Having neglected to put on my replacement rear tire (but at least having purchased it) during my rest day, I quickly tossed it on before getting a lift back to the grocery store parking lot right near where I called from when I first reached Thunder Bay.
The extra mess of duct tape applied to the rear tire almost certainly made for a smoother and more reliable ride, but it was still a little bumpy as it didn’t take long for the tape’s adhesive to slip enough to get some of the bulge back in the tire).
I got going at around 10:15am, and had some good riding conditions, so I was able to make about 20km/h (including the non-riding time when I stopped to eat, drink, etc.) for the first 3 hours or so. At some point in this window, I took this picture
After waking up at about 8am, the extra time spent dealing with insects and wandering over to fetch food had me leaving closer to 10:30 than the 10am departure time I would have expected from my waking time while camping. Not having picked up breakfast foods on my way out of Kenora, I breakfasted on some of the peanut brittle that Gavin had sent me, dipped in the spreadable chocolate that Graydon had sent.
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.
Waking up, breaking camp, and getting ready to go, I had a pleasant surprise: The fellow who owned the ranch across the road from my campsite was just on his way in/out for a morning visit, and being a friendly person, decided to invite me into town for breakfast. Apparently, about a week earlier, he’d also taken a long-distance pedesrian from France (pulling a wagon with his provisions since last summer) walker out for breakfast, and said pedestrian had made the local paper.
After waking up at 9am, I was still in something of a not-riding headspace, so I prepared myself a new sheet of paper with important details from my notebook for the next few days (a habit I’d been refining since a little under a week into the ride; important details including phone numbers to call ahead for accomodations, grocery lists, etc.) I also made a few minor repairs on the bike, and decided (my host in Winnipeg not having a pressure gauge on his foot pump) to pick up a portable tire pressure gauge at MEC (like I’d been meaning to since I got my pump in Vancouver).
My tendon is now at the point where it feels quite normal (without drugs) until I go and do something foolish like walk around on it a whole bunch. The little lump around my tendon, that seems to be the peak of the swelling has also almost disappeared, so I’m planning to hit the road again on Monday morning.
I woke up at around 7am, fed myself, made a somewhat better fix to the front rack, straightening them out, tightening the U-bolts so they’d hold better, messing with the pannier clips so that they’d be better balanced, and not quite so inclined to throw the racks out of alignment, and refreshing some of the duct tape. Then I packed everything up, and was on my way at around 10:30am.
Having stayed up later than planned on the 1st making journal updates, I overslept a bit, and after swinging by Canadian Tire to pick up a Manitoba road atlas, I wasn’t really going until about noon. Once again, the substantial headwinds had returned, so it was back to slow, difficult slogging.
