Huronian Days

The morning of my departure from Manitoulin was colder and overcast.
I had seen a food truck serving waffles on the way to town the night before but was bummed out to see it was still closed.
As I sat around waiting for the ferry to Bruce Peninsula, someone informed me that it wouldn't open the next day.
Luckily, I soon discovered that the ferry itself served waffles. And at a fairly reasonable price! I sat around the cafeteria lounge, drinking coffee and watched as the quaint little harbour of South Baymouth rolled by as we entered Lake Huron.
The ride was short, but pleasant. The Owen Sound Transportation Company even hires live music for the hour and a half crossing. BC ferries take note, this is how you run a ferry.
I had a warmshowers host waiting in Tobermory, my first since Fernie, BC.
Caroline welcomed me in the driveway and directed me to drop my bags so I could appreciate an impromptu rest day in Tobermory.
I hit up the bakery, then the local brewpub, which actually had some decent beers, and then decided to bike over to Mermaid Cove to check out the lake.
Upon arriving at Mermaid Cove, the sub had come out and the turquiose waters of Huron invited me. I had no swim trunks, no towel, but I stripped down to my bike shorts and spent two hours swimming aound the bays and nearby islands.
All the swimming built up an appetite, so I swung by an all you can eat fish and chips place. God bless the server, she just kept it coming with a smile on her face as I put away 5 baskets of fish and chips. I was ready to tap out when she carted out basket #6, so she even packed it up to go.
Back at the warmshowers stay, I met Caroline's dad, and her cousin's children, Holden and Phoebe (get the reference?).
I was already stuffed but managed to find room for a small serving of lasagna and salad.
After dinner, I rotated the tires again, as the back one was already wearing out. Holden and Phoebe assisted.
Caroline, who works for Parks Canada, got called out to rescue three hikers, so I hung out with the kids for the rest of the night, reading on the deck, and taking another short dip in Huron. Yeah, the warmshowers stay had frontage onto Lake Huron. Pretty sweet.
Unfortunately, it was another rainy night, but Caroline's dad made the morning right by making coffee and breakfast. All in all, a great stay in Tobermory.
Eventually, it was back on the road to Owen Sound, 110 km away at the base of  Bruce Peninsula. The highway shoulder started out alright, but quickly conformed to typical Ontario standards, not helped by the constant stream of vacation traffic from Toronto. Still, I managed not to get run over and made it to Owen Sound with enough time to get a campsite, and hit up the two breweries. Owen Sound (and the area around Huron in general) is a gorgeous place. All the buildings and houses are nice brick or stone constructions with white wash trim and ivy vines climbing the walls.
Side note: I'm spending too much lately. I am going to try limiting myself to one brewery a day.
While registering for camping I met a lovely woman. I believe her name was Norma, but I am really embarassed to stay that I forgot to write it down. Especially since she graciously invited me to come eat around the campfire with her family and friends. After a wonderful evening, with lots of food, it was getting dark so I brushed my teeth, set up camp and went to sleep among the sounds of partying campers.
The next morning I woke up to rain. Again. Come on Ontario, I'm trying to like you. I used the bathroom and struggled between my budget side that wanted to cook oatmeal on my stove and the lazy side that wanted Tim Hortons. The rain didn't stop until 8 am, so Team Tims won out and I packed up my wet tent again and hit off in search of a sausage biscuit combo.
As I didn't have to get into London for a few days, I planned to do a short day to Hanover, only 60 km.
It was a nice and cool day following the rain, perfect for cycling up some hills. I continued out of Owen Sound through a progression of quaint little towns, each of which seemed to be blessed with a bakery. Warming up to Southern Ontario.
A ways along the highway, I suddenly noticed that I had gained 6 inches of highway shoulder and traffic had slowed to a dribble. After some thought, I realized that I had passed the intersection splitting off to Toronto.
I further reduced my traffic companionship by taking a chance on a country road towarda Hanover. Another good route gamble, as traffic was light and scenery was wonderful. Only complaint was the amouny of hills.
I had reserved a campsite in Hanover, but enroute, I was messaged by a Warmshowers host who had just seen my message and offered me a place to pitch my tent a little ways to the south. I decided that it would be worth the cancellation fee at Saugeen Riverside Campground to do warmshowers for the night. Upon biking 5 km in a drizzle to cancel my reservation (too honest for my own good), the lovely campground manager waived it entirely and wished me a nice day.
After cycling back into Hanover, I checked out Maclean Ales for some pints and then headed south to Brian and Sharilyn's lovely farm property (at the top of a hill, as per warmshowers guidelines). What a lovely night too. Brian is keen on homebrewing so we talked about his set up, beer and shared perspectives on the Yukon, food, and the habits of "cityiots" (city + idiots). I even got a night in without any rain on the tent for a change. Only sour note was when I discovered a broken spoke on my rear wheel. Oh well, London is only 170 km distant and I can definitely get it fixed there. Some duct tape splinting and it was good enough.

My ride to Tobermory. 

Did I mention that I really like Huron?

De-chan's long lost brother! First time I've seen another Tosca in the wild.

The view from my warmshowers stay near Hanover. Life sure is tough sometimes.

