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.
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