulders. So even though the terrain was hilly, I could relax my mind and enjoy the ride. I had been told that there was going to be quite a bit of construction along the road and that there were sections without shoulders or that the terrain was going to be very rough. As the construction zone began, I stopped at a truck stop to eat at the restaurant – I wanted to have a full stomach when going through the construction. By the time I left the restaurant, a blanket of fog settled upon the road. I started riding, but quickly realized that the fog would make the ride through the rough terrain ahead quite dangerous – my glasses were fogging up, my mirror was becoming more opaque and the drivers would have more difficulty seeing me. I decided to turn around and check the motel that I had just passed.

It has happened to me a couple of times on this trip that motel owners try to discourage my staying at their establishment. Maybe it's because I look rough around the edges or because they have had bad experiences with past bikers. In any case, the owner of the motel in Pass Lake was trying quite hard to undersell his motel. He was telling me how the motel 30km ahead had more services and how his TV is garbage (he's right on that point:). I decided to try and push on to the next motel and who knows, maybe even beyond if the conditions improved. If I saw that the conditions were unsafe, I could always turn around and since the wind would be at my back, it would be an easy ride.

Well, I biked about 1km and the mist turned into rain and a little voice at the back of my head was telling me that it wasn't a good idea to ride further today. Since that little voice is most often right, I turned around and got to the motel. The owner looked quite disappointed to see me again. He wasn't rude. He just looked like he couldn't be bothered to check me in.

So here I am, in the middle of nowhere with bad TV. I will take this opportunity to rest up some more and try to leave early tomorrow as the forecast seems to be more promising.

July 12: Pass Lake to Gravel River (112.68km)
The day began with thick fog and I had to wait for it to clear before riding off. As I was waiting to depart, I started thinking about my trip and I realized its true purpose. I knew it before, but I never fully articulated it to myself. Even though, I want this blog to be a true reflection of my travels, I won't go into detail about this because I don't intend this blog to become a confessional or for it to become too Oprah'esque. Anyways, suffice it to say that this realization gave me a renewed vigor. Instead of peddling for no good reason, I now understood its importance and why I must go on.

The fog finally cleared (literally and metaphorically:) and I was off. The first bit had construction and the roads were quite rough. But even in these circumstances, the riding was relaxing in that I rode in a construction lane in which there was no traffic. So I could set my mind on cruise control.

My destination for the day was unclear as I didn't know which towns had accommodations. I stopped in Nipigon's information desk and they gave me tips. I was planning to get to Rossport, but the winds were against me. I decided to pack it in at Gravel River. I'd be shocked if this place appears on any map because it is literally a motel and a gas station. Without exaggeration, the population of this metropolis is 2 (husband and wife).

July 13: Gravel River to Terrace Bay (60.06km)
Today's progress was regrettable as I had a significant wind in my back that was helping me out.

The day began rainy even though the forecast was for sun and clouds. I decided to wait a bit to see if it would clear. By 9:00 I thought it about the best time to leave even though it was still rainy. I got to Schreiber at 12:00 which is only about 40km progress (I am now in the heart of the northern Ontario hills and they can be long and steep). I stopped for lunch and considered my destination options for the evening. I asked the waitress and she said there was basically nothing between Terrace Bay and Marathon (an additional 75km).

Since I was wet, I got a chill over lunch. This accompanied with my slow progress in the hills and the fact that I hadn't slept well the night before (many mosquitoes and black flies in my motel - I actually slept wearing my bug net and bug spray) made me realize that I didn't have the legs for Marathon today and would have to make an early stop in Terrace Bay. It did at least give me a chance to catch up on my internet stuff. Great to hear from you all. Now I'm off to find fruit. I haven't had any in a couple of days and I was told it would be quite the challenge in this small town on a Sunday. Wish me luck!

Check out some of the scenery in northern Ontario.

Renousse, stress and cool people

July 6: Kenora to Dryden (138.29km)
Thankfully, today I had a tailwind for most of the day that helped me along, because the terrain was rolling hills which can really become tiring after a while because you can never get into a rhythm. Unfortunately, the wind seems to have brought inclement weather. The day became colder as it went along and it looked like it might rain at any time. Given this weather I got a motel in Dryden and checked the weather network and the next few days don't look good with a strong likelihood of rain on Tuesday. At that point I should be on my way to Thunder Bay and according to the map, it is the middle of nowhere with very little before the big city of the north.

