So it's been more than a couple of days since I got back from San Francisco,
and I have let you down in making a cyclocross (or more accurately, cyclodown) entry.
But
here is a
photo album of my trip. Further, check out
this picture. It was
made with Google Earth, and is quite accurate (except for the stars).
Ian proudly displays the results of his swimming training. Next stop, triathalon?
Yesterday's forecast for today was clear skies and warm temperatures, so I had expected a good clear night too. Not so. Once safely tucked away in our sleeping bags last night, ice pellets began to strike the tent. Exactly what my 3 season tent was built for! When my tent seemed to be holding up well, the weather changed to thundershowers. Refreshing! By the morning it was still raining off and on, so we stayed inside our tent yet again, hoping that the skies would clear. And they did! So out we clamber, to begin the task of making oatmeal for breakfast and packing up. Then something wonderful happened. Ian fell in the lake! Aahahaha! Okay, don't worry too much. Only his lower leg got soaked, and the water was warm. Warm enough to swim in, apparently!
Winnie the Pooh statue in White River, the town of Pooh's first imagining.
By the time we began riding, it was already noon, so we rode quickly to White River and paid our homage to Winnie the Pooh. A restaurant about 60km ahead was recommended to us, so we rode restaurant-wards, but in our mad hunger hysteria, we passed right by it, all ways thinking it to be a little further along! Oh, the magics of Highway 17. So beyond that magical mark, there happened to be nothing in the way of food beyond a dead moose at the side of the road, until an enormous, mean 2.5km hill that had its own chair lift brought us into the town of Marathon. And so it was that we rode our longest distance yet: 136km. But really, it was the blazing sun all day long that took most of our energy. I expect we'll get used to these sorts of days once we hit the prairies.
Ian peers down the Yellow Brick Road (aka Highway 17)
In Marathon, we went to an Italian-Canadian restaurant and ordered a meal way too big for us, and still have most of a pizza leftover for lunch tomorrow! I must confess that I've begun eating some meat while on this journey. I'm sticking to a no red meat diet, but poultry and fish are now on my menu. So today, a Philly Chicken sandwich was quite the experience, but for me, it was the cheese and peppers that made it taste so good!
Camping tonight involved searching out a few pieces of land. One was a snowmobile route through a dense forest that we didn't feel too safe or happy in, so we found a better forest a bit further out of Marathon. Camping in the wilderness (not in a campground) is tougher, but holds a great deal more fun and excitement!
