This morning I left Nipigon late. I didn’t even wake up until 7:15 which is late for me. The hills here are really tiring and so I have had to reign in my ambitions of setting any new world’s records for time trials. The good news is that the scenery is very beautiful. Lake superior is blue as can be and there are lots of neat vistas to look at.
I crashed the bike today for the first time while coming down one of these hills. I could feel something was different in the handling so I immediately began slowing down considerably. when I began to move over to the shoulder (which was gravel) the front tire rolled under. Sometimes when a tire is flat and you put a side-ways stress on it, it’ll roll. As a result the bike was impossible to handle and crashed.
I managed to hop off and run a few steps without harm, however I broke the mirror. I will do a duct tape repair later tonight and see if that’ll hold until TO.
There are Inukshuks continually along the highway where travellers build a mark. It reminds me of a heritage Canada ad where the inuit rescue an injured mountie and he asks why they build them and the woman replies, “So they know we were here.”
I met another cyclist today, Justine, and she puts me to shame. She is in her early 50’s, cycling alone with a BOB trailer and is totally hardcore. Last night she free camped on a bluff overlooking the highway. She is totally hardcore. Tomorrow I will try to do 150km to White lake where I will camp in a provincial park. I am not so hard-core.
Stats:
Dist: 104 km
Average: 18.9km (damn hills)
Time: 5.5
Max: 40.6 (the crash had me spooked)