Before starting on my trip, one of my big concerns was the loneliness aspect of doing such a journey. Traveling for so long with Tony averted this problem of course, but even since we have been separated, I'm amazed how loneliness is not really a problem. Being a biker, a lot of people are curious as too what I'm doing and approach me which helps a lot. And I think doing this blog is a great aid as well, because it allows me to keep some semblance of normality by keeping in contact with people. I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks for reading and for leaving some posts:)

July 7: Dryden to Ignace (105.94km)
As I was loading up my bike this morning at the motel, I talked to these three native guys who were also staying at the motel. They were asking about my trip and I found a bit about them. They live about 600km north of Dryden and even though I don't know too much about their story, it sounded pretty grim. They talked about the alcoholism on their reserve and one of them was a kind of youth outreach person. They were in Dryden to take a break from the issues in their reserve. Anyways, they impressed me so much because even though things sounded pretty bad for them, they were quite pleasant and they insisted on giving me money. Again, I don't know their story, but I'm pretty sure I'm materially better off than they are, but their generosity was remarkable. Of all the people I've met on this trip, I hope to remember those three the most.

The ride today was difficult. They were calling for cold and rain in the afternoon. Thankfully, the rain only started moments after I reached my destination. It was cold and I had a healthy headwind the whole day. I was pooped by the time I arrived in Ignace and just wanted to relax. Tomorrow promises to be challenging as well, because it is supposed to be cold and rainy once again. Moreover, I hope to make it too Upsala which from the sounds of it doesn't offer many services. So I will likely have to camp in the rain. The following day is supposed to be better however.

As you may have noticed from the tone of my postings, the last few weeks have been difficult for me. Getting sick, the road quality and the mid-trip blues are challenging my motivation. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to complete my trip, I simply want this journal to be a true reflection of my trip and this is what I'm experiencing at the moment. In fact, I fully anticipate that this segment of the trip will be the part which I will be the most proud of when all is said and done. I will have to make sure not to stay in Ottawa too long when I pass through so that the temptation to stay won't be too great:)

July 8: Ignace to Upsala (116.00km)
I noticed this morning that I was very tired - not physically, but rather psychologically. I then realized that the stress of the past couple of weeks were tiring me out. In Manitoba, I was constantly on my guard while I was on the Trans Canada and in Ontario, while there are shoulders, I'm stressed by the trucks that are passing me - especially when there is on-coming traffic as the trucks don't have a lot of room to maneuver. I'm constantly keeping an eye on my rear view mirror and when I see a situation that may be tight I move onto the gravel shoulder. I'll probably get a few flats from this and may even fall down a couple of times, but I figure it's better than the alternative.

In any case, this vigilance is tiring because I am constantly mindful about what is coming behind me and about the on-coming traffic. Realizing that I have been on edge, I decided to try to relax more while on the bike - all the while keeping vigilant when need be. Otherwise, I will essentially burn myself out.

The ride today was ok if wet, cold and windy (thankfully, the wind was generally in my favour). For those familiar with the New Brunswick roads, I've been essentially riding on the Renousse for the past two days and tomorrow promises to be the same.

Since it was cold and wet, I decided to stay at a motel in Upsala and I met a supremely cool guy. My neighbour is walking across Canada. Yeah, you read right. He started his journey in Vancouver in early April and he hopes to reach Newfoundland in November. Joseph heads a non-profit organization in southern Ontario that promotes non-violence and eliminating violence in our lives in all forms. Even though this walk isn't directly linked to the organization, it is a kind of demonstration of his philosophy. A super nice guy and quite inspirational. Makes my quixotic journey look pretty wimpy:)

July 9: Upsala to Thunder Bay (130.28km)
The ride was cold and rainy today again, but the wind was generally in my favour. As I was getting closer to Thunder Bay, the roads were getting hillier. This was a bit of foreshadowing I believe for the coming weeks as I'm told the roads are very hilly between Thunder Bay and Wawa (probably a good 10 days away). Contrary to the Rockies, these hills are short, steep and frequent, but I'm told that the landscape will be quite beautiful.

Once in Thunder Bay I checked into the Backpackers Hostel and met a number of cool people. Dan is from England and has walked a good chunk of the Appalachian trail and is now going west to do some more adventures. Jean-Raphael is from France and is hitchhiking across North America and Marie-Chantal is from Montreal moving to Kamloops. All very nice people that we went to a concert in a park together. When we saw that the concert was of polka music, we promptly turned around and went to a pub instead:)

July 10: Thunder Bay to Thunder Bay (0km)
I'm taking today off to do a bit of laundry and relax. I was told about a spa not far away that is apparently nice that I may check out to pamper myself.

Oops, I forgot to post my pictures. Here they are.

Ontario the Beautiful

A quick posting as I should take advantage of the wireless availability.

