Terrace Bay to the birth place of Winnie the Pooh (White River)
185 km, 7hrs and some change
Sunny, windy (some in my favour, some not)
Wind was cold
The morning didn't start too well. I was quite tired, and I didn't want to get out of “bed”. Once I got out, I packed, and went to buy milk at the campground office. No luck, they dont sell it anymore. I would have to go to town and get my milk there then eat breakfast.
I spent lots of time in town (just lazy, slow), but got some food in me. I left late, so the day was going to be a long one (I thought). I had a lot of kms to cover today.
The hills were also fairly big on this side of Terrace Bay. It was great. The wind, wasn't that great. It was blowing from all directions (15-20 k/h). Manageable though.
What was cool: I saw a black bear. It was bigger than the cubs I've seen before, this might have been a “teen-ager” or something. I was debating on stopping and taking a picture, or getting the phoque out of there. I did both. But, I was too slow with the camera, he ran off eventually. I can't prove that I saw a bear yet.
I also saw a big chunk of snow on the side of the road. Where did it come from? More inukshuks, and two 2 feet high statues of Joseph and Mary just placed into the rocks on the side of the road. Interesting.
In the morning, I thought “I have to go into Marathon to get a tire, I have to make it there before I flat”. Well, just 1 km outside of Marathon, pss pss pss pss pss. Flat. First flat of the trip – some 4200 km into the ride. I wore the tire down, which was the cause of my first flat. Fun. Sitting on the side of the ditch, I put on my spare tire (new ones are always so stiff at first, what a hassle), and rode into town for food and (hopefully) a new spare.
Canadian Tire – 10 tires, all mtb. No luck. Sheesh. Food – Mr. Sub. Poor girl, she is so lost, didn't know how to make a sub, was looking at the picture to see what meats to put on. When I asked her about if there was access to internet here, she said they have Interac, so the internet would go through Interac, as it was all the same line. What????? (no, there was no access to Internet there).
I did some groceries, and finally got my haircut. Leaving Marathon, the wind was cold (and powerful). I was shivering for 10 minutes (well, maybe 5).
The wind would be at my back from that point. Great! I would be able to go past White River as planned.
Later, 80 k to be exact, psss psss psss psss – I hit a rock, and got my second flat. Gees! Start the flat counter. I fixed it a lot quicker this time. At that point, I knew I was going to run out of daylight before reaching my original destination, so I settled on staying in White River.
So, here I am. Sleeping on the grounds of the tourist information centre (as recommended by the locals, who say people camp there all the time). Some access to internet, but no power – I can't recharge my mp3, so I'll probably run out of tunes tomorrow. Dang.
Pictures to come later.
I might be a day late for Timmins. Sorry, I'll try my best to make things work.
Alright, bedtime.
Enough about me, how are you all doing? Swell, I hope.
p
Introduction
Allo, hello, tere,
Some old lines/puns: Pierre qui roule, rock and roll, the rolling stone (gathers no dust).
Who: Pierre, Ottawa (ON)
What: Cross Canada travel.
When: After a few days rest in Tofino, British Columbia at the beginning of May, 2008, hit the road around the 4th. The 1st time-based goal is to arrive in Ottawa in mid June, race in a 24-hour mountain bike competition, and head back on the road a few days later. Finish the trip in St. John's, Newfoundland, at the end of July, 2008, before returning home to Ottawa to start being an adult again.
Where: Canada, West to East, via Toronto, Ontario. Detours: Val Gagné and Manitoulin Island (ON), Gaspé region (QC), and Cape Breton (NS).
Why: Visit this beautiful (and fairly big) nation of ours. See family and friends. Taste the cuisine of different parts of the country and enjoy the various beers and wine along the way. Experience anything the villages and cities along the way have to showcase. Lose 50 pounds and be buff.
How: By bicycle (her nickname: Dzie, pronounced D-Zie).
Extras: According to mapquest, a drive from tip to tip (via Toronto) would be 7710 km (85 hours of driving, 2 ferries). A flight would only be 5400 km (9 hours flight time, with switching planes 2 times).
* I do occasionally feel I am following the footsteps of a few great ones (whom I've also had the honour of riding with), who have done this trip in the past - Al, and especially Tanya. I do hope that I can bring in some new pics, new stories, and not rehash stuff that those amazing folks have done before me.
