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.