7/3/09: Segments 41, 42, and part of 43 http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment41.html http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment42.html http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment43.html Ignace, Ontario to Thunder Bay, Ontario; 153 miles.
Absolutely epic day. This 4th of July will go down in Ryan’s and my memory banks for life.
Let me recap last evening as it had a lot to do with today’s ride. I was a bit remiss yesterday for having stopped at 12:30pm after getting in our required 60-70 miles. We had a good cross tailwind, and it was a beautiful day, so getting in another 20-40 miles would have been a good way to keep on top of it, especially when we really have nothing but a beach in Ignace to keep us busy. All in all, it was a pretty dead place to spend the day. So we talked it over last night, about putting in a big day on the 4th so as to get us to Thunder Bay where we could take a day off and enjoy the city life for a day. Our choices of places to stay west of Thunder were as poor as Ignace, maybe even worse, so Ryan was ok with a very big day on Saturday.
We ended up at a campground that was really nothing special, and at 25 bucks to sleep in a field, it was disappointing to say the least. We got there around 8pm, and set up with clouds of mosquitoes around us as we put up the tents. It was crazy the bugs. I just set all my gear next to the vestibule, then opened it, threw the gear inside and then locked myself in the vestibule. Next I opened the tent fly and threw my gear in from the vestibule, and then hurriedly jumped inside myself. Any other way and the mozzies and black flies would be inside the tent with me. I was like moving in fast forward as I loaded gear inside of the tent. Once inside I began to break down the gear to sleep.
So Ryan and I talked over the next day’s ride from tent to tent. No hanging around outside as the bugs were off the charts. Hit the hay at 9pm for an early start to a big day. Woke up to very cold temps and totally clear skies. Ryan tried to fire up the Optimus stove, but something is preventing gas from getting into the stove. With an early departure looming we bagged the stove and decided to just buy coffee at the gas station in town. I was freezing as I put on my cycling garb inside my sleeping bag. Even considered putting on my gloves and tights, but shined on the tights for fear of over heating on the first climb out of town (camp host told us we’d climb as soon as we left town). So I just got out my goretex overgloves to keep the hands warm, and where I could ditch them very quickly when I heated up. I got on the road at about 7am, and road to the gas station while Ryan finished packing.
Got my hot java and a Danish and went out near Rt 17 on the sidewalk, in the bright warm sun, so I could warm up rather than sit in the shade at the gas station. Ryan rolled up about 10 min later, but then had to go all the way back to camp, about a half mile, because he left his Ipod on the picnic table. So I got it rolling, goretex gloves on hands, for a nice long day of cycling. It was cloudless out, we had gotten our early start, and I was prepared for the longest one-day ride of our trip. As I started out it felt as though I was struggling to even hold 14 mph……..until I looked far up the road and figured out that I was riding a false flat up to the big hill out of town. And it was a shocker so early in the ride. I immediately shifted into the middle cookie and go out of the saddle to climb. Just as I thought, I heated up like a stove right from the get-go. At the top I saw a sign for a vista, and decided to take it and wait for Ryan. Went down the dirt road that hooked back to the west. The vista…….nothing special, and kind of disappointing.
When I got back to the top of the climb, Ryan had just hit the base, so I decided to just keep it rolling and wait for him at the next town. Once over the climb the mph average began to pick up, but still nothing over 15 mph. And it was there that I started doing the math, figuring that at 13 mph for 8 hours would put us at 104 miles. Not good enough for a 120+ mile day. At 14 for 8 hrs we would be at 112. Still not good. At 15 mph would put us at 120 miles. So I’m doing all these calculations and thinking, “my God, we could be on the bikes for 10+ hours!” As I told you yesterday, you have a lot of time on the bike to think…….and to talk to yourself so I’m doing this half out loud and half in my head. And I came to the conclusion that we had a very long day indeed. Longer than Ryan had figured. And I was a bit concerned about how much gas he had in the tank if we got to the 10 hr point on a bike…..pulling 75 lbs of gear…….in the sun……..up and down rollers and hills!
