June 26, 2012
East of Fort Frances to Atikokan
Today was a hard day, probably the hardest day I have ridden on this tour so far. It was not the hills, although these have been becoming more pronounced since entering Ontario. Neither was it the wind, although we have had slight head winds for the last 3 days. My real problem is the heat. I have never dealt with it very well, and now that the temperatures are rising above 25 degrees I am struggling.
Our 0630 depart this morning was delayed by about 20 minutes, something to do with Kate chipping her toe nail polish or something like that. Todays destination was the only real option, as it is the first place east of Fort Frances with any services, and I needed food and petrol for the stove. We called in to the only campsite after about 20 miles this morning to find some water, and saw Thomas, so caught up before heading out again. Fortunately there are many lakes lining the sides of the roads, and it doesn't take long to jump in and swim around to cool down. This is probably the only thing that kept me going today.
Just before arriving at Atikokan early this afternoon I completed 4,000 miles on this trip so far, and celebrated at their municipal campground with a huge pan of pasta suprise. On a slightly sadder note, my 4th pair of sunglasses bit the dust today in my haste to get into a lake, and were replaced by a pair of industrial ones which will hopefully fare better.
Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 4,009 miles (6,452 km)
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