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.