268 miles
Total around the world bicycle miles 24,146 (38,859 km)
August 6, 2016
We had such a nice evening last night watching the 2016 Olympics opening ceremonies. It was fun as we watched the Canadian version of the Olympics. This morning we enjoyed a huge continental breakfast and made a nice lunch out of it too. Before leaving Marathon we dropped down to Lake Superior and Pebble Beach. It was a cool morning to tour the beach and all the pebble rocks that have been polished over the years by water and ice and all the driftwood. Soon we climbed out of town and continued east. At a rest stop we encountered a truck driver, Chris, that was so impressed with our trip as he is a cyclist, that he took pictures of us and wrote down notes about our trip for a Facebook newsletter he writes. Nice guy. There was also a roadie that was riding about 200 + km a day. We continued through the on and off rain. It gets a bit tedious to don and off our rain gear many times a day. At 6pm we saw lake cabins for rent along with an LCBO license sign. So that was it for us as we rented a two bedroom, full kitchen cabin for $63 U.S. with a beautiful lake in the back yard. Since the convenience store had a LCBO license we also enjoyed some cold beer. We then bbq’d Brats and made a nice soup.
August 9, 2016
The last few days have been a bit difficult for me with the increasing steep hills and headwinds. With few services on this road we have found 3 good camping spots along the lake that are part of the Ontario Parks Network. Although expensive at $41 Canadian they are great locations right on Lake Superior. Yesterday at Agawa Bay Campground we met Dale and his wife Cheryl who are long time bikers who have bicycle toured and hiked many places around the world. They are also sea kayakers and quite the adventuress couple who will be biking Southeast Asia later this year. After we set up camp we had a nice swim in the lake then they invited us to their camp for beer and snacks. They knew exactly what we wanted. As I have said continuously this trip is all about the friendly people we meet all around the world.
We both struggled a bit today but made it to Pancake Bay and another Ontario Parks Campground. The bonus here was that 1km down the road was a camping store that sold beer! We checked into the campground to make sure there was a site available in the huge 443 site park, then biked to the camp store for beer, ice and dinner stuff. What a fun afternoon on beautiful Pancake Bay.
August 10, 2016
After eight days from Thunder Bay we made it to Sault Ste. Marie to complete a long ride with few services. The camping was fun and we met and saw several people cycle touring including three on hybrids of cycle/scooters. It was unbelievable as we saw them going uphill powering like riding a skateboard as there are no pedals. We were also passed by two guys loaded down on e-bikes! One passed us without pedaling! There are so many touring variations on the road. We will take a day off to rest then continue east.
