Thanks Annie for a great stay!
After three nights in Thunder Bay, it was time to continue my journey west. Extra special thanks to Annie for letting me stay so long – she was a great host – hopefully I didn’t overstay my welcome. And did I mention how cool her place is? She even has an ATM. No, it doesn’t actually work but she still has one and it’s more than a little cool.
Today’s ride from Thunder Bay to Upsala is about 130 km. Certainly doable in a day. Easily with a tailwind. Sadly, there would be no tailwinds today. Quite the opposite, in fact. However, before I hit the road I had to make my usual food stop for the day. Yes, at Subway. However, today’s Subway experience had a rather unexpected element.
Subway, Thunder Bay
I was taking my usual Subway photo when I heard a voice say, “Are you kidding me?” Editorial note: that’s not an exact quote … I cleaned it up a bit to keep it family-friendly. But you get the idea. Anyway, I look over and see Johnny (from the ballgame last night) walking towards me. To say it was a ridiculously unexpected reunion would be a bit of an understatement.
We chatted briefly as he had to go to work and I needed to get some food. So, for the second time in as many days, we wished each other well and once again went our separate ways.
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3 hours? More like 3 days!
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The upside to construction is you get your very own (unofficial) bike lane.
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… but then the (unofficial) bike lane ends.
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Not the worst shoulder I’ve seen. But clearly not the best either!
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A little educational lesson.
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450 km until the Manitoba border!
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Stopping for food.
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Camping in Upsala.
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Gourmet dining in my tent – away from the bugs.
My ride out of Thunder Bay and back to the Trans-Canada Highway took me along Route 102 which promised to be shorter, yet hillier, than going through the city. I don’t know if it was shorter but it was definitely hilly. And it was definitely windy. Very windy. Today was going to be another one of those days. That said, there was definitely some variety in today’s ride. There were strong headwinds, really strong headwinds, and crazy strong headwinds. There was a 10 km stretch of construction. I almost got a good photo of an approaching train – on the upside, the engineer said, “Hi” by sounding the train’s whistle as he went by. It was also a mildly educational day as I learned what the Arctic Watershed is. And as I slowly make my way west, I crossed over into the Central Time Zone.
If you put your ear close to the screen
you might hear the whistle!
Considering I was pedalling for over 7.5 hours today, it was a pretty interesting day. Did I mention it was windy? It’s definitely days like this that make it hard to convince people that cycling across the country is a good idea – especially east to west. Well, it’s not always easy. Actually, frequently it’s not easy but I think that’s where some of the satisfaction comes from. And regardless how old you are, having a train acknowledge you personally as you attempt to take a “selfie” is fun. No, the whistle doesn’t appear in the photo but I know I’ll hear it every time I look at the photo.
Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 130.74 km
Ride time: 7:36:56
Average speed: 17.16 km/h
Maximum speed: 52.59 km/h (I’m not sure I believe this)
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