So everybody knows that Ontario is a big province, actually the second biggest in Canada after Quebec, but not until you study the road on the map can you understand how daunting a task cycling it will be. I met several people who have driven it and apparently driving it is a brutally long drive of about 23 hours solid driving from the Manitoba border to Ottawa about 2200 km. away. Based on this fact aswell as the possibility that I may be able to meet my girl friend from Vancouver who I had said farewell to adn was never expecting to see again as she is from korea and only in Canada on a study visa I made myself a plan. My plan was to attack Ontario and ride for 15 days straight at around 145km. a day to arrive in Ottawa rather than suffer the mental anguish of letting it drag on like the praires did. I knew I would be exhausted and sore by the time I reached Ottawa but then I would be relaxing a lot in Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City all of which are relatively easy bike rides between eachother. My Ontario ride would be divided into 3 sections for me to more easily view the trip and to have points of satisfaction when I complete each stage .

The first was a 450 kilometer ride across the empty canadian shield from the Manitoba border to the shores of Lake Superior. Me and Cam split up from Steve on that first day as he was carrying a lot more gear and was more comfortable travelling at a slower pace. Each day was more or less the same, blisteringly hot in the afternoon and ravinous insects after sun down. A couple of the nights we camped we were surrounded by Incredible wild berry fields which made our plain oatmeal breakfast very delicious. On our last day approaching Lake Superior in the midst of an unusual heat wave the heat was unbearable, the thermostat hit about 45 degrees and accompanied by pretty severe eastern canadian humidity. This really made biking quite dificult, The heavy heat and sun caused an almost out of body feeling of dizzyness. We had no choice though but no roll on. Drinking water non stop was the only way to avoid heat exhaustion aswell as dunking your head into a gas staion sink for several minutes. We would try to stop for lunch around 2 or 3 but is was very dificult to motivate ourselves to begin again. Nonetheless we still managed 150 km. everyday through it and arrived late in Thunder Bay that evening. Lake Superior looked incredible as we rolled towards the largest lake in North America and I believe the second or third largest in the world. Around it was to be the second stage of Northern Ontario.

Arriving in Thunder Bay at 10:30 pm that night we stayed in a nice hostel where we showered and feasted. Cam decided to take a rest day, and I sure dont blame him because we were both exhausted and that day it was raining with forecast for severe thunder storms that evening. I had to keep going so with a late start I was back on the road on to the second stage of Northern Ontario. The lake being so large was going to be at my side almost the whole while until Sault St. Marie on the oppositte shore 677 km. of highway away. It was a dismal morning in the rain and on the worst and most dangerous section of road so far on the trip . Highway 11/17 an 80 km. section between Thunder Bay and the town of Nipigon is the only road that connects the two halves of the country; quite incredble that the second largest country in the world would all funnel through one narrow two lane road. The downside of this is that all the transport trucks who cross Canada have no choice but to squeeze through it. Also the road has very little shoulder and is in rough condition anyway making it a shitty bike ride.

Once reaching Nipigon, however, the 11 and the 17 divide. The 17 being slightly longer sees far less of the heavy truck traffic and is extremely scenic making it the obviuos choice for cycling. I bought groceries in Nipigon and when I came out there was huge puddles everywhere and black clouds swirling above. I guess these were the severe thunder storms that were forecasted and I considered finding a cheap motel but then decided I should do atleast another 40 km. so I took off from town. Right away there was a particularily menacing looking cloud off to my left, I was ready to play the weather dodging game. Because your on a road it is hard to avoid the clouds but by using speed often you can either get ahead of it or let it pass by. I decided I could out run it so I took off hard towards some blue sky. I began to regret my decision after 5 minutes as it looked like we were on a crash course with each other. Then in a moment it was obviously a mistake as I topped over hill the storm hit with mad fury. The rain came from the side in powerful gusts and the lightning was so close and so constant that I abandoned my metal bike and ducked into the ditch. Really quite funny I thought to be there in such an ugly time so exposed as cars passed by I dont know if they saw me but if they did I think that its quite hilarious.

