Three beautiful days in a row. We cycled through the clear air and sun from our campground at Green Acres, across the bridge to the mainland, and following highway 6 up into Espanola, from where we took highway 17 to Massey.

Today we saw up close what we had seen on the horizon back at 10 Mile Point on Manitoulin Island: huge hills, mountains some may call them, of Canadian Shield, with coniferous trees somehow carving out a life on the windswept, barren rock. It was a beautiful ride up and down these hills, as we headed north, across the wind. Hills are way more fun to ride than into a constant headwind, so this was a great change. Plus, highway 6 once again turned out to be wonderful: good road surface with enormous shoulders most of the way. Leaving our bikes just off the road, we climbed one of these rock hills, half of which was dynamited away to build that highway, and had a pleasent lunch. Martin is taking an interest in nutrition, taking note of protein content, total calories, and even things like trans fat. He estimated his lunch was 2000 calories: maybe a bit of an overestimate, I'd guess, but not too far fetched.

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After lunch we rode a few kilometers into Espanola, where I joyfully did a bit of shopping at Mark's Work Wearhouse. While packing, I was probably mostly dreaming of riding down country roads perfect sunny summer days, and not realizing that about a third of the day is night, and when the sun goes down it gets mighty cold in a tent. So I bought myself a good pair of socks, a sweater, and a toque. It's pretty amazing how happy I'm expecting these things will make me.

For our final ride of the day, we follow highway 17 west towards Massey, which turns out to be a 26km stretch of narrow shoulders (for the most part), strong headwinds, transport trucks, and even rush hour traffic. It was scary! To fight the wind we had to form a draft line, with me pulling in front keeping a fairly steady 23km/h (it doesn't sound like much to a road racer, but it's pretty good for pulling a heavy load into the wind!). This meant Martin and Ian were concentrating on keeping a good following distance to the rider in front, while I did my best to control the traffic behind us, which mostly meant pulling into the driving lane to slow down those big beefy 18-wheelers who's shockwave, if they pass fast enough and close enough, can blow you out and then suck you back in. So the way I see it, they can afford to slow down a bit and move over a dash so that we cyclists might feel a bit at ease. But sometimes they see it differently, and give me angry honks when I try to tame their wild road truck drivin'.

Despite what wind and trucks threw at us on the road, we made it to Massey in good time. Time enough to have a look around this small town of population 1,100, try to find my old boss' house but failing at that, then make our way over to Chutes Provincial Park, which is not yet opened for the season but who's gates have a gap just wide enough to invite weary cycling travellers like ourselves. So we graciously let ourselves in and found a beautiful forest (though much of it had been civilized for car camping) backing on to the River aux Sables and it's many waterfalls. We cook up a stir fry (which turned out better this time!) and wander around the peaceful paths while we eat. Provincial parks are best before they officially open, indeed! But this luxury won't last us long, with the long May weekend just ahead.

Tomorrow we shall try ourselves again along highway 17! I must admit, I am nervous about this road, and it just isn't fun riding it either: rather than enjoying the scenery, I must pay very close attention to the road in front and behind me. I hope the shoulders widen soon.