Rolled into the town of English River about 2.5 hours into the ride. I decided to go into the only place there, a little restaurant to grab something that was more substantial than the tiny piece of Danish I had at the gas station. I ordered the pancakes, figuring that they would last me 4-5 more hours in the day. Just after I ordered, Ryan rolled in. He said that he was feeling really good, and just wanted to continue going to the next stop, Upscala. So he kept it rolling while I waited for my cakes. And when the lady brought them out my jaw nearly hit the floor…….these things were as big as the plate, like as big as a pie……..each one. And I knew then and there that that was my big fuel for the day. I soaked them in butter and fresh maple syrup, one at a time, until they were just oozing with gooiness. Had another cup of java, and then talked to the owner about our route for the day to Thunder Bay. She reiterated what the campground owner had told Ryan, about taking Rt 102 to bypass a big chunk of Thunder Bay, and save about 20 miles of riding.
Finally got it going after about 25-30 min and had at it to Upscala. After about 10 min of burping cake batter I began to get a rhythm to my riding and felt that a 14 mph average may be doable for the day. Now to those of you unfamiliar with riding, when I say 14 mph average, that’s the average. Most of the time you have to be doing 15-17 mph on the flats and rollers to make up for the mph you loose on the hills. So that becomes the challenge – keeping it steady on the long flat stretches at 15-17 mph. And at that point in the ride, the road was long, fairly flat, with some rollers that were long and gradual. The terrain was just nothing but bush, bog, and water, for miles and miles. No steep hills, but just miles of road stretching out ahead of you like a ribbon.
By three hours into the ride the good old bulldogs were out to greet me. Now it wasn’t maddening, but there were always 2-6 of the buggers flying around me. I’m sure these things are totally dependent on the weather. Cool and cloudy – nowhere to be seen. Warm and sunny – welcome back. And the weather had turned to a very comfortable warm and sunny – welcome back. I caught Ryan about 1.5 hrs in, just before we reached the town of Upscala. We hit a small grocery store for fuel. Now it’s getting hot out as we sat there on the steps, both of us guzzling cokes. I got 2 cans and downed them instantly. Ryan got some Poweraid and a coke and did the same.
Now we were 4.5 hrs into the ride, and my average was around 14.5 mph, so I though we may be able to kick it up to the 15 range, thereby do 120 miles in 8 hours. I let Ryan know that we likely had another 4 hrs in the saddle. And we both talked about getting burgers and relaxing in Thunder Bay, just dreaming of mellowing out and eating after a long day in the saddle. It was the carrot on a stick to get us through a big day. So we parted, with me telling Ryan that I’d wait for him at the next town’s gas station/grocery. I figured by the map that that would be about 2 hrs, or 30 miles away in the town of Raith. Ryan uses a waterbottle to rinse himself of salt that had built up from 4.5 hrs of cycling before he takes to the road.
Back at it and the cross tailwind picks up a bit and gives us an added boost, as I watch the average mph each half hr grow. By 5.5 hrs in the average is up to 15.5, and I began doing the math again, having not expected us to be traveling that fast. The heat of the day picks up, the bulldogs get thicker and the miles tick by. I get to the 6 hr mark, expecting the town of Raith to have something to quench my thirst like a coke or Dr Peepper, but all I see is a sign for the town………and nothing. “Ok, I’m good,” I thought, “I still have two full waterbottles here. On to the next town.” And I see a sign down the road indicating that the next town to be 40K away. Do the math in my head – about 1.5 hrs or so down the road and I’ll get an ice cold coke. So I figured I’d just continue and wait for Ryan when I have a place to rest and get something to eat and drink. We kind of have the same wavelength by now about where to stop and when to just keep pedaling. So I figured that he’d know that since nothing existed in Raith that I’d keep rolling to the next place for a grocery/gas station.
