Day 43

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 4^th 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 4^th 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 4^th. 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 4^th 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.

Day 42

7/3/09: Segment 40 http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment40.html Dryden, Ontario to Iglace, Ontario; 66 miles.

To recap last evening, Ryan and I got a case of the sugar munchies, so he went next door to Robin Doughnuts to grab a dozen. Turns out that they were closing and were about to throw away a bunch, so they let him grab a dozen day olds for free. I was on the skype talking with a client when he came in with the heroin, I mean sugar cakes, and I just started gobbling them up as I was talking. It was quite a sight with me dribbling crumbs all over the table as I was talking into the computer and scarfing doughnuts. Finally hit the hay at 12:30 am, with a day of work done.

         We uploaded pictures onto the blog to cover Saskatoon up through Dryden, so if you’d like to go back and check out some of the photos, have at it. Got up at 7am, rifled all the gear together, got some java and muffins at Robin Doughnuts and off we went. We started with a nice little tail wind, and the road had a great berm with nice straights and gradual ups. I felt good on the pedals today from the get go, and what with a 60+ mile ride on the agenda for the day, I kind of cranked it up a bit to make a short day of it. Just got into a very nice groove and floated over the roads. Unlike yesterday, when we hit these nice climbs right from the gun, today the start of the ride was mellow, giving us great false flats, long and straight flats, and several  long gradual ups. Suffice to say that the pace was considerably higher, and about an hour in I was just under 16 mph for an average.

         The terrain we were riding through was more like long stretches of bog and wetlands, with just mile upon mile of evergreen trees. The streams were of the tea color, reflecting the high tannin content of the water, stuff you’d not want to drink or filter for sure. We would his some rocky outcrops here and there, and they were usually the rock cuts in the road. But the interesting thing I noticed today was that some of these rock cuts were beautifully polished, I mean scoured and rounded from the glaciation all those years ago. Some of this stuff was granite which was so polished it more resembled a bathtub finish than rock. Pretty cool to think that this area was once under nearly a mile of ice, all moving to the south and just bulldozing everything in its path.

         So I cruise through 2 hours with about 31 miles under my belt, and I was feeling pretty good, sticking in the big cookie on all the graduals, and going out of the saddle when the seated got a bit hard. I am trying to make sure though that when I climb out of the saddle in the big cookie that I go no further than the third cog from the left. I’m pretty concerned that with nearly 3 thousand miles of riding the chain may not like being put at a bad angle when I go out of the saddle and really push some weight down on it. So I really try to keep the chain cross over at a minimum. Now we do have a spare chain, but it’s way to early blow out a chain out of stupidity and have to use the good one. So anyway, that’s been my rule of thumb when big ring climbing for the past month.

         Round about 10:30am, and about 2.5 hours into the ride our old pals the bulldogs start to rustle. Now I was just getting ones and twos flying around me, and nothing really that bad to send me into my “kill count” frenzy. So I just swat every once in a while. Three hours in and the landscape is still much the same, with really no towns, no gas stations no nothing but a couple of fishing camps here or there on the lakes I pass. I did happen to hit a couple of steeper climbs where I shifted down into the middle cookie to finish off, but I can only recollect 3 of those total. What did kind of bum me though was the fact that our one lane wide berm slowly deteriorated to about 3 feet wide. Good, but not totally reassuring when the semis come blasting by. We would get wide berm on some of the long gradual climbs though, which is nice when you’re climbing out of the saddle. Climb out of the saddle on a narrow strip of berm and to me anyway, it’s a pretty unsettling feeling.

         Three hours in and my average had dropped just a bit from 15.8 down to 15.3, and the middle ring hills were the culprit there. But still, to get in a 60-miler, I was still in the 4+ hr ballpark. So I just kept pushing. And I was thinking then, about a question that Clayton had asked me a few days ago when we were down on the farm. He wanted to know if we talked to ourselves when we were riding, especially since Ryan and I do the majority of our riding by ourselves. And my response to Clayton was quick. “Heck yea I talk to myself,” I told him. “I talk to myself out loud, quietly in my head, you name it.” And I just couldn’t imagine anyone not talking to themselves doing something like this. It’s just human nature. Heck, when you’re putting in 4-8 hrs a day on the bike, that’s a lot of time to think. Shoot I think I’ve solved the world’s problems ten times over already with my little chat and think sessions.

