Again it rained overnight but by morning it had stopped although it was cloudy and damp. I hurriedly took down the tent (almost losing it in the river in a gust of wind) in case the rain started again and threw everything in Bob before wheeling my bike to the washroom where I figured I could charge my phone whilst making oatmeal and get dressed for the day in the warm!!
I put on all my lights, 6 in total, as with all the clouds it was quite dark. Two blinky ones on my helmet (front and back), one on the trailer, one on my saddlebag and two on my handlebars. I realised it was going to be another windy day and put my head down thinking at least I would be somewhere tonight, in Thunder Bay, not another roadside campground in the middle of nowhere. It was Sunday but the traffic was busy and the shoulder non-existent. The wind was gusting the strongest I had experienced on this trip and at times it was a struggle to hold my line. Then 3 or 4 transport trucks (they always seemed to travel in little groups) would come the other way, on there own they are fine but a few in quick succession create quite a powerful wind, even from the other side of the road. If I haven't already explained the hwy through Northern Ontario is a single lane each way with passing lanes every now and again. Not double lanes, no central median like the Prairies and there are no real alternatives for anyone to this one road.
I have to be honest it wasn't fun but I pushed on, I haven't listened to anything since the day into Portage la Prairie, I don't think it is safe without a big shoulder and I needed all my senses to be hyperalert. I remembered today was the Share the Road ride in Ottawa in memory of Mario Theoret who was tragically killed on the roads in Ottawa last fall. He was an experienced and sensible cyclist and one of life's good guys, giving selflessly to helping kids get into biking with Trips for Kids Ottawa and trail maintenance with OMBA (Ottawa Mountain Bike Association). His death affected me, I was at the time on an Emergency Medical Responder course in BC with a plan to apply for Paramedic School but I didn't finish the course and decided that I was not sure I could deal with the emotional side of attending to seriously injured or ill patients and potentially death and dying on a regular basis.
I have no idea why on a Sunday morning so many people seemed to be in such a rush to get somewhere. I witnessed several pretty daring overtaking manoevres and more than one car coming straight at me as they moved into the oncoming lane to pass. Some of them clearly saw me and made the wise decision not to pass, others just kept going either oblivious or ignorant, so I stopped and moved onto the gravel shoulder for my own safety a few times. I experienced trucks passing trucks going the same way as me so the poor guy being passed had nowhere to go and squeezed me out. I was getting frustrated and angry and fearing for my safety. I have made it this far in the trip but for the first time I really didn't want to be on the road, not because it was windy, or dark, or my legs were tired but because I didn't want to be involved in an accident. I have to admit earlier in the trip I read a book about James Cracknell, a double Olympic gold medallist in rowing for Great Britain who retired and became a very successful extreme athlete rowing the Atlantic, skiing to the South Pole etc. A few years ago he was cycling across the US for a challenge when he was struck on the back of the head by the wing mirror of a truck. It was a miracle he survived but he suffered a traumatic brain injury and has never quite been the same since, suffering personality changes and seizures (I know what you are thinking, probably not the best choice of reading material!!).
For at least 2 hours I struggled with the thought of stopping and hitching a ride. It was a horrible dilemma, I have got this far and I have made it through some tough days, I am stubborn and I felt I had a right to be biking on this road too. There was a rest area at the time change sign and I looked for potential vehicles to ask for a ride, anyone with a truck would do, I saw a guy but I couldn't do it, I knew I would regret the decision later, so back out onto the road I went. When I have read other blogs and discovered cyclists have taken rides I have been disappointed, feeling like they had cheated. But then another vehicle would pass into my lane, even a transport truck decided to pass another transport truck. I pulled onto the loose gravel shoulder as he headed straight for me shouting at the guy but my voice was lost in the wind and he probably didn't care anyway.
I stood on the shoulder for a while and then stuck out my thumb. I stood there awkwardly as vehicles screamed past. I wasn't even sure anyone could stop safely but I was halfway up an incline and people could see my from a long way down the road. I realise there is also risk in hitching a ride but at this point I decided that risk was less. Within a short time a 4x4 slowed and pulled onto the shoulder, I approached the passenger side window and the guy asked me how I was in a strong Kiwi accent. I told him I was not feeling safe and looking for a ride a bit further down the road, he looked at the bike and trailer and I said I could break it down and take the front wheel off the bike etc. which I did as it started putting his back seats down. As we were loading the bike in a police officer stopped to see if we were okay and I really hoped hitch hiking wasn't illegal in Ontario!!
Andrew was a well travelled guy who had clearly hitch hiked and picked up hitch hikers before. He was on his way home to Thunder Bay after a weekend of fishing. We zoomed along and chatted, he was happy to take me all the way into Thunder Bay, even via the Terry Fox memorial (I had heard that you are not allowed to cycle on the highway out of town making it hard to get to the memorial) but I didn't want to write off the ride all together so he agreed to drop me at Kakabeka Falls. He gave me his number and said if I changed my mind I could call him, he also showed me the satellite weather map on his phone with the rain that was on its way!!
Kakabeka Falls.
It was another 30km or so to Thunder Bay with wind and showers. The shoulder was good, until it ran out and there was a small sign indicating no bikes or pedestrians but no alternative route advice so I ignored it and kept going. The traffic was busy though and at the next intersection I checked my phone for an alternative route and took that. I stopped at the first Tim's I could find for a hot chocolate and called Jo-Ann and Bill, friends of Michelle who I had met in Winnipeg through Jane. Jo-Ann and Bill were retired and lived downtown and Michelle said they often out people up and would love to have me. I am getting much better at calling strangers and accepting offers to stay!!
Jo-Ann and Bill were very welcoming and suggested I take a bath before dinner (I hope I don't smell too bad and they don't have a shower hence the bath!!). We chatted and they asked if I would leave in the morning or stay a day, I said I would love to if that was okay and they suggested driving around some of the sights in the afternoon. They very kindly let me do a quick load of laundry so it could hang to dry overnight and we had a cup of tea before bed.
Good decision. I have been there, on that road, and been blown ass over tea kettle, like a bomb went off, when transports went thundering by. I was younger (18) and more resilient then, but I doubt I would do it now. Too bad that the driving in Ontario seems so bad.
ReplyDeleteGood call Lucy, better to listen to your instincts and not to worry about accepting a lift if it feels right. It sounds like the cycling Gods are watching over you as you go and you're meeting some wonderfully helpful people. Wishing you more of that as you venture along.
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