Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Days 35-38 Come Again Another Day

Apologies for the slackage, i was supposed to do this up on my last day in Thunder Bay but getting my bike in a box proved more difficult than expected ;)

I am now back in glorious Prince George after a lovely and relaxing four day train ride.

so to back track about a week, I will take you back to Dryden!

Day 35 Dryden-Ignace 107km

Left late today as we hadn't had internet in awhile and really needed to catch up on some things. Dryden is a mill town and with the mucky weather mixed in, the stench was pretty bad...reminded me of Prince George.

Got on the road without the rain, shortly into the ride Kesten got a flat, after making sure he was okay the rest of us powered onwards. Finding a lunch spot we decided to stop and leave one of our bright yellow pannier covers on the shoulder, held down with a rock, to let Kesten know that we had stopped just off the highway. Turns out someone took the pannier cover....still a mystery as to why this would be useful for anyone else. A great loss for us. Luckily Kesten spotted us off the road and we sat down for some hot soup in the rain and bugs :)

We met another cyclist who was heading East and shared a campsite with him in Ignace!

Day 36 Ignace-Savanne 130km

Woah, this was a long day. For some reason i was feeling particularly tired and my butt was insistent on reminding me of this for the last 50km of today's ride. Headwinds and rain all day again. We were tempted (me especially) to call it quits in Upsala, 20 km from Savanne. After hot chocolate and pie at a cafe, we ventured back out onto the highway.

At this point in the day it probably would have been much safer for us to have stopped. Just outside of Upsala, we came upon a construction zone coupled with a single lane highway and semi's. We had to haul off the road when a semi came up from behind and Martina had one very close call. I had pulled off just ahead of her and stopped due to the deep gravel, she came up behind me but couldnt stop as she was stuck in the clips of her pedals. Just as the semi was passing she toppled over into the road and we screamed as the wheels missed her head by 2 feet. I was pretty shaken up and the rest of the ride went by fast as all i could think about was getting to Savanne alive. Rain, Semi's, Construction zones, single lane highways, and narrow shoulders don't mix. Finally we arrived at 9pm local time and set up our tents in a downpour as we made curry in the dark with bug nets on our heads. The night ended in laughter as we ate our dinner in the bathroom to escape the elements and the mozzies.

Day 37 Savanne-Thunder Bay 123km

Agh, rain and a headwind again! The semi's have become demonic as they roar along, with smokestacks for horns and grills for teeth. I am still feeling unsafe on these roads and can't wait to safely arrive in Thunder Bay! We also have warm and dry beds tonight!

Today's ride was fairly uneventful. We did manage to check out Kakabeka Falls and get off the trans for about 20km---such a relief!

We rolled into Thunder Bay absolutely drenched and freezing cold. We took refuge in a coffee shop, chattering we looked up directions to our much needed homes for the night ;)

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