July 4: Winnipeg to West Hawk Lake (164.12km)
I left the hostel at 6AM in order to avoid as much of the morning rush hour as possible. It worked out pretty well. I did get some significant traffic, but by that time I was leaving the outskirts of town and going against the trend.

The ride was good today. I didn't ride on the trans Canada at all and the traffic was light. By lunch I reached Elma and stopped to eat. During the morning I was thinking at one point how I hadn't had a flat tire yet and how things were going well. Well, I jinxed it! Upon leaving after lunch, I noticed I had a flat. It was actually good that it happened at the restaurant as there was also a garage and they could inflate my replacement tube much faster than my hand pump would have.

I intended on making it to Rennie today, but by the time I got there it was only 3PM. During lunch I met up with Jim (Kansas) and Mike (Perth, Australia) who are cross country riders as well. They told me there was a campground 30km further. Since it was early in the day, I soldiered on and got to the campground at about 5PM.

I'm now in fly country. I knew this part of the trip would be marked with a lot of bugs, but I wasn't prepared for what I saw. While I was riding, there were swarms of I'm guessing about 50 flies (horseflies, wasps, dragonflies) circling around me. What it made me think of was the movie The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis. In the early parts of the movie, he's a taxi driver navigating through the streets. Well it sort of looked like that scene where flies were buzzing in all directions and sometimes even hitting into each other. Initially, I was concerned that I would be stung millions of times, but I noticed after a while that they didn't sting me. It seemed, they simply wanted to taunt me. Eventually, I began to ignore them. They remained a concern however because some would land on my glasses and block my view or fly in my ears.

July 5: West Hawk Lake to Kenora (67.80km)
I rode into Ontario today and was extremely glad to leave the Manitoba highways. So far, Ontario's roads are treating me much better. The scenery is getting a lot prettier and hillier as well. I was riding by lakes all day and they were all very picturesque.

For the next few days, the distances that I travel will in large part be governed by the accommodations available. Today was a short ride because the next available option was 90km away through hilly territory. I'm glad I stopped here as it's quite pretty and I was able to do some groceries and go for a swim.

As it happens, Jim and Mike from yesterday are at the same campground. A few more words about them. The two met a few years back on a bike trip crossing the US and they have been partnering up ever since. Needless to say they have a ton of touring experience and make me look like a complete rookie:) If you're interested, check out Jim's website at www.WanderingTheWorld.com

Check out the pictures of the pretty scenery.

July 1: Brandon to Portage la Prairie (126.35km)
The roads were in general better today except for 20km outside of Brandon and upon arriving in Portage (more on that later).

A big concern on today's journey however was finding services. Between Brandon and Portage, there are just a few restaurants and service stations. It being Canada Day, some of these businesses were closed. And since it was a very hot day, I was a bit concerned about having enough water. I carry about 3.5 liters of water/Gatorade with me, but in a hot day, this goes pretty fast. About 70km into my trip I only had 1 liter left and I was hoping that Austin - a small town up ahead - would have something. If they didn't, I would have to make that liter last until Portage. I could have done it, but it would have been pushing it. As luck would have it, Austin came through! It had a restaurant and a corner store. I ate and filled up my water bottles and was off.

That hour break saw a change in the weather however. The winds had now picked up considerably and it was hitting me at an angle - about the angle of 10 o'clock (actually more like 10:23). This slowed my progress considerably. All along the road up to and including these new conditions, I was planning on camping on the other side of Portage. Even the wind didn't waver my conviction to camp. It was a sunny day and even though they were calling for thunder storms, I thought that it would still be fine to camp. What broke my conviction was when I arrived at Portage. 10km outside of town, the shoulders disappeared. I can almost understand not having shoulders in the middle of nowhere where there is little traffic, but not having a shoulder so close to a mid size city is down right stupid. I rode on the road for about half a kilometer, but I saw that the traffic was way too heavy for this. So I rode on the gravel. This slowed my progress even more. What irked me the most was when I was riding on these shoulders and in a couple of places, the ground was bare of any gravel and there was pavement underneath. What!!! They covered up the pavement with loose stones. Are they sadistic? I could only come to one conclusion. They had done this to tick me off. And they were successful. I think most would back me up when I say that I rarely get mad. But when I saw that pavement, I was livid and I was cursing the Portage city council morons for the remainder of the ride.

At that point, I didn't want to deal with any more riding that day and decided to stop at the first accommodation and since camping was on the other side of town, I picked a motel.


July 2: Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg (114.47km)
What should have been a short easy ride into Winnipeg was circuitous and difficult.

