Cana-Indian Guy Cross Canada - Tour Du Canada 2012: Day 35 – Nipigon to Terrace Bay – Wednesday July 25th, 2012

I intended to wake up early today morning so that I can get an early head start for today’s expected hills. But the sleepless night at the university got to me and I ended up waking at 6.30 am today. In a frantic fashion I packed up my belongings and was ready after breakfast (pancake, oatmeal, banana) at 7.20. Since Keith was on duty and one of their team member was short, we stayed back to give a hand.

We set out of camp and it was still cloudy and gloomy at 8.45 am and our first stop was just 1.5 Km away at a Tim Hortons where I had a medium white chocolate. We finally left in to town of Nipigon at 9.30 am and went in to this small railway town of Nipigon. We went by some cool art work made out of trees, a park which embodied the story of a native boy who wanted to paddle to the sea. After a few pictures and a visit to the post office we left Nipigon towards Terrace bay at 10 am. By this time it had started to rain, a few drops, and soon enough it started to come down at a regular rate. I rode alone today as it was hilly and everyone’s pace is different especially on hilly terrain. I was in my own element today and had a lot of fun today. There were 2 very steep hills until I made my first stop and the terrain overall was always rolling and gradually climbing. I made my first stop near Gravel River at a diner where I had chocolate milk and ate a banana and a cheese wrap (prepared last night).

Just after the stop there was another climb that went on and on, at least for 6 km, as if it would never end. This time it felt like we are real hilly rocky Canadian Shield with sudden rises and falls that would take us up to peaks and bring back to lake. The weather today wasn’t great so far with rain often blowing straight in to the face and making visibility a challenge. After a few more climbs we rolled in to Rossport for some late lunch around 1.50 pm. Since there wasn’t much to eat for vegetarians I had a coffee, my cheese wrap and ordered a desert. Desert was blueberry short cake with fresh wild blueberry sauce topped with whipping cream and some raw berries. It was very good, adequately moist and spongy enough to enjoy the sauce. It was nice and warm there and we left the restaurant at around 3.15.

We still had around 40 km of riding to Terrace Bay, but by this time the annoying in your face rain had stopped and it was starting to bloom with sun shining up regularly. I kept my rain jacket just to prevent getting cold on down hills, but sun was too hot and I felt like a cycling sauna and ended up taking it off just past town of Schreiber. We (Byron, Trevor, Rosie and I) took it easy from here on and I was enjoying the day to the fullest especially with an ocean like Lake Superior giving great vistas from time to time. We stopped at Aguasaubon falls for a brief stop and the view of the lake from the gorge was amazing.

We got in to camp around 5.30 pm and dinner was almost ready and it was one of the late arrivals I had. Nonetheless, I was feeling great of climbing the mountains, although slowly, and enduring the climbs. We are camped tonight in a public school back yard and I went to the community centre and had a nice sit down in the sauna and then a nice shower. Got back and had “more than macaroni and cheese” (with sautéed onions and mushrooms), vegetable salad and mixed fruit for dessert. After dinner we went for a walk to the nearby light house (fake one with no acting lantern) which aced more as a nice viewing spot for the Lake Superior. I went to a gas station and had a O’Henry ice cream bar. It is close to 9 pm right now and I am looking forward to bed.