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.
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