7/6/09: Part of segment 43 and 44; http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment43.html http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment44.html Thunder Bay, Ontario to Nipigon, Ontario; 68 miles.
This had to be one of the hardest days for me from a mental standpoint……and to a lesser extent, from a physical standpoint. I think it all started with my rather ridiculous eating binge last evening, as I woke up early into the night of sleep with some terrible heartburn. Well, could it have been the greasy spoon breakfast……the coney dogs slathered in chili sauce with onions and cheese……the sauerkraut and kielbasa sandwich……….the burger and nachos with jalapeños……the doughnuts? Let me tell you, my stomach was yelling at me in a very big way last night, and it must have kept me up to the wee hours of the morning. I literally watched the sun come up though the window. So I got up not feeling very good, and certainly not feeling like I was bike ready. Ok, that L teach me!
Putting any food into my stomach in the morning was darned near not acceptable. I just couldn’t even fathom the thought of it. I did have a coffee, which turned out to be a terrible idea because it just got the whole mess down inside stirred up again. Ryan was outpacking me in the morning as I was totally slow and not into getting on the bike feeling as I was. But I went through the motions and got everything ready. I even managed to force a doughnut from last night down the gullet. The sunny sunrise that I’d seen through the windows gave way to some pretty gloomy cloud cover by the time we were ready to depart, and there was a nasty chill in the air.
We rolled out of Thunder Bay and east on Cumberland Ave to intersect with Rt 17 somewhere down the line. And from the first pedal stroke I knew it was going to be tough. My heartburn was just racing within 10 min of riding, and then we had this long climb to do to get us back up to the QEW. Massive pangs of indigestion all the way. Then we get on Rt 17 and begin the day’s trek. We descended down and came to the turn for the Terry Fox Memorial. Now I don’t know if many of you are aware of Terry or not, but he’s a hero to the Canadians, and why not……he ran across half the country of Canada, all the way to Thunder Bay on one leg and a prosthetic leg. He had cancer and was running to make a point. But he had to stop at this very spot that’s the memorial. He went back into the hospital and eventually died of cancer.
And there I am, feeling sorry for myself, and I come to the entrance to the Terry Fox Memorial. No question. I had to go in to pay tribute to the man. And I’m thinking, you big sissy, this guy ran a marathon a day up to here, on one good leg. So I went in, took some pics, read the memorials and just kind of stood there at this lookout where the memorial is situated and looked back down on Thunder Bay. A fellow cross country rider, Rob was up there, and come over to say hello. But he looked at me and said, “Pete, you look pretty bad.” And I briefly told him of my “heartburn”. We that humbling several min I headed back down the exit to 17, and out after Ryan, who wanted to keep motoring along.
And from there forward it was probably the toughest day I’ve had on this trip mentally. The wind picked up, the temp grew colder, the road was crappy in places, and my body felt like it was in the shut down mode. For the first time in the trip I just wanted the day to be over as fast as it began. And there it was. You just have to make it a day and keep plugging away. Round about this time we hit our first BIG hill, a little cookie climber that took us way up into the highlands around Superior. It didn’t feel bad. But it was nothing like my great day in the mts back at Kicking Horse Pass. And there were points in the day where it felt as if the clouds might dissipate, and we’d get that sunny day predicted on the weather last evening, but as the day wore on, and the wind picked up and the temps continued to fall, that got to be more and more unlikely.
The wind was a cross headwind, which only made my bad day a worse day, and the fog off to the east in the distance…..that wasn’t really fog, it was rain. And it looked like we were going to be riding right into it. My average speed was a shade over 12 mph, which meant that today’s 60+ mile ride would take just over 5 hours……and that’s at 12, not the 11 that I was gradually being forced down to with the strengthening headwind. Couple that with very good stretches of road…….and downright horrible stretches of road. I was swearing out load at some of the crap we were riding through, what with no berm and the freight trucks wizzing by, it only compounded the situation.
I finally hooked up with Ryan about 3.25 hrs into the ride, and believe you me, by that time I’d had enough already. It had gone from chilly to downright cold, so cold that I had to put on my long sleeve jersey over my underarmor, and I was considering getting my gloves out. Now this is coming from a guy who does not mind riding in the cold. It WAS cold. I went in, and was pretty quiet. Ryan knew then and there that I was not having a good day. I got a candy bar and a brownie. And I really didn’t even want that, but I know that I at least needed to keep my blood sugar up. And we spent very little time there. We both kind of wanted to just get this ride in the books. And more than anything I just wanted to put my tent up and crawl inside it in my sleeping bag and go to sleep. It’s the same feeling when I’m sick, yet go to work and just dream about getting home and getting into a nice warm bed.
The start once out of the store was really bone-chilling cold. And a light drizzle was beginning to fall. Looked like a good 2 hours of riding in the rain. And we would hit these patches of misty rain for 10-15 min at a stretch, with the dark clouds looming all above us and the braids of rain falling off to the east. By this time the wind was more headwind than cross, and was a bugger to fight. But with just 25 miles to go I was determined to get this thing over with and mash it on home, so I tried to stay big ring as long as I could, and then going middle ring for the last pitch or so to the top. We’d continue to go from great berm to shit berm for stretches. And the poop berm had potholes that would eat up wheels, so I had to be vigilant with the steering.
