Willie Nelson - "On the Road Again"

On the road again
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 road 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 stop 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 trampled 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..!

Mongo Jerry - "In the Summer Time"

We're not grey people, we're not dirty, we're not mean.
We love ev'rybody, but we do as you please.
When the weather is fine, we go fishing or go swimming in the sea.
We're always happy. Life's for living, yeah!
That's your philosophy.

- Mongo Jerry - "In the Summer Time"

Kenora Rest Day – 18 July
2,785 kms biked to date; Daily average 151kms

Ah, the glorious, long awaited Rest Day… it was like a dream come true not to feel the pressure of getting up and packing up my tent at 6am..! I was absolutely exhausted and slept so incredibly well. I was definitely happy to have made the decision to keep a low profile the previous evening so I was able to start my recovery process from the 6 days of riding and the 903 kms covered.

I got up at 7:30am hoping to make the most of the day and get one key element checked off the list – laundry. I headed down to the laundry stations as quickly as I could and threw my giant duffel bag of lycra into the line. There were only 2 washers and 2 dryers for 38 sweaty riders so the machines were a ‘hot commodity’…!

Brendan and I decided to head out into the big, bad metropolis of Kenora. As I dragged myself into Kenora the previous afternoon (chin on the handlebars I was so tired..!) I did manage to notice that it looked like quite a promising little town for exploration. We started the day in the usual tradition – with the Tim Hortons caffeine injection and a healthy filling of donuts. Laura had previously commented how she had started to notice how many Canadians are so overweight compared to our ‘svelt’ little group of riders… but then I could not help but point out that we spend most of our free time in places like Tim Hortons, Dairy Queen, McDonalds and any ‘greasy spoon’ / local diner within a 5 km radius of our route. Health and nutrition are not particularly high on the agenda and sometimes I feel like I am biking as an excuse to eat..!

Post Timmy’s we walked further to explore Kenora. It is a nice little town of about 13,000 people. The main industry used to be pulp and paper but the mill was recently shut down which has greatly affected the local economy. Tourism is now one of the key sources of revenue but with the increasing price of gas and the low US dollar that is also on a decline. In spite of this, I thought Kenora had a great vibe, a visibly young population and some trendy little shops. The name ‘Kenora’ originates from the 3 ‘districts’ that were combined to form one city – KEetwan district, NOxxxx??? district and the RAt district… And, another fact about Kenora is that the main street of the downtown core used to be the border between Ontario and Manitoba. More info can be found on http://www.kenora.ca/

Brendan has a friend who is originally from Kenora so was able to get some first hand recommendations. One real ‘find’ was ‘Ye Ol’Chip Truck’. Whilst it was only 11am and we’d just finished our Timmy’s breakfast we decided to indulge in some ‘chips’ (fries) served from ‘ye ol’truck’. Man, were they ever good particularly with the addition of salt and vinegar.

We managed to track down a book store, coffee shop AND, the highlight of my trip so far, a bike shop where I purchased a BIKING SKIRT..! I’d been complaining about my rather predictable and unfashionable lycra shorts and my limited wardrobe so was delighted to double my wardrobe choices by 50%..!! Now I have to make a decision in the morning of ‘skirt’ or ‘shorts’…! I also bought a new top to even out my rapidly darkening tan lines… As you can see, I definitely have my priorities straight.

A delicious frosty pint of Rickards was drunk at the popular bar in town called ‘Haps’. The sun was shining and it would have been so easy to have a few more drinks on the lovely outdoor patio and fall asleep in the sun. The bar was strategically placed on the main street so it makes for wonderful people watching. On a hot and sunny summers day with the sun beating down on your head with a cold pint in hand it is hard to believe that Kenora often experiences winter temperatures of about -40 degrees celcius..! Plus heaps and heaps of snow..!

