Day 24, Tuesday, July 25, 2006
ATIKOKAN TO THUNDER BAY, 213 KM
Well this morning was the dawning of a good day for me. The "hor(rid!)mones" must be back in sync and I felt good. Julian drove us to the church. Bob discovered he had left his watch and headed back for it only to find Julian at an intersection bringing it to us. He was a sweet, sweet man...like I have said prior, people are so generous and kind to us; they treat us like celebreties!
We had a good breakfast, sang our song and headed on the road by 6:45, a tad behind schedule. THE SUN WAS SHINING AND YOU COULD TELL IT WAS GOING TO BE A HOT ONE WHEN it was 25 degrees at 8:30! There were a few good climbs getting on the highway so we quickly warmed up. Everyone was conscious of the long day ahead and tended to buddy up to help each other out. I will admit that the mood in the group is back to the normal, and fun. Perhaps everyone was suffering from "hormonal imbalance" the other day..or just stricken with heat fatigue. Bob and I cycled with Bern and Betty and soon there were a few more added to our train. Reg got a bee under his glasses and it stung him. His eye swelled shut. Luckily at our first rest stop 50 km) he found an icepack.
The scenery was lovely with lakes on both sides of the road. Green and trees, and still water with a slight heat fog...like an aura. It was still and peaceful and at one point I heard a bird call that reminded me of the "Hinderland Who's who" vignette that used to be on the tv showing various nature clips. I expected the voice to cut in... I also saw many inustooks (sp?) in various stages. The cutest one in the middle of nowhere sported a hockey helmet and stick!
What is it with Ontario? In any other province you get a Provincial sign as you enter that province...not here. They like to show how "big" they are and have signs saying Ontario every so many miles...like, where else would we be??! And their moose signs show this raging, charging moose...in attack mode. About 30 miles out we came to the Atlantic Watershed sign. Stopped to take photo. From this point, all rivers and streams flow towards the Atlantic. We were fortunate to have a headwind all day. It cooled us from the searing sun. Mind you, it made for a more difficult ride, but in the paceline it was ok. This group travels well above the 24 kph that was supposed to be. Bob and I have had to work hard to keep up, but our conditioning has improved. Today there were quite a few hills, which we love. We seemed to fly up them! Our lunch was at the 100 km mark. We ran into 2 female cyclists travelling with panner bags. They were from Quebec and did the Atlantic provinces first and flew to Vancouver from St. John's and were headed back to Quebec. We have met and passed members of The Tour du Canada.
The ride this afternoon seemed long, but I kept positive. My butt seems less painful, but not pain free. The blossom on lip still in bloossom. Bob broke a spoke about 35 km from the finish. He raced ahead once he did makeshift repairs as he went into Thunder Bay for a new rim. I am doing this from our room and Neil is asleep with lights on. We showered at Lakehead U. Bob missed that and dinner. We need to set up our beds soon as people want to get to bed. Tomorrow is a short run, only 114 km.
Well this morning was the dawning of a good day for me. The "hor(rid!)mones" must be back in sync and I felt good. Julian drove us to the church. Bob discovered he had left his watch and headed back for it only to find Julian at an intersection bringing it to us. He was a sweet, sweet man...like I have said prior, people are so generous and kind to us; they treat us like celebreties!
We had a good breakfast, sang our song and headed on the road by 6:45, a tad behind schedule. THE SUN WAS SHINING AND YOU COULD TELL IT WAS GOING TO BE A HOT ONE WHEN it was 25 degrees at 8:30! There were a few good climbs getting on the highway so we quickly warmed up. Everyone was conscious of the long day ahead and tended to buddy up to help each other out. I will admit that the mood in the group is back to the normal, and fun. Perhaps everyone was suffering from "hormonal imbalance" the other day..or just stricken with heat fatigue. Bob and I cycled with Bern and Betty and soon there were a few more added to our train. Reg got a bee under his glasses and it stung him. His eye swelled shut. Luckily at our first rest stop 50 km) he found an icepack.
The scenery was lovely with lakes on both sides of the road. Green and trees, and still water with a slight heat fog...like an aura. It was still and peaceful and at one point I heard a bird call that reminded me of the "Hinderland Who's who" vignette that used to be on the tv showing various nature clips. I expected the voice to cut in... I also saw many inustooks (sp?) in various stages. The cutest one in the middle of nowhere sported a hockey helmet and stick!
What is it with Ontario? In any other province you get a Provincial sign as you enter that province...not here. They like to show how "big" they are and have signs saying Ontario every so many miles...like, where else would we be??! And their moose signs show this raging, charging moose...in attack mode. About 30 miles out we came to the Atlantic Watershed sign. Stopped to take photo. From this point, all rivers and streams flow towards the Atlantic. We were fortunate to have a headwind all day. It cooled us from the searing sun. Mind you, it made for a more difficult ride, but in the paceline it was ok. This group travels well above the 24 kph that was supposed to be. Bob and I have had to work hard to keep up, but our conditioning has improved. Today there were quite a few hills, which we love. We seemed to fly up them! Our lunch was at the 100 km mark. We ran into 2 female cyclists travelling with panner bags. They were from Quebec and did the Atlantic provinces first and flew to Vancouver from St. John's and were headed back to Quebec. We have met and passed members of The Tour du Canada.
The ride this afternoon seemed long, but I kept positive. My butt seems less painful, but not pain free. The blossom on lip still in bloossom. Bob broke a spoke about 35 km from the finish. He raced ahead once he did makeshift repairs as he went into Thunder Bay for a new rim. I am doing this from our room and Neil is asleep with lights on. We showered at Lakehead U. Bob missed that and dinner. We need to set up our beds soon as people want to get to bed. Tomorrow is a short run, only 114 km.
posted by Unknown at 10:46 PM
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