All aboard the tourer's express!

I left Thunder Bay with a pack full of food, and a topped up tea supply from my wonderful Persian family. The sun was shining and I felt full of optimism.

The highway followed the the northern edge of Lake Superior, the trees fringing the lake breaking every so often affording me a view of the clear blue Lake Superior and the Sleeping Giant provincial park across the bay.

It was great to be back on the road again, enjoying the warming sun and the cool breeze in equal measures. I made it to Nipigon, at the most northern tip of Lake Superior by the end of the day and enjoyed some company and beers with a wonderful couple who were on their way back to Edmonton from a camp they visit in the province.

As the for the next morning, not so peachy - I left in a cloud of rain and fog, and was soaked through within minutes. It was meant to be a day of stunning cycling, hilly with gorgeous views of the lake, but sadly I only knew it was there because of my map, visibility was pitiful!

The fog lifted for acouple of minutes to get these pics

Grumpy face for being completely soaked through!

I called it a day in Schreiber, having decided that I would rather keep my health and warm up than push on for the sake of gaining a few extra miles.

The weather had got its act together by the morning. I was making decent progress when I saw a dark something moving slowly up a steep incline ahead of me. After a while I ascertained that it was another tourer - AT LAST!!!!!

The black speck in the distance...aka fellow tourer to chase!!!

I gained on them and eventually pulled up beside him - Randi was cycling from Vancouver to his home just East of Sault Saint Marie. He was great to chat to, and we ended up sharing a camping spot in Marathon for the night.

Beautiful camping spot in Marathon by Lake Penn

Randi heading off in search of breakfast

And no sooner had I met Randi, I started seeing tourers everywhere! And whether it was a simple wave and acknowledgement when passing each other on the highway, or stopping and chatting for awhile, it has been great to finally meet some people who have a similar mindset to myself. It's also great to not be told that I'm crazy for once, which is a very common response from people who stop and chat to me outside a café.

I met Eric and Bernadette, an Aussie couple who are doing the same ride as myself from Wawa, where we both happened to be starting out on the same ride that day, cycling through Lake Superior provincial park and hoping to hit Sault Saint Marie the day after. We planned on meeting up at some point further up the road and set off into the mist, separating fairly early on.

I pedalled through the dreich weather, singing to myself to keep entertained, passing vultures lurking in the trees and pushing through the freezing fog.

Just keep on grinning! 

I paused for lunch in the Agawa Rock car park (there are some ancient pictograms drawn by the Ojibwe people here). Typically I had managed to pick the one lunch stop (and bathroom break) that was the furthest one from the highway as possible, a healthy 2km whoosh downhill to the shoreline.

I headed off after chatting briefly to a couple, the only other people who had come this far off the highway on such a grim day.

However after about 50 metres into the slow climb back up the hill, my chain jammed and I fell off. Initially I thought it was a usual 'chain falling off' type of problem, but a glance towards my bike told a very different story.

Hmmmm even I'm pretty sure that's not meant to like that!

My rear derailleur was jammed between some spokes in my rear wheel, and my chain snapped! The rear wheel was completely stuck, and I immediately knew that this was a problem that I didn't know how to fix, and didn't want to attempt fixing for fear of breaking anything else.

So, to say the least, I was in a pretty major pickle. I had taken my panniers off the bike, and was beginning to contemplate pushing her up the hill when the same couple were driving up the road towards me.

I flagged them down and explained my predicament. And they were wonderfully headed in the same direction as me. They instantly offered me a lift to Sault Saint Marie, but the question was how on earth was I going to fit in their car.

Mary and David had recently sold their house and the majority of their belongings in Minnesota to simply roam the world with their dog Bradley. Consequently, they had a fully loaded car.

Me and Bradley 

Somehow, I'm still not entirely sure how, we squeezed me and my luggage inside, tied my bike onto the roof rack with bungee cords, my bike lock and some string, and were merrily on our way to the Sault!

Bella and me getting a ride

I consider it fairly lucky that I had researched a bike shop in town the day before, and could direct my new friends there fairly easily. They dropped me off and wished me luck in my travels, which I returned with grateful thanks for all their help.

On asking the mechanic's opinion, there was a fair amount of head shaking and exclamations that it would be a big job (I had guessed this) but they would see what they could do the next day.

And throughout all this, potentially trip-changing drama, I am pleased to report that I didn't once have a mini-breakdown, curl-up-in-a-ball-rocking-back-and-forth panic, which could quite easily have been the case.

No I simply toddled off to the mini campground at the back of the shop - Velorution is registered on Warmshowers as a host, which is where I'd heard of them - and waited for what tomorrow would bring...