August 12; 112km, 712m vertical

St Stephen to St John, NB, cool and wet
Some days are bad (like last Wednesday) and then other days start off as bad and just get worse. Today was such a day. It started spitting with rain as we set off and then turned to heavy rain a short time later and this time it was 5C cooler than last week. We were on a busy road so we got a good shower from the rear as trucks passed while we were pelted unmercifully from the front by rain pushed by a NE wind or our own speed down the hills. At 50km we were pleased to see a restaurant so we had a break for lunch and had to leave a good tip to compensate for the pools of water dripping off the table and chairs creating an ever widening puddle on the floor. The weather appeared to be clearing up as we left the restaurant but it soon started raining heavily again. At 65km we hit a 15km stretch of roadworks which made for rough riding on the hard shoulder and the grooves in the ground off road surface were waterlogged ensuring more intensive clouds of water from passing traffic. After the roadworks the hard shoulder was still in a poor state covered with large amounts of grit and loose gravel and I was getting concerned about the risk of puncturing which is always much higher in the wet. And guess what? At 87km there was a bang and a hiss and within a second TimB had a flat front tyre. Upon inspection we found a half inch long slash in the flank of the tyre and tube. In the pouring rain and colossal showers from passing traffic it proved impossible to get the self adhesive tyre patches to stick so we had to unpack the emergency race tyre. Using large handfuls of TimB’s emergency toilet roll we were able to get the tube dry enough to patch it and after about 40min we had his bike back together and ready to roll. That was when I picked my bike up to repack the tools etc and found my back tyre was flat. Out with the tools again (and the toilet roll) and another tube patched. Definitely not our best day. A man in a pickup truck did stop and offer to take us to town but we turned the offer down because it would have meant riding the 25km back west in the morning to turn round and carry on and we don’t have time for an extra 50km tomorrow.

August 11; 161km; 1670M vertical

We left Bangor at 9:10 and headed along route 9 to Calais, Maine. We had 150km to travel so we decided to ride 20km segments, take a short break and repeat. The first 60km had several steep hills and after 3 hours we were feeling the strain. Another problem was the lack of restaurants along the route - there are no towns with over 200 people between Bangor and Calais. We counted 3 restaurants in the first 30km and then nothing until 110km where we found the Hilltop Cafe and finally had a lunch of fish chowder and tea. Back on the road we found the hills less steep but just as omnipresent. After 6 1/2 hours and 151km in the saddle we hit Calais and decided to cross into Canada and look for a motel in St. Stephen. Four motels and another 10km later we finally had a room.

August 7 to August 10

Wedding of Patrick and Heidi in Ste Eustache.

August 6; 135km; 1189M vertical; rain

Kingfield, Maine to Bangor Maine
It had to happen sooner or later - today we rode the whole day in heavy rain. We started from Kingfield at 10 am in a light rain and before we had gone 5km we were in a downpour. We stopped under trees for breaks during the day and we found a Tim Horton‘s in Skowhegan, Maine for lunch. Getting on our bikes after lunch was a real effort. It’s good we didn’t have any other option. The rain was so bad I didn’t get my camera out once during the day. We had a long day in Maine with constant rain and constant hills, but we had to make it to Bangor. At 6:30 we arrived at the Bangor airport wet, tired and dripping, but somewhat content that we had done 135km in such miserable conditions. We are now on a 4 day hiatus to attend the wedding of my nephew Patrick, so we rented a car and headed back to Montreal. From Bangor it took us 6 ½ hours to drive back to Montreal - maybe we are not so slow on our bikes as we thought.
Top 7 reasons why we enjoy rainy days:

1. No risk of sun stroke
2. Lots of squeaks, clicks, and rattles disappear when you and your bike are waterlogged
3. Save money on sunscreen
4. Hydration is not a problem - just ride with your mouth open
5. Don’t have to stop to take photographs
6. Don’t get sweat rings on your clothes
7. There are no workers present in the construction zones - no risk of double fines for speeding

