The reason I say Ontario is relative is that 80% of the signs on the road tell you distances in time it takes to drive there. When I ask a store clerk how far until the next town, I get a responce like, "15 minutes." When I ask them to clarify in terms of Kilometers, they are usually unable.
I traversed TransCanadian 17 for the entire way on my Ontario trek. Some lengths had shoulders, some did not. I never felt particularly unsafe, but I wouldn't recommend this route for a first time bike tourist. There were plenty of times when I felt the need to bail off on the soft shoulder for survival.
I also learned that I was going the "wrong" direction. There is a prevailing Westerly wind. Heading Eastbound is just a lot more work.
This was my first expected big downhill experience heading into a town called Mattawa. Mattawa is where the Ottawa and Mattawa Rivers intersect. In Ojibwa, which is the local tribe, Mattawa means, "Meeting of the waters."
This is where I camped after my brief night in North Bay. North Bay had a centralize downtown area with all of the restaurants and bars on the same street. I went to a place called Cecils, which was the only place open that night. A dance party ensued, and I was impressed with North Bay. While chowing down on my thrid dinner, I overhead a local talking with some out of towners, and he said, "North Bay is the best place on Earth." To him I am sure it is.
In addition to Poutin, Pogo is another Canadian food that can or cannot be missed. Either way, I tried them both.
It was about 7pm and I was trying to get to Blind River. About 30km before I got to Blind River, I passed through Cutler where I saw a stage and heard some rock music. I pulled into the fairground area and set up my tent. It turned out that there was a traditional Indian Pow Wow. I assumed that a big congregration of people would imply some beer drinking. However, alcohol is strictly prohibited during these ceremonies. I went to the North Channel to go for a swim. Before I got in, one of the locals said, if I go swimming, I will wake up with "the itch". I decided against going in.
I did not stick around until noon the next day where they came out in traditional costumes, but I did see the evening concert where they hired celebrity impessonators. I did not catch all of the acts, but the list at least included: Cyrus, Beiber, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna => Pass out.
Before I made it to Sault Ste. Marie, it turns out that a Native I had made friends with actually skipped the Pow Wow as well and went and returned from Sault. I assume he went to the casino since he drove 1.5 hours each way, and didn't do well. He must have also been looking for me as he had Sweetgrass ready to give to me. He told me to burn it and smother my face in the smoke to remove any negative thoughts.
After seeing Tate, I passed through an Amish community. This was evident by the signs for horse drawn buggies, large amounts of horse manure in the road, and useless trinkets being sold by guys in long, black and grey beards.
I saw this Public Service Announcement, but I did not see any bears.
After getting to Sault Ste. Marie, I came down with a cold. I basically spent the next two nights laying in my tent. Since it was raining, I relocated my tent to the concrete breezeway. I still don't have a sleeping pad, so the only cushion I had to the concrete was my sleeping bag. My tent and sleeping bag became a den is disease, and I am afraid to get in them now. I started taking antibiotics assuming that would make me feel better. However, I have confirmed that I have a cold and the medicine is useless. I did stop in the casino with 15 Canadian Dollars and walked out with over 200. I debated whether or not to spend another day in the den of disease. Obviously, I just gathered my belongings and pushed onward.
The lady to check my passport asked me all sorts of odd questions. She even went so far as to say I didn't look tan enough to have been biking from Montreal. After passing her line of useless questions, I had to pay $1.50 in toll. I strolled into Sault Ste. Marie of Michigan, had breakfast, and did my laundry. I took the Mackinac Trail all the way to St. Ignace, stopping at an Indian casino along the way. This time, my luck was quite different. I pulled out $140 and they took it away from me in about 45 minutes playing $2 craps and $3 blackjack. I camped the night in Straits State Park, which I am still unsure if I was allowed to be.
I got up at 6:30am, packed my things, and took the Star Line Ferry to Mackinac Island.
Mackinac Island does not allow cars, so it is just a bunch of horses and bikes. I actually pity my great great great great grand relatives that did not have cars. Their cities must have smelt like a circus all the time. I really can't imagine what a town like San Francisco, New York, or Chicago was like before the car pushed out the horses. It must have been a crappy situation...