One thing I’ve noticed since our arrival in Ontario is how friendly the people are. I’m not sure if it’s just the Kenora or Campground Culture but everywhere you go people are keen to chat or greet you with a ‘good morning’ and a smile. I’ve often heard that Canadians are polite and the folks in Kenora certainly seem to live up to the reputation.

That night we all met up with the French Connection, Laura and Tak and splurged on a $13 (!!) "All You Can Eat 'Chinese' Buffet". It was a hilarious meal with loads of laughs particularly around reading of the fortune cookies.

MSG lethargy set in as we decided to complete the evening with an instalment of Batman – The Dark Knight. I am embarrassed to admit that this is the first Batman movie that I’ve seen and I must say that I very much enjoyed it and am going to have to broaden my horizons and see the others. Fantastic film – both the storyline and the actors - and I would certainly give it two thumbs up and would actually even watch it again. Between Spiderman and Batman I’m really getting my fill of comic-book superhero movies. The movie theatre where we saw the film was absolutely packed with a very young and very jovial mixed crowd. It was Friday night and everyone was out in full force. Some people even came to the movie with faces painted like the Joker. At the moment the days all seem to blend together so I have completely lost track of days of the week. It was strange to be reminded that it was Friday night and in ‘real life’ I would be going out with friends in London and preparing for the weekend ahead – not massaging my muscles preparing for a 127kms biking day the following day.

We all walked home from the theatre mentally preparing for our next installment of riding. A lovely full moon lit our path and guided the way to the campground. Another relaxing and productive rest day had once again come to an end.

Frank Sinatra - "My Way"

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way...

- Frank Sinatra - "My Way"

Portage la Prairie to Beausejour - 157 kms / 97 miles

I’m absolutely exhausted but feel the need to get my ‘true’ feelings down tonight before falling into a very deep sleep. I’m worried that if I wait to type it all out tomorrow that I will have romanticised it..! I think that everyone else is as tired as I am as there is a choir of snoring going on around me. In fact, I think that I am surrounded…. And I also hear thunder off in the distance. It will be a long night…

Today was hard work on many levels – physically, mentally and emotionally. I was on Galley Duty and was up and out by 6am. The coffee was already on and the early risers were knee-deep in peanut butter and brown bread. As much as I dread Galley Duty I do actually enjoy it and really like my team. It’s nice to work together and now that we’ve done it a few times we are starting to have a routine going. By the end of the trip we’ll have it down to a 25 minute clean up..!

Dave was working his magic on turning the apple fritters into ‘appelflappen’ (or apple pancakes). I test drove the first batch and with the addition of some syrup they were… edible and surprisingly tasty.

Weather Obsession...

It’s amazing how obsessed I’ve become with the weather. I kept my eye on the sky throughout breakfast – it was partially sunny and there were some dark clouds looming off in the distance. I recalled the sailors expression “pink sky in the morning, sailors take warning”. Brendan, aka, “The Weatherman”, had consulted the trusty blackberry for an update on the weather and it didn’t look to promising – 80 % chance of rain for Portage AND Beausejour. Yikes. It might not be a very ‘beau sejour’ ce jour. Terry also consulted the weather on a different website… and got a semi-decent report of ‘mix of sun and clouds’. As Brendan has been right about 99.9% of the time on the weather front, I decided that I’d trust his near perfect track record and packed my bright pink rain jacket, blue rain pants. I felt a bit like the ‘Rainbow Bright’ cartoon character but didn’t care – function over fashion..! (I never thought I’d say that!)

Everyone was and running around trying to prepare themselves for the inevitable. It’s hard when you know that you have a long day ahead and that you will likely spend most of it wearing damp / soaking clothing and sopping wet shoes. What’s worse, many products that are ‘Gore Tex’ are waterproof to an extent but there comes a point when your own sweat builds up inside the jacket which is just as bad as the water bouncing off of the outer shell.

Background to 'diva-esque qualities' - not one of my finer traits...