August 5; 138 km 1392m vertical; cloudy, some sun & cool

Ernie’s Hunting Lodge (Island Brook) to Kingfield (Maine)
Last night Ernie drove us through the woods to show us the shorter way to get back to the main road so this morning we rode a rough trail uphill all the way and saved 8km. Now, it would have been nice if that had been it for riding uphill but, unfortunately, the road through eastern Quebec takes the hills in straight lines with frequent 12% climbs. When we arrived in Woburn we had climbed 875m in only 50km into headwinds and we were working harder than anything we had done in Ontario. I was a stretcher case before I’d even had lunch. TimB is only a shadow of his former self. If he dresses too fast in the morning he will fall straight through his clothes. Five km after Woburn we crossed the U.S. border into Maine and the remaining 85km to Kingfield were a long haul even though the terrain was a lot easier. We are now settled in a hotel with a décor from around 1900 and we dined across the road on scallops in a 3-cheese sauce washed down with iced water interspersed with the occasional local brew. Or was that the other way round???? Can’t remember. Anyway, we both feel we may, after all, live to see another day though we are not sure about the 140km to Bangor. Night night.

August 4; 108 km; 1043M Vertical; overcast and rain

Waterloo to Island Brook
We started out in a steady rain and rode to Magog for a cup of tea at the Eastern Townships School Board (my former employer). We had tea with Nancy B, Allison, Caroline and Kathleen. Nancy even treated us to bananas and muffins. Thank you all. We then continued on our way to Lennoxville and Island Brook. At Island Brook we turned off the road to overnight at Ernie’s hunting and fishing lodge. Ernie was there to hand us a beer the minute we got off our bikes and he was the perfect host tonight We had moose sausage for starters and pasta with moose meat, mushroom and zucchini sauce for the main course. Moose meat has zero cholesterol and along with beer is renown as a health food. Ernie took good care of us. Today was our first full day in the Eastern Townships where we have been going up and down hill all day long. Today we climbed 1043 meters vertical, our best total since BC.

August 3 125km, 350m vertical, dull and rainy

Pointe Claire (Montreal) to Waterloo
So, after 4 days at the Baker ranch servicing the bikes, getting kit washed, being fed properly and generally being pampered by our respective wives we are on the move again. TimB’s local knowledge was invaluable in finding our way along the complicated route that took us along Montreal island, around the city and over the bridges to get off the island and head east for Granby and Waterloo. After about 20km we passed two a man and a youth on bikes who a short while later caught up with us at a red light. They were lost and had no idea where to head for to get off the island. They were father and son and wanted to ride back south to Vermont where dad had left his pickup truck. Dad asked if they could follow us so we led them for the next 30km to the bike route which would take them to Chambly where they would be able to turn south for the US border. It turned out to be a pretty slow business because dad is pulling a loaded trailer and his rear derailleur grip shift is broken so he only has 2 useful gears making him very slow. We lost about an hour with all this but we had to feel sorry for them because they had a much tougher day ahead of them than we did. We can only hope they made it ok.
About 50km further on we caught up with another biker who was carrying an enormous load plus a little girl on a seat in front of the handlebars. It turned out that they were a father and daughter duo and had been on the road for a year. They were riding to raise awareness of the poverty that single parents in Canada are subjected to. There really is no end to the surprising types of people that we find pedalling around this country.

July 29; 85km; 167M vertical

Lancaster to Pointe Claire
We crossed the Ontario-Quebec border shortly after starting today. Another province done. Ontario is by far the longest and hardest province to cross. We climbed more meters in Ontario than in BC and we spent as much time in Ontario as the other 4 provinces combined. We passed through St. Polycarpe and St. Clet, both with nice churches in the centre of town. One more Tim Horton’s stop in Pincourt and we rode home to Pointe Claire to see our wives for the first time in 2 months.
We have completed 907km in the last 7 days and will now enjoy a 4 day break for bike and body maintenance.

July 28; 125km; 280M vertical

Brockville to Lancaster
We followed the Highway 2 along the St. Lawrence all day to Lancaster near the Ontario-Quebec border. After yesterday we were tired and we made sure to eat and drink plenty. We seem to be riding from Tim Horton’s to Tim Horten’s, but that is because their tea is the best we can find and their soup of the day easy to digest. We arrived at my brother George’s place in Lancaster in good time for a pre-dinner beer or 2. The supper was excellent (it is amazing how much we like real veggies these days) and the wine flowed freely. I think I went to bed after 1am.