The cloud passed quickly as they always do when the wind is blowing that strong so I emerged from the ditch soaked to the bone and cruised down the hill. After that cloud my weather dodging skills worked out well and I narrowly missed several other clouds. As I found out two days later those same storms washed away an entire lane of brand new highway carving a 12 foot deep canyon where previously was only a shallow ditch. Soon I was back in friendly skies and the scenery gradually changed in a terrific way. The hills grew into mountains of ancient red rock. The mounatins were long and covered in green forest but then dived steeply into Lake Superior and lined. Impressive red cliffs and an open panorama of the massive lake gave tried to convince me I was back on the coast. I stopped to relish in the view and snap photos often and soon it was time to camp.

I only made 120km that day but I was tired and I had a huge meal to cook. I pulled off the highway where a road cut down to a beautiful bay where two small houses sat. I knocked on a door to see if I could pitch my tent in their yard and a very friendly lady answered and right away said I could. I then met her husband who was relaxing in thier sauna house on the shore of the lake. I pitched my tent on a beautiful spot and then took a shower and sauna in their sauna house. Accompanied by a beer Jack offered me I was in extreme relaxation mode, if only I could have a sauna and a beer after every day on the road especially after a stressful day of dodging Semi trucks and thunder storms. I feasted on my huge pasta and rested very well. In the morning they treated we to a delicous breakfast of EggMc Muffins and good coffee (thank you, Thank you so much to Jack and rosemary Hotchkiss of Nipigon Ontario).

Again that day was in wonderful scenery but it was now cold, really cold and with a nasty headwind that tired me out as a I climbed over mountains and more mountains. In the afternoon some bikers form Minnesota that I met in Nipigon passed by me as they were not carrying gear but travelling with a support car they took turns driving. they said if I made it to Neys provincial park they would be there and I could crash in thier camp site. while approaching the park the road shot straight down a steep hill and over an open gorge, the view was really nice. The next 10 km were some of the nicest Ive ridden high above the lake with open views. I reached Neys Provincial Park after only 135 km. but I was really tired from the headwind and hills and with a free place to stay I went for it. The campsite was down on the lake and right away I knew I made teh right decision. While the sun was getting low the lake and the beach looked really nice, I never imagined it might be so nice on Lake Superior.

Then another joyful day of pleasent scenery but now hot again passed quickly and I ended up at the same site as the cyclists again. Not only was I saving great money while still camping with all the ease and amenities of a provincial campsite but they were great company for a solo traveller. So far I have not yet met a cyclist that I do not get long with, if nothing else we can atleast talk about bikes.

After two more days of nice riding I finally arrived in Sault Ste. Marie on the east shore of lake superior. Holy Shit! That was a big lake, more than the entire distance to cross Manitoba. I spent the night in a dingy hotel that was also a HI hostel where I got my own private room quite large and relatively clean but very old and out of style for 23$ a night.

My next leg of my Ontario trip turned out to be pretty unexciting as I expected biking through relatively mundane populated areas. The area around Sudbury, Ontario is interesting because the mines have produced so much polution that all the trees have died and cant grow producing a moon scape of barren rock and hills. Since the last 20 years they've raised the height of the smoke stacks and made efforts to nuetralize the soil and some trees are beginning to take hold.

Other than that the only thing of interest was some freakin terrible weather. I camped a night in a pleasent little meadow that was ripe with handfulls of wild blueberries only 40 km to the east of North bay. It was a nice night except for a bear that visited my camp who I had to scare off. Also there was quite a display of lightning not so far away that luckily stayed off course from me. The next morning I found out that a powerful tornado had ripped through North bay causing a lot of damage and shutting the city right down. I dont think anyway was badly injured; luckily it did't hit anyone who was camping exposed in their tent.

The following day was incredibly humid, the worst I've ever experienced except maybe in the deep jungle lowlands of Central America. I was sure their would be a big storm in the evening. At aroung 7 pm I was getting ready to camp soon when I noticed there was a dark cloud behind me. I looked again in my rearview mirror to see the cloud was right up behind me and lightning was flashing consistently. The wind picked up behind me and soon I was cruising fast driven by the wind at almost 35 km./ hour. I was making incedible time but I knew I had to get off the road immidiately. At the moment I was in a marshy area so I decided I would stop in the next farm I saw. Finally I found a drive way and followed it winding up to an old red brick house set atop a hill beside a huge weeping willow tree. Nobody seemed to be home but then a dusty old farm truck rolled in behind me. Out stepped an old farmer with dusty eyes and a red sun burnt face. He was confused to see me and I imagined he had pulled up in his truck at the end of every day for the last 50 years just as he had today but this time stood a young guy with a funy looking bicycyle. I introduced myself and asked if I could camp somewhere in his farm but unexpectdely before I could finish my sentance his door was slammed shut behind him as the wind gusted up like a freight train. "We better get inside!" he yelled over the wind as dirt and grass was ripped from the ground towards us. We went inside and I was happy to meet his wife and to see he had a very normal house inside.