         Now I’m not a music guy like Ryan, and I’ve never really like to put on a pair of headphones and crank on the Ipod. Don’t do it for running and don’t do it for riding. I guess I’m old school, in that I just like to hear the wind rushing by my head, the birds chirping, the rustle of the trees. That’s my music when I ride. I’m not knocking the Ipod thing, but it’s just not for me. So without the music I just have the external stimuli of the outside world going on, and the little voices in my head chirping away about one thing or another. It’s funny how tangential it can be as I hop from one subject to another hour after hour. And I do yell at the occasional A-hole driver who gets just a bit too close. Not the insane Pete mind you, just a conversational kind of reprimand as they cruise by. So anyway, there’s a lot of talking to yourself and a whole lot of thinking. It’s sure a great way to get to know yourself!!

          So I was in one of those little skull sessions with myself when I heard a horn honk at me and this pickup truck pull over ahead of me. And out of the window is Ryan. Totally blew my mind. He shouted that he had a flat and would meet me in Ignace at the Subway. And I just had to laugh to myself, and I said out loud, “dude you’re damned near hitch hiking across Canada for God’s sake!” How much crappy luck can a person have? I think I’m going to nickname him Shleprock. You remember Shleprock from the Flintstones…….he was the guy who walked around with the dark cloud over his head all of the time. Ryan is turning into my Shleprock! So I just cruise on shaking my head.

         Three and a half hours in and the wind shifts just a bit. Just enough to make that tailwind feel like a cross headwind, and the old average speed goes down again. At this point I was at 15.2. And it seemed as though the distance to Ignace was just not getting lower. I was figuring that 4 hour at 15 mph would put me there. But I was seeing signs that advertised motels and eateries as being 15 min away. Now you do the math………60 mile/hour is a mile every minute. So that’s 15 bloody miles away. On a bike everything is different!. See another sign: motel 8 min away. So my getting to Ignace in 4 hours was out the door. And then the cross tail grew to be more of a head wind, and at that point I just resigned myself to take what I could get. The good old bulldogs got a bit friskier to, ballooning up to maybe 6-8 of the harpies at a time buzzing around me.

         So the signs kept coming……6 min away, 4 min way on and on. Finally make it to Ignace, and ride to the Subway. Ryan’s there working on his tire. He blew out the back tire the very same way I did riding to Saskatoon, with the tread separating just above the bead. This tells me that the yaks are putting a lot of pressure on the rear tires and causing failure at the rim line. We’re going to need to pick up some more spare tires in Thunder Bay, because his failed at around 2700 miles and mine failed at 1800 miles. So we could very well have a front to give out in the 3000 range. Me especially what with the front panniers on my front wheel.

         I went in and scarfed down 2 12-inch subs as usual. And then Ryan comes in and shows me his rear skewer, which is bowed on both sides. This we can gently bend back. I think the problem there is the fact that the yaks are so unsteady when you’re parking them or moving them about, that they have bent when our bikes and yaks have tumbled over. And we’ve both had several of these episodes. We have one spare yaks skewer, and it’s a special skewer, so chances are that we’ll only find replacements in big city bike shops. We’ve got to make these puppies last!

         I finished up and went outside to soak up the sun, while Ryan went to scout for a place to camp. He came back a bit later with nothing to report so we went down to the lake to sit on the beach and relax. Must have spent 2 hrs there laying in the sun and relaxing. Well, I’m at the library right now, and it’s about 5pm………time to eat!!! So I’ll see if I can post this and then go get Ryan for a dinner somewhere in town. This is NOT a big place, but it’s bigger than I imagined yesterday when I saw it on the map. So we could end up with some burgers or pizza. That’s it for not. OUT………Pete

Day 41

7/2/09:10 miles east of Kenora, Ontario on the farm of Clayton and Diana to Dryden, Ontario.