I left Portage at 6AM because I wanted to avoid any traffic going out of the city because I didn't know what the state of the shoulders were going to be. At first they were pretty good and I was hopeful that the province deemed it wise to have good roads into Winnipeg. Well I obviously give to much credit to Manitoba legislators. Clearly the province is evil and wishes to torture cyclists. After about 30km the shoulders disappeared. I continued riding, but I quickly felt that I should get off the highway ASAP. This opportunity occurred in Elie where I stopped for breakfast. In talking to a local, he recommended that I go north to route 26 and he assured me there would be little to no traffic.

So I set off north for a 10km detour to get to the route 26. This was the first time that I felt the full force of the prairie wind which I was hitting almost directly. The 10km detour which should have taken me about 25 minutes probably took about an hour. It was painfully slow, but it was better than dealing with traffic. Once I reached route 26, it got much easier and, lo and behold, there were shoulders!!!

I met a German couple that were going the opposite direction and who are traveling from Quebec City to Vancouver. We exchanged advice about roads to take and they told me that the roads don't get much better for the remainder of Manitoba, but they reassured me that Ontario offers much better shoulders.

After having to take another detour to reach downtown Winnipeg, I checked into the hostel where I will stay for at least two nights so that I can get some stuff done (laundry, repairs to the bike, shopping, etc) and, if time and energy permits, I'll visit the city.

July 3: Winnipeg to Winnipeg (2km)
Today is errand and rest day. I brought my bike to a shop to get a tune up before I leave and I tried to visit the city. I say I tried because I went to a place called the Forks (where the Red River and the Assiniboine branch out), sat on a bench and promptly fell asleep. Clearly rest was in order. So I'm taking it easy today and doing as little as possible.

I'm meeting a number of cool people. I'm staying at the hostel and one of my roommates yesterday was from Guatemala and he has been traveling from his native land to Winnipeg in the hopes of finding work and immigrating here. For the past week he walked from the US border to Winnipeg. I think he slept 16 hours last night. Sort of puts my life and my journey into perspective. I'm putting myself through challenges for the fun of it and he's doing it for his very survival.

Saw a couple of bands as well. Winnipeg seems to have a thriving music scene.

Well I'm off tomorrow in the hopes of reaching northern Ontario the following day. Throughout northern Ontario, my postings may be sporadic as there may be long stretches without internet service.

Only a couple of pictures this time around. One that is a typical view on the road of the Manitoba landscape and the other that tries to convey the wind that I was going up against in my ride into Winnipeg. I thought of taking a picture of my rear view mirror as this is what I've been looking mostly at during these past few days:)

Happy Canada Day et bonne fete Emilie

June 27: Moose Jaw to Regina (81.24km)
When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining through the window. They had been forecasting rain, but I thought to myself "Baa, when have they been right so far?" I looked at the horizon and it's true that there were clouds, but they didn't look altogether threatening and there were some breaks in the clouds. So I got ready. I had to make a quick stop at the hospital to give them a couple of samples that they were going to test and the bike ride there was really cold. I went back to the motel to finish packing and put on more clothing.

As soon as I dropped off my key (literally), the first drops of rain fell. Hmmm, a bad omen perhaps, but enough with the lethargy, I was off. It didn't take long that it started raining steadily. Nothing too bad, but it was clear that the weather guru had gotten it right. Thankfully, there was a really strong wind and it was landing squarely on my back. If the wind would have been the other direction, I would have stayed in Moose Jaw another night. As it turns out, I got to Regina before noon and even though it was cold and I was wet, I wasn't yet cold because the act of biking had kept me warm. However, I knew that if I stopped, I would freeze. So stopping for lunch and continuing on was out of the question. So I took the first reasonably priced motel room that I could find.

After a hot bath and lunch, the rain really started to come down. I was glad to not be riding or camping.

Last note: my energy was good today. I didn't feel sluggish like I had the last few days of riding and my digestons seems to have settled down quite nicely. Hopefully it will hold up.

June 28: Regina to Grenfell (123.12km)
I woke today to much optimism. I looked outside and there was a flag outside my window that was flowing vigorously toward the East. Yes, I thought, this is going to be a fun day. Well the flag was a bit deceptive because the wind hit me from the North which was sometimes to my advantage and sometimes not.

I got to Grenfell around 4PM. While asking for directions to the campground I found out that there was a street party going on that evening to celebrate Canada Day. So I decided to check it out. I am not a drinker at the best of times and especially not of beer. Everyone tells me it is an acquired taste and I've clearly never put in the necessary effort to acquire it. That being said, after riding 123km in the beating sun, that beer was some good.

For a small town that proudly advertised that it had seven churches in town, I found it ironic that they decided to name the celebration “Mardi Gras” considering that it was neither Tuesday nor lent, but I guess that it is now synonymous to party. The party as it turned out was pretty tame and I still got to bed at a reasonable hour.

