Long anticipated update

So we left the flat lands and sunny skies of the prairies for the hills, unseasonably cold weather and bugs of northern Ontario. After several days of rest and recuperation we left Thunder Bay on July 03. It was Amy's birthday so I discreetly decorated her bike with pink tassels and duct taped a princess tiara to her helmet for the day. She continues to have both attached as you will see in some of the photos. Thank goodness for duct tape. We were both feeling pretty good and excited about being on our way again as we left the KOA campground. Weather was a bit cloudy and the highway was better than we thought it would be.

We ended up that evening at a great campsite on a river. The quietest yet that we have had. Celebrated Amy's birthday with a bottle of wine and birthday gifts from Paul and me. Yes, we (Amy) carried the bottle of wine all the way from Thunder Bay.

Next day we made it to Nipigon. We met up with Bob and Jean who are normally retired golfers who decided to bike from coast to coast. Bob is towing a trailer like me which we seem to see more and more in our travels. They were pretty much the first group of cyclists we were able to sit down and compare notes with. It just so happened that another pair of cyclists showed up that same evening at the campsite. This couple is doing the trip in style. They bought some very fancy touring bikes. Bought a van. Hired a driver. The driver drove the van to the west coast while they flew. They ride about 150 to 200 km per day. The driver comes along behind and pretty much does what ever they ask of him. Not a bad way to do it I guess. Not as big an adventure but they can say they did it.

Have I mentioned there are many hills in northern Ontario. Like a lot of them. The winds after Nipigon were mostly in our favor on this day. We had to do a couple of doozy hills today. One was at least 3 km long. The roads here are curvy so when you climb hills you are never sure where the summit is going to be. Each hill we have approached has at least 2 if not 3 summits to them. After the first couple of hills we have learned to accept that what we see as the top is not the summit.

There is very little in the way of towns that we go through. On this day we came across only one gas station that was open. Pretty much every little store we passed that looked like it used to be open is all bordered up. We ended up in Rossport and stayed in the provincial campground here. We were right on the lake. Sandy beach with small pebble rocks. The big rocks (shoals) kind of reminded me of some of the terrain you would mountain bike on in Moab. That night it did spit rain on us. And that is pretty much how the rest of the trip has now been. Rain. Will talk about that later.

Have I mentioned the unseasonably cold weather that Ontario has been hit with this year. Great for riding as it is not too hot. But I have to tell you when in camp in the evening it can be cold. We have had a couple of nights where we have been cooking our dinner in all of our clothes. Luckily we both now have wool long underwear top and bottoms. Hard to believe we would have needed them in the summer. We have summer sleeping bags that are good for down to 9 degrees. We have had a couple of nights where the temperature went down to 2 degrees. We both had all of our clothes on and pretty much shivered during the night.

By this time you are probably wondering are those 2 having fun yet. Have to say a little bit nicer weather would be nice but we are having a great time. We look at the weather forecasts pretty much every day and ask anyone we see for updates. It is pretty much the same the whole way. We have this rain cloud that is following us across the province. We are kind of like Charlie Brown's Linus character.

So after a week of cold weather we finally broke down and decided to book into a motel to get warm again. Stayed in Marathon which is another depressed little town. Marathon does have this great long beach called Pebble Beach. The rocks on this beach are all rounded pebbles about 3 to 5 inches big.

Did I mention the unseasonably cold weather yet? Well this cold snap is also doing something to change the wind pattern. We should be having tail winds but instead the winds are coming mostly from the East. Either the East or just all over the place. So we are not putting in the miles we wanted to do plus it is a lot of effort riding into the winds. Amy is having a much harder time than I am with these head winds. Amy has front and rear panniers and I am towing the Bob trailer. What this means is that I am much more aerodynamic than Amy. Her panniers give her a lot of wind resistance and she really has to put a lot of energy into keeping the bike in a straight line and has to work harder going into the wind. The cross winds can be brutal as well as they will push you all over the road if you are not careful.

So you may think I am having a pretty easy time of it. Not so. While Amy is fighting the winds, any time we go up a hill I have this thing I am towing that wants to drag me down the hill. This is minor though. When I see what Amy is going through I am very happy to have the Bob now.

When I decided to go with the Bob rather than using the panniers I was pretty excited. Have to tell you though that the first couple of days me and Bob did not get along very well. He is great for packing. Just throw everything in the big duffel bag and you are good to go. When you are riding you hardly know he is there except for when you are going up hills. However, as soon as you stop Bob seems to have a mind of his own. He is very hard to control. It has taken me this long (almost 3 weeks) but I think I have figured out his cantankerous ways and I have him sorted out. It seems that when stopped he wants to go one way and me another. We have this mutual understanding now where he knows I am the boss and does what I tell him to do. He is like a 3 year old though. I have to watch him all the time or he (me) gets in trouble.