July 27; 161km; 719M vertical

Belleville to Brockville
We decided to try for Brockville today so that tomorrow will be an easy day. We got underway at 9:30 and headed for Kingston. The nice weather and west wind allowed us to cruise to Kingston in good time and by 1pm we were in Tim Horton’s in Kingston for soup and tea. We then toured the Kingston waterfront before heading to Gananoque. Shortly before Gananoque we stopped at the McLaughlan Woodworking museum to check the woodworking tools. We chatted with another bike tourer in the parking lot having a cigarette break before finishing his 200km that day. (He was young and Irish). After Gananoque we took the 1000 Island Parkway to check the riverfront scenery. At the end of the parkway I navigated us onto the 401 highway for a 2 km stretch. There are no bikes allowed on the 401 so we put the pedal to the metal and zipped along at 40kph with the wind aid and the drafting from the cars and trucks. What a wild ride.
Brockville presented us with a problem - no motels along Highway 2. We had to ride 5km out of town to find a place for the night. After 161km we were too tired to ride back into town for supper so we just collapsed in our beds and drank tea and ate cookies.

July 26; 117km; 655M vertical; thunder and lightning

Bowmanville to Belleville
We took route 2 from Bowmanville at 9:30 this morning. Our first stop was Port Hope. As soon as I suggested we stop at a park bench and eat something, the skies opened up. The lightning started and the rain came down in buckets. The main street in Port Hope was closed for a street festival but the British Pantry was open for business so we ducked in for 2 pots of tea, pie and custard, and a packet of Digestive biscuits. Two hours later we were on our way. The whole day we seemed to be on the edge of a storm and we took shelter again in Brighton for more tea and soup. We finally rolled into Belleville at 6 pm somewhat wet and soggy, but a nice welcome from Tim, Lynn, Nancy, Barb and Brad cheered us up.
On an historical note we had 3 Tim’s eating, drinking and sleeping under the same roof . Lynn did a good job of not mixing us up and makng a great desert.

July 25; 127 km 605m vertical, hot and sunny

Orillia to Bowmanville
Tim’s keen to get to his mum and dad’s place so he had me up well before 8 for an early start. We were on the road just after 9 aiming to arrive around 4pm. As it was hot and sunny right from the start we decided to take a 10min. break every 20km to try and avoid doing too much too soon and getting dehydrated. We managed the 80km to Port Perry inside 4hours so we stopped there for our lunch break and then made good time for the rest of stage and, despite having to battle a head wind for the last 30km, we arrived on his parents doorstep at 4:02. That’s better timekeeping than the Bundesbahn can do these days.
The Rickards Red was out of the fridge and on the patio table before I’d got my gloves off and boy did it taste good. When I had the second one in my hand I started to wonder if it was really necessary to get on my bike tomorrow to start on the 500km to Montreal in the next 4 days. I think I can feel a bad back coming on so I’ll just crawl into bed. Night night.

July 24; 122 km 701 vertical, hot and sunny and just scraped past a thunderstorm

Parry Sound to Orillia
Our original plan had us heading for Gravenhurst today but when we got on the dual carriageway we had such a wide shoulder to ourselves we decided to stay on it for about 90km and take the exit for Coldwater. After about 50km we saw storm clouds building on our left but it looked as though they would stay off on that side. At 60km there was suddenly an almighty crash of thunder behind us that made me jump six inches off my saddle. If I hadn’t been locked in the pedals I might well have shot clean off the bike. We stopped and had a look at the way the storm was building and decided to drop of the highway and look for somewhere to have lunch at Crooked Lake while the storm passed over. It turned out that there was a small Marina and store but nowhere for a lunch so we sat at a picnic table on the shore of the lake and watched the storm approach. The storm was going west to east just north of us and the closest lightning strike was a mile away so we decided to get back on the highway and carry on south. We reached the exit for Coldwater without getting wet and stopped in the town for a late lunch after which we carried on for the remaining 23km to Orillia. We are a little further on than Gravenhurst and now in a good position for tomorrow’s stage to visit Tim’s Dad in Bowmanville.

