Day 39 – Pancake Bay to Sault Ste. Marie – Sunday July 29th, 2012 – 90 km

I was up early at 5.30 am due to our group cooking duties. We were cooking a breakfast that would suite our location, Pancakes, oatmeal, yoghurt and other things. In between serving and wrapping up tents, I had cereal, 2 pancakes and fruits for breakfast. I got ready and we were wrapping camp in good time. Since it was a very short day, some were staying back to enjoy the beach at camp and then start later. The tube that I was using since Siccamous, BC with a broken valve finally gave up when I was taking the pump off and I had to replace it with another tube. After a quick fix we were on road by 9 am. 

We (Ron, Keith, Michael, Byron, Trevor and I) did pace line and changed every 3 km. We were doing excellent time and took a break at 22 km and then at 42 km (Michael wasn’t feeling that great today. After the 2^nd break, we broke up as the hills got a bit tougher. The tough climb today was the mile high hill, which was a mile long and not high (at least it looked pale in comparison to the others we had done earlier in the week). We stopped at the top and waited for others to catch up. Byron lost a bolt on his back rack and we were hunting for things from side of road to tie it down. Luckily I had a spare screw that fit the size and it did the trick. It was Byron’s birthday today and seems like he got lucky. 

Once on top of the hill, we had some nice headwinds and we gradually had a tail wind as we got closer to the Sault Ste. Marie. We were in town at 1.30 pm and since it was a Sunday the downtown was like a ghost town. We stopped at a tavern and they had a wing special (20cents a wing). Since that was the only thing on menu, I had fries, onion rings and a Gingerale. After a decent stop we moved on to the last 15 km towards camp (which was all the way outside city on the highway) and reached there at 3 pm. 

I had a can of soda and then I set up my tent and had a shower. It’s the first time in a week that I had cell coverage so I caught up on messages and was ready for dinner. We had Shrimp Jambalaya (tofu for me) with bean salad and ice-cream cake for desert.

I checked weather and the forecast showed warnings of thundershower tomorrow, so I moved my tent to the top of a hill to avoid water from seeping in tent. I called my parents, uncle and a fellow colleague/friend and it felt real good to catch up on things. After packing laundry for tomorrow, I called it a night and was asleep by 10 pm.

Views on the Road

Rest stop at 42 km

The Soo

Day 38 – Rabbit Blanket to Pancake Bay – Saturday July 28th, 2012 – 121 km

Today we were supposed ot be on dinner duty so we intended to leave camp early and get an early start. Everything proceeded to plan and I got up and ready by 6.15 am and after an oatmeal, potato and banana breakfast. We (Ron, Michael, Keith, I and Justine) left camp and were on road by 7.34 am.

There weren’t many services on today’s route but there were interesting stops, Agawa pictograph rocks and a lookout point. We did 3 km pace line and after 1 full cycle we picked up Howard on road and he joined our pace line. We stopped at 35 km for a stop and I had a sandwich and we pressed on to stop again at the Agawa pictographs. We took the 1.5 km side trip to a park and then a rugged 500m hike to take a look at the drawings. The view of Lake Superior was spectacular and the water crystal clear. Since we were on a cliff and the sun was shining the water was transparent and it was a very great sight. After the nice visit we got back on road and stopped again at the look out and then it was a great view of the lake. The lake is so large fresh water body and so majestic that it couldn’t be named anything else, Lake Superior.

We were back on road again and people in group were running out of water. We stopped at a small burger shack and I ordered a large fries and a gingerale. Others followed the same route and we ended up diminishing the potato supply of the shop and he had to chop some more. After the stop we were on road back again and after a few rotations in the pace line and doing some more rolling hills we rolled in to camp around 3 pm. I was tired, although it was a short day, and I just relaxed and had a few cans of juice to recover.

 We were scheduled to cook tonight and we were cooking Tuna Casserole, Green salad and had canned fruit salad for dessert. The camp site tonight was 3 km from main road and we had no electrical plugins or close water supply so things were a bit scaled back and slower.

After a good dinner and wrapping up duties for night, I went for a dip in Lake Superior waters. It was very serene, crystal clear and majestic is the word that comes to mind. The dip was then followed up by a shower and preparing supplies for breakfast. I called it a night at 9.45 pm and simply collapsed as I went to bed.  

Another crisp morning with mist on the lake at Camp in Rabbit Blanket.

View of Lake Superior at the Agawa Rock. Crystal clear and all fresh water.

The pictographs, dating back to 500BC.

Day 37 – White Lake to Rabbit Blanket – Friday July 27th, 2012 – 165 km

Since today was going to be a century day (100 miles or 160 km) we decided to leave relatively early today. I was up around 5.30 am and started packing up and was ready for breakfast at 6.40 am. The temperature plunged last night to 10C and there was dew on almost everything and it made packing a little tricky.  I had oatmeal with yoghurt and GORP, bread and fruit. We (Ron, Michael, Keith, Justine and I) left camp around 7.30 and it was a 4 km ride to get to the main highway which we got at 7.45 am. 

