Total distance: 3694km
Average speed: 21.8km/h
Weather: sunny
Guess what happens when you decide to bike another 90km at 5pm? After Jillian's awesome blueberry pancakes this morning, I went to the Marathon Library to use the computer and didn't leave town until 11. I was eating wind for a good part of the day and stopped 50km or so from White River to eat some goldfish crackers on the side of the road. Interesting signs of lake and river names kept me entertained on the slow going to White River, including Fungus Creek and Hammer Lake. At 4 I rolled into White River, home of Winnie the Pooh (my favourite cartoon character!) which actually originated from a black bear cub that a soldier bought. After a Buddy Burger at A&W and a giant can of Arizona tea, I got back on the road. I knew that Obatanga Provincial Park, which is where the guidebook had recommended to camp, was closed for good and that there was a motel 40km or so down, so I was just going to head in that direction and find some place by the side to spend the night. I'm not sure what was in that tea, but 30km in and I was feeling the best that I've felt all day, such that I decided to go all the way to Wawa. I really started hammering but of course having it mostly downhill helped. Good thing I wasn't going too fast to miss another moose, this time a female, and my first bear, who was quite small and just chilling by the shoulder watching me! Just before 9, I came upon John's place in Wawa, who was ever so kind to feed me and let me shower. There are two other cyclists going from Montreal to Vancouver who'd been here for a few days because the derailleur on one of their bikes broke and they are waiting for a new one to get shipped in. I got to learn some French and them some English and we shared our photos from the different legs of our cross-country trip, before I knew it it was midnight! They are getting really antsy to go and I really hope they get the derailleur soon!
It's funny that at the hosts that I've stayed with I keep hearing stories about other cyclist who had just been there. Without ever meeting them I already know so much about them. Like the fruitarian guy who is crossing the country in 50 days and eats nothing but 5lb of potatoes in one sitting, or the trio of Europeans who got way too close to a bear!
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