A Look To The Future

It’s only been five days since the start of this year’s journey. And at this point I’ve only travelled about 400 km so there’s still a LONG way to go before I can even begin to think about reaching Vancouver. That said, I believe today gave me a brief (or not-so-brief, depending on your point of view) glimpse of the future. In more ways than one.

The day began where last night ended. Good thing, otherwise that would’ve meant someone (or something) moved me and my tent during the night. Harmony Acres is about 6 km from Tobermory – so a very leisurely ride was all that stood between me and my ride aboard the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun to South Baymouth. And, fortunately, the light rain that was forecast for this morning decided not to make an appearance.

I managed to drag myself out of my tent shortly before 7:00 in an effort to be on the road by 8:00. It was a successful effort. I was even ahead of “schedule” and found myself on the road by 7:45. Fifteen minutes later I was in Tobermory. What an easy start to the cycling day.

The ride aboard the Chi-Cheemaun from Tobermory to South Baymouth was pretty uneventful. It was a calm crossing and the ferry didn’t sink – pretty much the only characteristics I look for in a ferry crossing. Although, the lack of either doesn’t provide much blog material. My most significant activity during the crossing was that I had breakfast. I know, I know … pretty exciting. Based on my limited research of my route once arriving in South Baymouth, I knew there wouldn’t be much in terms of services available so eating on the ferry seemed wise.

The ferry arrived on schedule and as I rode off the Chi-Cheemaun I was greeted by an overwhelming welcoming committee. Of course, by “welcoming committee” I mean headwind. I won’t say that it surprised me, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. However, since I’m still unable to control the weather I accepted my fate and pedalled off into the wind.

My goal for the day was to reach my destination without the headwind making me crazy (or crazier). Spoiler Alert: I did. As I’ve mentioned before, in choosing to bike west from Ontario there are certain things that go hand in hand with that decision. Headwinds being the most significant of those things. And so, throughout the day’s ride I just treated it as being in training for the real tests that will be coming further down the road. Yes, there was a strong headwind today. But compared to what lies ahead on the prairies, this was just a warmup. That was today’s first glimpse of the future.

My destination for today was a Warm Showers host near Little Current – 12 km southwest of Little Current to be exact. At 12 km off my route, it’s probably the most “out of the way” place I’ve gone; however, this didn’t sound like your typical Warm Showers host and part of me just wanted to check it out.

By 5:30 I was pulling into the driveway of a permaculture farm. Not long after, I was greeted by Amanda, Ian, and Connor (and would later meet Shane) … none of which were my actual host but they were all very welcoming. The four have been here for about two weeks helping out on the farm and will be here for a while. And, at that moment, they were working on what looked to be a impressive dinner feast. I tried to stay out of the way as they seemed to know what they were doing. Well, except when I was asked, “Do you know how to quarter a chicken?”. Sadly, I didn’t. Fortunately, the internet did.

There were also several other people – I’d list them all but I’d either miss someone or get their name wrong so I’ll just say that everyone I met was great. Oh, and there were a couple of big friendly dogs too. It’s no wonder that many of the people who come to visit end up staying for a while.

I met Justin, my host, later in the day and he was just as welcoming as everyone else. It’s a really great cult he’s working to build. Yes, “cult” was his word … and he meant it in a good way. There was no Kool-Aid to be seen and no one was referring to each other as Justinians so I’m confident it’s a very safe place. In actual fact, it’s a very cool place – even if it is a work in progress. I hope to return at some point to see their progress – and perhaps stay a while to help out! Either way, it was my second glimpse of the future as I believe this sort of farm will only increase in popularity and acceptance.

As for the rest of the evening, it was spent talking travel and cycling and sustainable farming and anything else we could think of. Oh, there was also a brief moment of controlled panic when it was discovered the turkeys had escaped – but not for long. I was even recruited to help retrieve them. This really wasn’t a big job as they hadn’t wandered very far. But I can now add “amateur turkey wrangler” to my resume. Yes, I’m still a long way from becoming a self-sufficient farmer but you have to start somewhere.

Between learning about turkeys, chickens, and farming, I also learned (or more accurately, confirmed) that crossing the prairies in a westbound direction is going to be more than a little unpleasant – as it was experienced by some of the others last summer. Sigh. Not at all a surprise, but still none-too-pleasant to hear. On the upside, I still have at least three weeks before I have to deal with it.

Until then, I’ll focus on the short term – like where I’ll be staying tomorrow night. Like the farm, that too is a work in progress.

Today’s Totals:
Distance travelled: 89.24 km
Ride time: 5:01:11
Average speed 17.77 km/h
Maximum speed: 44.41 km/h