Arkel are a super awesome bike bag company: And a big thank you to them

June 28, 2016

The road out of Timmins was quite horrific for a while. There was an awful lot of traffic and to my aghast horror the shoulder was made of loose sand and was extremely difficult, when not completely impossible, to cycle on. I was forced to cycle out in the road much of the time, keeping a close eye on my mirror and diving out of the way of speeding traffic as and when it came too close. Relief soon came when I was able to leave this highway at the small town, Porcupine, and follow a nice trail beside a lake for a few kilometres.

The caterpillars had all disappeared and their chrysalis were now everywhere. I eagerly awaited all the butterflies!

Beyond the lake I had to rejoin the road, thankfully now with a bit less traffic and a bit more of a solid shoulder. Soon I saw a big black animal rustling in the undergrowth on the other side of the road. I first naively thought it was a cow, before coming to my senses and making the correct identification. It was a big black bear, the first I’d seen since Banff, and I soon spotted that it had two young cubs with it. The three of them seemed to have no problem with all the traffic that was whizzing noisily past just a few metres from them, but when I stopped to take a look (from a safe distance) they all became quite aware of me, with the cubs scrambling to try and climb a wooden pylon to safety. They were adorably useless at climbing and got no more than a few feet up before sliding or falling back down. I allowed myself a brief chuckle at their infantile inefficiencies, though only a very brief one, because mummy bear was staring at me in an intense way that seemed to be saying “I wish you’d f*ck off!” and she held the ‘mauling’ card, so I moved hastily on.

You could probably play a good game of 'Spot the bear' with this photo. Mummy bear is bottom left near the road. Baby bears have probably just fallen off the wooden pole and are hidden in the greenery

I was almost at the end of Ontario, the biggest province was drawing to an end

I’d been getting along alright using my backpack as an emergency pannier, but it was not a long term solution. For one thing it was not waterproof, and for another it was falling apart. I’d posted a message on an online forum about my situation to ask if anyone had one old pannier they could donate to my cause. The idea of having one mismatched pannier delighted me, as every time anyone noticed it I would be able to tell my story about a bear stealing my food. I reckoned every time I told it it could get more elaborate too, until eventually I was telling people that the bear actually attacked me whilst I was cycling, and I beat it away with a bike pump.

Luckily the response to my forum post greatly exceeded my expectations. Thanks to some kind words from Neil and a lot of generous effort from Lorraine (who I’d met in Victoria) before I knew it I had a message in my inbox from Arkel, a super awesome bike bag company. They basically said that they’d heard about my bad luck with the bear and they would like to offer me some replacement panniers for free, no strings attached (to the offer, not the panniers, although the panniers might have had strings attached, I wasn't sure). Now, I never liked the idea of having sponsors for my trips, as I did not like the idea of being obligated towards any companies, but I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Arkel asked nothing of me in return, they just wanted to help me out. So I’ll repeat, one more time, Arkel are a super awesome bike bag company, and a big thank you to them.

Just before setting up camp I crossed the border into Quebec province. A new adventure awaited me!

Tuesday 28th June - 55km

Wednesday 29th June - 107km

Today's ride: 162 km (101 miles)
Total: 53,414 km (33,170 miles)

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