July 29 - Day 35
Nipigon
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Another cool start this morning, this may become the norm now, especially across the north of Lake Superior. A beautiful ride past a very scenic lookout in Thunder Bay started the journey, as well as a couple of good hills before descending to the lakeshore for a route that kept us off of Hgwy 17 for the first 37kms. I had seen the Terry Fox Monument in the past so did not do the option to visit that. After joining the highway the traffic was of course very busy and the shoulders were constantly alternating between good and totally deteriorated asphalt chunks, sometimes going a foot or more into the actual driving lanes. This is the only route we can take across this part of the country so it has to be done. I was riding alone today so it was easy for me to keep an eye on traffic and slow down and pull over onto the shoulder whenever a dangerous situation presented itself. This did make a short ride a little longer than it had to be as well as the fact my energy level was low while dealing with a constant, though light, headwind. My rear tire is still looking good but is starting to wear down after 6000kms so I decided to change that when I arrived in camp this afternoon. The bike is holding up very well, even after that spill I took near Neepawa which totally scraped the rear derailler and other surface areas along the right side of my bike. Could use some new handle bar tape, that may make the ride a bit more comfortable. My leg and arm are healing well and have not been a concern for the last few days. Only new medical concern is numbness in my left arm, especially the finger tips seem to be tingling all the time now. Most probably some nerve damage from the constant bar pressure on the hands.
Looking across the city of Thunder Bay and part of Lake Superior to the Sleeping Giant from Hillcrest Park.
Directional signposts outside the Thunder Bay Hostel
No idea what this is but it had two police escorts and two other safety trucks with it on the highway, very long and wide. The rear unit had its own generator and steering capablity.
Small waterfalls behind our campsites.
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