Last point: The campground was nearly empty but one of my neighbour who was straight out of the movie Deliverance was quite the character. He told me with great gusto that he was there for the weekend and that he wasn't budging until he had finished a big bottle of whiskey and another of vodka. After seeing him the following morning, I think he was well on his way of attaining his goal.

June 29: Grenfell to Elkhorn (142.47km)
The conditions were really good today. A beautiful sunny sky and a slight tailwind. I made pretty good time and decided to settle in Elkhorn for the night, because the next campsite was a good 30km away which would have made for a late night as I had crossed another time zone.

Yup, I've left Saskatchewan and I'm not sad to see it go. I'm sure there are several great things about the province, but I will only remember it as a very challenging place (not altogether its fault of course). Two positive things that I should mention about the province however. 1) The sky is quite beautiful here. It is very dramatic and makes for some pretty sunsets. 2) The eastern part of the province seemed to be more life affirming than the western part. The few towns I crossed through west of Moose Jaw were downright depressing. Ever since then however, the towns are prettier, the people nicer and the general atmosphere more optimistic. Now this may have partially been due to my state of mind in both parts as well:)

As I was biking into Elkhorn today I was chased by a dog. This happens now and again when riding, but usually the dog simply makes sure that you're out of their territory and gives up. This one, however, had it in for me. He was a hefty dog and he chased me for a good 50 meters. Luckily I had enough juice in my legs to out run it. It worried me however that I would have to pass by that same place to leave town especially considering that from this side, the dog would see me coming from farther away. I had decided that if I had to go by there again, I would have my bear spray at the ready. For those who don't know, bear spray is like pepper spray times 100. I've thankfully never had to use it, but apparently it is nasty stuff and could possibly kill the dog. I didn't want to kill the dog, but I do have a well developed sense of self preservation. As it turns out, there was a second exit to the town. So I won't have to see that dog ever again.

June 30: Elkhorn to Brandon (111.08km)
Today was overshadowed by tragedy. I doubt this made news where you live, but yesterday four cross-country cyclists were hit by a car and two died. Three of the cyclists were from St-Bruno, Quebec and the fourth was from Kelowna, BC. Moreover, they were hit on a part of the highway that I rode on today.

The highways up until now have been very good in that there are generally wide shoulders on which I can ride without any concern for traffic. This allows me to look at the scenery or get lost in my own thoughts. That changed not long after Virden where the shoulders disappear and cyclists are forced to ride on the highway. It is in that part of the highway that the collision occurred. Most drivers are quite courteous and move to the other lane to give you enough room, but some do not. Given the events of yesterday, I was quite paranoid and was looking at my rear view mirror all day. This makes for a stressful ride and after 100km I was mentally tired which was regrettable because the winds were favourable.

Along the ride, a CBC van stopped ahead of me. Once I caught up to it, a journalist came out and asked to interview me about the tragedy. I've done interviews for work before and I had to watch what I said. It was good talking just for myself and saying what I really thought. I went on at length about the dismal conditions of the roads in Manitoba (no exaggeration, they are by far the worst I've seen so far).

Tomorrow is Canada Day and I'm unsure what to do. Continuing with the Trans Canada is the most direct route to Winnipeg, but apparently the shoulders don't improve. I could go down to highway 2 which apparently has less traffic, but is only two lanes and more of a country road. I'm hesitant to go on country roads because they aren't perfect either (a car hit me on one two years ago). I'm hoping that traffic will be very light tomorrow as it is Canada Day. As such, I will continue with the Trans Canada. If I see that the traffic is heavy and that I feel unsafe, I will take the next road that goes down to the number 2. Wish me luck.

Only one picture. Pretty bad on my part. I think I only took 3 pictures in all of Saskatchewan. In hindsight, I should have taken pictures of the shoulders (they were so nice).

On the mend

June 24 to 26: Moose Jaw to Moose Jaw (29.84km)
This post will likely be my shortest yet as I haven't done much in the past few days. I've been in Moose Jaw for the past 4 days trying to recover from this bug. So I've been lazing about my motel room watching bad TV.

In order to diagnose my problem, I went to a walk-in clinic on Tuesday. The doctor is running a number of tests on me and she recommended that I take an over the counter medication to treat my diarrhea. That part seems to be working and I'm starting to get some energy back. As a result, tomorrow I think I will test my body a bit. Unless something changes from now until then, I will bike to Regina tomorrow. It's a fairly short ride of about 70km and it will give me an idea of how my body reacts. I will only go past Regina if I feel that my body is up to it, because there is a whole lot of nothing between Regina and Winnipeg and I'd rather be held up in Regina then be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

So if all goes well, my next post should be from Winnipeg.