I feel that I had best mention my absolute hate for being wet from rain (if it is not apparent already!). I can handle a lot – cold, wind, snow, heat… but rain and I simply do not mix. I just can’t stand it.

I’m not sure where it comes from but have some guesses – possibly my Grade 2/3 phase when it wasn’t cool to wear snow pants in the winter… so I spent many afternoons in elementary school in soaking wet wool leotards under freezing cold wet jeans after recesses of sledding. The thought of it still makes me shudder. This feeling of discomfort was exacerbated during the summers when I was between the ages of 10 – 15. I decided to make a bit of ‘summer cash’ corn detasseling. For those ‘city slickers’ reading this, corn has to be detassled so it doesn't pollinate itself. The detassling itself consists of walking up and down rows of corn for eight hours a day, doing nothing but popping the tassels (potentially the ‘yellow’ things) out of the corn and dropping them on the ground. If you've ever seen a row of corn, you'll find some rows that are kilometers long and the corn itself can be five to eight feet tall. Imagine eight to twelve hours a day, “pop, pop, pop” in the scorching heat and humidity of a South Western Ontario summer, sweating, sneezing, itching and twitching and getting "corn rash" from brushing against the damp to dry leaves, for about three weeks... at around 5 dollars/ hour. Nothing, nothing is worse than plodding through a soaking wet corn field, knee deep in mud, reaching up to get the butts out of corn that should have been pulled about a week earlier… and then wearing the same wet clothes all day in the high humidity.. with a bunch of smelly teenagers. Yick. But that is the character-building nature of small-town rural life in SWO.

SO, biking in the rain goes right up there on the list of things that I can’t stand. Call me a ‘Diva’, ‘Princess’ or ‘Your Highness’ – whatever... When I signed up for TdC I knew I couldn’t get away with a full 72 days without rain. SO, on this particular day I tried my very best not to complain and appreciate the fact that I’d been lucky to get this far staying relatively dry. The good thing is that everyone has the same feeling but some people just handle it better than others. And unfortunately I don’t handle it very well.

The rain basically started as we were loading the bags into the truck (part of our Galley Duty duies). Andrew, Brendan and Ian were total sweethearts again (they are so patient with me!!) and came back from their Tim Hortons 2nd breakfast to help load the bags into the truck.

If the rain wasn’t bad enough, about 5 kms into our already damp ride the wind started… from the wrong direction..!! I was not only dealing with rain but also wind from the east. Two completely new phenomena for me on this trip. It was soooooo incredibly uncomfortable and I was sooooo incredibly not happy about it and for the first time on the trip NEARLY had a ‘moment’. The boys shot up ahead with the French Connection who are strong enough to cycle through a hurricane and I stayed back to have a proper ‘fist in the air’ tantrum at the wind and the rain. I will state from the outset that I didn’t cry but was about as borderline as I’ve been yet on this trip.

It took about 3 minutes before the water soaked through my clothes and I was so cold. When the rain stopped it still felt like it was raining as the ‘damp’ was rising up from the flat fields so it was very steamy and humid. The clouds also seemed to go on forever so it was pretty clear that this was not going to be a ‘let’s sit and wait this one out’ type of shower. It was a ‘suck it up buttercup’ type of shower that would inevitably continue on for most of the day. Andrew waited for me and gave me a bit of a pep talk which was pretty brave of him. It’s nice that someone can put up with my moods even though he refers to me as 'Driving Miss Daisy'..!!

We had one of our first stops about 49kms into the ride at Marquette. Marquette is a very small town next to a busy rail line with one lovely little family-run restaurant (looks a bit like a bungalow) which we invaded and steamed up. The eggs were already frying on the stove by the time we walked in and there was a huge pot of fresh coffee brewing. Everyone was tired and uncomfortable but chuckled at the mess of it all. What a dreadful morning and what a frustrating headwind. I was pleased that I was not the only one that was struggling. I devoured toast, eggs, bacon and hashbrowns washed down with a few cups of coffee – a second breakfast has become a bit of a normality for me these days. The problem with the second breakfast however is that it’s so incredibly hard to get up from the second breakfast and get back on your bike. There is always that temptation to get that extra caffeine injection and stay for one more cup… and the locals in these small town are so friendly and chatty and the diners are always so warm..!

