Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin' music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again
On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again.
- Willie Nelson - "On the road again"
Kenora to Caliper Lake – 19 July
127kms / 79 miles
I was sooooo not in the mood to get up this morning but decided to have a shower to kick start my day at about 5:45am. A heavy dew covered my tent and it had been quite a humid evening so everything was wet and sticky. Brendan and Andrew were both on Galley Duty so I was rather pleased to use that as an excuse to pop down to Tim Hortons after breakfast for my 2nd breakfast and arranged for them to meet me there. I really enjoy the social aspect of the trip but there are those lovely quiet moments, away from the bikes, the lycra, the chain lube where you sit in
a coffee shop – “the real world” – alone, savouring every gulp of coffee and attempting not to think about the fact that you have 127kms to bike that day. I waited in Timmy’s for about 45 minutes before being collected by the boys to get ‘back in the saddle again’. Whilst it had taken about 10kms uphill to get into Kenora two days ago it took about 3 minutes to get out of Kenora and back into the rolling hills..
It was not long before I began to really miss the Prairies. Whilst the Prairies are uber flat and peaceful, the Canadian Shield is rocky, hilly, and ever changing. Every bend reveals another lake and another rolling hill. You’re either biking uphill or downhill – there really isn’t any inbetween. And the hills never seem to stop rolling – up and down and up and down as the r
oad wound its way around Lake of the Woods. I love the scenery – it is absolutely gorgeous and a welcome change from Manitoba which was a bit ‘monotonous’ BUT it was also a lot more difficult terrain to manage. I’ve come to realise that I have the endurance to go long distances (perhaps one of the reasons I loved the Prairies) but unfortunately still don’t have the strength (or the chain ring!) to power up and down the hills of the Canadian Shield. BUT, having said that, by the end of the day I did get used to it and was finding it a bit easier and can definitely feel myself improving and getting stronger. In that respect it's very positive. It’s a bit like biking in the wind – the less you think about it, the easier it is. Plus, all of the changing of the gears is definitely helping my left wrist which is now finding a bit more action switching between my big cog and my small cog so I'm slowly building up strength again and regaining feeling.
The number of towns (and road side advertising) is also increasing which breaks the ride up quite nicely and also provides plenty of excuses to sto
p and eat and/or check out historic sights. There were very few places to stop between Kenora and Caliper Lake (our destination for the day) but we did manage to find a lovely little Hotel / Restaurant at the Sioux Narrows where I devoured a hamburger and chocolate milk. It was a short stop to break up the day as we still had about 40kms left to go. The bridge we crossed over entering the ‘heart’ of Sioux Narrows used to be he longest single span wooden bridge in North America. The new bridge that opened in 2007 reused some of the timber from the original bridge.
I biked the last 30ish kms with Laura and Tak which was nice. It was a rolling ride and not overly difficult but I was very tired and was looking forward to getting to camp in good time to make the most of the afternoon and get caught up on organising my ‘stuff’.
127kms / 79 miles
I was sooooo not in the mood to get up this morning but decided to have a shower to kick start my day at about 5:45am. A heavy dew covered my tent and it had been quite a humid evening so everything was wet and sticky. Brendan and Andrew were both on Galley Duty so I was rather pleased to use that as an excuse to pop down to Tim Hortons after breakfast for my 2nd breakfast and arranged for them to meet me there. I really enjoy the social aspect of the trip but there are those lovely quiet moments, away from the bikes, the lycra, the chain lube where you sit in
a coffee shop – “the real world” – alone, savouring every gulp of coffee and attempting not to think about the fact that you have 127kms to bike that day. I waited in Timmy’s for about 45 minutes before being collected by the boys to get ‘back in the saddle again’. Whilst it had taken about 10kms uphill to get into Kenora two days ago it took about 3 minutes to get out of Kenora and back into the rolling hills..It was not long before I began to really miss the Prairies. Whilst the Prairies are uber flat and peaceful, the Canadian Shield is rocky, hilly, and ever changing. Every bend reveals another lake and another rolling hill. You’re either biking uphill or downhill – there really isn’t any inbetween. And the hills never seem to stop rolling – up and down and up and down as the r
oad wound its way around Lake of the Woods. I love the scenery – it is absolutely gorgeous and a welcome change from Manitoba which was a bit ‘monotonous’ BUT it was also a lot more difficult terrain to manage. I’ve come to realise that I have the endurance to go long distances (perhaps one of the reasons I loved the Prairies) but unfortunately still don’t have the strength (or the chain ring!) to power up and down the hills of the Canadian Shield. BUT, having said that, by the end of the day I did get used to it and was finding it a bit easier and can definitely feel myself improving and getting stronger. In that respect it's very positive. It’s a bit like biking in the wind – the less you think about it, the easier it is. Plus, all of the changing of the gears is definitely helping my left wrist which is now finding a bit more action switching between my big cog and my small cog so I'm slowly building up strength again and regaining feeling.The number of towns (and road side advertising) is also increasing which breaks the ride up quite nicely and also provides plenty of excuses to sto
p and eat and/or check out historic sights. There were very few places to stop between Kenora and Caliper Lake (our destination for the day) but we did manage to find a lovely little Hotel / Restaurant at the Sioux Narrows where I devoured a hamburger and chocolate milk. It was a short stop to break up the day as we still had about 40kms left to go. The bridge we crossed over entering the ‘heart’ of Sioux Narrows used to be he longest single span wooden bridge in North America. The new bridge that opened in 2007 reused some of the timber from the original bridge.
I biked the last 30ish kms with Laura and Tak which was nice. It was a rolling ride and not overly difficult but I was very tired and was looking forward to getting to camp in good time to make the most of the afternoon and get caught up on organising my ‘stuff’.
The campsite was nice – in a provincial park – and surrounded by pine trees. Our site reminded me so much of a trip to Rome last year when a friend and I managed to discover our own little version of ‘Canada’, very close to the Colloseum in the heart of Rome – primarily because of some tall white pine (?) trees shadowing over a dry bed of needles which release a sweet pine smell when tra
mpled over. It was very quiet and very nice… I was 120% certain that I would have absolutely no problem sleeping tonight..!
The Galley Crew for the evening was the vegetarian crew and they served up a delicious curry rice and veggie ratatouille. It was very tasty and was washed down by fresh watermelon for dessert.
I am now laying in my tent listening to the rain fall on the outer shell. It’s a relaxing sound and a gentle shower which will hopefully clear up in time for the morning and take some of the humidity out of the air. There is a 70% chance of showers for tomorrow and I sincerely hope that it is overpowered by the 30% chance that it won’t rain. I am trying to be optimistic..!
mpled over. It was very quiet and very nice… I was 120% certain that I would have absolutely no problem sleeping tonight..!The Galley Crew for the evening was the vegetarian crew and they served up a delicious curry rice and veggie ratatouille. It was very tasty and was washed down by fresh watermelon for dessert.
I am now laying in my tent listening to the rain fall on the outer shell. It’s a relaxing sound and a gentle shower which will hopefully clear up in time for the morning and take some of the humidity out of the air. There is a 70% chance of showers for tomorrow and I sincerely hope that it is overpowered by the 30% chance that it won’t rain. I am trying to be optimistic..!
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