Sandi and Lewis' ride across Canada

Day 65 Murray Beach, New Brunswick St. Louis DeKent to Murray Beach Distance: 132 km Day 66 Cornwall, Prince Edward Island Murray Beach to Cornwall Distance: 97 km Day 67 Lower Barney’s River, Nova Scotia Cornwall to Lower Barney’s River Distance 132km Day 68 Wycogomagh, Nova Scotia Lower Barney’s River to Wycogomach Distance: 148km Patience is not a virtue that I am blessed with; I am one of the most impatient of people, I have been told, by many people besides my parents. These past few days, weeks and months even have been an exercise in forced patience; or it has been more like a foul tasting medicine being forced down my throat. The riding over the last few days have offered all of the forces to try anyone’s patience, let alone someone who has none to start with. The elements have all conspired against us; wind, rain, cold temperatures, hills, making a long kilometer day stretch time to such elastic lengths that at times I felt as if I had been banished to a hell where the days ne...

Day 63 St. Louis DeKent (Rest Day) Petit Rocher to St. Louis DeKent Distance: 149 km August 25, 2006 This morning did not start auspiciously, as when I showed up for breakfast at my usual 7:30 time to an empty oatmeal pot, I was told that breakfast was over, and that I could make it myself. These are not the words that should be spoken by the galley crew, as it is galley crew’s responsibility to provide breakfast for one and all. I was too tired to get into it with them, so just grumbled and walked away to make a sandwich; the past two meals around camp had let to big rows between other people besides the BP and myself for a change; I think people are really tired and are coming to the end of their patience-rope, as tempers have been flaring. The breakfast before last had two parties going at each other, to the point where we thought someone’s eyes would pop out from the exertion of physical expression. One of the other riders had more energy and got into it with one of the galley crew...

Day 62 Petit Rocher Campbellton to Petit Rocher Distance: 100 km August 24, 2006 Since our distance was short today, we were beside ourselves with glee, added to by the winds blowing kindly in a favorable direction, plus it being my birthday making the day pretty special. We got a late start to the day since we knew we had such a short distance to cover, and got into the nearby town of Dalhousie by approximately 10:00am, the time at which Tim Horton’s is even more typically rammed than usual. We are used to some odd stares from people, accompanied by the odd comment, but the attention received this morning made us feel like minor celebs. Probably more owing to one of our riders who rides a recumbent bike, or tricyle that draws all kind of attention wherever he goes. He usually comes into camp with stories of people flagging him down only to pepper him with the standard questions, “is there a motor in it?” (no) “What is it made of?” (carbon fiber,) and the like, but this morning he was ...

Day 61 Campbellton, New Brunswick Amqui to Campbellton Distance: 104 km August 23, 2006 Since our group has, in many ways, devolved into much of a circus, one of the riders purchased a clown horn; he likes to honk it at every opportune moment-sometimes directed at the clownish drivers who demonstrate their idiotic driving skills, but more often to announce arrivals, and to punctuate the many bizarre situations we find ourselves in. This morning a herd (gaggle?) of ducks came wandering near our campsite; he gave the horn a toot, and they reacted like they had just heard their home-coming call as they all came waddling over to us, as if this was the standard procedure. What else could we do, but feed them our daily bread; it was a fun way to start the day (especially for me as I am such a fan of ducks.) The Fun People had decided that this was going to be ‘wear underwear on the outside day,’ so those brave enough followed through with the plan; five of us, myself included put our undies ...

Day 60 Amqui, Quebec Trois Pistole to Amqui Distance: 158 km August 22, 2006 Yay, finally we were blessed with the presence of Tailwig! The almighty winds shifted direction at some point during the night and blew in an easterly direction. It was so nice for a change to sail by other cyclists going in the other direction, this time with big grins on our faces! Whereas a few days ago it took us over 30 minutes to do 10 km, today we did over 20km in half an hour, we were just flying along-what a glorious feeling to be able to travel at such speeds (up to 50km/hour on a flat,) it’s this kind of riding that makes all the bad days worth it. The scenery in this part of Quebec is just amazing; the little villages that we go through seem to come from the impressionist era, with their little cozy houses and vibrant gardens bursting with flowers and greenery. At one point we were following the ‘coast line’ and had spectacular views of the St. Lawrence river and the surrounding farm lands; Quebec ...

