Day 27 - Thunder Bay to Terrace Bay

Thunder Bay to Terrace Bay
225 km, 9 hrs
Sunny, windy (15 km/h) diagonal tailwind for 50%, then diagonal headwind for 50%

June 1st – new month, continuing adventures. Dad, congrats, it's June.

Also, Rolland Hubert has probably started his cycling trip from Vancouver (across the country). I wish him happy travels.

It was nice to see Mike, Bonnie again, and to meet Caleb (9 months). It also would have been nice to visit a bit longer, but I had to hit the road.

I didn't bother going into town to visit the place (I did it 10 years ago when I bike here from Toronto, and I dont recall anything major that I must re-visit). I headed straight out of town to the Terry Fox monument.

What a spot. Everyone there is moved. Quiet, respectful, in awe. It's a really neat spot. They did a great job with the statue – you can see the sweat pouring off his face. Very moving, very touching moment.

There is a spot just 12 clicks away where he stopped. It's just a little white post, with a small plaque. I made sure to go see it. In my mind, I was wondering how he stopped – he decided it was too much and he couldn't go on, or the way I like to think of it, he kept going until he collapsed, giving it all he could until the last moment before being taken into the van for the hospital.

I remember a story of when he was in Quebec. The waitress asked what he wanted to eat, and he said “everything on the menu”. Tons of food was there. At the end of what they could eat, they started a little food fight in the restaurant. Good ol' fun. Probably wasn't good for the press, but Quebec didn't have much press around his story (at the time).

I continued towards my destination – Terrace Bay. Past Ignace, that's where the hills started. I remembered those hills, and I was lookinng forward to climbing those again. The downhill ain't bad either. Well, a bit steeper than out West (except for the tail end of the Coquahalla Hwy). My speed dropped to 9 k, and it stayed there for a while. Short hills (maybe up to 3k), but worthwhile. Sometimes the road just goes through these very high blasted rock walls, it's pretty neat. One minute you are waiting for the sky to fall, the next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all.

Downhill was great too. You can hit 70 k/h and hold it for a while. During the descent, on the mp3 was 2 songs by the title “high”, where one (Jimmy's Chicken Shack) sings “What does it take to get you high?” - maybe a few more of these downhills.

I wanted to check out the Canadian Tire in Nipigon to see if they had a 700c road tire as mine is getting a bit bald (flat, actually, you can see the thread underneath). It'll go anytime. I didn't want to use my spare yet, as if it gets cut (glass, rock), I am basically out. So, I tried my luck there. No luck. The guy swore I'd be able to find what I am looking for in Marathon tomorrow.

Right before the campsite at Terrace Bay, I shopped for my usual groceries (milk and juice for the morning, and a bit of junk food for after my meal). The campsite was great – hot showers, internet, and some waterfalls nearby. I was hoping to get up eary to go see the waterfalls, but it depends on how I feel in the morning.

Supper, pasta with some creamy sauce (needing milk). I was wondering why the sauce was not being consistant. When I drank some after the meal, that's when I noticed it was curdling. Damn. Bad milk. Now I have no milk for tomorrow.

I answered a bunch of emails at night. The time on my computer was still on Winnipeg time, so I thought I was alright before bedtime. But, when I realized it was an hour later, I made the decision to go to bed as I had to get up early for a long riding day.

Checking out the map, I was able to figure out how I will get to Timmins. Will I go the originally planned route (Hornepayne, Hearst, etc.) that I've done in the past, or try something new (Wawa, Chapeleau, etc). We'll see.

Well, that's all for this one.

Ciao,

p