A Short Post For A Short Ride

Waking up to the sounds of nature is far more soothing than waking to the sounds of an alarm clock – even if nature tends to wake up a lot earlier than I normally do. And yes, by “sounds of nature” I mean actual sounds … not nature calling. Although sometimes the two go hand in hand.

After falling asleep last night staring at the star-filled sky through the window of my room, I woke to a blue sky and the hopes that perhaps the winds would be in my favour today. Only time would tell. What I did know was that today would be a short day on the bike. I made arrangements with another Warm Showers host for tonight and upon closer inspection of the map it turns out that I only had a mere 45 km to travel. I’m not going to lie, I felt a little guilty about the prospect of such a short day but, after considering the tough days that will inevitably lie ahead, I decided I would just enjoy these short days when they come along.

One benefit of a short riding day is there is no need to get on the road early – something I don’t tend to do very well anyway. So, rather than pack up my things right away, I wandered around, took some photos, learned about cob ovens and bread, and had some really great waffles. Not a bad way to start the day.

I managed to delay my departure until about 11:00 when I decided I should be on my way. Moments later, I was. I said my goodbyes to everyone and resumed my trek west – although, technically today was more north and east.

On my way out of town I stopped at the Valu-Mart for a few things and met Sebastien and Claire. Cycle tourists from France, they are on an eight-month ride to the far far north and then back down to San Francisco. They’re taking a train from north of Thunder Bay to Edmonton where they’ll resume their ride north. Clearly they’re smarter than me (that’s not really saying much) as they won’t be cycling across the prairies. For now though, we’re heading in the same direction so who knows if we’ll cross paths again.

After a nice chat, I was back on the road. It was a mildly hilly ride. With partial, but generally mild, headwinds. All things considered it was a pretty easy ride and I pulled into the driveway of my Warm Showers hosts around 2:00, where Dave and Sheila happened to be on the driveway at the time. They were great and, once again, incredibly welcoming.

My home for the night was a large gazebo set off to the side of their beautiful property overlooking the water. No need for the tent tonight. Although, it did cool off quite a bit later in the day and Dave offered an extra sleeping bag just in case. I gladly took it. Just in case.

Over the course of the afternoon and evening we chatted about many things and I learned that this area (and apparently many in northern Ontario) is classified as an “Unorganized Community”. Translation: No municipal government. No mayor. No bylaws. Nothing of the sort. And yes, it seems to be as great as it sounds.

By 10:30 it was time to call it a night but it has been another great Warm Showers experience and another great day of being on the road. Tomorrow aims to be a longer day but at the moment I have no destination lined up. With no available Warm Showers hosts in the area and little in the way of services between here and Sault Ste. Marie, the next few days could be more than a little unstructured. I see myself camping on the side of the road somewhere tomorrow. The big question is, “Where?”. Wherever it is, I don’t expect there to be WiFi – so, the next update could be delayed a little.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 44.84 km
Ride time: 2:13:48
Average speed: 20.10 km/h
Maximum speed: 49.97 km/h