Tuesday August 1/06 Day 31 continued

I am now in the library in Espanola....showers next door, but I opted for the computer first and I sit here quite stinky...after a 100 km ride in 36 degree heat!! It was a sombre day for us.....yesterday when we were cycling into a rest stop, we met up with a solo cyclist and asked him to join us for lunch at our stop. He came in and sat at a table with me and 3 others. Being a small group we were able to engage and talk. He was a 65 year old lawyer named Dugald Christie from Vancouver and he was cycling across the country for his third time and his cause was to push for greater access to the country's legal system for low-income Canadians. He also was collecting signatures for a petition that calls on the federal government to make the justice more accessible, quicker and more understandable. He was cycling to Ottawa and then flying to St. John's and then cycling back to Ottawa to fly back to Vancouver. When we finished lunch, we asked if he would like to join us in Blind River for supper. He never showed up and we learned this morning that he had been killed on the highway. It is tragic. The CBC News from North Bay reported that it was one of the Canadian Bible Cyclists that was killed. I couldn't help but think of him all during the ride today. I shed a few tears along today's journey. If anyone from St. Luke's is reading, could you please include Dugald and his family in your prayers and in church on Sunday. This incident shows that even though we are on a journey for the Lord, life is fragile...and reality hits.
It was nice to arrive in Espanola at a decent hour in the day, allowing us some down time. My friend Wendy asked "knowing what I know now, would I do the trip again?"...my answer would be YES.
We passed some interesting country yesterday and today as it is mennonite land and there are signs by the side of the road indicating horse and buggy. We hoped to see some along our ride, and were told not to do anything to spook the horses, no waving, talking but just to quietly ride by. But we never saw any. They provided the baked goods, breads, muffins etc at a few lunches that we shared at the churches along the way.
The steamy air is unreal. It is ok for cycling as we create a wind or else have had a bit of breeze. It is when you stop or at the top of a climb that you really notice it. I got burned today despite my 30 sunscreen.
Tomorrow we head to Tobermoray (sp?) and catch the ferry.