The storm intensified and rain and thunder shook the solid brick house. The wind ripped in through the open windows cooling off the warm house. I was very, very happy to be inside to be on thh side of the road in this one would not have been quite so hilarious. The old man washed up and when he returned now looked very normal. They were very nice people and told me that there was a hurricane warning for Deep River where I had just passed 3 hours before. The storm passed after 30 minutes or so but I knew that there would be more on the way. I went outside to pitch my tent but was distracted when I met their 9 Blood hound/ beagle puppies who were very cute. Then he came out and said they decided I could sleep inside on there couch which I gratefully exepted. Then came the question "Are you hungry?"
"Yes I am but I have a nice supper to cook,"I said and I did have a nice supper. But they insisted that I join them for dinner. They farmed cattle so we ate some of their home cut steaks, I had two great big steaks with potatoes, home made bread, peas, salad, and delicous fresh homemade cake with tea for dessert;It was a classic home cooked farm meal. Through the whole night clouds came and went delivering hard rain and frightning lightning and thunder. I just kept thanking that I had a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on otherwise I would surely have been sleeping in a puddle. In the morning I had a nice breakfast, thanked them sincerecly and was on my way to Ottawa where I would have another bed to sleep on in the house of one of my dad's friends.

The road towards Ottawa was incedibly busy and stressful until the small city of Arnprior where the road turned into a proper 4 lane highway that forbode biking. My only choice was a terrific choice. From there I folowed the old highway that wound its way through the Ottawa valley passing quiet farming towns that were full of character and history. Then on to the Old Carp road a nicely shaded gravel road that meandered towards the suburb of Kanata where I would enter the urban streets of Ottawa. Entering a city on a bicycle for me is a wonderful experience, the bigger the city the better. It has always been my style backpacking upon arrival at the train or bus station to hike to my hostel rather than take a bus and certainly never a cab. It always provides a memorable and sometimes challenging adventure. So on a bike you must first obtain a map and the information as to roughly where your going. After this you sometimes have to carefully select a route that avoids the dangerous bridges and streets or you can try to take an interesting route through parks or along a river.

I arrived no problem at the house of the Boychuks the father Rick, a good friend of my dad's, mother Molly, son Jasper 20, and daughter Clare19. They were great people to stay with and I ate some delicious food and even drank some delicious beer. My first day in Ottawa I took as a total rest day, after 15 days of biking a considrable distance each day I was exhausted, my body was sore. I was thrilled to have accomplished my intended mission having passed the whole of Ontario and now I sat just a rivers width from the province of Quebec. Not only was I now in Ottawa but I was going to see my girlfriend Annie from Vancouver, a tremendous reward for a lonesome traveller. So I booked us a private roomin a hostel downtown.

The next day I moved over to the hostel and around 4 pm Annie showed up with her friend, and my friend Sue who she had been travelling with. It was great to see her, great to have a girl to hold, to kiss. I have so much time on the road to think, girls are a great thing to think about and how nice they can be. We only had 2 nights but it was so great and we toured around the city on bikes and drank beer in the evening with other travellers from around the world. I went to the bus station with her and I said goodbye again but this time almost certain we would never meet again.

I spent one more day in Ottawa to see the museums but was now back at the Boychuk's house to save money. I was ready to leave Ontario and anxious to enter Quebec, for a long time I have wanted to learn french and always wanted to vistit the cities of Montreal and Quebec City. So the next morning I snaked my way out of town and rode to the town of Cumberland where I got on a ferry to cross the Ottawa river into Quebec

1st Section of Ontario from Manitoba to Lake Superior 450km.

2nd Section of Ontario- Lake Superior 677km.

3rd Section of Ontario- Lake Superior to Ottawa 1085 km.