Day 58 Riviere Quelle Quebec City to Riviere Quelle Distance: 138 km Day 59 Trois Pistoles Riviere Quelle to Trois Pistole Distance: 117km August 21, 2006 If I had thought that I had already had my toughest ride on the tour thus far, I was grievously mistaken; yesterday the wind was measured between 40 and 50km/hour-gusting and railing against us for the entire day. Standing upright in the kinds of gusts yesterday was challenging, but riding a bicycle was beyond what I would consider to be a reasonable activity to do on a day like that. A marine person we met along the way reported that waves on the St. Lawrence were measured at one meter-the height at which gale force winds are determined to be blowing. At lunch a local informed us that the winds ‘usually blow in the other direction.’ I don’t know how many times we have heard that, and it was certainly not of any consolation to hear, knowing what we had to go back outside to face. I also got tired really quickly of seeing cyclists goi...

Day 56 Quebec City (Rest Day) Pointe-Du-Lac to Quebec City Distance: 145 km August 18, 2006 After closer inspection of the questionable bunks in the dorms, we decided to sleep in our wee tent on the beach; it was a beautiful night, with a sky jammed with twinkly-stars. At approximately 4:00 a.m, which must be the witching hour for skunks, Lewis and I woke up to the overwhelming stench of the wretched creature once again-this time we had left our ‘fly’ cover off the tent, leaving us more exposed to the elements, skunks included. We both lay there dead-still hoping not to anger the stinky bugger in any way, so that we would not have to suffer the same fate that the Aussies did. After what seemed like an eternity, the fetid bouquet dissipated, and we could breathe once again-my heart was racing though, as I was terrified it had given our bare tent a wee squirt of the dreadful goo just for good measure. Today’s ride was one of my favorite so far; the scenery in Quebec keeps getting better,...

Day 55 Pointe-Du-Lac, Quebec Mont St-Hillaire to Pointe-Du-Lac Distance: 130 km August 17, 2006 In more Aussie news they not only had to chuck out their beloved tent, but their pillows and then their air mattresses as well, making last night’s sleep very uncomfortable for them, on the cold hard inhospitable ground. Luckily tonight we’re staying at a camp where we are sleeping in dorms so they are spared having to sleep on the hard floor again, until we reach Quebec City tomorrow where they can purchase new, skunk-scent-free bedding. Our ride today was very pretty, the Quebec countryside is quite beautiful with its rolling terrain and little farms. We rode with ‘the fun people’ today, who ride at a more relaxed and enjoyable pace, and actually do take the time to smell the proverbial roses along the way. Mercury must be in retrograde again as four people got flat tires today, slowing the ride down even more which was fine, as we no longer feel the urge to race into camp; it seems that t...

Day 54 Mont St-Hillaire, Quebec Hudson to Mont St-Hillaire Distance: 120 km August 16, 2006 Breaking news-a skunk felled the mighty Aussie Taj! This morning at approximately 4:00am the little, furry, black and white creature was nosing around their tent, when Peter, thinking whatever it was that was scratching and poking around could be discouraged by a solid ‘whack’, was unpleasantly surprised when the beast retaliated by spilling the nasty, oily contents of it’s smelly little stink-sack all over the Kookaburra Lodge. Following the nasty spillage from the wicked creature, the contents of the Kookaburra Lodge came tumbling out of the tent, coughing, splattering, and gasping for air. Poor Carol-Anne was retching and vomiting from the foul stench. Since their tent had been sprayed, all the contents of the tent were tainted by the fetid stench; they could not return to sleep, so got up for a cup of tea to ponder their stinky predicament. In the meantime, the brazen skunk returned for more...

