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:)