Siesta in Northern Ontario

We woke up next to a camper van who was doing the same thing as us - trying to sleep for free at the Info Centre. They were from Quebec, and we were speaking to each other in French. They’re going across Canada too, but east to west, and they warned us of the hills that are coming up.

We stopped in Kenora at a Tim Hortons, and ordered an xl tea so we could use the hot water for our porridge for second breakfast. There was construction on the road in town on our way out, and as we were biking along gravel I noticed that my back wheel was rubbing on the brake. My rim was cracked. Earlier in the day, it felt a bit hard to bike, but i just attributed it to the headwind. I sure hope that it doesn’t break on me for the next 500 km to Thunder Bay!

The roads along this route were very pretty with rock face cliffs on either side at points and lakes all around. The sun was very hot all day, and we were both tired, so we stopped at one of the many lakes, found some shade, laid out a tarp, blew up our sleeping mats and took a 1 hour nap. We felt very rejuvenated from it and pedalled to Vermillion Bay. It started to rain about 15 km out of town, so we were looking for a spot to camp at the side of the road. There are always places to camp, but for some reason, not in this stretch! The rain went away before we could find an appropriate place, so we just went into town.

We stopped at the shell gas station with Bobby’s Sports Store and we talked with them for a bit. They were very friendly, and they let us camp by the Inuksuk at the end of their parking lot. We were lucky because It started to rain just after we set up camp.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 147.19 km

Total distance travelled: 4173.3 km

Starting point: Info Centre just past the Ontario border

Our Route: Trans Canada (Highway 17) all day. The roads and shoulder were excelent for most parts, except going through Kenora with potholes and construction, and points where the shoulder got really narrow at points.

Ending point: Bobby’s Sports Store parking lot, Vermillion Bay

• We knew we weren’t the only ones cycling across Canada, but we encountered at least 6 others doing this sort of trip too today.
• Kenora is a town mostly for Manitobans as a cottage country location.
• Moose are dangerous at night because their eyes don’t reflect light the way other animals eyes do, and they’re so top heavy and tall that cars tend to take out their knees and the moose’s body goes through he windshield.