Day 42: 145.4 km

June 17, 2012

Obatanga Provincial Park - Lake Superior Provincial Park (Agawa Bay Campground)

Today was unbelievable! But I'd like to start with a huge happy fathers day to every father and grandfather reading this!!!

Today we woke up, and I decided for dads fathers day gift I would let him ride!!! How giving am I!? Haha for the record, he has really been wishing he was biking because of not eating well, and not working out during the day (and he's used to a lot of workouts in a day with his work). Who am I to deprive my dad of his Sunday bike ride on fathers day!!! So, he got to bike in the morning. He loved it! He's crazy! Its hard to believe that he wanted to, but it was good to see what he experiences too. It's difficult to drive behind someone. You have to be far enough away to keep the bugs away from them, but close enough that cars can stay alert when they see my hazards and anticipate someone ahead of me. Also, Ontario has the crappiest shoulders so far in Canada, not to mention narrow roads. The truck has to be to the right of the shoulder but some areas it's too narrow to do this because of the railings or sharp gravel shoulders. I have to wait until dad has passed the bad shoulder, wait for a pocket, and then zoom back behind him! Crazy! One flat today; first in Ontario though!

Dad biked until Wawa, and then I took over. It was perfect. It was cool and misty in the morning, so there were hardly any bugs in the afternoon. It got me really excited to bike again! Then for fathers day I paid for everything. I had to fight for it but we bought chocolate bars, and new towels (so exciting!) and an electric fly swatter!!!! Don't mess with me now flies!!!!!! We went out for lunch, and then took off.

 

 For Dad :)

Today really re-motivated me to complete this trip. I was really struggling earlier because it felt like Ontario and the bugs would never end. It was exhausting and daunting, but today was so spectacular and motivating it was incredible!

All of the sudden I'm dropping down this huge hill with the most amazing scene ever! There were 300 ft cliffs, bright blue water and sandy beaches. 

 

 

It was incredible. It is called Old Woman Bay. I honestly felt like I was back in Jamaica! I never knew that there were places in Canada that were like that! I was also told that Lake Superior is very cold (which you can feel in the wind), because of its depth, but because of the shallow bay it was actually warmer water. So after dad trying to persuade me to put my feet in the water I finally tried it and it wasn't too cold! We stayed there for a little while and sat on the beach watching the waves crash on the shore. Beautiful.

 

 

  

 

I really didn't want to get my feet wet  

 

 

Epic Father's Day!

While I was sitting at Old Woman Bay, dad was out by the truck taking pictures of the flowers (I LOVE flowers but don't want to stop and take the photo up hills) he looked up and saw something in the distance. It was about 300 ft from him and 150 ft from me. At first he thought it was a giant golden retriever, but it had a long amazing tail and it was huge. Then all the sudden it bounded up the rocks into the forest. No dog could move like that. What I had missed while I was studying my front tire was a cougar! THEY ARE MY FAVORITE ANIMALS AND I MISSED SEEING ONE 150 FT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!!!?????? I am still so upset by this!!!! I want to see a cougar so bad! I'm so disappointed that I didn't get to see it. I can't even explain it. I wanted to drive back and see if we could see it, but it would definitely not be there. Later on in the day, I passed a bear from maybe about 10ft away in the ditch as well. Dad drove by it and took pictures, but I was really into my audio book and I was going up hill, so I didn't look up. After I had heard about the cougar I tried to keep my head up and look around, but the up hills never end if I'm looking up. I need to look down and grind away. Grind away right by a cougar and a bear... missing my two favorites. Good job Kieren.

We kept going, and stopped for a bite to eat at Katherine Cove as the sun set. Another beautiful, must see beach. Then we pulled into Agawa campground late and set up camp. 

 

   

 

  

 

 Dad stealing a rock.

  

We showered and then sat in the car and finished the movie and ate snacks because the bugs were so bad. I literally put afterbite on like body cream! My one ankle has 5 bites only on the one side of it! How do they even find room to bite me anymore!? I am covered with bug bites!! From our tents we could hear the sound of the waves washing up on the beach. It was perfect.

Little note on the cheats: Today was so incredibly beautiful that it made me want to continue on and see more. It was so awesome to have the morning in the truck, and mentally prepare for the ride. I think dad wants to take a spin before I start every day now, which is by far ok by me. I don't see it as cheating I see it as a possibility to see the cougar first! It also helps me mentally prepare for the ride and helps dad with his workouts. I can tell he doesn't like sitting in the car all day. It keeps him awake! Everyone that I have met on this trip have "cheated" one way or another. It's all relative to how you interpret cheating. For example, Annie hitchhiked 120km into swift current to fix her bike, Matt had to hitchhike into Regina from where Annie and I hitchhiked outside of Moose Jaw during that terrible storm,  and I hopped in with Melina for a ride to Swift as well! But then there is Thomas, who sounded like he considered that he had cheated because he stayed in 2 nice campgrounds and then a hotel one after another, when usually he finds a back road to set up camp and a lake to shower in. With dad biking a little bit in the morning it really refreshes me, and then I get antsy and I want to be on the bike. Today was so perfect for that.