This layover in Moose Jaw has thought me an important lesson ... TV is evil. Wow, there is a lot of garbage on the tube. And I have been convinced once and for all that I will not become an "Ultimate Fighter":)

Update:
The doctor contacted me just as I was posting the above text, because they had received the results from my blood test. Seems my white blood cells were low. She said that likely meant that I had something viral (I forgot to ask, but I assume as opposed to a parasite which she had first suspected). Anyways, she said I should be good to go and if any other results come in, she will leave a message on my cell phone which I will be checking on a regular basis.

Anyways, wish me luck.

Sick in Saskatchewan

June 22: Swift Current to Chaplin (90.24 km)
Well, I've come across the trip dulldrums. I knew it would happen at some point that the trip conditions would get me down. I was surprised in fact that it didn't occur in BC when it was cold and rainy. Rather it is occurring in Saskatchewan when the sun is shining.

Don't get me wrong, the trip is going well, but the challenges of the past few days have been trying on my morale. As mentioned in my previous posting, two days ago I was basically riding while sick. Yesterday was a day off and I thought all day that I would take today off as well. After I ate supper however, I felt better and decided to try riding today. Well it didn't go so well. I feel fine except that I'm nauseas toward many foods and the food that don't make me sick don't have enough calories to sustain me during a long bike ride. So, in sum, today I was riding with very little fuel in the gas tank and it was a struggle. By the time I got to Chaplin, I knew that continuing would be unwise. So I stopped. Tony wanted to continue as the day was still young and I encouraged him to go on since I suspect I will be dragging my feet for the next few days. We said our goodbyes and he left.

Twice during this trip, Tony and I have said our goodbyes (at Castlegar and Maple Creek), but today was the first time that it felt real and final. From this day forward, I would be riding alone and it got me down a bit. In addition to this, the realization that there is a long stretch ahead of me brought me to the dulldrum state that I mentioned earlier.

I want to reemphasize that it is not a big deal and that I fully expected something like this to happen and in a way I'm glad it did, because the whole purpose of this trip was to experience such challenges and if it would have been too easy, well I would have felt somewhat robbed.

Anyways, I'm spending the rest of the day resting and trying to refill the metaphorical gas tank.

Cheers

June 22: Chaplin to Moose Jaw (24.58km)
Today, I cheated.

I woke up today feeling as I have for the past few days. Not sick as such, but nauseas and not able to eat much and having diarrhea. I ate as much as I could, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough for a long bike ride. I had a two options: 1) stay in Chaplin for another day and try to wait it out or 2) try to make it to Moose Jaw which was about 80km away. Since Chaplin is very small and the little that it had to offer would not be open because it was a Sunday, my preference was to try to make it to Moose Jaw and get healthy there. I thought if the conditions were favourable, I should be able to make it.

So at 9AM I set off. The conditions were not favourable. There was a strong wind from the south – not exactly a head wind, but the angle that it hit me was not helping. In addition, the shoulder conditions were not kind to bikers. After about 15km, I was getting hungry, but could not stomach any of my food. I realized that I could probably make it to Moose Jaw, but that it would take a lot out of me and therefore delay my recovery. I was also a bit concerned about dehydration as I had had diarrhea upon waking. I could have returned to Chaplin, but it had nothing to offer that could help me. So I decided it was wisest to hitchhike.

I know, it violates the trip principles, but I still think it was the right decision and that I needed to get healthy as quickly as possible and that over-exertion was postponing my recovery. A nice farming family picked me up in their pickup truck and I could put the bike in the back. They were going to Moose Jaw to bring the kids to the fair and dropped me off at the visitors information.

I'm now in a motel off the trans Canada and feeling not too bad, but the true test will be how my body reacts to a meal. I will likely stay in Moose Jaw until I am confident that I have my strength and stamina back and that I can eat food freely.

June 23: Moose Jaw to Moose Jaw (0km)
Woke up this morning and still had diarrhea. I'm going to stay here today and maybe go to the clinic to see if they can diagnose what I have, but I suspect that it should pass soon, because aside from food aversions and diarrhea, I feel fine.

I only took one picture in the past few days. It was supposed to convey how there were hills in Saskatchewan, but in looking at the picture, I think it conveys more how flat it is:)

Merry Solstice

Sorry for the tardiness in my post, but the weather has turned in our favour and we have decided to bike as much as we can while the going is good. Today is my first day off since Nelson, but more on that later.