Have to sign off now as I am getting kicked from one computer to another. Just to say we have had a couple of nice days of sunny weather and when we do they seem to be on our rest days. Had a great day on the beach in Pancake Bay. The beach was sandy and you would have thought you were in Mexico or Hawaii or even Kits Beach without the people though. Even managed a dip twice in the frigid waters of Lake Superior.

On the Road again

Hi everyone a quick update to let you all know we are on the road again. We left the flat plains and sunny skies of the priaires for the hills, bugs and cold of northern ontario. More importantly we are both in good health and the bikes are working great. Not much chance to pop into librarys to catch up on the blog. Will hopefully do a decent update next week.

Some photos

Susan has got you caught up on what we've been doing the last couple days, so I'm just posting a few photos from along the way.

Resting in Thunder Bay

Our flight from Calgary to Thunder Bay was pretty uneventful. The staff at WestJet in Calgary were amazingly helpful in getting our bikes packed and ready for the plane. We arrived in TB at about 3:30 Pm and proceeded to put our bikes back together again. We were rolling along the highway by 5. My gears right from the get go were not working properly. About 4 km into the ride my back wheel seized up and I came to a complete stop. Luckily I was going up a hill.

When we turned the bike over to have a good look at what was going on we saw that I had chain suck and my jockey wheel was stuck in one of my rear spokes. For those of you who do not know much about bikes I can tell you this is not a good thing. We got the tools out fiddled around and finally were able to get the jockey wheel free. This happened 2 more times before we figured out that my hanger was really bent. At this point we decided I had to do a major manoeuvre to fix the problem. So I bit the bullet, Amy looked away and I yanked on the derailer and hanger to try to straighten them out. It looked better for sure after I had done this and luckily nothing broke off. A hanger can snap right off if you try to bend it to much.

TB is fairly flat. At least what we could see from the plane coming in. So we decided to put the bike in the front and rear middle ring for the rest of the ride. Essentially turned my bike into a one speed. No changing gears for the rest of the ride as this is what seemed to precipitate the chain suck.

We made it into the KOA campground about 15 km later. There were a couple of hills along the way but not a bad ride with only one gear. I rode mostly with my right leg to give the left leg a rest. This detour is all about resting my left leg so I tried to do what I could even while riding.

On the way we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. Seeing the memorial was very inspiring and kept me pushing on. Standing there looking at the memorial I thought of all my patients who have fought brave struggles and for those who continue to do so in their own battles with their cancer. This disease does need to be conquered. (Anita, I said a special little prayer for you while at the site).

Next day (Tuesday) we rode into town to try to find a bike shop that would deal with my bike. The first bike shop (Rolling Thunder) does not deal with Norcos but the technician made a call for me to the next bike shop (Fresh Air Experience). They had one hanger for my bike. So off we went. This shop was at the other end of town. Remember I am still only in one gear and am supposed to be resting my leg. Staff again at this shop were very helpful. The bike was fixed and I now have all my gears with a new hanger and a lot of yanking on the derailer and jockey wheel to straighten them out. The tech at the shop did not seem to think I needed new ones. So off we go but I am changing my gears very gingerly. I am going to get Rob to send me 2 new hangers for my bike just in case. We think that the issues with the bike arose from the plane ride from Calgary to TB. The bike was probably mishandled in transit. It does not take much to cause damage to bike parts.

I rode back to camp from here and Amy continued on with the day doing all the errands we needed done such as food and supplies. With the bike fixed the emphasis is now on resting.

Amy is doing great. Her ankle is significant better thank goodness. Her main issue right now is the cold at night. It is unseasonably cold out here. The wind is coming from the east and it is cold. And every now and then it rains. With the easterly winds it is a good thing we are not riding right now anyways.

Canada Day was spent at the campsite. The KOA staff had activities going on pretty much all day. They included tye-dyeing your own t-shirt. We did not participate as we did not want the extra weight on the bikes. Balloon toss and sack race for the kids. A BBQ at dinner with a magic show as entertainment. Then fireworks at night. The day went by so fast. We pretty much spent the whole day wearing all of our clothes because of the inclement weather.

Today is day 2 of full rest days. I can tell you my leg is now significantly better but not 100%. It is only morning though. Amy has gone into town to run errands. Get food and supplies. And hopefully some more wine.

The plan is to start riding tomorrow morning again. We are both anxious to get riding as this is what this trip is all about. Amy is going with the flow a little bit better than me. She keeps reminding me we are on vacation so it does not really matter what happens. She is right. I am still very excited about tomorrow.