This video is in honor of my father. I remember as a boy, we would talk about places to go see. One of them he always dropped on me was Mackinac Island. I tended to veto going to Michigan, but now that I conveniently up here, this video is for you. I will do more exploring and tell you the details...if it will stop raining.
I have also added one item which may be of interest, which I forgot to add in my last blog. I have been taking a count of my food consumed.
Montreal to Ottawa: 220g Beef Jerkey, 300g Mixed Nuts, Cheeseburger, 1/2 poutin, 225 g Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar, 100g sour gummi worms.
Ottawa to Chenaux: 2L Powerade (Blue and Red), Big Kahuna Burger 2/3 lb -Rated best burger in Ottawa area by viewers of Eastern Ontario Region CTV, Kentucky Fried Chicken (This was old school and spelt it out) Double Down (Imagine a BLT with chesse but instead of bread, replace with fried chicken breasts.), 240g of Old Dutch Corn Chips, 310 mL of Old Dutch Medium Salsa, 80g Beef Jerkey, Double Pack of Snickers
Chenaux to Deep River: 100g Whole Cashews, Bacon Cheeseburger, 80g of Old Dutch Corn Chips, 105 mL of Old Dutch Medium Salsa, 3 homemade beef crunchy tacos with Ortega Shells, full order of fajitas without the tortillas, 2 Rickard White beers, Pint Rickards Red, Pint Creemore Springs Lager, 1 Molson, Snickers bar
Deep River to North Bay: Rolfton Motel Restaurant Lumberjack Breakfast (10oz OJ, 2 pieces of buttered wheat toast with peanut butter, 3 scrambled eggs, 2 sausage links, 2 bacon, ham, home potatoes), large blueberry muffin to go, 120g sour gummi worms, 125mL Oreo ice cream bar, 75g Munchies Trail Mix, 90g Doritios Nacho Cheese, 124g Almond M&Ms, $5 Footlong Subway Pizza Sub fully loaded, 1/2 burger and salad from Cecils, Pint of Alexander Keiths IPA, and Can of Budweiser
North Bay to Sudbury: Nancy's Cafe "Hungry Man" (3 eggs, 2 wheat toast, potatoes, 3 sausage links, 3 bacon), 3 pieces of ham (just to try all of their meats), Pogo, grilled chicken burger with everything, Tim Hortons 95 cent Blueberry Fritter, 12 oz Coke, 150g Nature Trail Mix, 171g sour gummi worms (I dropped one in transit), 5/8 of a medium pepperoni pizza, 150g honey roasted peanuts, 2 Molson Beers.
Sudbury to Cutler: 2 times Windjammers breakfast special (3 bacon, 3 sausage links, potatoes, 3 pieces of rye toast buttered with peanut butter, 2 scrambled eggs), 64g Skittles Berry Explosion, 50g sour gummi worms, Snickers bar, 350g Turkey Pepperettes, 16oz Strawberry Lemonade, Indian Taco (Fried Foccacia bread covered in Chili, topped with lettuce tomatoe, and cheddar.
Cutler to Sault Ste. Marie: HungryMan from Native Touch: 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces of white buttered toast, 3 bacon, 2 sasauge links, slice of balogne, home fries, $5 footlong honey oat bread with meatballs, Snickers Almond, 180g Snack Patrol Wild Strawberry gummi candies, 300g Nature Tail Mix, 175g sour gummi worms, 100g Tostitos blue corn chips, 150mL medium salsa,
Sick in SSM...5 Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Bars (175g), 1/2 medium pizza, PB&J.
SSM, Ontario to St. Ignace, Michigan: Slice of bread, Slice of bread with Nutella, 3 pieces of French Toast, 10 oz of OJ, 3 small sasauge links, Buffalo burger with cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, pickels, mustard, catsup, huge plate of fries, Dinner at Jose's Cantina (Chips/Salsa, Rice, refried beans, ground beef burrito)
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I am heading to Traverse City for Annie and Ying's Wedding. After that, the road and path is pretty open. I will take suggestions. If anyone know people working at mountain resorts, please let me know. I want to spend my winter working and living in the mountains.
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