Day 53 Hudson Ottawa to Hudson, Quebec Distance: 164 km August 15, 2006 This morning we all met at the Parliament buildings at 8:15 to have our pictures taken; as usual Lewis and I were the last to leave Carlton, and scrambled to catch up with everyone else so we could also be immortalized with the rest of the TDC in front of our nation’s government HQ. One of the riders works for National Capital Commission, and organized for us to visit his work around the corner from the Parliament Buildings and have coffee and donuts with the NCC team; they had very kindly put a package together for us, which included maps of Ottawa as well as information about what was happening around town-this was very useful as usually we have no clue what is happening and end up wandering around whatever town, aimlessly hoping to figure out what is going on-and usually don’t, so end up doing laundry and hanging about in internet cafes on our rest days. The NCC presented us with pins in the shape of the maple l...

Day 49 Carrying Place Dalington to Carrying Place Distance: 116km Day 50 Perth Road Village Carrying Place to Perth Road Village Distance: 129 km Day 51 Ottawa Perth Road Village to Ottawa (rest day) Distance: 135km Our stay in Toronto was brief, but everything we wanted it to be; we were well taken care of, fed lots of good food, and got to spend some brief time with our family. We also briefly went downtown which was a strange experience as I have not been around so many people in a long time; the largest city since Vancouver has been Regina, which, when we were there was either deserted, or they don’t have enough people there as there hardly seemed to be anyone on the streets. Not like downtown TO, where my elbows are rusty from not having to push my way along the side-walks. (Ok, maybe not that bad, but TO is certainly not lacking the masses) After all the lonely desolate towns we have come across along the way, which have given the impression to visitors that Canada is devoid of p...

Day 45 Owen Sound Tobermory to Owen Sound Distance 131 km Day 46 Toronto (rest day) Owen Sound to Alliston Distance 160km Since we’ve had seven days of riding, people are tired and have been anxiously awaiting the rest day in Alliston, ourselves included. My folks are picking us up and will transport us back to civilization-we are really looking forward to seeing our family, and our cat, who probably doesn’t care whatsoever that we have been away, and will be visiting her (making a special trip as she is staying at Lewis’ cousin’s place.) Someone got to lookin’ at a map of our destinations and figured out a way to shave about 40km off the ride yesterday; the new proposed route kept people on the highway and prevented them from seeing the gorgeous scenery leaving Tobermory. I was tempted to take the short cut, but since we are bureaucratic masochists who must follow the rules in the pursuit of pain, we decided to take the regular route, and pulled into camp hours after everyone else, wh...

Day 44-Tobermory, Ontario Manitoulin Island to Tobermory (ferry crossing day) Distance: 44 km Temp: hot Since we caught the ferry to Tobermory, our riding day was much shorter than usual. We had to have all of our stuff on the truck by 7:00am, and be at the ferry dock by 8:40am, 35 km away, which wasn’t a problem (for some getting up early and having the stuff loaded was the problem, me included.) Turns out that last night after the horse-shoers packed in their rowdy game, a bunch of teens decided to take up what sounded to be a very violent and loud game of tag. We were all glad when one of them was wounded and started to cry, thus ending the game past 11pm. Since Hedwig has declared war on us of late (over more than a week of his unwelcome and unwanted company) we struggled and battled our way over the relatively short distance to the ferry. I am even more convinced of my earlier stated theory that Environment Canada runs a racket; they report that there are prevailing winds from the...

Day 43-Manitowaning, Ontario Massey to Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island Distance: 111 km Temp: 26 degrees Thankfully our galley crew breakfast was successful, both in reviews and in our compatibility-we were all pleasantly surprised and happy to begin the day without drama. BP and I seemed to have moved on from our last spat and have managed to find a common ground-I am very impressed with our grown-up behaviour and ability to get along. We started the ride on a country road, which although gravelly, was relatively traffic-free. After stopping at Tim’s for a tea we set out onto a much hillier and busier route; the first half of the ride again being terrifying due to the complete lack of shoulder, and aggressive holiday traffic. A couple of people pulled into camp in near tears due to the traffic, as one rider was very nearly hit in a similar situation that we faced yesterday with an overtaking car coming from the other direction. At dinner we have all been sitting around and plotting pl...

