Saturday August 8, 2015

We headed out at 7:15 an early start because of the long day. Jodi was heading to Red Lake to take part in a run and then continue towards Nipigon where we met up with Jodi, Doug and the three of the kids later in the day.

We followed a great route out of Thunder Bay, 35 kms along a quiet Lakeshore Road. We passed the International Youth Hostel, located 18 kms outside of Thunder Bay, in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately by following the route along Lakeshore Road we missed the Terry Fox monument. However, the monument is on the Thunder Bay Expressway and is not accessible by bicycle!

A grey day, the scenery might have been stunning but we could not see it. This reminded me of the Pacific Coast Highway, that was fogged in for most of the ride.

Before joining Highway 11/17 we stopped at this gas station and it had the mileage to Toronto and Ottawa. Ontario is one heck of a big Province, it will be another two or three weeks before we get to Quebec.

We met one other touring cyclist going in the opposite direction. His head gear made him look as though he had huge ears. He was from Korea and cycling from New York to Vancouver. We told him about Lakeshore Road and he warned us that the shoulders got narrower closer to Nipigon. A good exchange of information between touring cyclists.

As we came up to Red Rock, we glimpsed the colour of the rock through the fog. Now we know why the Town is called Red Rock.

From Red Rock to Nipigon the road is being reconstructed, expected finish date 2021. Ralf could not believe the timeline. However, as we came up to the road construction, we could see why. They are blasting through rock to widen the road, what an undertaking.

We knew we had some hills to climb, but wasn’t expecting the headwinds. We still made good time to Nipigon. Again we are staying with Jodi and Doug and three out of the five children. Doug is a doctor in Nipigon and was on-call this week-end at the hospital. Nipigon provides their on-call Doctors with a house to stay in while on-call. The house was really nice with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a big kitchen and living room.

We chatted to Doug and Jodi for a while and then had an early night, as we want to be on the road early. The next few days are going to be long days again – 90+ ks each day.