Now the heat and the miles are finally beginning to hit me. I wasn’t really cooked, or bonked or anything like that, but by 7 hrs in I definitely felt the day in my legs, and I was really looking forward to stopping and getting some sugar back in my blood with coke and sweets. I kept the pace high, and the legs spinning and had gotten the average up to 16, which I never in a million years expected for the day, but by this time I had 112 miles in……..and we were nowhere close to the Rt 102 bypass. “This,” I thought, “ was going to be way more than 120 miles for the day’s ride.” I came through the next town, passed a police station, a small, grungy truck stop, and I decided to climb past the truck stop in hopes of hitting a store in town…... but that WAS town. And by the time I had gone 2-3 more miles, up a gradual climb at that, I had figured out that there was nothing there – just that freaking little crappy truck stop. And I wasn’t about to turn around and go back. Had to just ride on and hope of a store up the road somewhere.
By this time I was really feeling the day’s effort and beginning to get the hypoglycemia going in my body. I needed sugar and fast. Sweet was filling my eye sockets with each and every roller and gradual climb as I continued to try to hold my 16 mph average. THAT to me was precious as it meant that the day would be shorter with the faster pace. I still have a water bottle left, and I had emergency Hammer gels in my back bag. So I continued on, dreaming that around the next corner was a grocery store/gas station. NOTHING. Then I hit a sign for the Eastern Time Zone. Felt very jazzed about that. We had just ridden across 3 time zones, and entered the 4th. Then I passed a sign pointing out that I had just topped out on a drainage divide: All waters west flow to the Arctic Ocean; All waters east flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Very cool. And this jazzed me, and kind of took the sting away from my deteriorating condition. But still………no store.
And I start to debate as to whether I should get my emergency Hammer gels out. Nope, I was determined to wait it out for a gas station and an ice cold coke. I even started to dream about eating a whole pie or cake. Yea, a Pepperage Farms Chocolate cake! Outstanding. And still nothing. And the miles continued to pile up. At that point I was sure we’d at least pull a 140 miler. And I began to worry about Ryan out there, as he’s cooked by the heat even worse than me, plus he’d never ridden that far before. Now as soon as I passed the drainage divide I figured that I’d have some nice flats and/or descents, but I was greeted by these super long climbs where I had to drop into the middle cookie. The legs were smoked now, as I could feel it every time I struggle over the tops of the climbs. And my head is getting fuzzy, goofy, not quite there. But I just kept pushing on.
I finally got to the Rt 102 bypass – no store. And there’s a sign: 38K to Thunder Bay! And I was 130 miles in! Again, I think of Ryan out there. “Now if I’m gassed,” I thought, “how must he be feeling. Damn, we got ourselves into a real epic for the day!” When I turn onto 102 I was nearly catatonic, from hypoglycemia. And I began looking for a stretch of guardrail to rest my bike and yak against so I could pull out my emergency gels. It WAS time. But nothing. Nothing but this massive climb up ahead of me. So I figured that I’d do the climb, top out and rest at the top and take the gels, but as I began to climb I rode off of the asphalt berm and into the gravel, nearly taking myself out. And I’m kind of weaving. I was in the middle cookie, biggest cog –the pie plate – and doing 4 mph. I was struggling and felt totally and unconditionally smoked, cooked, bonked. And the trucks are barreling up the road in back of me.
STOP. NOW. I was crushed at this point. So I stopped half way up the hill, my eye sockets just dripping with sweat, and straddled my bike off of the berm. “Gotta be safe than sorry,” I though. “Time for the emergency gels that I had stashed for some 4 weeks” I pulled out my long sleeved jersey, wiped all the sweat from my eyes and face, and dug into the back bag for my Hammer gel raspberry packets. Pulled the tab with my teeth and just sucked in the gel like it was my first meal in a week. Down one, two, three, and then four packets of gel. I had one chocolate left, and figured to keeping that for an emergency emergency. So I washed it all down with my last bottle of water and them remounted the bike. Still felt weezy at first. But then sugar rush was beginning to have an effect within 5 min of climbing. I felt it, like a massive jolt of energy surging through my body. The shakes slowly dissipated, and I had a bit more in my legs when I got out of the saddle to climb.
