Day 39: Thunder Bay, Ont. to Upsala, Ont.

Just grin and bear it

Distance: 140.2 kms
Riding Time: 6:10 hrs
Average Speed: 22.6 km/h
Max. Speed: 53.3 km/h
# of bears seen on side of road: 2

Frank offered to take us to Mount Mackay today before we got on the road, so we all got in Marcy's SUV and drove to the huge cliffs overlooking the city (really two cities), Lake Superior and the Sleeping Giant. On the way, Frank proudly showed us some arrows he'd spray painted on the road for a 5 day bike tour he'd organized and led recently. Again, this man amazes me. We made a stop before Mt. Mackay at a very old fair that had a hand-made merry-go-round that is 97 years old. We got to go on too!

We bid farewell to Lake Superior by braving her frigid waters, but only up to our knees and then we went to Mt. Mackay. The views were incredible up there, at about 600 ft above the city and it's possible to go to the very top of the cliff too if you wanted.

We got back to the house pretty late, at about 1:30 pm, but I was determined to make Upsala. Everybody was moving kind of slow so I was going to just leave on my own, but at the last minute Katie decided that she'd come with me for a bit. We got to Kakabeka falls and it was tourist mayhem. I felt no desire to be part of the masses of revellers, so we waited for the others to catch up to us before I left. Although I definitely enjoyed the company on the road, I kind of felt like riding alone because since I've been riding alone for about a month I had really gotten accustomed to keeping my own pace.

The roads were okay except for a 5-6 km stretch of ground up pavement and a few jackass truckers. one trucker decided that I was not worthy to be on the road and while he was passing another 18-wheeler, both headed in my direction, forced me off the road. What a guy! Anyway, I made it to Upsala and am camped out in a campground that works on the honour system.

Tomorrow I'm not entirely sure where I'm headed.


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