Then the misty rain gave way to just plain rain. Not a deluge mind you, but enough to keep you wondering if all hell would break loose shorty or not. And the signs: I would not look at any of them just because I did not want to count miles for 2 hours. So whenever there was a sign, ad or road sign, I’d just put my head down and continue pedaling. Finally had one last, long climb up to Nipigon, which lasted a good 15-20 min, and then I topped out. That’s when I hit the gas stations, the motels, and the diners. Jumped on the business route into Nipigon and went straight to the bank to exchange some currency. After that Ryan rolled in and we went straight to the Subway for lunch. Today, just one 12 sub for me. I just did not have the appetite. We also bought some hot chocolate to warm our cold bones up, as the temp had fallen even more throughout the day.
I just sat there, catatonic, as I ate my sub and warmed my hands on the hot cup of chocolate. After we ate, we both got a refill on the hot choc and Ryan went out to find a place to stay. I saw him talking to a lady outside, and then he came in and said that he had asked her about camping places and that she had offered to put us up in a friend’s back yard. She just needed to go check with him. She came back about 10 min later and said it would be ok. So we headed straight over there, with me having visions of being wrapped up in my warm down sleeping bag listening to the rain pelt the tent roof.
The house was a block from the Subway, and is owned by a man named Crow. Crow is his nickname, and of course Crow is a native American, a very nice, soft spoken guy. Also at the house was John, a friend of Crow’s, and Roddny, the woman, Helena’s husband. They were all in Crow’s house playing cribbage and partying. They came out, greeted us, and Crow pointed to the big back yard we could set up in. Now it was raining steadier and steadier by this point, so I was really scooting to get the tent up and my gear inside before the rain got any worse. Once done I was invited into Crow’s house to get warm. They were in the “card room” which is right next to the back yard.
I had 4 beers left from last evening in Thunder Bay, and had stashed them in my yak for transport. I took them out and offered them to the fellas when I went inside. They were pretty blown away that I had transported beer in my trailer, and got a kick out of me handing them out. But believe you me, they had plenty of alcohol in the house what with these big plastic bottles of MD 20/20 type wine. So I went in to socialize with my new friends while Ryan went to a career center to use the internet. These folks had a buzz on to be sure, and they were passing that wine bottle around like I was back at a high school party. I finished my one beer, and was offered a glass or swig of the wine. I declined politely, as I was given a little grief about it. But they were cool.
They were playing cribbage, goofing on each other, swearing like sailors, and smoking cigarettes. John was even pulling butts apart and rolling the used tobacco in his rolling papers. They also wanted to know if I had some gibb – pot. And I told them no, I did not smoke. They were kind of amazed, but still cool about it. So I hung, watched them play cards, smoke, pass the wine bottle around. And I’m thinking, “Ryan, you’re a beauty you are!” Now don’t get me wrong, they’re all very good hearted folks, just a little different in that they look like that are into some very hard core partying, especially on a Monday afternoon. Not my ideal time to tip a few and get nuked!
So Ryan comes in and joins the fracas. And I can see that he’s pretty blown away at how nuked these folks are. I mean Roddny is damn near stumbling into the table. He offers to go buy more beer and food, and Ryan and I decline. Then Helena goes to the liqueur store and gets two more of the MG wine bottles. And I’m thinking, “good God, what have we gotten into? These people are going to drink and smoke the whole night away here.” So Roddny orders a pizza from the local parlor, and bless his heart, he’s a really good soul, because he sounds like he’s on his last dollar. But he insists that he get us some food. And the pizza is great, and he has Ryan and I eat 2 pieces to everyone else’s one.
Roddny is dazzled by the fact that Ryan’s a surfer, and a So Cal guy, so he’s asking him questions about the waves, the women, the climate of So Cal. And he’s asking us about our lycra kits, our tanned, shaved legs, the whole thing. It was pretty funny. And all the while Crow is goofing on Roddny with four letter words. And Crow stutters a bit, and when he gets excited he really gets to stuttering. So if Roddny says something goofy Crow just goes off on him stuttering away like a runaway train.
And then they get to talking about playing pool. And turns out that pool is Crow’s game, and Ryan challenges Crow to pool. And all of a sudden my cozy dream of snuggling up in my sleeping bag is looking more and more remote. I tell them that I’m trashed, dead tired……..WHICH I AM! And that I just don’t have it in me to go to the pub to watch those two play pool and to party with the gang. Now in the meantime John goes out and gets a twelve pack of molson’s ice. And I’m like, “I have to get in my tent. I just have to get in my tent!” Finally, Crow and Ryan go to the pub to play pool, because Crow was just chomping at the bit to go kick his ass. And me, I’m determined that I’m going to play kissy face with my sleeping bag, some way some how.
By this time they are all very ………..um……let’s just say TRASHED! They’re being very gracious, asking to take me to get more food etc, but I just need to hit the tent and lay down like I was dreaming of doing 6 hours previous. So I finally give Helena a big hug and a thank you, and shake hands with Roddny and John. I come out here to blog, because I know I’ll never get it done if my head hits the pillow, plus I have to work on a few workouts. So here I is, and I can hear the three of them still in the card room drinking and smoking and partying and yelling (good natured goofing).
Weather report revised: rain all night, cold, and possibely more tomorrow. We have to ride each and every day up through Saturday because we need to be in the Soo by Saturday to meet Ryan’s parents. So rain or shine, we must ride. And this will probably not get posted tonght – no wifi access. Well, I’ll be curious to hear of Ryan’s side of the story once he comes back from the pool match. Out………Pete
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