First off huge thanks to Mary for having us stay! The home-cooked meals and fresh bread were wonderful and we won't forget your hospitality anytime soon!
Sheets of rain were falling from the sky as we set out from Mary's on Saturday morning
. We were soaked within seconds. Our send-off from the leg was composed of only the very bravest and we were accompanied out of town by only one other cyclist - James, leader of the Manitoba green party - thanks for showing us the way!The rain continued for nearly the entire day and Malkolm and I lost Nadia and Kesten due to flats and found ourselves passing the afternoon at a truck stop in Richer, MB as we waited for them to catch up.
By the time we finally reached Prawda darkness had fallen and the rain was still coming down. We managed to find shelter in the cooking area of the campground, surrounded by the glow of Christmas lights we drifted off to sleep, happy to be out of the rain.Prawda -> Kenora 107km
Crossed our last border that day! Seems crazy that we still had a
month on the road and it is all in Ontario. We ate lunch in the tourist info centre on the Manitoba side, escaping the rain once again. Hitting Ontario the highway was under construction and we lost both the four lane highway and our shoulder. That stretch was somewhat nerve wracking seeing as it was still pouring rain and visibility was at an all time low.As we rode into Kenora the sun came out briefly and we saw a rainbow as
we crossed the bridge into town. Picturesque, Kenora definitely was. A cute little town set on the side of the lake. We camped just outside of town where again we were able to find shelter under another cooking area. The lights didn't go out that night so we just pretended it was the full moon, although there were 8 instead of just one!Kenora -> Dryden 141km
We left town under fairly blue skies with a nice tail wind. We were able to get a lot of distance
done before the skies started changing. We stopped for a picnic lunch next to a small lake, made it a quick break so as not to waste our tail wind. We stopped again in Vermillion Bay for ice creams in the afternoon.I was in the zone so after leaving Vermillion I just pedaled on and arrived into town around 5:30pm. I found the phone numbers for the campgrounds and started calling around to find
somewhere to stay for the night. I finished and the rest of the crew still hadn't shown up...more flats perhaps? 45 minutes later Nadia came down the hill to let me know that both of the boys had had flats. I was freezing so I took off into town to get groceries for dinner and then to start setting up camp.Dinner in the dark with all the mozzies wasn't the most pleasant that night. We took refuge in our tents to eat they were so bad. Again we stayed on the lakeside unable to really enjoy it due to late arrival, plentiful biting bugs and bad weather. One of these days we will manage to go for a swim!
Reading these stories, mostly good, makes me think that a) you all should have kevlar tires, and b) this is a trip you're going to remember for the rest of your lives.
ReplyDeleteAnd that makes me wish I was indeed riding along with you guys/girls. Instead I send my admiration for what you're doing, for yourselves, and the earth.
your friend Will