Motoring over to Manitoulin

Overnight in Spanish had some thunderstorms and there was rain in the forecast for most of the next day. I've tried not to obsess over weather too much so when I heard rain falling on the tent, I just rolled over and hoped for the best.
Morning yielded a light drizzle, but it looked like it was trying to clear up so I was hopeful. Guy texted me saying he was about 20 km ahead and going to Tim Hortons in Espanola, ~50 km away. By the time I got packed up, it had stopped raining so I hit the road hoping to catch Guy before he left Espanola.
Doing a strong pace to Massey, I turned off the Trans Canada and took a great side road that ended up being smooth, scenic and safe.
I kept a hard pace up, aided by the clouds that kept the sun off and the sweat down.
However, I was soon betrayed when a light drizzle began.
Before long, the light drizzle became a torrential downpour, reducing visibility to 100 feet. Since it was so humid and I was working pretty hard, I would be swimming in sweat with the rain jacket on, so I opted to forgo protection and just get soaked. And soaked I was.
I caught Guy just as he was looking at the rain, thinking about leaving Espanola. The massive downpour was hot on my heels and soon we were both back inside, waiting it out. After a coffee and breakfast sandwich, a glance at weather radar showed a possible window of escape between two clouds.
When the rain lessened, Guy and I scrambled outside to make the best of it and parted ways. He was pushing on towards Sudbury, while I was heading south to Manitoulin Island for an adventure. I sprinted to the intersection and left behind the Trans Canada (maybe for good?).
The break in the clouds lasted all of 3 minutes and soon I was once again 100% saturated. I had just finished drying out from my soakings in Sault Ste Marie too.
The remaining 50 km to Little Current on Manitoulin proved to be trying and intense. I peddaled through another 3 storms, and had constant rain the entire way. I also had to wrestle my way up a few decent hills and into a headwind the entire way, with passing motorists spraying me with gouts of water and sand.
Despite all this, I killed the 120 km to Manitoulin by 2 pm, an amazing pace. I took out some more cash and recovered at the local brewery. Pretty average beer but I was definitely not picky at that point.
I had a Warmshowers stay planned 10 km away, up two more hills so I limped over and set up for the night on a neat permaculture communal farm.
Nice, relaxed place and people, with a well stocked kitchen at my disposal. I found the ingredients for a basic loaf of sandwich bread and scratched my baking itch. Capped the night off with a sauna sweat sesh and shower and then hit the tent for some writing and a warm, dry sleep. Crazy day!
The next morning I took my time with breakfast and coffee before packing up.
After biking into a steady east headwind most of the way from Calgary I finally turned west to Gore Bay... into a hard west headwind.
Adding in my exhaustion from the hard day before and the hills enroute, I had a really hard time motivating myself. I also made the mistake of checking out camping in Ontario and Quebec and discovered that the lowest price for an unserviced tent site in the next few weeks will be around 29$.
Sigh.
Sometimes I wonder why I keep turning my pedals.
Eventually made it to Gore Bay and did my best to recuperate at the Brewery with some pizza, beer and trail mix.
Doing some research, I notice that the ferry to the mainland arrives in Tobermory either 10:30 am or 3:30 pm.
Wanting to catch the early ferry, I decide to push a long afternoon a further 80 km to the landing at South Baymouth, where the campground also happens to be one of the cheapest on the island.
I arrive at 6:30 pm, after a detour that takes me up a steep gravel road.
A load of laundry, and a pot of instant rice later, a younger couple (Matthew and Rochelle) bring me a beer and we talk about adventures; they recently hiked on the Appalachian Trail until the exchange rate forced them back into Canada.
Overall, Manitoulin wasn't as amazing as the hype led me to believe. The beer at either brewer was alright, but nothing exceptional. The coffee was expensive and mediocre. The highway was lumpy and narrow, and despite hearing about how laid back the island life is, there was a lot of impatient and speeding traffic. There was some nice scenery though.
Final say on Manitoulin: a bit overhyped.
Onwards to Bruce Peninsula on my way to L O N D O N.

Flexing the bread muscles

The sunset over Lake Huron was pretty sweet

Time for a new whip?

Northern Ontario Review

I know Northern Ontario isn't a province, but not only is it big enough to be one, it is totally separate in just about every way from Southern Ontario, so it warrants its own review. I know it doesn't conform to the actual definition, but I will delinate Northern Ontario from the Manitoba/Minnesota borders to Sault Ste Marie in the south. Past Sault, it changes character entirely in almost every way and so I will include the shore of Lake Huron in Southern Ontario.

Now then, what to say about this hellhole. I considered even writing this review because frankly, I don't have good things to say about Northern Ontario, but the people (those 10 - 20 of you that actually read this) must know.
But first, some stats.

Days spent in Northen Ontario: 12
Days spent cycling: 11
Distance covered: 1100 km roughly
Meters elevation gained: roughly 5800 (only 2000 less than from the Fraser Valley to Alberta)
Days where it rained at some point: 10
Average cost of camping: 30$ (unserviced tent site)
Average distance between towns: 80 km (based on no actual math, just what I remember).
Hottest temp: +36 with humidex
Coldest temp: +7
Longest day on the bike: 150 km from Fort Frances to Atikokan
Shortest day on the bike: 80 km from Pancake Bay to Sault
Best donuts: Superior Home Baking in Sault
Best coffee: Velorution Bike Shop in Sault (and its FREE)
Best beer: Probably Sleeping Giant Brewing in Thunder Bay (sorry Outspoken Brewing)

BAD impressions (the whine section):
Hills hills hills. Every day in Northern Ontario was up and down. It was at its worst going around Lake Superior, where you tend to have flat sections that never exceed 2 km between successive hills.
Wind. The wind never stops blowing in Northern Ontario, and while it drifts around a lot and you occasionaly get a tailwind, it is more often than not a headwind.
The rain. Actually not that bad. It rained nearly every day but rarely while I was on the bike.
The remoteness. Towns are very far apart with large stretches of barren wilderness between them. Staying on top of water and food was difficult and you rarely have the option to do longer days unless you are willing to do wild camping or go 180 km in a single day.
The roads. Even worse than Manitoba, the shoulder is only about 8 inches wide on average and generally in terrible shape. Crumbling asphalt, potholes, or disappearing shoulders abound. Pretty sad when you consider that I spent most of my time in Northern Ontario on the Trans Canada (the main highway in Canada).

