Somewhere else to be
Looking for another chance
To ride into the sun
-Velvet Underground - "Ride Into The Sun"
Thessalon to Massey – Day 41
130 kms / 80 miles
It is always a treat to start the day mosquito free and the campground in Massey provided that pleasure. I’m not sure if it was because we were so close to Lake Huron or whether it was because of the wind or because it was the end of July – whatever the reason, our mosquito free French Toast breakfast was wonderful. Sheer bliss. I love mosquito free southern Ontario. It was a ‘pink sky’ morning which made me a bit nervous but I didn’t really ca
re – the sheer joy associated with the lack of mosquitoes certainly overshadowed any apprehension I had about starting the day and the possibility of rain.
Today was, in a nutshell, an easy riding day and a nice break from some of the more challenging long days we’ve had over the past week. It was fun because there were ‘services’ (eg. Villages with restaurants / gas stations etc.) along the way where we could stop and rest. The villages also provide excellent markers for distances as often they are signposted along the road. Hotels, motels and restaurants are also often advertised which provide us cyclists with plenty to read which is always a treat – particularly if the cyclist is good at multi tasking.
We started out the day by cycling through Thessalon which has as its home one of the “Top 10 Places in Canada to Eat” – we didn’t stop there as we’d already had our French Toast fill earlier that morning.
The road conditions were less than ideal as there was a very, very narrow shoulder (sometimes even non existent) and the traffic was made up of a lot of families taking a Winnibego out for the first time. This is the traffic a cyclist has to be aware of – often the giant traveling campers are rentals and the drivers are inexperienced and have no conception of how ‘wide’ their load is. Campers (with the giant rental stickers on the sides) as well as the Budget moving trailers (attached behind cars) are also vehicles to be especially wary of. Ironically it’s the transports and giant trucks which are the most careful and attentive.
We made a stop at Blind River at the 58kms mark for a Timmy’s – I am pretty sure that the entire population of Blind River decided to have a coffee at that very moment as the line s
eemed to go out the door..! It was a nice morning stop and great to catch up with everyone over a morning coffee. Brendan, Andrew, Ian and I cycled together and made good time. I find the day seems to go by so much faster when we make little rest stops every 20kms or so and this particular Timmy’s fit well in our stopping routine. It also provides an excellent opportunity to fill water bottles etc.
The terrain was relatively flat with some hills but everything was manageable. We also had the advantage of a wonderful tail wind blowing from the North West which certainly aided our average speed of 28.5kms / hour for the day. We passed through Spanish at about 1 pm – an interesting town especially as tomorrow we will pass through a town called, ‘Espanola’… I wonder what the link is between the two towns..!
Our campground was clean and easy to find just outside of Massey. We got in very early (2pm) so I had plenty of time for laundry, setting up and organising my tent and getting caught up on my blog. I hate rushing but arriving at camp at a reasonable hour certainly does have its advantages..!
The campground was lovely and our campsite was set between a stand of tall pine trees. The needles from the trees provided a soft bed for our tents. Unfortunately however the Park was in the midst of a regeneration programme so we had to set up tents in the grassy field outside of the pine stands. Adjacent to the campground was a lovely river with some waterfalls… unfortunately it wasn’t suitable for my triathalon swim training so I worked on the mental aspect of the swim which is apparently also part of the process. I actually prefer thinking about the swim more than actually doing it.
It was Laura’s birthday so we all joined in and sang over giant slabs of chocolate cake lathered in white icing after a wonderful meal of chilli. I was exhausted and very happy to crawl into my tent that evening at around 8:30pm. It took a whole of .5 seconds to fall asleep.
130 kms / 80 miles
It is always a treat to start the day mosquito free and the campground in Massey provided that pleasure. I’m not sure if it was because we were so close to Lake Huron or whether it was because of the wind or because it was the end of July – whatever the reason, our mosquito free French Toast breakfast was wonderful. Sheer bliss. I love mosquito free southern Ontario. It was a ‘pink sky’ morning which made me a bit nervous but I didn’t really ca
re – the sheer joy associated with the lack of mosquitoes certainly overshadowed any apprehension I had about starting the day and the possibility of rain.Today was, in a nutshell, an easy riding day and a nice break from some of the more challenging long days we’ve had over the past week. It was fun because there were ‘services’ (eg. Villages with restaurants / gas stations etc.) along the way where we could stop and rest. The villages also provide excellent markers for distances as often they are signposted along the road. Hotels, motels and restaurants are also often advertised which provide us cyclists with plenty to read which is always a treat – particularly if the cyclist is good at multi tasking.
We started out the day by cycling through Thessalon which has as its home one of the “Top 10 Places in Canada to Eat” – we didn’t stop there as we’d already had our French Toast fill earlier that morning.
The road conditions were less than ideal as there was a very, very narrow shoulder (sometimes even non existent) and the traffic was made up of a lot of families taking a Winnibego out for the first time. This is the traffic a cyclist has to be aware of – often the giant traveling campers are rentals and the drivers are inexperienced and have no conception of how ‘wide’ their load is. Campers (with the giant rental stickers on the sides) as well as the Budget moving trailers (attached behind cars) are also vehicles to be especially wary of. Ironically it’s the transports and giant trucks which are the most careful and attentive.
We made a stop at Blind River at the 58kms mark for a Timmy’s – I am pretty sure that the entire population of Blind River decided to have a coffee at that very moment as the line s
eemed to go out the door..! It was a nice morning stop and great to catch up with everyone over a morning coffee. Brendan, Andrew, Ian and I cycled together and made good time. I find the day seems to go by so much faster when we make little rest stops every 20kms or so and this particular Timmy’s fit well in our stopping routine. It also provides an excellent opportunity to fill water bottles etc.The terrain was relatively flat with some hills but everything was manageable. We also had the advantage of a wonderful tail wind blowing from the North West which certainly aided our average speed of 28.5kms / hour for the day. We passed through Spanish at about 1 pm – an interesting town especially as tomorrow we will pass through a town called, ‘Espanola’… I wonder what the link is between the two towns..!
Our campground was clean and easy to find just outside of Massey. We got in very early (2pm) so I had plenty of time for laundry, setting up and organising my tent and getting caught up on my blog. I hate rushing but arriving at camp at a reasonable hour certainly does have its advantages..!
The campground was lovely and our campsite was set between a stand of tall pine trees. The needles from the trees provided a soft bed for our tents. Unfortunately however the Park was in the midst of a regeneration programme so we had to set up tents in the grassy field outside of the pine stands. Adjacent to the campground was a lovely river with some waterfalls… unfortunately it wasn’t suitable for my triathalon swim training so I worked on the mental aspect of the swim which is apparently also part of the process. I actually prefer thinking about the swim more than actually doing it.
It was Laura’s birthday so we all joined in and sang over giant slabs of chocolate cake lathered in white icing after a wonderful meal of chilli. I was exhausted and very happy to crawl into my tent that evening at around 8:30pm. It took a whole of .5 seconds to fall asleep.
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