Day 42-Massey, Ontario Thessalon to Massey Distance: 130 km Temp: 26 degrees So far today’s ride was one of the worst so far; the traffic was horrendous, probably owing to it being a long weekend, but not helping matters was the absence or decayed state of the shoulders (6 inches if we were lucky.) I have never been more terrified on the bike as I was today, pulling into camp a twisted knot of spent adrenaline and nerves. The worst moment was when we had a massive SUV overtaking a truck, coming in the other direction, so at the point they passed us we had a tractor-trailer, an SUV, and ourselves sharing a very small road. This SUV must have been going over 140km/hour trying to pass this truck-so having a heaving mass of metal bulleting towards you at such high speeds gets the heart rate near the red line. At the last minute we decided to ditch the road, and jump onto the gravel shoulder, forcing us off our bikes. We were jumping up and down and giving the one-finger-salute we were so ...

Day 41-Thessalon, Ontario Pancake Bay Provincial Park to Thessalon Distance: 162 km Temp: hot Another hundred-miler today-the hills weren’t as bad as the past few days as we are now out of the Canadian Shield, which is responsible for most of The Big Hills. We had one really steep and long hill heading into Sault St. Marie (The Soo) which had my muscles gasping for air, reminding me of little baby birds, mouths agape, screaming for food. We stopped off in the Soo for a free coffee, offered by ‘JJ’ who had done the ‘Tour D’Afrique’ last year; some riders met him at a coffee shop yesterday and they got to chattin’ about his adventure, and ours. He owns a hotel in town, and obviously felt some camaraderie with us, and offered us the beverage, to which we all gladly agreed. Afterwards we set out through some of the streets of the town; it’s quite a pretty town. The ride today was a mix of undulating hills, treed terrain, and open fields-the area is becoming noticeably more populated, as th...

Day 40-Pancake Bay, Ontario Wawa to Pancake Bay Provincial Park Distance: 163 km Temp: mild and overcast/rainy We set out late this morning as we’d stayed in a motel overnight and had to get back to the campsite to take down our tent since we’d set it up anyhow, in case we decided to go back to camp the night before the ride (we decided against it.) Since we got to camp late, we missed breakfast so ended up eating at a truck-stop with really bad service, putting us even later into the morning. We were on the road shortly after 10am; hours after the rest of the group had set out. As mentioned previously, some kilometers come easily, and tick by relatively quickly, and other times it feels as if you have to fight for every one-today was one of those days. It seemed like the whole ride was uphill (much of it was, at 1220 meters of climbing ) but adding Hedwig to the mix turned the ride into one of the most challenging so far; with all elements conspiring against us, I felt like throwing e...

Day 38-Wawa, Ontario White Lake Provincial Park to Wawa Distance: 129km Temp: 27 and raining I was woken up at about 4:30 am by the distant rumblings of thunder and the light pitter-pat of rain on our tent. I drifted in and out of sleep as the thunder continued to build until there was an ear splitting crash, followed by our tent lighting up completely by the lightning that then continued to flicker on and off for the next while. The skies let lose and the rest of the night and morning we got hammered by the rain. We tried prolonging getting up in the hopes that the rain would let up, but no such luck. I’d left my shoes outside the tent, and got a rude wake up when I stepped into soggy, wet sandals, and squelched my way over to breakfast, where I had a soggy egg on bread (only because I stepped out into the rain from underneath the half-tarp.) Since we were straggling, again we were one of the last to leave (as always.) The rain did seem to let up enough by the time breakfast was over ...

Day 37-White Lake Provincial Park Terrace Bay to White Lake Provincial Park Distance: 153km Temp: 33 degrees Half way! Today Megan met us at the half way point on our ride, to celebrate the half way mark of our tour- 3 759km, and 3 759 km to go! We had a nice lunch while overlooking Lake Superior; we thought it such a civilized way to do the ride and suggested that she meet us every day at the half way point (no such luck.) There is a group called Bikes For Bibles who are traversing the country at the same time as us; we’ve crossed paths a couple of times (either they clean out all the ice cream and pie at the stops, or we do-whoever gets there first.) But they have volunteers who cook for them the whole way, and supply lunch along the way as well. A few of us have considered converting just for the food-I’d say it’d be worth it. We notice that some strangers are especially nice to us-like overly nice, and we finally figured out that we were being mistaken for the Bible Bikers-but we d...