Chapleau to Thessalon (Day 2)

Road conditions continue to be an issue and some of the hills are very challenging to say the least.  The scenery along the way is beautiful though and that certainly helps.  Cycling by yourself is, I find considerably more challenging.  You don’t have the distraction of chatting with another rider along the way or the encouragement to keep going when it gets difficult. 

One thing you don’t need to be concerned about when cycling in Lambton County is bears (see photo).  This is the second black bear that I have seen so far.  Fortunately, I noticed him before he noticed me and I stopped on the other side of the road to take this photo.  Eventually he either saw me or could smell me as his nose rose in the air and he turned to look at me.  After only a few seconds, he lumbered off into the bush and as fast as I could I cycled past the spot where he had been. 

The distance from where we were camping near Chapleau to Thessalon is over two hundred km and with the hills and deteriorated road conditions probably a three day journey on a bike, at least for me.  Today I also had bike issues (slipping gears) and had to change bikes when I met up with Deb. 

It is obvious even this early in the ride that there are too many issues that are impacting my ride from bike problems, to weather, strong winds and the fact that I’m three years older and not in as good a condition as I need to be to take this on.  Having said that I’m not giving up on the ride completely.  It is, however, time to make adjustments to my expectations.  Since I’m on a tight timeline (need to be in Montreal to meet David) I have made the decision to cover as much distance on the bike each day as I can and then join Deb and Maggie in the RV to move on to where we need to be.  Not what I set out to do but I feel necessary under the circumstances.  I hope that over time the weather will start to improve, I will get stronger and by the time, we meet David in Montreal we will be back on track.

With that thinking in mind at the end of the day we drove from where I left off the rest of the way into Thessalon and back to the Trans-Canada highway. Highway 129 as you approach Thessalon hugs the Mississagi River and I mean hugs. The twisting and turning up and down road at time has a suggested speed limit of 20km per hour. The road is narrow in spots and I’m glad I’m in the RV on not trying to negotiate this section on my bike with traffic that does always adhere to the recommend speed.