Circling the U.S Chapter 20: Ontario Highlights -On to Michigan!

Thursday, July 11 - Sunday, July 14, 2019

We had some hills to climb after the swing bridge in Little Current took us back to the mainland. Only one of them was a humdinger, which Rob and I both agreed was the worst one we'd yet encountered. 

I took this picture and the following while we were tackling the hills north of Little Current.

Once we arrived in Espanola and began heading west, we were able to avoid the Trans-Canadian highway with pleasant riding on back roads.

52 miles brought us to Massey where we camped at Chutes Provincial Park, sharing our campsite with hundreds of mosquitoes. Rob decided that this was easier than getting out his mosquito netting.

We woke to thousands of mosquitoes buzzing outside our tent, which made for a record-setting packing up. The campground laundry room served as our refuge for breakfast. Out of fuel, we had lukewarm tea and barely cooked oatmeal made with hot tap water. Yum.  

But we still had our cheery dispositions, ready to tackle the challenge of riding on the Trans-Canadian highway. 

Although we were following the Great Lakes Shoreline Trail, in this part of the world the choice of back roads becomes more limited. Sometimes the trail took us on the highway and the shoulder was wide and smooth. Other times the trail routed us onto gravel roads or unpaved bike trails, not suitable for our fully loaded bikes. We stayed on the highway. But whenever the bike route left the highway the wide shoulder went away and our lives were at the mercy of the semis and campers speeding by.

We did have a pleasant stop in the morning at the municipal marina in Spanish.

Then we found a lovely place for lunch at a boat launch in the middle of nowhere. It was the perfect temperature for sitting on the metal dock while eating our lunch of cheese and crackers, then lying back and enjoying the feel of the sun shining down on us, closing our eyes for a nap. 

But I was not in a good mood; I was pissed. When I went to grab my flip-flops so I could take off my riding shoes and walk on the gravel over to the dock, my flip-flops weren't there. I realized I'd left them on the ground at our previous stop, 15 miles ago. I had sat on the bench to put on my riding shoes while making a phone call to a Warm Showers person. Distracted from finding out we had no place lined up to stay for the night, I'd left my flip-flops behind, ones that I really liked. It had taken me a long time to find the perfect pair last year; they would be hard to replace. But we were not going back for them.

(One day I am going to write a story about the trail of belongings we've left behind on bike trips, starting with a favorite pair of shorts on a beach in Nova Scotia.)

I made every effort to enjoy our tranquil lunch spot, while strategizing on how to find another perfect pair of flip-flops. Then, it was back to the highway and no fun to be had all afternoon. Trucks and cars whizzed by us, rattling our nerves and threatening to blow us off the road with their drafts. This is the kind of riding that tests your grit.

We arrived in the town of Blind River with three miles more highway riding to a private campground. When we stopped, I said to Rob, "I'm done with that. I say tomorrow we try to catch a ride."

He said, "We can't do that. Then we won't have ridden the whole way."

"It doesn't matter. When I tell people about my bike trip [in 1980], I tell them I rode 3000 miles. If they want to know more then I'll say I hitch-hiked 600 miles. I still  biked 3000."

We stopped at a visitor center to find out if there was any other route to Sault Ste. Marie. There wasn't. Then we stopped at the hardware store across the street to try to find a screwdriver small enough to fix my eyeglasses, to reattach the ear piece that had come off. I was only partially successful. One of the clerks in the store told me that I could find an optician downtown. That would work.

Coming out of the hardware store, a woman about our age asked the usual questions: Where were we from? Where were we going? Under normal circumstances we're happy to chat, but we were tired and still had to get to our campground and I wanted to try to find that optician. Before we could get away, she said, "My name is Sally. I'm the mayor. Let me know if you need anything."


As I started to wheel my bike away, I said, "If you know anyone who is willing to put up two older cyclists for the night that would be great."

Sally said, "You can camp at the town marina."

I stopped and said, "That would be wonderful! Is it free?"

Sally wasn't sure, but it wouldn't be much. We got directions, then we rode to the downtown area. The optician was closed but across the street was a shoe store where I found a pair of flip-flops. Not as good as the ones I'd left behind, but they would do. Things were looking up.

We found the marina. They had a coffee shop where we paid the ten dollar camping fee and got the secret code for the bathroom. While we were setting up camp, Sally, the mayor, stopped by with her husband. They lived next door and were out for a walk with their dog. We chatted a bit and her husband went home to get a set of small screwdrivers, then came back and fixed my glasses.

After Rob's initial hesitation about catching a ride to Sault Ste. Marie, he took ownership of the challenge. While I was relaxing in my chair, drinking tea and looking out over the boats in the harbor, he came back with a piece of cardboard and a magic marker.

"I was talking to a guy in the coffee shop. He gave me this stuff. He says I should just write 'The Soo' and we should stand at the exit of Tim Horton's tomorrow around nine o'clock and we'll catch a ride in twenty minutes." (The first word of Sault Ste. Marie is pronounced "Soo." It's French.)

We rode back into town to pick up dinner and enjoyed fried chicken and beer and watched the sunset over the water.

We've been camping in some beautiful places. Watching the sunset from the Blind River marina in Ontario.

We were the only ones camping, except for the guy who was advising us on getting a ride to The Soo. In the morning he stopped by to check on us. I said, "They're doing construction so we thought we'd stand at the entrance to Tim Horton's."

He said, "No, you don't want to do that. All these guys are thinking about when they pull in is getting their coffee. On the way out, they'll pick you up. And don't go before nine o'clock. Nobody's up before then."

