Bike Trip 2011 Day 13, June 5 Batchawana Bay, 1398 km

After watching the Canucks beat the Bruins last night, we got an early (6:20) start because this section from Wawa to Montreal River has a reputation for hills that are tough on bicyclists.  The morning was cold, requiring us to dress warmly.  In fact it was cool to cold the whole day with the air coming off Lake Superior.  Oddly enough, although we felt colder on our bikes as we came closer to the Lake, the vegetation changed; the conifers beside the road gave way to hardwoods- mostly maples.  This was a great day be on our bikes; it was sunny and there were no headwinds today.  The winds that we noticed came from our right off Lake Superior; they brought us lots of cold air.  This morning we saw two moose close to the highway; from their sizes, they looked like a cow with her yearling offspring.  They cooperated nicely and gave me an opportunity to take pictures.  To add to the Canadiana, there was a goose in the foreground (forepond ?).  We arrived at Batchawana Bay around 4 pm and checked into the Voyageurs Motel, a small room with fridge, microwave, coffee maker and internet.  The outside of this motel looks better than the inside.  There was a small general store that had everything we needed to polish off the food we had on hand plus they have an LCBO licence which allowed me to pickup a can of Rickard’s Dark (quite similar to the Quiscana Negri that I liked in Peru).  We walked across the road to the beach so that Susie could immerse legs in the lake.

Cow moose and yearling?

While this section has a reputation for tough hills, we did not find them to be a problem.  This is way, way easier than the Rockies and Purcells.

Bike Trip 2011 Day 12, June 4 Wawa,1242 km

This bull moose was not lucky

Semi on its side

This morning we slept in until after 7 and got on the road at 8:20 am.  The wind had died down making for very pleasant biking.  It was warm but not hot and overcast.  The road was excellent with decent shoulders most of the way.  At Moose Creek we saw our first bull moose and a cow; thus, the spot is appropriately named.  Later, about 50 km from Wawa, we were passed by police cars, an ambulance, fire rescue truck and a huge tow truck.  We suspected a traffic accident ahead.  Not long thereafter we came upon a long lineup of trucks and cars, and saw a semi on its side on the westbound lane- part of it projected down the bank.  After looking over the terrain, we saw a dirt road running along the south right of way.  We biked back about a 100 m and got on this road and skirted the accident scene.  Then the cycling became even better because we had the full eastbound lane to ourselves; about 3/4 of an hour later the traffic started to come through so we pulled off the road to let them go by and have a bite to eat.  Riding into Wawa, we encountered a fog bank, which dropped the temperature and forced Susie to put on a sweater.  We stopped at the Wawa information booth to find out where we could buy food and perhaps a new tire.  Canadian Tire had bike tires but none the right size, so we’ll have to check in the Sault.  We picked up food at the Valu-Mart, and then head south to the White Fang motel.  It was really clean and spacious room with fridge, coffee maker and internet but no nicrowave.  I am becoming to trust the TravelAdvisor web site.

Bike Trip 2011 Day 11, June 3 White River, 1138 km

We left Jackfish Lake at 7:30 am and were immediately presented with a significant hill.  The scenery was great with lots of lakes, rocks, rivers and of course Lake Superior.  The road from Terrace Bay to White River was very good.  In this section there are relatively few hills and lots of straight sections.  This made for easy cycling.  On the other hand, we had wind in our faces for all but 3 hours today.  In the morning it was enough to make us work, then in the middle of the day, it died, and at the end of the day, it was 48 kph.  Needless to say that we were very tired by the time we rolled in to White River at 5:45 pm.  It was lucky for us that we got there when we did because an hour later all the rooms in town were taken; we stayed at the White River Motel.  Tonight we had dinner at the Continental Restaurant on the south side of the highway.  The food was good, service was just okay and the atmosphere was lousy; we could hear everyone who spoke although the echoes garbled the sounds enough to make them unintelligible.

Bike Trip 2011 Day 10, June 2, Jackfish Lake east of Terrace Bay, 986 km

We left Nipigon at 7:50 am and immediately crossed the Nipigon River and passed the Junction of 11 and 17.  Soon thereafter we biked up a hill and down the other side.  The weather was warm and sunny with no wind making it a perfect day for biking.  I stopped several times to take pictures and we stopped once to allow Susie to chill her heels in Lake Superior.  Just before Rossport we saw a black bear sow and her cub.  I got a picture; the cub is in the trees on the right.  In Terrace Bay we stopped so that I could rotate the tires, moving the front to the rear and vice-versa.  This was done because there was significantly more wear on the rear tire, making me worry about a blow out.  While I did that work, Susie walked to the grocery store and got supplies that would allow us to continue on to Jackfish Lake for the night, another 20 km.