June 14: Cranbrook to Fernie (94.83km)
Today was the first time along this trip that I can say the roads were not good. So far I have really been impressed with the biking conditions in that the shoulders are wide and the drivers courteous. The ride to Fernie was twisty-turny in parts and the shoulders were really rough. In addition, it being a weekend, the traffic was quite heavy. So I basically had the choice of riding on the rough shoulder or go on the road and keep an eye on my rearview mirror. Since the roads were twisty, I figured there might be some “surprise traffic” that I didn't see in my mirror that could hit me. I therefore opted for the shoulder. After about an hour of this type of riding, my bones felt rattled, but I made it to Fernie safe and sound.

Fernie is a tourist destination especially for its skying and there was still quite a bit of snow in the mountains. In preparation for my travels, I read about Fernie I expected it to be a mini-Nelson and considered staying a day. Was I ever surprised when I went to the main street at 8PM and there wasn't a soul – and it was Saturday night no less. It felt like a ghost town and I fully expected a guy in black cowboy hat to turn the corner and challenge me to a gun fight. Suddenly at 9PM the movie ended (Kung Foo Panda) and 3 people came onto the street from the theater. Not exactly what I expected. Needless to say, I didn't think a second day in Fernie was required.

June 15: Fernie to Lundbreck (94.71km)
We crossed into Alberta today. I had visualized in the days leading up to today that I would stop at the border, turn around and yell at BC. Don't get me wrong. What I have seen of BC has impressed me greatly. It's stunningly beautiful and the people are generally very cool, but the province did cause me a lot of grief. What I had hoped would take 2 weeks took an additional 5 days and the conditions were very trying.

In the end, I didn't yell at the province. Parked at the border was a truck with a driver inside and I didn't feel like looking like a complete moron.

Today's ride was possibly the most beautiful so far. We were riding along lakes and the surrounding mountains were spectacular. I had this funny feeling however during the whole ride that I didn't want to stop. Even though several spots were picture worthy, I just wanted to get out of BC as quickly as possible. Tony, on the other hand, was relishing this last chance to see the mountains and stopped to take many pictures. As a result, I was way ahead of him and stopped to wait at a little town called Frank. While there I spoke to a few people and met Elna – a South African lady now living in Lethbridge. She told me to call her when we were in Lethbridge and we could go for lunch or she could offer a shower if we needed one.

June 16: Lundbreck to Lethbridge (128.51km - 10 of which was going in circles in Lethbridge)
We are now out of the Rockies and I am as surprised as I was in 1991 when I first saw the mountains at how fast they flatten out. We were riding parallel to the mountains for a little while and it was beautiful to see them from a distance. The contrast to the flat ground made them that much more dramatic.

The ride today was good and comparatively easy now that we were out of the Rockies. There were a few climbs, but they were essentially speed bumps in comparison to what we had done in the previous weeks. The only hard part of the ride was arriving in Lethbridge. As much as the highways in Alberta are very generous to cyclists, the cities are completely ill suited to our needs. Several roads don't allow biking and the signage that could show alternatives are lacking. We arrived in the city at around 4PM and it took us literally 90 minutes to figure out a way to cross a river. Everyone we asked had suggestions, but they led nowhere. I even called Elna who I met the day before, but only left a message.

By the time we got to the city campground it was about 6PM. Before paying for the site we walked around and we met another touring cyclist. He's going to Winnipeg to go to the Folk Festival. I forget his name, but he must have been around 60 and from the sounds of it he bikes everywhere. I don't know how he actually rode his bike because he had 4 pannier and a trailer. I have no idea what he was carrying, but it must have been between 80 to 100 pounds of gear. Anyways, while we were talking we noticed that there were catepillars everywhere. His small tent was covered in them and in the five minutes that we were there, I had 4 climb up on me. Tony and I decided to splurge and go to a motel.

June 17: Lethbridge to Medicine Hat (167.50km)
Today was a perfect riding day. The sun was shining and the wind was in our back. I got a late start at 10AM. Tony left before me and we agreed to have lunch in Taber – about 50km away. As it turns out, I'm glad I left after rush hour. The roads had no shoulder and I was anxious to get out of town ASAP. My average speed going to Taber was 32km/hr. That is smokin' fast for me, especially when fully loaded. Seeing how good the conditions were, I told Tony over lunch that we should try for Medicine Hat. He felt a bit sluggish and didn't know if he could make it. We agreed that we would meet up in Bow Island and make a decision whether to camp or go on to Medicine Hat.

