Our longest day yet! We made good time thanks to a great tail wind and a flat road! Fueled by omelettes, crepes, blueberry flan, deep fried zuchini and fresh tszatziki we were ready to pedal out those kilometres! Andre, Annika and Dusty joined us for the first 35km, I felt for them as they turned around to battle a strong headwind back into town. Huge thanks to Andre, Andrea and Annika for hosting us for 2 nights, we enjoyed ourselves immensly and will think back only on good memories of Sault Ste. Marie.
We got into Blind River just after 6 and being that it was a Sunday of course all the grocery stores were closed. We "dined" that evening at Subway. I was suitably impressed as Malkolm easily wolfed down 2 foot long subs! I let him know that I would be amazed if he could manage 3 by Ottawa! We spent that night on some mossy rocks next to a swamp, a campsite Kesten found while we were eating and deemed "quiet and lovely" by him. It wasn't bad as far as bush camping goes but I think our definitions of "quiet and lovely" differ quite substantially.
Blind River -> Espanola 107km
I will remember this day because of the icecream. On a sunny afternoon after riding your bike for a few hours all you can think about is icecream. I'm not sure if this statement applies to everyone but for me it is always true. As the afternoon wears on I am constantly on the lookout for the sandwich board sign with the all familiar icecream cone on it. That day I wanted to get to our destination before stopping for icecream, i'm not sure why but I guess I was just in the zone. I was lucky though, that Malkolm was in the mood for an icecream en route because when we stopped in Webbwood I think I almost went to heaven. Farquhar's icecream, what a delight! I had the maple twist and it was in the top 5 icecreams I have had in my life. Let me tell you that is saying a lot, I have gone for icecream in probably almost every country, city, town I have ever visited. Farquhar's tops the list. It comes from a small dairy on Manitoulin Island and is only available in that small region of Ontario. If any of you ever get the chance to stop for a Farquhar's icecream I wouldn't pass up that opportunity, it is DELICIOUS!!!!
Espanola -> Tobermory 115km???
Again my odometer bit the dust that day so my daily distance is an estimation. We rode from Espanola over the LaCloche "mountains" over the swinging bridge onto Manitoulin Island, took the ferry across lake Huron and ended our day in Tobermory on the very north end of the Bruce Peninsula.
We had a fairly tight schedule that day, you know with ferry schedules and all finally something familiar to me. The constant slight pressure of knowing you have to be there on time or you will see the ferry chugging out of sight without you. We thought we had left ourselves loads of time until in the firs
t hour Malkolms chain broke. That set us back an hour. Then there was the "mountain" range we had to cross, they were more just like big hills but they did slow us down. Once we were on the island we were hit with terrible road conditions and a strong headwind. Our extra time was slipping away from us. Kesten ended up hitching a ride to make it on time and the rest of us powered on taking few if any breaks. We made it with time for an icecream at the ferry terminal!That ride was also noteworthy because it was the day I saw my first bear! Finally! I had been on the lookout for ages, all through the rockies and northern Ontario, other people kept seeing them but not me so the bear really made my day!
Tobermory -> Owen Sound 100km??
We had spent the night in a friendly ladies back yard. We had met her the night before at her cafe in downtown Tobermory where we stopped after getting off of the ferry to listen to some live music, have a hot chocolate and hopefully find a friendly face willing to have a few campers in their yard. We were successful on all accounts and I suggest stopping by the Mermaid Cafe in Tobermory if you get the chance, it's got a great vibe going on!
We had a very pleasant ride that day, mostly staying on backroads and enjoying the sunshine. I was able to listen to my ipod without worrying about semi's at my back and that always makes the kilometers pass a little faster. We spent the night at a campground in Owen Sound and I was extremely greatful for the showers as it had been a couple hot days without one!
Owen Sound -> Orangeville 105km???
I got my second real flat of the trip that morning. Just 1km out of the campground and we already had to make our first stop. The guys enjoyed muffins at the cafe next door as I sat on the pavement cursing my bad luck and patching the leak. Another darn staple! Just before 11 we were back on the road heading south again. That was about the only eventful thing that happened until we set up camp.
I couldn't find a campground in Orangeville and the guys are all for bush camping anyways so we started looking for a good place as we left Shelburne heading for Orangeville. It was mostly farmland without a lot of cover so there weren't many opportunities for stealth camping. Finally we found a side road and off of that a snowmobile trail. We decided that would have to do. We cooked dinner on the trail, waiting till dusk to set up our tents so that there bright colours didn't draw attention. Shortly after we had gone to bed I hear Malkolm yell "Vehicle approaching" and I could hear him scrambling to throw his possessions tent included into the bush. We hadn't stopped to consider that although it was a snowmobile path it could be used by ATVs during the summer! I was glad that I had set my tent up on the side of the path and I just cowered inside as the machine roared passed the side of my head!
Orangeville -> Toronto 95km??
We all woke early that morning as sleep hadn't been particularly good for any of us. Uncomfortable site, worry of ATVs and a pretty chilly night didn't really add up to a good night's sleep. When I opened my eyes that morning my gaze fell upon dozen after dozen of slugs! All over my tent they were oozing along leaving their slimy trails behind them. I spent the first few minutes of the morning flicking slugs from the inside of my tent and then making sure there were no rogue slugs hiding in my fly as I packed my tent up. I've heard it's pretty gross to discover a mushed up slug when unpacking your tent the next night (Kesten told me - from personally experience).
Kesten decided to take'r easy that day so Malkolm and I took off without him. We took a portion of the trans Canada trail as we rode into Toronto and side roads most of the rest of the time. Getting onto hig
hway 10 going through Mississauga I really noticed the reduction in air quality and we could see the smog hanging over the city. Once we hit lake Ontario we found a bike path which meandered along the lake shore towards downtown. We followed that for quite a while until we needed to head north towards midtown. I headed straight for Anubha's and left Malkolm as he continued further north towards his sister's cousin who he is staying with. Just as I was turning to stop in front of her building I went flying! Seconds later my bike, my bags and myself were sprawled all over the ground and passersby had stopped to help me up, make sure I was OK and stop traffic from running me over! I was fine and it was nice to see people stopping and careing. Luckily I had reached my final destination and didn't need to bike anymore that day anyways.
