Pancake Bay to Sault Ste. Marie
On the road by 8:20 this morning after a 'wet' night in the campground. Today was a good ride with 'some' hill climbing before lunch but we left the 'best' for the afternoon. We rode through rain for most of the day so we stopped at Goulais River General Store and borrowed their veranda for lunch. The owner told us about 'mile long hill' out of Goulais River that turned into a 2.8 km climb which was a real challenge. (You know the education system really needs to teach the metric system to people in Northwestern Ontario)!!! After climbing 'mile long hill' we were resting when Neil asked if we were going to take 'the scenic' route. We all looked at him and he said "well does that sign not say something about a scenic route"? It was in fact a sign to the local dump! Sure made us feel good about following him all day!!! Then the fun really began. The steady rain turned into an absolute downpour for the last 10 km into Sault Ste. Marie. It was as heavy as anything we have ridden in on this trip. We pulled into Velorution Cycle for some badly needed repairs to my back wheel. They did not have a new back wheel but phoned around for us and sent us to Algoma Cycle in the downtown area. 30 minutes later my bike was like 'new' again. I am sure I will be able to fix that shortly!
We are staying at the Water Tower Inn as the rains have continued and we were 'thoroughly soaked'. (Again)! Neil left us later this afternoon to return home. Thanks Neil for your 'bicycle repair tips' and more importantly for being a part of 'our adventure'. It was fun having you along.
Daily Distance = 77.76 km. Time on the bikes = 4 hours 31 minutes. Average Speed = 17.19 km. Maximum Speed = 49.17 km. Wildlife Sightings = very hard to see anything when the weather was so nice!!!
Kevin = 3, Sue = 0, Neil = 0, Eric = 1.