If it was up to me I would have stayed at the restaurant and offered to help with dishes, feed the cat, wash the floor, clean the bathroom… make more coffee… cook…. ANYTHING but Andrew sent me back on my bike – I sometimes feel like he is a Russian trainer and is gearing me up for a lifetime of cycling. I felt a tiny, tiny bit better as had changed from my wet and cold cycling jersey to a dry wool shirt that Andrew had lent me. It was a life saver as the next 30kms – although equally challenging – were at least done in a warm, dry bit of clothing..! By the time we hit Warren (incidentally, a wrong turn) the rain had subsided a bit so we popped into a convenience store for a drink… only to exit about 5 minutes later to dark clouds and a torrential downpour. We were able to wait it out for about 15 minutes and continued on our way into the headwind. I was damp and uncomfortable but not soaking wet… and that was definitely a positive. On the negative side however was the fact that the headwind was definitely getting stronger and my patience with it was wearing a little bit thin…. I was peddling as hard as I could and only going about 11kms / hour… ugh. It was definitely not one of my finer moments.

Strawberry farms and Skinners World Famous Footlong Hot Dog

The rest of the day was equally difficult but I somehow found my sense of humour – many thanks to Andrew, Ian and Dennis for that..! We made several pit stops which included a visit to a locally run strawberry farm just outside of Stonewall (many thanks to the locals for the free strawberries..!) and then again at a fabulous ‘hot dog shop’ just outside of Lower Fort Gary. Unfortunately due to the wind and rain we didn’t have time to make a tourist stop to Lower Fort Gary which is famous as the oldest stone fur trading post still intact in North America. Costumed interpreters will take you back to the mid-1800s as they re-enact events of the early days of this Hudson's Bay Company post. Stone walls encircle the fort's enclosure, the largest group of original 19th century fur trade buildings in Canada.

Instead of an educational stop at Fort Gary we stopped at the gastronomic haven of “Skinners” – the home of the world famous foot long hot dog. It was a perfect, much needed break in the afternoon. What a find..!! Skinners is a 1950s style diner with black and white checkerboard laminate flooring, juke boxes at every booth and a hotdog menu that took about 5 minutes to scroll through AND floor to ceiling photos of hockey legends – primarily from the 1950s. I was so hungry and managed to eat a monster-sized hot dog in about 20 seconds… topped off by a mint chocolate chip ice cream. We all sat in the booths with long, tired faces and wet feet and had a good laugh whilst ‘Golden Oldies’ played on the juke box. It was so hard to get up and back on the bike to continue our journey into the wind and into Beausejour.

When we pulled into ‘tent city’ in the town of Beausejour http://www.townofbeausejour.com/info/category/news/, dinner was in its first wave – a delicious pasta dish with loads of salad. A dark sky with huge grey clouds hovered over the campsite and it wasn’t long before the heavens opened and the rain came pouring down. A huge, huge, thank you to BC and the French Connection for putting up my tent for me…! I have never been stressed out about putting up my tent (it’s a bit of a fine art but I have it down to about 3 minutes solo). BUT, having said that, the total luxury of having it done for me for a change was an incredible treat. It was exactly what I needed after 8.5 hours of time spent in the saddle..!!

So, now it’s about 11pm and the rain is once again coming down by the bucketload. Fortunately I am now in my tent, dry, and praying that it is more waterproof than my jacket today. Fingers crossed that it clears up to reveal a gloriously sunny day ahead...

Whilst it was not ‘beau ce jour’ hopefully it will be more ‘beau demain jour’…!