La la la ……..back in the saddle again, back in the saddle again…...now just imagine me singing “Back in the saddle again”. Great day, fantastic scenery and awesome asphalt berm to ride on. Woe, we have nearly 2 weeks of this kind of topography and scenery to ride through, and it’s just spectacular. I have always loved Canadian Shield country, and we’ve about 1000 miles of it to pedal up, down, along and through. And speaking of up, we got it going again with the climbing, after nearly 2 weeks of prairie, it’s actually a pleasure to get out of the saddle for stretches and climb. I really love to climb, so it’s to my satisfaction to get the climbing side of me active again.

Note to Clayton and Diana: your drive back up to Rt 17 was THE hardest climbing of the day for us, and I was well aware of that ride back up to 17 2 days ago when I descended to your farm on Tuesday.

         Ok, so the day started with me finally getting nearly 9 hours of quality sleep last night, on the stage of the entertainment hall, on a mattress, tucked inside my sleeping bag. I think I woke up once and that was it. So I really caught up on my sleep for sure. Ryan woke me at 7am, having already gotten up, had coffee, breakfast, and was on his way to getting his gear packed up. I flew through the packing regime so I’d have a tad of time to do the internet on Diana’s computer before we left. Went in for some coffee and had two PBJ’s with Diana’s home made strawberry jam – wonderful!. Greeted Stan and his friend Bev, and we talked a bit about the ride today.

         Got my computer time in, and was set for the road. Again, as has been the case with all of our Canadian hosts, I was sad to leave our new friends. But this thing just has to keep rolling despite the fact that we have 3.5 months to do it. I do feel privileged that we were able to stay for an off day at their farm and really enjoy their hospitality and their way of life. As I told Clayton yesterday when we were sitting in the gazebo sipping on beers and looking down over the acres of farmland and into the lake below, “you don’t realize how lucky you are.” And he admitted that he didn’t. And it’s like the Joni Mitchell song says: “you don’t know what you got till it’s gone”. They have a wonderful gig going out there in the bush of Kenora. Wonderful way of life and a “down on the farm existence”. I just loved it. And I definitely plan on visiting them again in the future.

         So we bid farewell to Diana, and down the gravel road we went. And then there was the infamous hill, and it was definitely little cookie material, and out of the saddle at that. But it was over withing 10 min and we were back at Rt 17 east. And then the fun began……great road, fabulous scenery and wonderful climbing. It was like a roller coaster for the first two hours of riding. Never a flat stretch, and it seemed like we were just doing these gradual stair step climbs on and on and on. With no real descents to speak of. Like, is there a drainage divide somewhere up near Thunder Bay or what? The weather was for me, really nice, somewhere in the mid 60’s, cloudy, but with slight openings of sun, and a cross tailwind. It was just right for not getting overheated and sweating all over the place. Plus, it was just the right weather for NO bulldogs! 

         I stopped numerous time for picture opps. Continued to ride through hour three, and the climbing kind of tailed off to long stretches of false flat with some real flats. My average up to then was about 12.6 mph, but with the new change of topography, I could really get her spinning up in the 16-18 mph range, so the average began to climb. Then I went from looking at the 80-miler to Dryden a bit more optimistically, believing it could be done in under 6 hours of riding.

         I passed lake after lake. It seemed that just around every corner was another lake. If you have the time, pull out a map and look at Northern Ontario, and just look at all the lakes, thousands, tens of thousands of them. And this area that we’re in right now is more lake than land. I just love it. So I’m getting close to 4 hours into the ride, and I planned on stopping at Vermillion Bay for a quick pick me up – coke, candy bar and whatever else. And low and behold, the sun had began to come out as the thick layers of clouds were clearing. What did this mean? Yup, the bulldogs. I did have a couple of these God awful harpies fly around me, but nothing, NOTHING as bad as what we experienced in Manitoba. So putting up with 2-3 bulldogs flying around is no problem. Matter of fact I’m riding along and I see this massive shadow behind me and I’m thinking, “you’ve got to be kidding me, is that a bulldog?” And I look up and it’s a bird flying over me. “Wow, I must be hallucinating” I thought.

         I get to Vermillion Bay and find a nice little gas station/store and get my coke, a mars bar, and a sandwich. Waited for Ryan for about 25 min.

