Riding With the Wind

---

Riding With the Wind

Monday, 20 August 2007

It was another moving day for us, this time to Blind River, Ontario. At least we had the Kinsmen’s Park in Sault Ste Marie, so I was able to take Panna for a 3 kilometre walk there before we left the city. It gave Bob a chance to rest up a bit before the drive, as he’s still suffering a bit from headaches when he goes walking on rough paths, as when he’s out with Panna. And I figured it might be our last chance for her to be truly loose (even if it wasn’t “permitted”).

We then picked up some lunch to go from the local “Timmy’s” and drove off, trying to locate a suitable place for a “picnic”. Alas, there seemed to be no such place until we got nearly to Echo Bay, where there is a native-run campground and beach area. There was apparently a very significant type of tribal conference going on there and we had to explain that we were only going to eat then depart, which is what we did, as Blind River beckoned.

Again there seemed to be strong headwinds, so, rather than have Bob drop me off 30 kilometres from our destination, I asked him to drive me 20-30 km east of the motel, which was right on Hwy 17, and I cycled back from there. There’s a major tourist information centre, which marks the beginning of the Deer Trail, a 120 km driving route from that point, through a town called Elliott Lake, around, back through Iron Bridge and Blind River, and back to that centre. (I’d actually thought of cycling it but decided not to.) At this area there are quite a few models of deer in typical poses - they are incredibly realistic-looking.

This time I used Blue, and because of the short ride, I decided not to take all the “snacks” that I usually bring for a longer ride, and thus I didn’t need the handlebar bag, which adds weight. Well, that might have been a mistake, because the bicycle felt SO lightweight, almost flimsy in its handling - made it a bit nerve-wracking on the highway at first. As it was only about 20 km to the motel, I decided to “do” the next 10 km on a road going through Blind River and heading out of town, then retraced my “steps”. Now that looked like a neat road and I might just try riding on it more one day while we’re here.

DAY 53: On the bicycle: 42.4 km, in 1:56 hours, ave. speed 21.8 km/hr, max. speed 42.3 km/hr;
On foot: 3.0 km

---