July 23; 169km; 823M vertical

Sudbury to Parry Sound
We headed south from Sudbury to Parry Sound on highway 69. We have criticized the roads often enough in Ontario, but today the road was the highlight of our Ontario travels. We passed through some minor construction and then the road was perfect. Six feet of clean, wide shoulder with a rumble strip separating the cars and the bicycles. We felt safe and comfortable sharing the road with the trucks and cars. We were aided by a north wind and set a fast pace. We covered 170 km before the day was finished. Along the way we passed the French River where the voyagers used to travel from Montreal to Fort William by canoe.

July 22

Rest day in Sudbury
We went to Dynamic Earth in Sudbury and got a great introduction to mining life. After that we toured Sudbury - a city with 330 lakes inside the city boundary.

July 21; 80km; 414M vertical, cool and east wind

Espanola to Sudbury
We started with breakfast at Tim Horton’s. We were on the road at 10:30 and heading for Whitefish and lunch. However Whitefish was a ghost town at we ended up at Tim Horton’s in Lively for lunch. After fighting the wind all morning we overindulged in Chilli and tea. When we headed for Sudbury we were still burping, but we had a short afternoon and arrived in Sudbury around 3. Finding a motel was a challenge since we were staying for 2 night and didn’t want to pay $120 per night. When we flagged down a motorist for directions he recommended a good motel and then told us he had seen us on the Trans-Canada that morning. It’s a small world. We ended up at the Cardinal Motel that has the best Karaoke (on Mondays) in town. We enjoyed the singers and the Rickards White beer.

July 20; 124km, 444m vertical, hot and humid

Iron Bridge to Espanola
We got a quick start this morning. We were off at 9:20 without breakfast because we wanted to eat in Blind River 26km down the road. We got to the restaurant at 10:30 - and loaded up on sausage, eggs, toast and coffee. Then after a few pictures of Blind River we on the road again.

We headed due east into an east wind and the day was hot and humid. I always carry 2 bottles of Gatorade, each 1.2 litres and today for the first time I used both before we finished the day. We had planned to stop along the way to eat and drink, but we stopped at the wrong place today. The whole store had only junk food and junkier food. I was short of Gatorade so tried a bottle of vitamin water and a Nutribar. Both were pure sugar. Twenty km later we came to Massey and my head was floating 2 feet head above my body and I was having trouble keeping my bike on the road. We stopped at the Country Cook restaurant and each had 2 bowls of the soup of the day and the largest pot of tea we’ve seen to date. The nourishment worked wonders and we carried on to Espanola, our stop for the night.

Near Massey we passed a horse drawn carriages travelling along the shoulder of the Trans-Canada. We were faster than 2 horses.

July 19; 122 km 519m vertical, hot and sunny at last

Sault Ste. Marie to Iron Bridge
A busy day today. We had to tear ourselves away from the TV live coverage of Le Tour and go down to the mall to get the laundry done and do some shopping. You should have seen the laundry. A Soo city map went into the washer with the clothes. When I got back from Big Mac TimB was just unloading our kit from the washing machine. It was all covered in about 2 quadrillion pieces of soggy paper and the machine had the another 2 quadrillion pieces inside so it took a little longer to get the laundry done than we had anticipated. After we had stowed everything away we creamed up for a day in the sun and I had to scoff a couple of cheeseburgers to work up enough energy to get my leg over and then we were off. After leaving town we moved onto the dual carriageway that took us 55km before we set eyes on anywhere to have a rest. We stopped at the first little restaurant that we saw and ordered the biggest pot of tea they could find. It did six mugs and then we had a refill. It all helped to wash down the lemon-cranberry muffins and at the end the owner would not let us pay a cent because she was so impressed with us riding across Canada. I should have had a steak and a beer. After we had sufficiently re-hydrated we set off and did the 62km that got us to here in Iron Bridge. We are in a nice little motel owned by a Spaniard and the attached restaurant is leagues ahead of the run of the mill places. It will be a shame to leave after only one night. Now it is time to get the telly on and catch up on Le Tour. Night night.

