August 01, 2012

Day 32 - Entering the Giant

I left Falcon Lake early but not as early as I'd of liked. Got back on the TCH and in a little more then 10 km I was greeted with the big welcome to Ontario sign. My 2300 km ride through this massive province begins today! I'm looking forward to it as it is my home province and there are a few people here I'll get to visit.

Right away the terrain was hilly and the roads were lined in thick forests. Its almost like they drew the boundary for Manitoba as soon as they hit the hills. The roads themselves were in good condition and had nice shoulders for most of the day.

I arrived in Kenora after 60 km with only a brief stop for a silly photo at the border. Here I picked up cell service again and found Deb and Carlin had gone kayaking somewhere near by. I ended up falling asleep on a bench by the big lake in town. The cool breeze and lack of sleep the night before due to obnoxious loud talkers were a good combination for an afternoon nap.

I wasn't sure if the couple would push on but they keep a good pace so I decided to leave town and just ride on until I grew tired. I rode through a few construction areas but nothing too hazardous. The TCH here does a lot of cutting through hills so you get a lot of sections with blasted rock walls on both sides. These really remind me of the highway in Newfoundland. They also make good high ground for camping if need be.

The TCH went winding along and I kept at it despite the day growing long. Soon enough it was 8pm and I was told by a motel clerk that there was nothing between us and Vermilion Bay but 50 km of bushes, moose, and bears.

I rode well past the time the sun was up and eventually had the moon overhead for my first bit of night riding. To the north the sky lit up more and more as a storm approached. It was fully dark and past 11pm when I arrived at the small town of Vermilion Bay.

I found a church to setup camp but a local saw my headlight and seemed to think it was a bad idea to camp there. After I asked about a better spot he suggested a bungalow not far down the road. A bit annoyed, I set off and found it quickly and just finished deciding I'd set my tent up under it when the sky opened up and it poured as heavily as I've seen so far. The oll first night in a new province rain trick I've seen a few times now.

Anyhow, the rain was really heavy for a short period and a tree even blew over near by. It's subsided since I've set the tent up and I've heard from Deb that they are in Kenora so I may take some shorter days and let them catch up. Until then, I'm friggin tired, good night!