I learned a lesson during that ride. I usually have a very healthy appetite and my appetite is even greater during this trip. But the heat is an appetite suppressant. So I didn't eat as much as I usually would have during my ride to Bow Island. As a result I felt sluggish upon my arrival. Tony on the other hand was keen to proceed to Medicine Hat. I thought I still had it in me. So we pushed on. Before leaving, however, I ate a ton of food and drank lots as well. After a while on the bike, my energy returned and I made it to Medicine Hat will a full tank of gas in my legs and feeling good.

This was my longest riding day ever. I had done 148km without panniers before, but this was well beyond that threshold. I hope to do a 200km day along the trip.

June 18: Medicine Hat to Maple Creek (94.41km)
Even though Tony finished the previous days ride full of energy, he was sluggish today. It didn't help that we got a late start because we desperately needed to do laundry. In the end, we were on the road by noon (I know, shameful).

Today we crossed into Saskatchewan. Now I had been promised flat ground and tail winds in Saskatchewan. Neither was the case today. After crossing the border, we had a hill to climb. What's up with that? I wasn't supposed to see another hill until Ontario. It should be said that the hill was very minor, but still when you expect to coast through a province, you are surprised. The wind was an even bigger challenge. it wasn't a super strong wind, but it consistently blew on us and that gets to you after a while.

Since the shoulders were so wide and I didn't have to worry about traffic and there wasn't too much scenery to look at, I brought out my ipod for the first time since my trip started. It was fantastic! I was belting out songs along the highway and at times pumping my arms in the air to the beat of the music – by the way, I must say that I have impeccable musical taste. I must have looked so foolish to the drivers that passed me, but so be it.

We finally reached the campground and met up with another cross-country cyclist. Mark is crazy (but in a good way). He's a 33 year old Vancouverite that wants to cross Canada in 6 weeks and he's riding a fully loaded racing bike. His wheels at the start of his trip only had 8 spokes each (mine have 38). He's making very good time and we won't see him again unless he has problems along the road, but he has had to do so many repairs on his bike so far that it would have been cheaper to buy a new touring bike.

Small anecdote: When driving to the Saskatchewan border we saw a sign for Maple Creek of 41km. We ride another 5km and cross the border and a new sign indicates that Maple Creek is 46km. Darcy, are distances measured differently in your province:)

June 19: Maple Creek to Swift Current (138.18km)
Today could only be politely described as a character building day.

I woke up at 2AM and had an upset stomach. It took me a while to fall asleep, but I finally did. I woke up late and still I felt quizzy. I had a small breakfast of oatmeal, because I couldn't stomach anything else. During this bike trip, my breakfasts are usually quite substantial so that I have enough energy for the day – oatmeal wasn't going to cut it. Ideally, I would have taken the day off, but I was in the middle of nowhere and there were no grocery stores or anything around. I figured I would bike as far as I could and settle there for the evening. Tony's plans were to go to Swift Current. I seriously doubted that I could make it that far. So we said our goodbyes.

The towns in Saskatchewan are far apart. As such, the first town of any consequence was over 50km away from where I started. That was a horrible 50km. I felt awful and I had very little energy. I was grunting the last 10km into Tomkins. I took an Advil, stopped in town for lunch and thought I would decide afterwards whether or not I would stay in town or push on.

Tomkins is an incredibly depressing town. For the movie buffs among you, imagine the Last Picture Show, but remove all the giddy optimism of the movie. The restaurant had not been remodeled since the 1940s and the music hadn't changed either. I did not want to stay in this town and after I ate lunch I felt better. So I decided to soldier on.

Another challenge about today was that I had noticed while packing up that I had lost a screw on my pannier rack. My rack is held up by 4 screws and I was down to three and since my rack has a lot of weight on it, I was constantly wondering if the whole thing would collapse on me 20km outside of nowhere. That was another motivating factor to get to Swift Current, because it being a fairly large city, I could get all the supplies I needed.

My shoulder was in a lot of pain all day, but I finally made it at around 6:30PM and gave Tony's cell a call. He was surprised that I had made it. He had already rented a motel room and I went over to join him.

My theory as too why I felt so bad today was the water. We stopped for lunch in Walsh Alberta yesterday and I drank a lot of water as I had been running low earlier. The water was heavily chlorinated and I think my body didn't react well to all the chemicals. I can't back this up of course, but it's my best guess and from now on, I'll be drinking bottled water throughout the Prairies and likely into Northern Ontario. I don't like the idea of using all those plastic bottles, but unfortunately, it's better than the alternative.

June 20: Swift Current to Swift Current
Today I'm doing as little as I can and letting my body heal. I will clean my bike, get a few supplies and visit the town. I may even go see a movie tonight!

Cheers. Sorry for the long post, but it's been too long since I posted my last entry. Oh yeah, here are my photos.