July 18; 125 km 791m vertical, cool & foggy

Montreal River to Sault Ste Marie
We managed an earlier start today. TimB was up before 6:30, I got tea in bed while he cooked breakfast (am I glad that I’m the mechanic) and were on our way by 9. The fog was still down to the tree roots so there was not a lot to see. We climbed the hill that we had come back down last night and nearly got above the fog to see a pale sun and then it was back down the other side of the hill into the gloom. Things were going well until after about 19km I told TimB that his back tyre was getting wider and wider. Sure enough, another puncture for me to fix and while doing it we found that the tyre was so worn the rubber was loose exposing the casing in several places. The chances for food and drinks were more frequent on this stage, the hills were fewer and less steep so we made good time to the Soo where we headed, via the Tourist Centre, to the nearest bike shop for an urgently required tyre. After fitting it we settled in a town centre motel so that we would be able to take full advantage of the street festival that is on this weekend.

PS Thanks to all those who posted comments and for their kind wishes. My back is much better today. TimB

July 17; 114 km 1019m vertical, warm and humid

Wawa to Montreal River
We are back in the saddle again. After 3 days of lying in bed with my knees higher than my hips, we decided to throw caution to the winds and head for Sault Ste Marie. As a test I loaded up my bike and road once around the parking lot to see if everything worked. It did. Riding my bike is not hard on my back, but getting on and off my bike is a little more complicated than usual.
We left Wawa at 11 and headed south for Montreal River. I road slowly for the first 10 km and then I tucked in behind TimG and let him do all the work. The winds were not strong, but they were from the south so I biked in TimG’s slipstream most of the way. We stopped every 25km for a rest and granola bars. The road had major hills and we hit 3 uphills that climbed more than 4km and along the way we got some nice views of Lake Superior and it’s precipitous shoreline. The road went through Lake Superior Provincial Park for 89km and there were no motels, hotels or restaurants so we had to do 111km without our usual 1 hour tea and lunch break. When we hit Montreal River we headed for the restaurant we had seen advertised at the exit from the park. Unfortunately, it was no longer a restaurant, just a food store, but we did get a tea and some bad news - there were no motels open for another 50km down the road. While I was asking other customers about a campsite, the lady told me there was a resort with chalets just 3km away back down the steep hill we had just climbed. We now have a lovely (wooden) chalet on the shores of Lake Superior with a large patio window where we are watching the rain fall gently into the largest freshwater lake in the world.

PS from TG. Just in case you don’t already know: Lake Superior surface area 31700 sq. miles (that’s about one third the size of GB); East-West 382 miles N-S 160 miles; max. depth 1279ft; avg. depth 489ft; volume 3 quadrillion gallons; avg. temp. 40F (yep you don’t see anybody swimming in it); water turnover 191-199 years; tour around the lake 1300 miles.

July 14, 15, and 16

We are holed up in Wawa, Ontario due to injury. TimB had a back spasm on Sunday night (Hexenschuss uff Deutsch) and is resting in bed for 3 days. During this time he has been waited on hand and foot by TimG who is proving to be an excellent nurse. Thanks goodness for the Tour de France on television.

Many thanks to everybody for the birthday wishes. I had expected to spend the day on a bike saddle not nursing a cripple but at least I get to rest between fetching tea and meals and doing the laundry and ……….

Day 44 July 13 97km 705M vertical 12°C Cold rain SW wind

White River to Wawa
We had a cold, wet and miserable day, but not all at the same time. It was raining heavily this morning so we had a leisurely breakfast and departed White River at11:15. The rain was lighter but the wind was in our face as we headed straight south so we had a wet journey for the first third of our day. Suddenly the rain stopped, the road dried up, and the wind shifted to our back. We made the most of the tail wind and cruised along at 29 kph for the next third of our day. The sun peaked out briefly, just to tease us, and then the temperature dropped to 12°C , the wind turned to face us and the sun disappeared. Our cruising speed dropped to 19kph. The last third of the day was drudgery fighting the cold south winds. We pedalled into Wawa and immediately found the Tim Horton’s for hot tea and cinnamon buns.