The silver linings (good stuff):
Haven Hostel in Thunder Bay. Reasonable rates, cool atmosphere and a great conti brekkie.
Free camping on the beach at Terrace Bay. One of the most amazing spots I've ever pitched my tent.
Most things in Sault Ste Marie. Velorution, Superior Home Baking, the Independent Grocery, Outspoken Brewing. I had a great time in the Soo.
Lots of visitor centers with great staff.
And of course, the other two members of Camp Cyclist, Guy and Risto. Aside from making the trip around Superior less expensive, you two made it more fun and more bearable to know someone else was out there on the road with me.

Overall impression: Sucked a lot. Unfortunately you have to do it on a cross Canada ride unless you dip down into Minnesota and Michigan. The experience could be vastly improved by upgrades to the Trans Canada Highway shoulder and I intend to petition the governments of Canada and Ontario to make this happen.
Camping is either free or amazingly expensive. Avoid Provincial Parks as much as possible, as they are not only the most expensive (40$/night, no services), but also are often under boil water advisories. Get your shit together Ontario.
Advise travel with buddies, as it will save you a lot of money, and is also a major boost to morale when you have someone to complain to every night.

The average day's roller coaster

An unusually wide and smooth shoulder outside Nipigon

Small Town Smooth Sailing

Leaving Sault Ste Marie, I had heard from the fine dudes at Velorution about a series of alternative roads to the Trans Canada. Remembering the "shortcut" on the way to the bar the night before, I was skeptical, but gave highway 17B a try. It was alright, low traffic and a paved shoulder (wow), but the road surface wasn't fantastic.
Eventually found my way down to the Trans Canada again, and dealt with shoulder of varying size and significant truck traffic. When the shoulder was replaced with rumble strips and sand, I had enough, and took a chance on one of the country roads paralleling the highway.
What a great gamble! Apparently I was on part of the Trans Canada Trail, but it was undistinguishable from a country road.
Road conditions were beautiful for about 20 km: pavement, beautiful winding vistas through farm country, and best of all, only 10 cars went by.
I passed a number of Amish (maybe Mennonite) homesteads, and being Sunday, many of them were enjoying a day of rest by laying under the trees. I was tempted to join them on a few occasions but decided to enjoy the lovely riding instead.
After about 20 km, the road changed to gravel and I decided to risk it.
Unfortunately, it quickly became heavily washboarded and when combined with the steep, winding hills, I was reduced to doing single digit speeds at times.
I bailed out back to the Trans Canada (highway) for the last 5 km to Bruce Mines, where I grabbed a spot at a municipal campground for the night.
Bruce Mines is a nice little town, and the campground was like many I stayed at in the prairies: inexpensive, with slightly dingy but free and hot showers. All you need for a night as a bicycle tourist.
Due to overnight rain and the morning dew, the tent was a bit damp the next day but I felt rested (finally), and set out for a longer day.
Now that I have escaped Northern Ontario, my ride was more or less decent, passing a small, picturesque town every 20 to 30 km. Lots of chances for rest.
The highway conditions weren't ideal, narrow, crumbling shoulders and frequent rough sections that required cyclocross or professional sprinter levels of bike handling to traverse without nailing a pothole or getting hit by a truck.
A steady headwind kept my speed down but the land was more or less flat so I took it easy and went for the slow and steady distance. Even though I was on the highway all day, some great scenery, between old buildings, nice farmlands, and roadside wetlands filled brim to brim with water lilies. All in all, welcome changes from Northern Ontario.
After the small town of Blind River, which boasts a beautiful river and two Tims, I came upon a sight that confused and delighted me: a three meter wide, paved shoulder, complete with rumble strips to separate me from the gas-guzzling peasantry. I had smooth, safe sailing for 15 km until I was suddenly back upon the 6 inch wide shoulder, with trucks passing by a few feet to my left.
Only half a day of Trans Canada Highway left.
Upon reaching the small town of Spanish, I headed into a campsite for the night. The fee was a bit more than I hoped, but the difference was soon made up for by Dan,substitute campground manager. Dan runs an electrician business from Espanola, a bit to the east. He stopped by with salad, pastries and fruit, then offered me some info on Manitoulin Island, my next detour. He later returned with two cold (!) beers, and a homemade butter tart. Kudos Dan! You are the man.

A common scene along Huron

The extravagant meal lavished on me by Dan (butter tart not pictured)

