Day 58: Sault Ste Marie - Thessalon

km today: 83.6
total km: 4389.2

We started our day off right with face sized apple fritters dripping with grease and chock full of apple slices from Superior Bakery, one of the best bakeries we’ve ever been to. We actually stealth ate them in Tim Hortons with John and Joan (we like the coffee, but don’t like the doughnuts).

We said our goodbyes to Velorution and to John and Joan thinking that we weren’t going to see either again on this trip. A short while later we ran into and We also ran into these guys
who were able to blow by us thanks to their 100lb lighter loads.We had been hearing that the “Tour du Canada” cyclists were on our tails for days, but these were their first appearances. We’ve decided that our trip (the one that doesn’t require a $4000 overhead) is of better value. Everything is catered to them, they are given maps for the day, told exactly where to go and have everything carried for them, save for their food and water for the day. This sounds great, but when we asked 6 of them about their route through the treacherous Manitoba, not one of them could definitely tell us where they went or what road they took. It seems that the lack of self-planning required by them has made it so that they are not absorbing the sights, people and places of Canada.

Our original intention for the day was to make it to Blind River, approximately 140km. We are awaiting the arrival of Brandon’s cell phone though, which we decided to leave behind in Nestor Falls at our campground. It's now being to Collingwood, after it failed to make it to Sault Ste Marie in time. Collingwood could be a 4 day rush from Sault Ste Marie. The phone won’t arrive for close to 7 days though, so we decided to slow our pace down, which actually works in our favour seeing as how the waters of this area have been compared to the Mediterranean.

Instead of Blind River, we chose Thessalon, an easy 83.6km jaunt from the Soo. Along the way we had a quick lunch stop in Bruce Mines The waterfront of Bruce Mines, the site of the oldest copper mines in Canada.

This choice also worked in our favour. When we pulled into our campground we saw that it was right across the street from the clear, clean waters of Lake Huron. Seeing as how the day’s temperature had reached 31.5 degrees celsius by 10:30am, the water looked mighty inviting after a sweltering day of riding. Setting up was a rushed event as we had to go swimming fast.

B&K