Ryan pulls in with a fellow cross country cyclist by the name of Rob. Rob began in Prince Rupert, BC, a very nice starting point, darned near in Alaska. We talked for a bit about our trailers, as Rob was considering it, but opted for rear panniers. And he had those puppies piled high with gear. Rob was considering riding further east than Dryden today. So Ryan and Rob grab some food. Ryan and I bid him a temporary farewell as we’ll likely see him sometime in the next couple of days if he’s going further than us today.

         I pulled ahead or Ryan on a climb and kind of got the wheels rolling for that last 42K of riding into Dryden. This is pretty much my MO. I almost always crush the final portion of the day’s ride, just because I can kind of smell the hay in the barnyard thing. I love riding the last 20-30 miles at a good clip……because I’m pretty hungry at the end. A great appetite awaits if you ride the end nice and aggressive. And other than one or two middle cookie climbs, the final stretch to Dryden is flat to rolling, so I’m able to keep some good punch to the pedals. Dryden comes up pretty fast, and it’s been a great day as the sun is now pretty well out, with just cotton ball clouds floating through the sky.

         Now I had seen a sign for Subway some 8 miles outside of Dryden, and Ryan and I have this understanding that we go directly to a Subway if we’re riding separately, and eat and wait for the other. So that was my plan, and I’m sure that when Ryan saw the Subway sign, he knew where to find me. And the Subway is about 3 miles into town. Dryden is probably the largest place we’re going to hit between Kenora and Thunder Bay, and I was pretty concerned about having wifi so as to send out my weekly workouts in a timely manner. So I was banking on getting wifi one way or another in Dryden so as to not be hanging in nowhere land with no wifi in the next 2 days.

         Go into Subway, order my usual, get the same look from the Subway gal that I always get when I order 2 12-inch subs to eat inside – wide eyes and jaw dropped. “Yea, I know,” I tell her, “but I just biked 80 miles and I’m hungry.” I get that look all the time now. It’s pretty funny, especially when Ryan is around because he gets the laughing machine going asap, goofing on our eating abilities. I also got my “bottomless” fountain coke and commenced to devouring the carcass. I always look at my watch when I arrive somewhere so I have an idea of where Ryan is in relation to when I stop. So I noted the time I rolled into Subway, and then began eating. He usually arrives about the time a get one sub down. But this time I get both subs down, 3 20 oz cokes down, and nothing. So I sit for another 15 min, looking at the map. Nothing.

         At that point I was getting cold in the AC, and went outside to sit in the sun and wait for Ryan. Now 45 min roll by, and I just know that I’m not putting that kind of time on him in 24 miles of riding. An hour goes by. Nothing. I go in and fill up my water bottle with ice and water several times. Still nothing. At that point the mind begins to go into all sorts of direction. I know he at the very least flatted. So I’m hoping now for just a flat and no more crazy breakdowns like he’s had in the past. Worst case scenario…..nope, don’t want to go there. So now 1.5 hrs go by, and I’m kind of freaking because he’s not here, and the fact that I have to get my workouts sent out today. I go in and ask about internet access in town. The girls say that the only place they know of is at a Starbucks down further east in town.

         My dilemma is that that Subway is our meeting place, so I cannot and will not leave, but have to find wifi to get those workouts done. And I remember that there was a cheap motel just up the road a half mile that advertised wifi. So I go inside the Subway and ask the staff if and when Ryan comes in, to tell him to go back up the road a half mile to the motel and I’ll be there. And I’m just hoping against all odds that I don’t find myself in another situation like we had on Icefields Parkway, when Ryan was missing for half a day. So I come out and low and behold, there’s Ryan riding down the road. Hallelujah! All those thoughts and worries were just sent spinning down the drail. I was really happy to see that he was ok.

         Turns out he had a flat in the yak tire, and tried to ride a slow leaker for a bit, but it just got too flat. He had to find someone with a air compressor because I had the pump. So he did find the compressor, and put in a new tube, and then finished the ride to Dryden. So I just told him of my plans since the time was way later than either of us had planned on with respect to finding a place to camp. Had to get my wokouts out, and off to the cheap motel it was. Got the place, and here I sit. Most all of my training work is done, and I’m getting hungry again………amazing right? Ryan is chilling doing some channel surfing.

