Bikely map

I got a late start today, having not only gone to the post office to pick up my mail (and fill out/write up and send off some other mail) but also dipped into the public library to use the internet for nearly an hour. By the time I was properly on the road it was close to 1:15pm, and the sun and heat were sufficiently intense that I considered taking siesta breaks for the next few days around the solstice.

The other discomfort of the day is that I’d finally gotten my body almost into proper riding form (i.e. sore and stiff-feeling, in spite of stretching) but had take a long enough rest period to heal my ankle that I’d had a chance to remember what it feels like for my body not to be stiff and sore. I managed to tone down the feeling of near sun/heatstroke (in spite of frequent application of food, water, and sunscreen) a bit with my morning (ummm.. right) apple. Later in the day, I also had a salad for lunch, which really seemed to help. I may simply have been running a little low on nutrients from greens.

I got a few more gratuitous shots of trees growing on rock, and bodies of water, figuring that I was pretty gratuitous with the mountains, flat terrain, grain elevators, and other pieces of less familiar geography that I shouldn’t neglect Ontario just because it’s home (though perhaps I should show it a little more neglect since crossing it takes a considerable amount of time longer than any other province — except for BC, which Ontario takes only about half a week to a week longer to cross).

I also passed by a pair of plaques commemorating the “Last Spike”

as well as a mess of tires, strung together to be laid over blasting operations (where the road is being widened ot twinned) to contain the debris that would otherwise fly everywhere.

Finally, at around km 100, I was thinking about stopping, and passed by a nearly ideal campsite at km 102 (good tree branches to hang food, nice clear, level ground in the shade, well set back from the road) but decided that it was a bit close to the railway and that I’d puch on a little longer to try and find a better campsite (being overly optimistic about the roadside camping prospects in this province).

As the title of this post indicates, I had no such luck for another 17km, and even then, the ground wasn’t as flat, clear, shaded, dry, or set back from the road, there were more bugs, and I had to hang my food off a road sign about 100m down the road for want of a decent tree branch. It was after 9pm though, and I really needed to pack it in for the night, so…