Now this climb was a good twenty min long, and I had stopped about 5 min in, so during the rest of the climb I gradually got stronger from the gels. Topped out, hit the big ring and continued the journey, still longing for a store for pop and food. And wouldn’t you know it………10 min after the climb is a little Can-Op store. My prayers were answered. I pulled in and went straight to the cooler, picking out a blue Power Aid and a liter of Coke. Also grabbed a giant blueberry muffin. I asked the young lady how far town was and she had to go get her aunt. The aunt told me there was a hotel about 17 K up the road. And at that point I just wanted a finish to the day, especially with Ryan somewhere back there in the heat. Went out and guzzled the liquids, filled my bottles up and drank two bottles of water in their bathroom, and then bought a bottle of Snapple kiwi strawberry juice.
I waited on the picnic table outside, hoping Ryan would roll in and quell my worries about him tackling such a hard day. A half hr goes by and I finally go in and ask the aunt and the niece to relay to Ryan that I’m going to stop at the hotel up the road. I figured that he had ridden the same distance with no stores, no liquids, no food, and that he would surely stop at this Can-Op store. I rolled on, now with a stellar tailwind. And I needed it because my legs were like jello. I cracked it down and just motored, 22 mph, for a good 30-40 min of flats. The aunt at the grocery had told me that the climb I had done was a real toughie, and the rest of the way to Thunder Bay was flats to downhill. And I attacked it.
Finally came to the hotel, a brand new looking place with internet, pool, the whole bit. So I go in, sweaty, dirty, stinking, and coated in dried salt. Asked about the rates and I’m told that it’s 120 dollars for a double. Now I’m tired, trashed, beat to hell, but I just cannot stomach 120 bucks for a room – not even in downtown Thunder Bay at that. So I tried to negotiate with the gal. “Can you know off the GST (it’s a stiff Canada tax),” I asked. “I’m sorry,” she says, “I cannot do that.” She tells me she’ll ask the owner if I can get a better rate, seeing that there are only 2 cars in the parking lot and it’s 7:30pm. She comes back and says that he’ll negotiate at 10 or 11pm when he knows he won’t be full. F that I thought. I tell her I’ll wait outside for my partner and talk to him. This just so I could sit in the front yard and wait for Ryan.
Now the food and drink I had at the store had really set in. I was feeling pretty good for having gone 143 miles. I sat in the yard, in the sun, and looked at my watch and just waited. A half hour goes by. Not a sign of Ryan. Forty five minutes go by and I’m beginning to wonder if you cracked and bagged it somewhere…..at someone’s back yard, at a rest area, in the bush…..somewhere. Then an hour goes by and I get pretty concerned that our great 4th of July was to become a mess. So I get on my bike and slowly ride back down the road west, to a vista point where I could see far down the road. Nothing. I turned around to ride east again, and stopped off to the side of the berm at the very apex of this gradual climb. I look back…….and by God there he is, rolling up the climb. I was ecstatic that he’d made this ride. I let him get a bit closer and let out this loud yell. He hears my whoop and gets out of the saddle and hammers it up to me.
“Dude, you don’t know how happy I am to see you. AWESOME ride,” I told him. He was salt stained, tired looking but ready to roll. I told him about the hotel situation, and he agreed with me………. F them! So we just continued to roll into Thunder Bay, looking for some more palatable accommodations. We ride, and we’re actually riding downhill, with a tailwind, so it feel effortless as we’re tacking on more and more miles. So we finally hit the downtown, where Ryan remembers seeing signs for a hotel. We finally get there. And there’s a jazz festival just on the lake, about a block from the hotel. But……..the hotel is totally booked, but they tell him there’s another down the road. Now it’s 8:30 pm at this time, and we’d ridden 153 miles. And I was a bit concerned about NOT getting a room, and turning down the one 10 miles back.
