Luella and Diana, generous purchasers of breakfast, in Walford, Ontario

These adorable women, Luella and Diana, unexpectedly bought me a most delicious breakfast in Walford, Ontario.

I guess I had made quite an impression on Luella’s grandson with the bicycling all the way from Seattle, so while I was eating they snuck over and paid for my food. It was undeserved, overly generous, and much appreciated.

The kindness alone was great. But, I’ve had some form of this breakfast a dozen times on this trip (if not twice that)…coffee, eggs, some meat, toast, potatoes, and this one was the best so far. Not only because it was paid for by someone else, but because the cook did a really good job on it. Sausage, bacon, ham, two eggs, rye toast, potatoes. Yummy. I can’t remember the name of the cafe, but i do remember that the kitchen belonged to Bil. (There was some sort of sign indicating not to mess with Bil.) Anyhow, it was THE cafe in Walford. And I recommend it. Yum!

Anyhow, Luella says she doesn’t normally let her picture be taken, so I really appreciate her allowing me to take it. I don’t know why she wouldn’t want her picture taken…these two ladies look great. Thank you, thank you!

Hinton, Alberta
Edson
Niton Junction
Nojack
Cynthia (Cynthia RV Park & Campground)

Saturday, August 29th, 2009 (69.0 miles)

Cynthia
Drayton Valley
Alsike
Breton
Winfield (Winfields Lions Pioneer Park)

Sunday, August 30th, 2009 (0.0 miles)

Winfield

Monday, August 31st, 2009 (73.3 miles)

Winfield
Village at Pigeon Lake
Falun
Wetaskiwin
Bittern Lake
Camrose (Valleyview Campground)

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 (74.1 miles)

Camrose
Kinsella
Irma

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 (72.6 miles)

Irma
Fabyan
Wainwright
ENTER Saskatchewan
Marsden
Neilburg (Museum Campground)

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 (70.3 miles)

Neilburg
Cut Knife
Battleford
North Battleford

Friday, September 4th, 2009 (66.8 miles)

North Battleford
Denholm
Maymont
Radisson
Langham (Riverview RV Park)

Saturday, September 5th, 2009 (60.1 miles)

Langham
Saskatoon
Clavet
Elstow
Painted Rock Campground (8km west of Colonsay)

Sunday, September 6th, 2009 (44.9 miles, brutal headwinds)

Painted Rock Campground
Colonsay
Viscount
Plunkett
Guernsey
Lanigan (Lions Campground)

Monday, September 7th, 2009 (71.1 miles)

Lanigan
Dafoe
Wynyard
Mozart
Elfros
Leslie
Foam Lake (Foam Lake Campground)

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 (67.3 miles)

Foam Lake
Sheho
Insinger
Theodore
Springside
Yorkton
Cherrydale Golf Club & Campground

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 (74.3 miles)

Cherrydale Golf Club
ENTER Manitoba
Roblin
Grandview (Grandview City Park)

Thursday, September 10th, 2009 (82.5 miles)

Grandview
Gilbert Plains
Dauphin
Ste. Rose du Lac
McCreary

Friday, September 11th, 2009 (102.0 miles)

McCreary
Riding Mountain
Neepawa
Gladstone
Woodside
Portage La Prairie (Island Campground)

Saturday, September 12th, 2009 (70.3 miles)

Portage La Prairie
Elie
Winnipeg
Dugald (Dugald Community Center Field)

Sunday, September 13th, 2009 (121.4 miles)

Dugald
Vivian
Ste. Rita
Elma
Rennie
West Hawk Lake
ENTER Ontario
Kenora (Travelodge)

Monday, September 14th, 2009 (16.8 miles)

Kenora
Picnic area a short way outside Kenora

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 (mileage not recorded)

Outside Kenora
Vermillion Bay
Minnitaki
Oxdrift
Dryden (NW Campground & RV Park)

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 (90.6 miles)

Dryden
Wabigoon
Dinorwic
Borups Corners
Ignace
(Pipeline right-of-way about 20 miles east of Ignace)

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 (111.4 miles)

Pipeline right-of-way
English River
Upsala
Shabaqua Corners
Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park

Friday, September 18th, 2009 (81.4 miles)

Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park
Thunder Bay
Dorian
(Birchland Tent & RV about 8 miles west of Nipigon)

Saturday, September 19th, 2009 (38.2 miles)

Birchland Tent & RV
Nipgon
Gravel River Motel (about 10 miles west of Rossport)

Sunday, September 20th, 2009 (87.2 miles)

Gravel River Motel
Pays Plat
Schreiber
Terrace Bay
Marathon (Marathon Campground…and mercury dump!)

