Leg 6 - West Hawk Lake, Man. to Kakabeka Falls, ON - July 8th to 11th

Leg 6 total: 532.3km
Grand total: 3449.9km

Leg 5 - West Hawk Lake, Manitoba to Kakabeka Falls, Ontario

Wednesday, July 11th

Distance and time: 114.2 km at 4:48
Route: Upsala to Kakabeka Falls

Yay, halfway there!

Cycled today in three segments but the last was quite hot and hilly so should've started earlier - an ongoing and unrealized intention so far as you know.

We passed into EDT this morning, and also the watershed divide.

EDT, another welcome sign of home

Near the town of Raith, an interesting fact!

Traffic was a little heavier and the paved shoulders diminished to about a foot wide, except for tantalizing little random sections where it widened out nicely. Most of the road was fairly new in terms of pavement so it is strange that an extra foot or two wasn't added to the sides. Maybe Ontario really is becoming a have-not province.

Stopped for lunch in Shabaqua and fortunately from there to Kakabeka the shoulders were paved a couple of metres wide. Yippee! We also met Sebastian in Shabaqua and cycled with him to Kakabeka. He is originally from Venezuela and now lives in Toronto, and is doing the whole nine yards (Victoria to St. John's). We shared some great laughs and stories over a beer (young hot thirsty men don't say no to a cold beer, now do they?)

Sebastian and his well equipped bike

Following Sebastian - he can take photos while cycling (more dexterous than me)

Sebastian's bike is a Trek touring model and his gear was compact and organized, just like I would do it if I was twenty years younger :) .

Did a quick turnaround at Kakabeka Falls and headed SW down country roads to Reta Lake and Kathy and Luc's "camp". It will be wonderful to take a break in this heat, with a cool lake beckoning!

Kakabeka Falls

Tuesday, July 10th

Distance and time: 148.5 km at 6:19
Route:  from 40 km west of Ignace to Upsala, ON on hwy 17

2nd Installment
We had the Ignace beach all to ourselves and enjoyed a nice little dunk before lunch and heading back on the hwy. 

We had the beach all to ourselves

Ignace lawn art

Unfortunately there were 18km of construction coming out of Ignace and although traffic was light, the surface of the pavement was very rough and there were long sections of gravel. I just had to be careful and slog through it, but it did slow me down. Late in the afternoon I passed a cyclist with a trailer whom we had seen west of Brandon. Wayne and the RV weren't too far ahead so I invited him in for a cold beer and to swap stories of on the road.

Next time Marc cycles across the country he will go for a lighter bike and panniers instead of the trailer

Marc is from Montreal and started in Vancouver, following the TCH. He had a hairy time in Manitoba east of Winnipeg so was grateful to learn of a better route for the next time. He planned on cycling right to Montreal but got a call yesterday with a job offer starting next week. So Marc and his bike trailer will hop on a Greyhound tomorrow in Upsala to travel back home a little more quickly. 

We rolled into Upsala early in the evening after a fairly gentle day in terms of hills, temperature, traffic and tail wind. We found a campsite next to a small lake and behind a gas station. Here is a shot of our view tonight.

I went in for a swim as soon as I could and it felt awesomely refreshing. It's a large day indeed when one can have two swims.

The plan tomorrow is to get an early start and head to Kakabeka Falls. From there we will drive to Reta Lake, and the "camp" (Thunder Bay lingo for cottage) of my oldest and dearest friend Kathy and her husband Luc. I have been several times over the years and always have a marvelous time with these guys. So we will be taking it easy there for a couple days, without internet or blog updates.

1st Installment
We are stopped in Ignace at a beautiful visitors info centre, adjacent to the library with internet access.  The library is not yet open, but how convenient there are park benches outside in the shade, and with an electrical outlet!

Ignace info centre and library - what a find!

 

Our plan is to hit the town beach soon and then carry on to somewhere near Upsala.  It's about 100 km and hot, but should be do-able.  The shoulders are OK so far today, about a metre wide and well paved with intermittent widening every once in awhile.  I can live with that!

Monday, July 9th

Distance and time: 132.5 km at 5:34
Route:  from 20 km west of Vermilion Bay to 40 km west of Ignace on hwy 17

Last night wasn't too bad despite being close to the hwy noise. Traffic seemed to die down completely during the wee hours and I had a great sleep. We're parked again tonight off the hwy, this time at a provincial picnic site. It's quite pretty and there are no signs indicating a ban on overnight parking so I hope we get away with it.

Tonight"s rest spot

The morning was great with warm sunshine, a moderate breeze behind us and less traffic than yesterday. The paved shoulders felt like a huge bike lane of my own and the rolling hills melted away while I daydreamed. We pulled into Dryden before noon and found our way to the hospital to see about getting my stitches out. I asked at the paramedic office and they directed me to a walk-in clinic. The clinic was empty but couldn't take me because I wasn't a resident of Dryden, and suggested I go to emergency. Luckily all these sites were adjacent to each other and the parking fee was only $2. The hospital was also fairly quiet and hustled me through since there was no need to see a doctor, other than briefly for him to confirm they were ready to come out and rib me for wiping out in the first place . We had to soak the elbow in a saline solution for half an hour or so to soften the scabbing, and the stitches came out more easily than I expected. The nurse commented on how many knots there were and also advised it was wise on our part to get them taken out there instead of trying to do it ourselves. The emergency ward in the hospital was spotless, efficient but relaxed, and friendly - quite different from recent experiences in Ottawa. The Dr. appeared in a pair of shorts and a golf shirt!