         The next three days to Thunder Bay will probably take us through some of the most remote area that we’ve encountered on the trip. I’m told that the cell service out here is totally hit or miss, and such was the case at Clayton’s farm, where I could not use my air card on my computer. Thus, Diana was kind enough to let us use her computer to send and retrieve emails. But I could not send my workout files, or we could not skype. So doing this kind of ride, in this part of Canada, and both of us having to have some contact with the outside world, at least every other day, is tricky.

         So if you happen to send us an email in the next 3 days and get no response, and/or see no blogging in the next three days, you’ll know why…….no wifi, no aircard access, no nothing. We could likely encounter the same problem between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. But we’ll work on that one once we reach Thunder Bay.

         So, all is well, and we’re fine. Let’s hope for more good weather and a wonderful tailwind to Thunder Bay. Tomorrow……..the town of Ignace or the hamlet of English River. We’ll see how the legs feel and what the terrain and weather will give us. All the best………Pete

Day 40

7/1/09: Off day. 10 miles east of Kenora, Ontario on the farm of Clayton and Diana.
Great day today. We slept in the hall, and I don't mean the one that connects bedrooms in the house. This is a full fledged entertainment hall, complete with stage, which we slept on, and tables, chairs, a bar, full kitchen. The works. That was our sleeping quarters for this little stop-over, and it's great. Clayton pulled out a couple of mattersses and we threw them up on the stage and there we were............bedy bi. Slept like a rock last night!
Got up late this morning, around 8am, and Diana already had the coffee going. Had some coffee and a piece of Diana's wonderful strawberry pie and it was off to the fields to help Clayton put in some fence rail. We worked, Clayton on the tractor with the auger, and Ryan and I sighting holes, laying posts, tamping, and filling the holes with dirt. We worked for about an hour and then it was a good old country breakfast - fresh 3-4 egg omlet, toast and jam and OJ. Then we went back and put in another 30 or so fence posts. I'll have to admit that I was getting a pretty darned good upper body workout for those 3 hours, tamping, shovleing and putting a little body english into the auger. Heck, just enough to work up another crazy appetite. And about 3/4 of the way through Clayton wanted to know if I wanted to take a break and have a beer. "Nope," I said, "let's get this done and then relax. THAT will be beer-thirty!" He got a chuckle and we kept if going to the end.
The we retire to the gazabo overlooking their lake. Clayton brought out a half dozen cold beers, while at the same time Diana brought out some fried chicken and a stir fry. Open wide. It was really nice. I had a great time hanging with Clayton and helping him get his fencing done, as he was running behind due to the rain that the region has been having.
After the munch and beer fest I kind of relaxed and got some computer work done on their computer, did my laundry, and showered up. Around supper time they took us down to the lakefronts in Kenora and Keewatin to sample the Canada Day celebration. By this time it was a bit lower key, as the parades and such were over. Now they did tell us though that this Saturday, when we yanks celabrate the 4th, they will also continue to really celebrate Canada Day. Hopefully we'll be very close to Thunder Bay for that celebration rather than out in the bush somewhere.
While we were down in Keewatin Clayton bought Ryan and I some Raspoutine - french fries with coney island sauce and melted cheddar cheese on top - wonderful, and oh so fattening. Well, Diana just yelled that supper's read. Gotta go and eat.....................AGAIN..........Pete

We had a beautiful day off today. Just chilled. Helped build a fence. Took a nap. Did computer work a bit. We are 1/2 through our ride and I gotta comment on how much food we eat. It is amazing. Pete and I figured out we are eating about 12,000 calories a day or more. It is almost embarrassing when we sit down and eat with people and we have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th portions at a meal. Today Clayton got us this dish called rasputaine. It was like two big potatoes deep fired like french fries and covered with cheese and chili. It must have weighed at least 2 pounds. I ate that. Plus a deep fried bread with cinammon, sugar, and honey. Then I had a big fajita burrito and a piece of pie. This was all around dinner time. I am so full I am goin to bed now. See ya.