Day 33, 34-Thunder Bay
Quetico to Thunder Bay, Ontario
Distance: 174 km
Hot then rainy

Well, wouldn’t you know it, the Button Pusher (BP) and I got into a huge row in the parking low at Kakabaka Falls; without going into too much detail, all there is to tell is that I am all that is logical and reasonable and he has the logical reasoning of a teenaged stubborn donkey.
I tried to begin the conversation like an adult, inviting him to discuss a matter that needed attention.
He refused any such engagement and immediately went into the equivalent of sticking his fingers in his ears and saying, “lu lu luluuuu, I can’t hear you,”.
I attempted to engage him again in adult dialogue which he again met with the same type response.
At this point I lost any cool I had left and regrettably made it personal by asking him if it was any wonder that no one liked him on the tour.
It got ugly from then on in, and I am embarrassed to say we caused quite the scene.
Since we were engaged in battle at a popular tourist spot, particularly on the path to the falls, people had to slink by to get around us.
Perhaps the location was not ideal but then again, one does not exactly plan for such things, or do they?
I couldn’t believe his seismic capacity for being unreasonable-it was something to behold, and even worse, involve oneself with.
Eventually Lewis could see that the argument was futile and tried to distract and disengage me from battle, but at this point I had could taste blood, so to speak and was not about to let go, foolishly of course, as how does one possibly reason with such a person who clearly lacks the capacity to do so?
I apologized afterwards to our very quiet and reserved co-riders who looked like they were witnessing the brutal slaying of furry kittens; I think confrontation is avoided at all costs for these folks, but not for BP and I!
Had we owned swords or guns they would have been drawn at that point.
Later that evening I did apologize to him for making it personal, as I felt that was a below the belt move, but I still stand by my overall stance on the matter and him in general, but since we’re on the same galley crew peace had to be made.

Anyhow, that was certainly worth a good few hours of distraction and entertainment, even if it was at the cost of my own mental sanity.

Besides that, the ride yesterday was long, at 174 km, but good nonetheless.
We climbed 890 meters over the course of the day, yet only gained 50 meters overall in altitude, illustrating the rolley-polley type of terrain we are dealing with.
We’re staying in residence at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay; it’s a nice campus with many trees and a strange looking half drained lake/pool outside the cafeteria.
The campus is connected by a series of tunnels and it apparently gets very cold here; hard to believe as it’s stinky hot right now.
Once again, there is so much to do on a rest day; we have laundry to do, internet, phone calls, eating, and of course, bike repair.

Rumor had it that there is a bike mechanic here in Thunder Bay at a place called Petrie’s who is supposed to be one the best mechanics in Ontario-so we had to check him out.
After getting lost and riding around for longer that I was hoping to, we found the store, and, he did not disappoint.
It is rare that I come across someone who is a true ‘master’ or guru in their field, but this guy truly lived up to his reputation.
We stood around for a few hours watching him work (on our bikes) and with others who came into the store in search of some bicycle wisdom from him; he has a true fan club.
He explained things to me about the bike that I could never dream about understanding, his fingers whirred about the bike, reading it like it were a story, inferring each click and tick from the This and That of the bike, making minor adjustments as he went along.
It was like watching surgery with a master surgeon.
Lewis has seen four other mechanics who have all told him that there was nothing wrong with his headset; Lewis insisted there was.
I thought he was just being a bike hypochondriac, but as soon as this guy felt the bike he picked up on a very subtle defect and figured out the problem-a true genius.

Tomorrow’s ride is 109km, but is apparently pretty much a straight climb. I hope legs will be in a cooperative mood tomorrow, and will take into account the rest day they just had-I better get them off to bed.

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