After last night’s wonderful spaghetti dinner I was full of energy and was able to keep the steady pace of 27 kmph. The chilly morning continued and the air felt cold and everyone was in their arm warmers, leg warmers and extra layers of clothing. We formed a pace line and got through the first 40 km in to White River within 1.5 hours. We stopped at Robin’s donuts and I had a ½ L of chocolate milk, Black forest Danish and a banana nut donut. White River is also the town that is connected with “Winnie - the pooh” bear and we took some pictures at the information centre. After a cheesy picture session we carried on with our pace line and were on road again at 9.50 am. At around 60 km mark, we picked up Cor in our pace line and about 10 km later Howard joined us and we had a 7 person pace line changing every 3km. Although the greater number of people made it tricky to change positions, it also reduced the amount of work on each rider and we just ripped through the day making distance at a good pace. At 80 km mark, Ron dropped back to stay with Emilie and Alan as Alan wasn’t feeling well and they needed someone to break the wind for them. We continued from thereon and took a break at 94 km. I had a banana and 2 PBJ sandwiches at this time.

The next big stop for today was town of Wawa and we moved after our lunch break for another 40 km to bring us in town. The terrain today was mostly flat with some rolling hills, which with the proper paceline made it look like a piece of cake. We had a nice hill going in to Wawa, which I climbed gracefully compared to yesterday’s lousy effort. We stopped at the information centre in Wawa at a giant geese statue and took a few pictures. I used the wifi there to check my messages and facebook. It was still 2.30 pm so we went to Wawa and stopped at a Tim Hortons and I had a medium iced cappuccino.

We weren’t sure about the ‘rugged’ terrain of the Lake Superior provincial park and so we moved on from Tim Hortons and were back on road at 3 pm. After crossing in to the provincial park at 145 km there was a tough hill which went on for 5 km. After the big climb there was pretty sweet downhill which brought us to Old Woman’s bay on Lake Superior. This was one of the best beaches and by far the best sight on the tour after the Rockies. We all stopped at the beach, took a walk to the water and dipped our toes and just sat at the beach. After about ½ hour we left for the last 7 km, which happened to be all uphill, long and gradual. 

We got in to camp around 5 pm and I set up tent and got ready after a shower. Dinner tonight is veggie burgers, sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and cookies for dessert. Some of the riders just got in to camp (9 pm) due to multiple flats and are just about to heat up their dinners. The camp today is very peaceful although it is close to highway and there might be truck noises. As the days get tough once everyone gets to their tents, except for the really light sleepers, everyone is collapsed and doesn’t care about the noises.  

The crisp morning lake, it was 10C at this time in morning.

Pace lining

Winnie - named after Winnipeg, was a bear Cub taken from White River to England during War.

The Giant geese statue. If only the geese on Waterloo campus were such obedient.

Clicks on the go

Old Woman's bay, ON. Lake Superior waters.

What a view.

Day 36 – Terrace Bay to White Lake – Thursday July 26th, 2012 – 147 km

Today was Day 36 of our 72 day journey and technically half way point of our trip although we might not be quite there in terms of actual distance. As part of that there was an organized lunch at Km 54 near Ney’s provincial park which was to happen at 11.30 am, hence there was no rush to get out of camp early. I woke up at 6.15 am and wrapped up tent and had breakfast (French toast, oatmeal, yoghurt and banana). We left camp at 7.45 am and stopped in Terrace bay at a coffee shop and I got chocolate milk. 

We finally set out of the motel and left for our destination at 8.30 am. The terrain today was a continuation from yesterday, hilly with some steep short (1-5km) sections appearing from time to time. I tried to keep up with Ron, Keith, Michael, Justine and Emily but they were in a good rhythm and I wasn’t in an energy level to hang on to them. I rode alone for most of the way to the lunch stop and the scenery was same rocky, hilly Canadian Shield with some fantastic views of Lake Superior when on top of a hill. I got to the rest stop at 10.50 am and many went to the beach. There was a point of interest to do a hike up to petro glyphs on a rock near the lake, but the lady at front desk said it would be a 10 km hike so we gave up the idea. Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches, fruits and chips with ice-cream for dessert. I had 3 sandwiches and some chips but decided not to stay back for dessert as it would have taken a bit longer wait. 

I left alone and there were several tough climbs that were winding and went on forever. The map said that terrain would be relatively more flat past Marathon and I was definitely looking forward to it. Just past Marathon I got back together with Ron, Jack, Michael and Justine and found myself able to keep up with them. I rode with them in a nice pace line and it took some work off since there was a constant head wind all day today. After a few more climbs we were close to our destination and Keith had a flat. An OPP officer pulled over and we thought we were in trouble for doing something wrong, but he just came over and had a nice chat about our biking trip and about his trip as well. We got into camp at 4.45 pm and I set up tent and got a shower, completed my packing for tomorrow’s ride and I am now ready for dinner (spaghetti with veggie sauce, chick pea salad and cookies and ice-cream for dessert). 

Camping at the school in Terrace Bay

Group Riding

Up, Up and away

Yup it does, take a break.

Lake Superior

Camp Tonight

Tomorrow we have a 163 km day in northern Ontario so it is surely going to be a tough day.