Days of Unrest

After a long, windy, rainy, and super hilly 10 days in Northern Ontario, all members of Camp Cyclist were looking forward to a rest day in Sault Ste Marie.
While checking for Warmshowers hosts, I stumbles upon free camping at one of the local bike shops and decided to give it a try.
Good timing, as the bike shop was holding their annual party/sale (but mostly party) the next day. And with rain in the forecast until Sunday, it seemed like a good time to not be riding a bike.
Since it was so early, I left my gear at the shop and headed downtown to do some shopping and check out the brewery scene.
While sipping my first glass, a younger woman walked over and introduced herself. We had a couple beers and talked about sustainability and other hippy things before she invited me to go hang out at her place.
After imbibing some hunger-inducing substances we biked over to the store and bought fixings for a dinner. She invited me to hang out with her friends that night and I had nothing better to do so I biked back to the shop and grabbed my stuff. While there, I discovered the other members of Camp Cyclist had both arrived.
After biking back to my new friend's housr, we grabbed her buds and went downtown to enjoy some live music, beer, bbq, pool and getting drenched by a steady rainfall. Walking back to get my bike, I narrowly dodged a lightning bolt that touched down about 250m away.
I didn't get back to the bike shop until 2 am, so I set up my tent through a haze of exhaustion, inebriation, and rainfall before passing out.
Day two in the Soo.
Started the day with a hangover and another trip for donuts, which I am starting to become well known for liking. I sat around drinking coffee at the bike shop for a while, bought some new socks and a new chain, and then started thinking about the days plans. Risto and Guy were already downtown so I slapped a pannier on my bike and took off to find a grocery top up and maybe get a beer with the cycle friends.
The rain eased off a bit, and without the gear on my bike, I was enjoying a nice little ride, so I decided to bike along the main downtown drag.
Unbeknownst to me, there was a parade that day.
I found myself coming up on the tail end of it and decided to have some fun and ride through the parade. I was slightly out of place, heavily bearded, hungover and riding a battered touring bike but no one kicked me out of the parade and I had fun peddaling between floats and waving to kids.
After meeting up with Guy and Risto, who had seen me go by, I decided to bike back to the shop for the party.
Great idea! In addition to coffee and sale prices, they also brought out big trays of baked goods, hot dogs and opened a beer tent. I spent the rest of the afternoon stuffing myself.
Guy and Risto showed up later in the afternoon, so we went to have a beer together at the tent and discovered that since the party was officially over, beer was free. Sat arouns drinking with the guys and the bike enthusiasts until I was invited to join the bike shop crew on a brewery ride. It was starting to rain again and I felt bad for ditching Guy and Risto two nights running, but I had to accept an invitation for group rides and beer.
I soon learned that the employees of Velorution bike shop are totally nuts.
Our ride to the brewery was a 45 minute, winding sprint through the bike paths, traffic lanes, parking lots, and forested singletrack of Sault Ste Marie. All in the pouring rain with a bunch of yelling, drunk cycle enthusiasts. Back to Outspoken Brewing for beer until closing time, followed by a few more porch beers before a 12 am Wendys run and another late bedtime.
I woke up Sunday morning, hungover again, half my clothes muddy or still soaking wet, and contemplating another rest day. Eventually, I decided to suck it up and do at least a few kilometers, as another 'rest' day in Sault would probably kill me.
Guy, Risto, and I all got breakfast at Tims before splitting up. Guy planned on doing a slightly longer day, while Risto wanted to stay in the city one more day to get stuff done. Perhaps we will meet again on Manitoulin Island, perhaps not. It was good to have them by my side (sort of, we never rode as a group) through Northern Ontario.

The coolest bike shop in Canada (so far)

The aftermath of multiple rainy bike rides (the smell in my tent right now is unfortunate)

Members of Camp Cyclist finally get a beer and a photo together.

L to R: Denny, Guy, Risto

Escaping the Lake

A treat in Lake Superior Provincial Park was waking up to the warmest morning since Thunder Bay. Breakfast under the trees was also nice, but that's where the fun times ended.
The headwind from yesterday was back with a passion, and after passing Guy on the way out of the campground, I spent the morning battling with the wind,  neverending hills, crumbling highway shoulder and the constant flow of traffic.
Seriously though, this isn't even unusual, this is the Northern Ontario experience for cyclists, day in and day out for over a week. But more on that in a future blog post.
At one point I saw a police cruiser pull over at a bridge and was trying to figure out why the officer was getting his picture taken there until I rode past and noticed the name of the river. Both the river's name and the officer's hairstyle were Baldheaded.
The 60 ish km to Agawa Bay were pretty slow, and I didn't get in until about 11:30. Even if the riding was terrible, at least the scenery is getting nicer the further south we go. It's as if the landscape is trying to tell me: "Pedal, pedal, you're almost out of Northern Ontario. I took a quick lunch break at Agawa Bay and appreciated their beach.
Past Agawa Bay, the road turned up again. So began the biggest climb of the day, only about 300m of climbing involved on this one but spread out over about 7 km with a flickering headwind kicked in. Near the top, I met an elderly man walking down the shoulder pulling a handcart full of gear. After checking to make sure he had enough food and water, I chatted with him a bit and discovered that he has spent the last 5 summers walking from St. Johns to here, doing about 500 ish km a summer and then picking up where he left off the next year. Very impressed, but sad that I forgot his name as I suffered my way up the next two hills and into the headwind for another 50 km.
Guy must have had a good day, as he went by the camp at Pancake Bay Provincial Park only 30 mins after I arrived. He followed my suggestion of hitting up the store 1 km down the road before coming into camp. We then sat down after a mutually tough day and cracked beers, chips, candy, smoked lake trout, etc.
A hard day but a nice, relaxing dinner as we talk about our imminent escape from the wilderness of Northern Ontario into the big city of Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow and speculate on what Southern Ontario and Quebec will be like.
Sure enough, another windy day dawned on us in Pancake Bay. After two tougher days I was just determined to make it into Sault Ste Marie in good shape, so I began with an easy pace.
I stopped briefly in Chippewa Falls to snap some pics and visit the memorial that marks the halfway point of the Trans Canada Highway (My halfway point is wayyy back to the west fortunately).
The wind played games with me all morning, sometimes giving me a slight push, and sometimes coming right down my face while I struggled to keep my speed in double digits on a 9% incline.
Still, I had a fast day into the Sault, arriving around 11:30 am. I immediately hit up the Superior Home Bakery at the entrance to the city, as I had starved myself for about 55 km to make room for treats. The donuts did not disappoint, they were delicious, huge and very well priced. Some of the best in Canada.
I then headed a few hundred meters to the nearby bike shop to begin a day and a half of rest in the Soo, feeling quite content to be full of donut energy and to have successfully escaped Northern Ontario.

