I was raring to go when I left North Bay!

I had an early start thanks to last night’s left overs. Grateful to not have another morning like in PEI, I was fueled and on the road by 8:00 am. This time I put on my vest and my rain gear to help keep the morning chill at bay. I was aiming for at least White River, 744 km away. A long day for sure, but I was bound and determined to make it home for my son’s birthday in only 4 days’ time. My son is more than 3,000 km west of North Bay, so it was a tall order.

The ride was going well and by the time I got to Rolphton, I was ready to lose the rain jacket. After fueling up, I parked in pretty much the same spot in front of the restaurant as I did on my way out east. This is a great stop. With a restaurant, fuel AND a motel, you really can’t go wrong. It’s right on the 17 (Trans Canada) about half way between Ottawa and North Bay. I didn’t need the motel, but it’s good to know where it is if I need it next time ;)

This pic is from my first stop here. This time I was nose to the restaurant. As I was backing up to move around parked vehicles this time, I hear brakes screeching and something big comin’ in hot behind me. I look over my shoulder and see a small car come within inches of being scrap metal as a truck pulling a holiday trailer hauled in WAY too fast to make the entrance comfortably. Although I was still far enough away to be in any danger, I put my kickstand back down and stood off to the side for a minute. The folks in the car looked pretty wide-eyed and I’m a sure their hearts were racing as fast as mine was. I took time before getting back on the road.

The next stop was a small community after Sudbury. I hung out for awhile and had some lunch. I was feeling pretty good about putting in an uber long day and thought I might even make it to Terrace Bay. Putting in a gross day today meant easier days later. Do the hard stuff first. Yeah….this didn’t happen…

I made it about 60 km east of Wawa when i came up on traffic at a standstill. I turned off my bike when I realized no one was coming in the other lane and our line wasn’t moving. It was getting warm again., so I got off for a drink and I asked the car in front how long he’d been stopped. It had been an hour for him and no one had come through from the other direction. Hmmm. When I came across stoppage like this in Peru, we just rode past the entire lineup and kept on moving. That’s not something I’ve ever done here at home. It just feels…rude?

There was a space between a couple of cars ahead that I could snug into if necessary. I set out slowly and tucked into the space. “What would John do?” I thought to myself. He was my guide in Peru and he’d go for it here in Canada too. I slowly continued past the parked vehicles. It was yet another one of those zombie apocalypse moments I’d often had on this trip. Well, except for the people hanging out in their lawn chairs, very much alive. I rode past about a kilometer of vehicles when I snugged into another space between cars.

With the mountain curve ahead an no easy snuggle spots in view, I was reluctant to push my luck. Within a few minutes a fella walked by with an old-school game controller-looking thing. “Hey! Whatcha got there?” I say because I talk to everyone. “A drone,” he replies, “I want to see what’s going on.”

“Cool! So you can see if anyone is coming around this curve!” I exclaim.

“Totally! Here, have a look!”

The road ahead was lined with cars and this seemed to go on forever. As the drone flew over the cars, it seemed surreal. How long was this line??? Finally the drone reaches the front of the line and reveals a semi jackknifed across both lanes. No one was getting through this anytime soon. Well, at least I can safely get to the front, anyway. There are definite advantages to traveling by motorcycle! I had to pass another two kilometers of parked cars to reach the front. I asked the fella who was formerly first in line how long he’d been there. Three hours. Yikes!

I sat there for two hours chatting with other travelers as we watched the crew work. I was pleasantly surprised by how happy people seemed to be despite the long wait. After the first 90 minutes of MY wait, the truck had been moved enough that I could have easily gotten through. My fellow travelers encouraged me to go for it. I’m happy to be a trailblazer, but I’m also not stupid.

I walked up to the cop who poked his head around the back of the semi. I struck up a chat to see if he’d let me by. “No, I’m sorry, but I really can’t. It’s a liability if something were to fly off and hit you or your bike.”

“Hey, I get it. No worries, that’s why I asked first” I replied.

Before I turned to walk back, I looked at him and the guy who seemed to be the lead worker and thanked them for all they were doing to make sure everyone gets to where they’re going safely. About ten minutes later, the lead worker approached me and cautioned me about the diesel on the ground. “I ride too, so I wanted to tell you to ride the white line.”

When they had one lane cleared, the cop pointed at me and had me go through. I’m pretty sure it’s because I spoke to him and thanked him. The lane of traffic going the other way ws every bit as long as the one I’d passed.

I rolled into the gas station a few km before Wawa with only another kilometer left on my tank count down. I was sweatin’ but it had nothing to do with the temperature at that point! It was now after 5 pm, so clearly I wasn’t going past Wawa today. I checked in to the Wawa Motor Inn and went directly to the lounge for some supper and a beverage. What a day! So much for my plans to make some serious miles and make it home for my boy’s birthday!

I sat up at the bar and ordered a pizza. I figured it would get me through supper tonight, breakfast tomorrow, and likely lunch too. I checked my phone to see what tomorrow’s plan might be as I sipped my beer. Rain. Yuck. I planned on staying at Kakabeka Falls again 500 km away. It wouldn’t be a hard day, but if I was riding in rain the entire day, 500 km would be enough.

I ordered a second beer. My bar stool neighbour and I started to chat and I learned he was also on a bike. I also learned we were headed in the same direction. I told Glenn I planned on Kakabeka and he was shooting for Thunder Bay. Although I haven’t been too worried about booking in advance the last few weeks, I figured it might be worth it to book something so I had the peace of mind after a rainy day’s ride tomorrow. The Telstar had no vacancy, so I started calling Thunder Bay options. When I kept hearing, “Sorry, we’re all booked”, I started getting worried. Glenn started calling places too, and between the two of us, we must have called or checked online with every hotel in all of Thunder Bay. There was something going on in town and Tuesdays were historically full days, apparently.

I finally found a place in Ignace that had only 3 rooms left. I booked and when I got off the phone told Glenn that if he needed a place, he might want to call them too. He booked and we agreed to travel together th next morning. Ignace was 700 km away. We agreed to leave at 7:00 am.

When I went to bed that night I had to talk myself out of being freaked out. I can’t see a damned thing in the dark these days. I still felt a bit of trauma from the downpour in North Dakota and then that wicked storm by Terrebonne. Leaving under darkness AND in the pouring rain was, as my off road riding instructor would say, sub optimal.