So we go down the road 2 blocks, and there’s people all over the place from the jazz festival, and I’m praying that this next place has a room. Ryan comes out and says, “is 69 bucks ok?” YES. We go in, and it’s a bit of a dive, but hell, it’s home. So we wheel our bikes into the lobby with yaks in tow. Take the yaks off and wheel our bikes down the steps to our room, just a stone’s throw away from the check-in desk. I then pick up the yaks, one at a time, and take them into the room. The room is a dingy little thing, but we both could care less. We were done, we were hungry, and we were home.
Ryan took straight to the shower while I peeled off my dried sweat soaked, salty cycling garb and put on a pair of shorts. Next step……FOOD AND BEER! Ryan was so blown out that he said he was not hungry at the moment. So I went out looking for a buffet. No luck but I did see a Subway and a beer outlet just next store. Got a 12-pack of Fosters at the beer outlet and then hit the Subway for my 2 12-ichers to go. Now Ryan has the Tour De France on as I was leaving, so I decided to just go back, chill, eat, have some beer on the bed and relax. No blog, no emails, no nothing. Just Veg. And that I did, going through the subs like a chainsaw, and downing the beers like shots of water in a thimble.
Then Ryan went to Subway for his run. And he crashes hard after eating. I watch the whole opening stage, go next door to Mickey D’s and get even more food, two double cheeseburgers and a chocolate shake, and then come back to the hotel room and watch the repeat of the stage to 12 midnight. Totally fulfilled with food and drink I crashed hard, and slept like a baby. Woke up at 7am, and am watching the second stage of the Tour in the lobby doing this blog and catching up on my emails. We’ll stay here again tonight, enjoy the city, relax and have a great Sunday in Thunder Bay. It’s sunny and cloudless outside right now. And it’s just about time for breakfast. I’ll post this, and we’ll go next door for food.
Ryan will add his recollections of the day, and so goes another blog. All the best…………Pete
Ryan Adds:
What a wild day. Pete filled you in about the ride, but I will comment about the last hill before I got to the CAN-OP store 135 miles in. I was so dehydrated that I was swerving back and forth in my lowest gear babbling to myself totally incoherent. At one point I dosed off while riding my bike. Yep. I just about fell asleep riding my bicycle. I had a massive headache that came about from not drinking fluids. When I got into the CAN-OP store I asked the lady if I could start a tab because I was incoherent. she said thats fine. I went and drank a big gatorade. I felt sick. Not being hungry was the thing that weirded me out. I just rode for 10 hours and I'm not hungry? What the heck! Then I made myself eat a small ham/cheese sandwich with some chips. Then I had another gatorade and some water. I went out and laid down on the ground outside for a minute. As I was laying there I was afraid I might just fall asleep for the night in my spandex. Not cool! I made myself get up and felt a jolt of energy. I was emerging from the cycling induced coma I was in. Thankfully the last part was downhill. I started sprinting because I wanted this day to end. I don't have computer on my bike but it was downhill and I was flying. After a while I saw Pete. I thought great the dude popped a tire! He started hooting for me which is very unlike Pete. I have known Pete for about 2 years and have NEVER heard him hoot for anyone or anything. It's not his style. The hoot I got spoke to the massively epic day we just had. Pete rode 9 hours 44 minutes and I rode about 11 hours. 153 miles. We found a hotel and I still wasn't hungry. I went to subway about 9:30pm and got 2 foot longs. I was afraid I would wake up in the middle of the night starving. I finally made myself eat one of them. then I felt a little better and ate another half of the second one. Then I crashed. It was the best day of riding of my life and today is what separates the boys from the men.
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