I departed Dryden while Wayne went to see about getting a chip in the windshield fixed. He timed it right and was in and out and caught up to me in less than an hour. Unfortunately those wonderful paved shoulders ran out about 35 km east of Dryden, reduced to almost nothing for the next 20 km and then were intermittent for the rest of the day. Wayne cycled behind me for most of the 20 km, just for that extra measure of security - i.e. there is safety in numbers. The traffic wasn't bad and the only times we had to stop and veer off into the gravel occurred when opposing and overtaking traffic passed near our position. So we had to keep an eye on traffic both ways and judge accordingly. On a couple of occasions it was the oncoming traffic that posed a greater risk - like when someone pulled out to pass without seeing me, and ended up coming directly at me - a bit unnerving!

At the end of the day Wayne had gone back to get the RV and we had agreed to meet at the next picnic site unless I decided to go further and would call him. Well, the site is a bit off the road so after using the outhouse I decided to head back to the hwy so he could see me. Instead I saw my support go whizzing by, oblivious to the site. Thank goodness for cell phones and the ability to say, "hey, you passed me".


Sunday, July 8th

Distance and Time: 137.1km to 5:58
Route: West Hawk Lake to 20km east of Vermillion Bay, ON on hwys 44, 1 and 17

We drove back a few km into Manitoba to start from our finishing point yesterday. Fortuitously we filled up with gas at $1.22/litre vs $1.35 in Ontario. I mentioned the barricade closing off the visitors centre at the Ontario border in my update yesterday. Turns out it is closed permanently and services downloaded to the regional info centre in Kenora. It's really hard to figure out that decision as hwy 17 is the only gateway into Ont from western Canada. It's even harder to believe that the decision blind-sided the staff in Kenora, who aren't yet up to speed on provincial stuff, and the local MP (I got the full scoop in Kenora). Plus there are no signs coming into Kenora for visitor info and one must divert about 12km off the main hwy. Apparently three new visitor info centres opened in Toronto. I wonder which party the local MP represents.

At any rate, the hwy to Kenora was excellent - lots of traffic, yes, but a newly paved full lane wide shoulder. We went into town and got the info we needed on the roads along the two options. We also encountered a couple of strange souls. I stopped to talk to a fully laden cyclist to ask him about the routes he had taken. He gave me a blank look and simply said "the main one". I mentioned our routes and the book advice on Manitoba and upcoming decisions and he just shrugged. Wayne went to get the book for him to have a look at (thinking he might want the camping stops for the next few days) but he didn't even glance at it. He was from Inverness, Scotland and a real "lone wolf", seeming to just be playing it all by ear as he goes along. He said he started in Horseshoe Bay and was headed for Toronto and when I asked if he was taking the Manitoulin ferry and going down the Bruce Peninsula, he gave me another blank look. Maybe I am over-planning this trip and should perhaps fly more by the seat of my pants?

At the same time I was talking to the buddy from Scotland, Wayne was in the RV calling me when a very distraught young aboriginal girl knocked on the door. She was in tears about being woken up late and missing her pick up ride into town. Wayne told her he could take her to town but he had to stop at the info centre with me first. She was still sobbing when I met her but it was difficult to get accurate info from her about what she needed. The girls at the centre helped direct us to the mall where the girl was supposed to meet her mother to go out of town. She calmed down and seemed OK when we dropped her off at the Zellers mall, but then we went back to pick up a couple things at No Frills and she was still there all alone waiting on a bench - no phone, no money, no purse, nothing to occupy her. We asked if she was OK and she nodded, but I'm going to wonder about her for a while. Puzzling as well is the fact that the mall wasn't that far away and she would have gotten there far sooner if she had walked instead of waiting for us while at the visitors centre.

Like I said, the girls at the visitor centre provided a lot of help and the centre itself is a gorgeous structure with a beautiful view of the lake.

They called around to other visitor centres to ask about paved shoulders and the outcome was that the TCH was good and hwys 71 and 11 had narrower shoulders but they are paved as well. Although the extra distance on the southern route is 88km. I had been leaning towards this option after some recent feedback from my friend Kathy in Thunder Bay. So despite the extra day of cycling we opted for this route. The shoulders did indeed become quite narrow and after the first semi-truck passed I started to have second thoughts. To put it in a nutshell, we had a brief discussion and decided to give the TCH a try for at least a few km. So we backtracked and a few km turned into 55 on the TCH before we called it a day. Althouh the shoulders aren't as wonderful as the leg to Kenora, they have been quite decent so far. I guess buddy from Inverness is somewhere ahead of me so maybe I'll catch up with him sometime this week.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the change in terrain today with lots of rolling hills and curves and rock formations. It all feels so familiar, just like the landscape around Ottawa. It's also a nice change to start using all my gears again and more of the core muscles.  The weather today too was super with a high of 25 and a cooling breeze most of the day.

We are parked in a spot similar to last night, so I won't add another boring photo of the bush! We're closer to the hwy so it's going to be a bit noisier. One of these days we'll get back to a regular campsite with a lake and hook-up, but in the meantime this is quite OK. I've been thinking about my comment the other day concerning bringing the wrong bike. I guess my mind was tied up with road conditions that day, and after a day like today I realize bringing both bikes would have been the better decision. As Sam put it, "you didn't bring the extra bike but you brought your entire tea collection. It's the only cupboard in the house which is completely empty!". Hmmm I think she is hinting at a funny sense of priorities there. :)