Monday, September 21st, 2009 (60.1 miles)

Marathon
White River (Continental Motel with dad and Mathieu)

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 (77.8 miles)

White River
Wawa
(Rabbit Blanket Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park)

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 (110.1 miles)

Rabbit Blanket
Heyden (Mountain Ash Motel with dad)

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 (40.0 miles)

Heyden
Sault Ste. Marie
(a few miles outside Sault Ste. Marie on Highway 17)

Friday, September 25th, 2009 (77.8 miles)

Roadside on Highway 17
Desbarats
Bruce Mines
Thessalon
Sowerby
Iron Bridge
Blind River
Algoma Mills
Spragge
(Serpent River Campground)

Saturday, September 26th, 2009 (92.7 miles)

Serpent River Campground
Serpent River
Cutler
Spanish
Walford
Massey
Webbwood
McKerow
Nairn Centre
Whitefish
Naughton
Coniston (empty lot outside Coniston)

Sunday, September 27th, 2009 (73.7 miles)

Coniston
Wahnapitae
Markstay
Hagar
Verner
Sturgeon Falls
North Bay (Northgate Inn)

Monday, September 28th, 2009 (39.2 miles, very challenging winds)

Northbay
Rutherglen
Mattawa (Voyageur Motel)

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 (0.0 miles)

Mattawa

It is an open question how much longer my bike will hold up. Here’s the problem in order of descending impact:

NUMBER ONE OVERARCHING PROBLEM: I’ve been carrying way too much stuff. (Hello lotsagear guy!)

2. I’ve been carrying too much stuff, too many miles.
3. I probably shouldn’t have let Kulshan Cycles increase the spoke tension on my rear wheel. (Too tight!)
4. Day before yesterday I hit a piece of iron shaped like a 3:4 ratio railroad spike. (It punched a dime-sized hole in my tire, acted like a door stop to the rear wheel, and knocked the wheel seriously out of true.)

I spent a good hour-and-a-half roadside booting the tire and bringing the wheel back into some semblance of true. But this, really, is the least of the problems. There are small stress-fractures developing in the rim around the spoke holes. This means the rim is on its way to inevitable demise, and that it will be harder and harder to hold the wheel true in the process. Basically, it’s got a deep wobble in it, and the now very tight spokes are fighting a losing battle to hold it true while it crouches full of potential energy, waiting to unleash at the next pothole or railroad spike.

The solution? Really, none. Replace the rim, build a new wheel. Very expensive, special order, wait for the build, time consuming.

In the interim, I’ve unloaded everything “extra” from the bike and will just ride this into the ground. What’s the over/under for it surviving? I’d say one day. I’ve got a half-an-hour of riding on it now. So far so good. If it makes a full day in good shape, I’d expect a lot more wear out of it. If it uncoils in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll have to reassess, but I’m probably done.

Alas.

Alack.

Mathieu, my dad, and I spent the night together last night in White River.  Dad is going to drive ahead to Wawa and bike back up to ride a little ways with us.

Got drenched yesterday.  Unbelievably, the first serious rain since the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.  Some chance of rain again today, but for the moment the skies look clear.

Apparently, I just missed seeing a moose off the road yesterday.  (Mathieu espied it.)  One wonders if I’ll ever see a moose.  *Kicks dust beneath computer*

Just a quick update and now I’m done.  Thank you to Jen’s Place of White River for having such a nice place with internet service.  I highly recommend it.

Aside:  If I sometimes sound like an overly-negative, grumpy, hypercritical observe, you don’t know the half of it.  Bah-humbug!

Apologies for less than full blog-posting. Struggling with infrequent computer availability and internet connections of dubious quality.

Spent the night in a Travelodge in Kenora last night. As this is another tourist mecca (Lake of the Woods is beautiful. Fifty-four-forty or fight!), this cost me CAN$90. Ack!

Not justified, but I justify it never-the-less because I hadn’t showered or paid camping fees anywhere for three days and had traveled just over three hundred miles in that three day span.

I was going to go to a campsite, but they wanted CAN$25. I’ve gotten accustomed to the townlets charging CAN$10 to CAN$15 a night for campsites which include firewood and showers. The same thing minus the firewood and showers, for my little sliver of tent, no electricity, no water hookups. C’mon!

“I assume the $25 includes you guys setting up my tent and tucking me into my sleeping bag.”

They told me to get the hell out of there. I obliged.