Wawa to Chapleau

After talking to several people in Wawa including an OPP officer who was born and raised in Chapleau, I decided to take highway 101 from Wawa to Chapleau rather than the Trans-Canada highway.  Everyone said that the road would’nt be as busy and the OPP officer commented that the hills won’t be as challenging as the one’s on the TransCanada. 

They were right, traffic was considerably less and I only saw one transport truck while I was cycling.  I was told that the scenery would not be as good as on the Trans-Canada but the view is still pretty stunning as it travels along several lakes and rivers. 

This is the first day we have had sunshine and a reasonably temperature but there was still a considerable wind, which made the day feel colder. 

I’m really struggling.  Three years older since the first segment of the Cross Canada ride and I can feel the difference.  It also makes a significant difference to cycle by yourself.  I’m looking forward to getting to Montreal where my cousin David is going to start cycling with me.  David lives in my hometown, Morecambe, England.  He’s flying in to cycle with me from Montreal to Halifax. 

We don’t see each other very often but we have a great connection and when we do travel together we get along extremely well.  We actually only connect when one of us is heading across the great pond, the Atlantic.  David met Deb and I in Paris for a few days and he once flew to Prague when I was travelling there to visit a friend who was teaching in the Czech Republic.  He has visited us on several occasions in Canada usually to partake in an activity like an interior canoe trip in Killarney or taking part in Ragbrai, the week-long cycle across Iowa.  And we have, of course, visited with him in England on a number of trips.

Tonight we are staying at a combination RV camp, hunting and fishing spot with mostly annual or seasonal residents.  When we drove in the owners were away and the custodian was not quite sure what to do, what to charge for a one-night stay.  Nice man, he figured it out and we got a receipt made out on an index card.  Extremely quiet place, we actually spent a bit of time sitting out in a protected spot enjoying the much-improved weather.  Maggie really enjoyed it.  She like us has been cooped up in the RV for too long.