Day 33 - Sudbury to Manitoulin Island

Sudbury to Sheguiandah
145 km
Overcast, rain for 2 hrs
headwind (20 k/h) for first couple of hrs

Sort of a melloncollie day at first.

I spent the morning with my mom in the bike shop. As expected, I wouldn't leave Sudbury until noon or so. The shop, The Outdoor Store, is a great spot. The folks there, especially Shawn and Scott, are awesome. It's like a little MEC. Great spot. Sincere mechanics too. I am very greatful for all the work they did for me.

At one o'clock, the trip started. I wanted to take a couple pictures of Science North (science museum and such, cool place), the big nickel, and the bridge of all the flags. The latter spot has all the flags of the native countries of the residents of Sudbury. It's pretty impressive actually.

So, Science North, flags, and then the big nickel. I had my lunch there – a few packed sandwiches from my mom's place. I must say that the traffic and roads in Sudbury are not ideal for road riding.

Finally reaching the 17, heading West (wait a minute, aren't I suppose to go East for this trip?), I was riding against the wind. Now those western winds are here. Oh well. I really dont like that highway. Even before reaching the 17 a few days ago, I was dreading this part of the 17 – high traffic, and no to little shoulder. It was a bit stressful – I just kept my head a bit down, looked a few feet forward, and just trekked on. After an hour, the rain started (drizzle, but picked up a bit later). I stopped at this pic nic area and just ate a bit. I wanted to stay there – the motivation wasn't there to go back on the bike. But, I did.

After reaching Hwy 6, towards Espanola, I was really happy to leave the 17 behind. The rain stopped at that point. A few km later, I stopped into Espanola for supper. I had a slight craving for a KFC chicken sandwich, but I saw a sign that was much more appealing. Golden Dragon (or something) all you can eat canadian chinese buffet. Sounds great – I wanted that food for a while, and this should be fairly quick as the food is all ready for me. So, there I went.

Food was tasty. No ginger broccoli beef, too bad. But, I did have my chicken balls, chow mein, fried rice, etc. Fortune cookie - “The philosophy of the past century is the common sense of the next (in bed)”. Nope, doesn't work.

I stopped into a convenience store to gather my breakfast stuff and light supper for when I stop for the evening. I hoped to reach somewhere near Manitoulin Island. Asking the locals about bears in the area, they stated that on the mainland, they are quite bold at the moment, but there isn't any on the island. So, I had an idea where I wanted to spend the night tonight. The convenient store lady, a super nice oriental elder, was soo kind. After we spoke a bit, and I was outside stuffing my supplies into my bags, she came out with two honkin'-ass chocolate bars as gifts. “You will need lots of engergy.” So kind.

Leaving Espanola felt like the start of a new ride. Things felt right again, and my motivation was coming back. For the ride, I knew that I would have to make good time to get to the island (Little Current). Off I went. There's a few hills on the way there, I was surprised.

Slowly but surely, I knocked down the two destinations I had my eyes on. The third, Little Current, came at dusk.

On the island, it's quite nice. There are many “lakes” in rocks (looks like huge puddles), marshlands, green fields, fairly flat with the occasional hill, some rocks, and quite a few deers. Civilization is fairlly spread out. There was this neat feeling there. I can't put my finger on it, but if felt like I was not alone, yet there was no one there. Does the island have many spirits or something? I dont know. But, it was a cool feeling.

I was looking for an earlier-advertised campsite just past the town. In town, the sun was setting, which made a nice pink sky. Looking back, the entire sky above town was pink. While going towards the previously advertised campsite, I saw another one, and I chose that one instead. It was close to dark at that point.

Most spots that I saw at first, all on grass, were soaked. I had difficulty cycling through that grass as it was basically a puddle. I found a spot near the lake, which had power access. There I slept.

I planned my day (ferry 50-60 km away, leaves at 11 am), and went to bed early to hit the road early.

So, that was the day.

On to write the next entry....

pierre