An emotional moment for cycle tourists: when the road finally starts going downhill

One of my last glimpses of Superior

Neverending Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is too big.
8 days (I think?) in and the scenery hasn't changed much. There are some nice spots once or twice a day but for the most part it's the same old boreal forest and muskeg along the highway.
Anyways, another chilly morning in Marathon, but the dew was manageable this time. I lightened my load a bit for the day by sharing some dried fruit for Guy's oatmeal. We split ways for another day, heading away from Superior and towards White River.
Not too much to say about the 95 km to White River. The hills weren't quite as bad today but the wind was on and off in my face. Actually, the wind in Northern Ontario is quite an experience. It can switch 180° in less than 100m from headwind to tailwind and vice versa. I swear the other day that I saw the wind blowing in opposite directions on either side of the road.
After passing through a stretch of mostly wilderness, I made it into the small town of White River (population: 1000 on the dot). The town's claim to fame is that the bear that inspired Winnie the Pooh was bought here by a Canadian soldier heading to Europe. I did the brief tour around town, and found Guy at a gas station.
With no camping options from here to Wawa, another 90 km away, we both agreed that the free camping on the lawn at the visitor center was our best bet. We were asked to wait until the center closed at 8 pm to set up tents so we settled in outside the visitor center to mooch power and wifi.
I did some minor chores (fixing my handlebar tape and refreshing the writing on my bags) and decided that it was easier to not cook tonight so I just snacked and bought some ice cream.
The visitor center free camping became pretty lively. We met a couple hitchhiking across Canada, and then a student from Michigan driving across. Then to the amazement of Guy and I, Risto rolled in at 7:00 pm, having pulled a 180 km day from Terrace Bay in one shot. Amazing, and it kind of made Guy and I feel like wusses for taking easy days.
I woke up during the night, and during a trip to water the grass, looked up to see some of the clearest stars I've ever laid eyes on, despite the streetlights in the visitor center parking lot.
The next morning, I woke up well rested, early and feeling pretty strong. It was 90-ish kilometers to Wawa, and I was determined to push on further than that and finally do a longer day.
Once I got over the morning's hill I caught on a tailwind and engaged the powerful thighs to fly down the other side at warp speed. The speed was sadly not meant to last though, as 30 km from Wawa the wind pulled a typical Northern Ontario 180 and came right down my nose at 20 - 30 km/hr. As if that wasn't bad enough, the last 20 km to town was mostly uphill again.
Still, my speedy morning meant I made it to Wawa by 11:45. I raised my arms in victory as I coasted into the first Tim Hortons in almost 400 km. While enjoying my customary donut lunch, I used the wifi to research the last 220 km to Sault Ste Marie.
With no obvious groceries in that distance, I topped up in Wawa and took a quick lunch at the big goose statue before setting off for a quick 30 km to Lake Superior Provincial Park.
Once again, Google Maps proved it is not great at estimating elevations, as my two easy uphills were actually quite long and steep. Eventually made it to the (very expensive) campground and gathered some firewood from the abandoned campsites. Guy showed up shortly after, to my relief, as it meant I could split the campsite fee. As we started up our cheery little campfire, we were cheerily informed by another campground denizen that there was a burn ban in Algoma. Close one there!
After some planning on the weirdly good LTE and my first shower in 4 days, Guy and I decided to do another night together at Pancake Bay, another expensive Provincial Park.

Getting some mixed signals here.

Camp Cyclist at the White River Visitor Center

Not much to say. It's a big goose.