** I imagine I'll be a bit lonely at times throughout the trip, where I highly request and encourage comments from you guys. It'll be my way of having some conversations with you. I'll try to update the blog every few days.
Disclaimer: Most of you guys know me. In my posts, there will probably be a mixture of bizarre stories, silly jokes (like the weight-losing bit a few instances before), some references to music lyrics and movie lines. I will do my best to entertain, but sometimes, I might miss the mark on being funny or entertaining (hopefully not though).
Posting messages: Readers with a gmail/blogger account - you know what to do. Readers who do not: post a comment as anonymous (but put your name at the bottom of the comment please). The occasional personal messages can be sent to pierre.l.perron@gmail.com
Ciao,
p2
Some old lines/puns: Pierre qui roule, rock and roll, the rolling stone (gathers no dust).
Who: Pierre, Ottawa (ON)
What: Cross Canada travel.
When: After a few days rest in Tofino, British Columbia at the beginning of May, 2008, hit the road around the 4th. The 1st time-based goal is to arrive in Ottawa in mid June, race in a 24-hour mountain bike competition, and head back on the road a few days later. Finish the trip in St. John's, Newfoundland, at the end of July, 2008, before returning home to Ottawa to start being an adult again.
Where: Canada, West to East, via Toronto, Ontario. Detours: Val Gagné and Manitoulin Island (ON), Gaspé region (QC), and Cape Breton (NS).
Why: Visit this beautiful (and fairly big) nation of ours. See family and friends. Taste the cuisine of different parts of the country and enjoy the various beers and wine along the way. Experience anything the villages and cities along the way have to showcase. Lose 50 pounds and be buff.
How: By bicycle (her nickname: Dzie, pronounced D-Zie).
Extras: According to mapquest, a drive from tip to tip (via Toronto) would be 7710 km (85 hours of driving, 2 ferries). A flight would only be 5400 km (9 hours flight time, with switching planes 2 times).
* I do occasionally feel I am following the footsteps of a few great ones (whom I've also had the honour of riding with), who have done this trip in the past - Al, and especially Tanya. I do hope that I can bring in some new pics, new stories, and not rehash stuff that those amazing folks have done before me.
** I imagine I'll be a bit lonely at times throughout the trip, where I highly request and encourage comments from you guys. It'll be my way of having some conversations with you. I'll try to update the blog every few days.
Disclaimer: Most of you guys know me. In my posts, there will probably be a mixture of bizarre stories, silly jokes (like the weight-losing bit a few instances before), some references to music lyrics and movie lines. I will do my best to entertain, but sometimes, I might miss the mark on being funny or entertaining (hopefully not though).
Posting messages: Readers with a gmail/blogger account - you know what to do. Readers who do not: post a comment as anonymous (but put your name at the bottom of the comment please). The occasional personal messages can be sent to pierre.l.perron@gmail.com
Ciao,
p2
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4 comments:
Doing swell Pierre. Sort’ of in the rainy season here in Ottawa. It pretty much rained all weekend and the pavement can't seem to dry (got drizzled on this morning). Almost got ran over last afternoon by a distracted motorist. Had to yell twice at the top of my lungs. How about you? Keeping safe from all those large moving metal thingies?
Looking forward to seeing you,
MT
P.S. Pens won last night (scored 9:57 into the third overtime). Detroit leads 3-2. Still some good hockey in June
Pierre, je commence à travailler jeudi, ouch!
Je ne sais pas encore si je vais aller à la remise des diplômes, ça va être long et tu n'y seras pas :(
Je m'en vais acheter le CD de Martha Wainwright, apparamment très bon!
C'est drôle que malgré toutes les heures à pédaler, tu trouves le temps de te faire couper les cheveux. Tu es tellement coquet.
Je t'aime, lâche pas, et on se voit vraiment bientôt!
Alex
Two flats.... not good. You are doing great! Take these little set backs in stride.
Hi Pierre!! It's Ruth! Michel's wife!!
I went to see your mom at Joel's house! We saw Carolyn and the kids, and your mom and Carolyn told Mike and I about your travelling!!! Wow!! You must be having a lot of fun! I just started reading your blog. Lots of stuff here!
Looking forward to seeing more!
Have fun, buddy!!!
When you come back to stay, maybe we can hook up and you can meet Julien!
Take care!
Ruth Boucher
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