We packed up and rode into town for breakfast at Tim Horton's. We've developed a real appreciation for the Canadian fast-food restaurant, as we've noticed that it serves as a community gathering place. And the food is pretty decent.

Then, outside with our bikes, we tried to find a place to stand where the road work had the shoulder shut down. We parked our bikes next to a telephone pole where there was a driveway just ahead of us. I looked at my watch. 8:38 a.m. 

I didn't even see the black pickup truck pull into the parking lot next to us, but there it was and Rob was wheeling his bike over to it. "Con, we have a ride."

I looked at my watch. 8:41 a.m. Three minutes. That's how long it took us to catch a ride to The Soo.

Jody, the woman who picked us up, was a local farmer on her way to pick up a hog feeder across the border in the Michigan Soo. Rob sat in front and asked her all the questions about hay that had been bugging him. Why are some bales round and some square? We learned that some hay was baled as soon as it was cut and some dried out first. Cows can eat hay with mold but not horses. The smaller square bales are easier to store in the barn for the horses.

Rob and I enjoyed hearing about Jody's life, farming full time while working full time and raising three children with her high school sweetheart. They had their first child when they were both still in high school and waited a few years before marrying, bought their farm when they were 25, after their third child was born. That was 25 years ago. She said they do everything with best practices for the environment in mind. After 90 miles Rob and I left with a great deal of respect for this wonderful person who even took the time to drive out of her way to drop us off at a bike shop in town.

We arrived in Sault Ste. Marie at 10:30 and spent the rest of the day bicycling around the city, relaxing on the waterfront, and having a beer. We spent the night at the home of a retired nurse who doesn't bicycle but enjoys being part of the Warm Showers community. She's fixed up an apartment in the basement of her house just for cyclists to use in the summer months. She doesn't cook for them, which was fine, because the apartment had a well-stocked kitchen where we heated up a lasagne we'd picked up. We ate outside in Micky's backyard, enjoying her company on our last night in Ontario.

On to Michigan!

 

From the Travel Log:

Day 35: Thursday, July 11, 2019  52 miles to Massey, Ontario

A delicious breakfast and interesting conversation were to blame for a later than usual start this morning. Then we had to stop and watch the swing bridge that took us from Manitoulin Island back to the mainland. We had thirty miles of highway riding with a good supply of hills, one that Rob and I both agreed was our toughest yet. A long stop for lunch, a swim, groceries, and Tim Horton's for some wifi time then 20 miles on back roads brought us to Chutes Provincial Park, with a waterfall and lots of mosquitoes.

  

Day 36: Friday, July 12, 2019  53 miles to Blind River, Ontario

Nothing like swarms of mosquitoes to get you out of your campground in a hurry. And we're out of fuel so we had barely cooked oatmeal and lukewarm tea, whatever the hot water from the laundry sink in the campground would serve us. Nevertheless, we started the day in cheerful moods, ready to tackle the challenge of riding on the Trans Canadian highway. We had two lovely stops along Lake Huron to keep up our lively spirits. 

Rob's cycling hat disappeared several days ago. He says someone stole it. I say he left it behind somewhere. Which is what I did today to my flip-flops, a pair I was particularly fond of, especially since they were a challenge to find. I was really pissed off at lunch when I realized I had left them 15 miles behind us and we were defiinitely not going back for them.

When we arrived in Blind River this afternoon, we were stopped at the local hardware store where we were greeted by the mayor who told us that we could camp at the town marina for $10.  It's a lovely spot where we are enjoying a pastel sunset as I write this. The moon is almost full. It's 9:30 and only just getting dark.

The day's riding was very challenging. We were warned. The only main route in this part of Ontario is the Trans Canadian Highway, a major cross country truck route. We've been following the Great Lakes Coastal Trail for bicycles. When it takes you on the highway, there is usually a comfortable wide shoulder. But when it goes off the highway, the shoulder disappears. The problem is that the bike route is sometimes on gravel roads or unpaved trails that we can't ride on. So it's back on the highway with a scant shoulder and speeding traffic. At least most of it gives us a wide berth. We've had enough. Tomorrow we're going to have breakfast at Tim Horton's then, at the advice of a local who Rob talked to, we'll have our signs ready, hoping the catch a ride to Sault Ste. Marie on the Michigan border. Ontario has been great fun, but we're ready to move on.

 

Day 37: Saturday, July 13, 2019    20 miles around Sault St. Marie, Ontario

Warm Showers host Michaela

3 minutes. That's how long it took us to catch a ride from Blind River to Sault Ste. Marie. The woman who picked us up is a local farmer going to pick up a hog feeder across the border in the United States. Rob and I both enjoyed hearing about her life, farming full time while working full time and raising three children with her high school sweetheart. They had their first child when they were both still in high school and waited a few years before marrying, bought their farm when they were 25, after their third child was born, 25 years ago. She said they do everything with best practices for the environment in mind. After 90 miles Rob and I left with a great deal of respect for this wonderful person who took the time to drive out of her way to drop us off at a bike shop in town.

That makes three times we've been saved by a driver in a pickup truck.

We arrived in Sault Ste. Marie at 10:30 and spent the rest of the day bicycling around the city, relaxing on the waterfront, having a beer, and searching for the Canadian Tire store which sells much more than tires but unforturnately their inventory does not include the camp stove fuel we need.

Spending the night at the home of a retired nurse who doesn't bicycle but enjoys being part of the Warm Showers community, and is delightfully warm and friendly.