Superior Cycling

After a toasty night in Haven Hostel, I woke up a bit late, my phone not switching over the Eastern Time yet.
Still made it downstairs in time for the continental breakfast, where I made quick work of a stack of toast, a pot of coffee, and the remains of a blueberry cheesecake while chatting with another cycle tourist (sorry! Forgot your name already).
By the time I got my grocery shopping done and hit the road, it was already 10:30 and about +22.
I stopped in at the Terry Fox monument to pay my respects and top off a water bottle. Side note: a lot of tap water around Superior has a weird salt/alkaline aftertaste. Hopefully I don't get sick again.
I am now firmly entrenched in the Trans Canada Highway and not super happy about it. Since it is the only road east from Thunder Bay, it has an absurd amount of truck traffic. Not only that but the shoulder situation is hit and miss. You can go from beautiful, 2 meter wide paved shoulder to a 6 inch paltry strip, to no shoulder at all with no warning. You think that the main (and only) highway across Canada would be nicer. For shame Governments of Canada and Ontario.
While sitting down with an ice cream cone, I had a woman ask me how I could stand the heat. I honestly thought it was a cooler day until I checked the weather and saw it was actually +31. I guess I'm just used to it now.
Only went 100 km to Nipigon, and headed down to the campground for some expensive Ontario camping along the shore of Lake Superior. I met two other cyclists Guy and Risto (the Trans Canada is apparently crawling with us), and despite feeling a bit anti social, ended up having a long chat about our trips so far, Thunder Bay accomodations and the crazy dude yelling his head off a few hundred meters away.
Instead of a shower, I opted for a swim in the lake. Superior is definitely a bit chilly, rivalling some Yukon lakes for temperature. Or maybe this heat wave has made me soft?
Prepared a gorgeous dinner of instsnt noodles with smoked fish and broccoli slaw, accompanied by a beer of course.
Waking up in Nipigon, I stopped to say goodbye to Risto and Guy before heading off east along the shore of Superior. The weather had shifted dramatically, from +32 the day before, down to about +15 in the morning. I expected the worst: bad shoulder, scorching heat and extreme traffic. However, I was pleasantly suprised by relatively wide, well paved shoulders, cooler temperatures, and low traffic (it was a Sunday). Lake Superior was often hidden by a screen of boreal forest, but the 2 or 3 big climbs of the day brought me to some great lookouts.
All in all, I took a fairly relaxing day. I stopped for some mid afternoon pizza and coffee at a combination Pizza Hut-Subway-Robin's Donuts-Gas Station-Motel before heading to my final destination of Terrace Bay. I had heard from a website that there is free camping allowed at the beach and I had told my two cycling buds from the Nipigon campground about it the night before.  As I was pulling up the last hill to Terrace Bay, I heard someone shouting from behind me and, lo and behold, it was my new friend Guy (Risto opted for the provincial campground 20 km back).
We popped into the visitor center together and confirmed that we would be allowed to camp on the beach before sitting down at the gas station next door for coffee and fig bars.
Going our seperate ways for some fast snack shopping, I went on ahead to the beach.
And it was amazing. The fog off Superior was rolling across the grass-dappled beach, and a small river rushed over a series of rapids into a deep, still lagoon beside the bay.
When Guy showed up, he was just as excited as I was. I do not think he has done much wilderness or free camping so when we set up our tents and got a beach fire going, he was quite pumped.
Just as we were ready to call it in for the night, a german hitchhiker joined us on the beach for the night, so we stayed up a bit later to keep him company.
The next morning the dew was unbelievable. My tent has taken some poundings from various thunderstorms but the dew on the beach was thick enough to swim in and my poor tent was soaked.
Guy and I exchanged chilly greetings in the dense fog and agreed to meet up in Marathon, an 'easy' 80 kms away for a shared campsite. We hit up the small grocery store and then I left Guy behind to fill his bottles while I got on the road
Keeping in mind the fog and damp, I started off the day wearing gloves and my rainjacket, and strapped on my blinking taillight for extra visibility.
What followed was not really the easy day we had expected.
The elevation profile for the day resembled a roller coaster viewed sideways, and I managed to somehow experience headwind from all four cardinal directions.
It ended up taking about 5 hours to do the 80 km to Marathon, counting a lunch break with Fred, a german cyclist I had met briefly the day before.
Finally getting into Marathon, peddling downhill and only doing 24 km/hr into the wind, I took a coffee break at A&W. While I got settled from groceries to last me two days to Wawa, I got a message from Guy that he had locked down a spot at the campground.
Turns out that Fred was in the spot next to us too, so I did some laundry, and then settled in to eat as much as I could (have to reduce the weight in my front panniers), and chatted with Guy and Fred for the rest of the night before catching up on two days of blogging.
Tomorrow I head away from Superior for two days through White River until Wawa, where I rejoin the lake and the first Tim Hortons for almost 450 km awaits.
Guy's mantra for these remote, hilly days around Superior: "It's not a race".
My mantra: "I'm on vacation"
Basically, no need to rush. The towns are far apart and there isn't much between them so may as well take it easy.

Paying homage to a Canadian hero

Fun times on the Trans Canada. Where does the bicycle go?

The Arkel Factory Race Team lined up at the Terrace Bay Visitor Center

Good advice. 

Heat waves and relaxed days

Another rainy morning. This time in Atikokan. Between the drizzle sluicing across my rain fly and the long day I put in the day before, I opted to stay in my sleeping bag a bit longer. By 8 am, the sun was out and I was on the road by 9:15.
I was still feeling pretty weak in the legs so I kept the pace low and planned lots of breaks to Shebandowan; 120 km away.
Lucky for me, the wind is on the move, and was blowing from the southwest today, granting me periods of tailwind-assisted speed.
Still a fair number of hills but I played it safe and let the legs rest as much as possible. My plan to take plenty of breaks went off without a hitch. Notable break at the North Quetico store and restaurant resulted in getting my empty bottles filled with not only water, but also a generous helping of ice. Seeing as the weather cranked back up to 30+ with the humidex, this was an amazing treat!
I eventually pulled up to the Shebandowan Shores Resort, hoping that I could put my tent down for the night. It ended up being one of those RV Resorts that is full of more or less permanently parked RVs, but I was led to a grassy spot on the lakefront by the owner's home. After taking a swim in the lake, the owner offered me some dinner and being a good bicycle tourist, I accepted. All in all, not a bad day.
An early bedtime led to a 5:30 am morning, and feeling decent, I decided to get out of bed and get moving to avoid the heat as much as possible. Probably a good plan, as it was another +30 day in the sun.
Getting out on the road, my legs were still pretty shaky, but it was only 95 km to Thunder Bay so I could afford to take my time. After about 45 mins I rejoined the Trans Canada, which I will have to take as far as Manitoulin Island. Yes, I'm well aware of joke that Canada only has one road, and for a few hundred kilometers its true.
I took a side trip to Kakabeka Falls. I had originally heard of them from a student's presentation in a physical geography course and in the course of researching cross Canada trips decided they were worth a visit.
Not earth-shaking or life changing, but the falls were certainly a nice spot to rest and relax a bit.
Heading off towards Thunder Bay, I soon passed a sign letting me know that cyclists and pedestrians were not allowed on the highway. Since the alternative at that point was to turn around and ride 37 km uphill back to the Trans Canada main branch, I opted to just keep going. The police going by me seemed not to care one way or another.
First stop in T Bay was at a bike shop, hoping to find a new bottom bracket, as mine is getting very creaky. The shop mechanic searched around and couldn't find a matching replacement so he opted to clean my old one as best as possible and offer some critique on my homebrew bike repairs. Unfortunately, despite tightening up the BB threads, it still creaks quite a bit. Hopefully Seault St. Marie has something.
Following that, I hit up the two breweries in town and then checked in to Haven Hostel, paying only 5$ less for a roof and soft bed than I would have payed at the Thunder Bay KOA campground; yeah, camping in Ontario is $$$.
Since I was spending money anyways, I went out for two dinners and then walked back to the hostel to crash.
Super hot in the dorm I was in but I had it all to myself so I slept like a baby.
Still only seen the barest glimpses of Lake Superior so far between the buildings but keen to get out and ride it.

So it's all downhill from here? (Haha no)

Dinner and dessert graciously given to me at the Shebandowan Shores Resort

Admiring Kakabeka Falls

Resting my legs with a before dinner beer at Haven Hostel

Manitoba Review

Hmm what do I say about Manitoba? After the Yukon, it's the place in Canada I am most familiar with. Well, here's my thoughts on a few weeks spent on a bicycle in my second homeland.

Days spent in Manitoba: 16
Rest days: 9
Kilometers pedalled: ~ 680
Days spent in headwind: only 2 yayyyyyy
Max temperature experienced on the bicycle: +46 (with humidex, while shopping in Winnipeg)
Average daily high (with humidex): +32

Best baking: Arborg Bakery
Best beer: Trans Canada Brewing, incredible variety, tasty pizza and friendly staff. Excellent on all fronts.
Best Campground: Probably Minnedosa, but the Provincial Park campground at Winnipeg Beach is also really nice and affordable.
Best small town: Probably Arborg? I was delirious with heat a lot so memories are hazy

Good impressions: Lots of wildflowers in the ditches, and towns were generally better than in Saskatchewan. Municipal campgrounds were generally nicer and located away from train tracks. The bugs were not bad at all, which surprised me.

Bad impressions: THE ROADS. Good luck finding a paved shoulder in Manitoba, and if you enter a town or city, be prepared for your poor bicycle to take a beating from the potholes and heaves.
Manitoba has yet to discover the concept of rest stops as well, so I was forced to take a lot of breaks basically standing on the side of the road. Just now realizing that visitor info centers were strangely rare too.
Also, it's difficult to find good coffee in Manitoba. At least there's microbreweries now.

Final comments:
Not a terrible place to ride a bicycle, aside from the road conditions. Would have been more enjoyable if the temperature had been about 10 degrees cooler each day. Better than Saskatchewan at least.

Hello Ontario

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning feeling under the weather. I think I must have drank some bad water somewhere in the last few days.
A few drops fell on my tent as I contemplated possibilities for the day. A good sign in the bicycle touring world. A rainy day is a cool day, comfortable for riding so long as the rain doesn't get too fierce.
Eventually I made the determination to ride 90 km to Fort Frances and call it a day there. Between my stomach bug and the fact that Google Maps revealed 0 campsites from Fort Frances to Atikokan (150 km), doing a short day seemed inevitable.
As I left Rainy River, I passed through short stretches of wooded prairie fields. I was more or less constantly rained on for 60 km to Emo (great town name), where I topped off my electrolytes and took a lunch break.
After Emo, the boreal forest began to close ranks around me, and a short ways out of town, I was faced with my first real-looking hill for weeks. With some trepidation I began up the ~1.5 km long slope. However, my dormant climbing muscles kicked in immediately and fueled by a week of Winnipeg binge eating, I flew up the hill at 20 km/hr with a smile on my face. I guess the endless tedium of the prairies was getting to me, because I enjoyed the rolling hills from Emo to Fort Frances more than just about any stretch of the prairies.

Once in Fort Frances, I did some shopping, and headed off to the campground. It was an interesting place for several reasons. Beautiful lakeside views but facilities were a bit run down. Tenting was in a big field and my nearest neighbour casually explained how he had been kicked out of his house for marital issues and had just come back from the parole office. He then spent the rest of the evenung split between making very awkward smalltalk or staring at me from 50 ft away. Needless to say, I kept my bear spray, knives, and the Ontario Provincial Police phone number nearby that night.

The next day, I woke up to a decievingly nice sunrise and fixed breakfast. No issues with the neighbours but as I was packing up to hit thw road, a huge, low thundercloud began dumping overhead. My previously dry tent soob becane waterlogged and I was trapped inside for 2 hours waiting for the storm to blow over. To make matters worse, I discovered that one of my water bottlea had leaked, soaking a book, some dinner rolls and my tent bag.

Finally hitting the very soggy roads at 9:30, I was not looking forward to the long ride to Atikokan. Sure enough, it was a pretty awful day. 145 kilometers into a unforgiving and unrelenting 40 km/hr headwind, with over 1000m of climbing thrown in. All in all, one of the hardest days on the bike so far.

The ride through the rocky escarpments of boreal forest seemed nice enough but I was too focused on making Atikokan by a reasonable time to enjoy it.

The town of Atikokan itself was a welcomw refuge. It was small, and gave off a Northern BC vibe, but it had the requires amenities of groceries, beer store and coffee shop.

The campground is also quite nice. It is tucked away into a quiet forest with decent and well-kept facilities. I opted for a recuperating evening of (free) showers, beer and dinner before heading to bed.

Hopefully that will be the last of the really tough days, as I will be in Thunder Bay on Friday and campgrounds seem to become more common from there.

Note: I've had to write this post 4 times as tge blogging app keeps deleting sections during the upload. Very chapped.

 

The tinest little chapel in Emo

One of about 100 picturesque, lilypad-dappled ponds I passed in Northern Ontario

One of about 100 picturesque, narrow-shouldered hills I gritted my teeth up in Northern Ontario

On the road again

Winnipeg was a good spot for a long rest. I had battled almost constant headwinds and heat across the prairies and was intensely drained.
Aside from all the family and friends from my university life to visit, I also had a list of things to do or buy before heading east.
I won't go over my rest week, but I stayed in Winnipeg from Friday June, 29th until Sunday, July 8th.
Leaving Winnipeg on Sunday morning, I had a bike full of food, with new, fatter tires mounted. It took only an hour to get back into the swing of touring.
Luckily, Sunday traffic was light, and the wind was more often than not at my bike. With the sun behind clouds all morning, it was a great day to get back in the saddle.
Well, aside from a 15 minute dousing by a passing rain cloud and the general lack of highway shoulders.
I opted long ago to avoid Kenora and the Trans Canada, instead choosing to travel south of Lake of the Woods and through Northern Minnesota to Rainy River.
Unfortunately, this means I missed out on a small bicycle tourist ritual of seeing the monument to the longitudinal center of Canada, which sits east of Winnipeg on the Trans Canada. However, even if I didn't see it myself, I have now passed the middle point of Canada. Taking into account my tendency to wander north and south and the Vancouver Island warm-up, I can probably say I am also halfway through in terms of raw pedalling distance as well.
Anyways, the only camping option in southeast Manitoba a reasonable distance from Winnipeg seemed to be in Woodridge. The access was provides by a triple digit highway, which usually does not bode well. Sure enough, I turned off Highway 12 and encountered two midly upsetting revelations:
1) A road of very dusty, very loose gravel
2) a sign indicating that Woodridge was about an hour down said road
What ensued was a pretty intense hour of fishtailing through piles of gravel, getting coated in dust by passing traffic, and general frowning.
Pulling into Woodridge at around 4 pm, I purchased a powerade, some lemon tarts, and some candy from the general store before heading to the campground I slogged so hard to reach. To my amazement, I discovered that the campground was home to at least 5 different varieties of wild berries, all in perfect ripeness. I gorged myself on blueberries and saskatoons in the forest, discovered zero ticks (bonus!), cooked dinner and settled into bed by 10 pm. Back home in the tent after a week of beds and pillows. I passed on showering, as I just came off a 8 day rest of showers and civilization and must cultivate the bike tourist aura once again.
The next morning I awoke to find light blue skies with not a cloud in sight. An idyllic sight for the average person, but an ill omen for the bicycle tourist. The sun is not your friend when you are riding 5 - 10 hours a day on open blacktop.
A very berry breakfast later, I packed up and hit the road. More gravel to reconnect with highway 12 but in better shape. A light tailwind danced at my back, and I easily blew through 90 kilometers of mixed forest and small hills to the US border.
The border officer seemed to question my sanity in cycling across Canada and doing it in almost the least direct route possible, but he let me into his country so its all good.
I took lunch in the town of Warroad, Minnesota, where most of the town was dominated by a sprawling window and door factory. The rest of town seemed dedicated to hanging as many US flags as physically possible. I could practically cut the freedom in the air with a knife. After some donuts and coffee, I continued on towards Canada again.
Very hot afternoon in the sun and I had to make an emergency and clandestine stop when I felt the Manitoban blueberries forcibly coming out the other end.
I eventually crossed back over into Canada around 5 pm, at the town of Rainy River, Ontario. I sluiced the sweat and sunscreen from my skin at the nearby wading pool and settled in. As I was cooking dinner, a man in a mobility scooter rolled by missing a leg and most of his teeth. He talked at me for about 30 seconds, during which time I understand zero words.
Looking ahead it seems camping in Ontario is very expensive, so I may have to start doing some stealth camping again.

Berry booty bag

USA. USA. USA. 

10$ in my pocket and Luna bars 10 for 10?

Hello varied diet

Side story: Time and Bicycle Touring

In lieu of describing my Winnipeg rest week in boring detail, here's some 11 pm thoughts on how long distance bike touring affects my view of time:

Time is weird on this trip. It's almost completely thrown out the window as a concept, except when I need a brewery or bakery to be open.
I generally wake up shortly after sunrise and decide whether or not to begin my day or go back to bed based on feel.
Do I feel I got enough sleep? Do I feel particularly motivated right this second? How hot does it seem like it will be today?
I will admit I do check my phone or the spedometer on my bike (still set to Yukon time) before making a final "out of bed or not" decision, in order to avoid making an accudental 4:30 am start. I did obsess over time quite a bit at the start of the tour. When I would leave camp, when I would get to the next town, how late I would ride. I'll admit, these thoughts are still in the back of my mind most of the time I'm turning the pedals, but they don't really affect my mood or speed much anymore. I just ride my bike and worry more about the heat, or the disconcerting pain that sometimes creeps into my knee, or whether I collected an unseen tick the last time I stopped to water the roadside flowers.

On a larger scale, days blend together. I don't usually think of the timeline of the trip in terms of days and weeks. My main measure of passage is individual memories. Places I have passed or things I saw. But even these placemarkers are becoming scrambled in my recollection. I am starting to have a hard time grasping how long I have been on the road. I long ago stopped bothering to count the days. Now, when asked how long I have been on the road I simply reply "since May 8th", although May 8th, 2018 seems as long ago as my graduation from university 2 years past.

While in Winnipeg, I feel like my brain is slipping back into the old university pattern. Even though I've only been in the city for a week, it feels more like I never left after finishing classes. The bike tour seems like it has happened in another life.

When I think of finishing the tour in 2 months or so, the idea has no real impact.
The last two months seem immeasurable so it's almost inconceivable that the trip will ever end. Until now I have also passed through mostly familiar country; places and highways I have driven through before. I wonder how the totally unknown lands east of Manitoba will affect my perception of time. Will all the new sights and experiences make the days stretch even longer? Or will it be so exciting that it passes in a flash?