Riding in the Rain

It was bound to happen I guess... the only thing I didn't expect was how I reacted when it finally did occur. The event I am talking about is of course waking up and having to pack the gear in the rain. I was dreading this day the entire trip, but when I awoke to the sound of rain this morning, I was surprisingly still eager to get on the road. Luckily, we got a short break in the rain, which allowed us to get most of the stuff ready while staying relatively dry. However, the tent was still wet and dirty when it was packed away.

By the time we got on the road, the rain had resumed. We travelled a couple of kilometres down the road from the park and pulled in for a bite to eat. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed, so we were forced to eat a breakfast consisting of a pizza sub, pop tarts, milk and an orange. It was actually quite filling. I could tell that Dave wasn't geared up for the ride at all as he was looking at the falling rain, so I had to give him some coaxing. I told him we had to get on the road since it wasn't raining just a few kilometres ahead. That was enough for us to hop on the bikes and start pedalling towards the Soo.

As it turned out, it actually wasn't raining down the road... the shower had passed for the time being, but we would encounter several more before the day was over. The first stop of the day was at a commemorative plaque erected at the midpoint of the Trans Canada Highway. We took a few pictures and then continued on.

We reached Sault Ste. Marie early in the afternoon and had to look for a bike shop in order to get a replacement tire for my bike. Luckily there was a shop on the highway, and I went in to get the tire. As I was talking to the sales guy, I told him that I wanted to get a good quality tire to replace the one that had gotten me 4,100km already, and I wanted the new one to do the same. He laughed and assured me that the tire I was buying was a quality tire. Actually, he gave me his name and number and told me to call him when I got where I was headed and let him know how the tire made out!

The next stop was Robins Donuts for lunch and as we sat there eating our soup and sandwich, watching the rain fall, we contemplated how far we wanted to go. Dave asked me if I wanted to stop at the outskirts of Sault Ste. Marie, or if I wanted to go further. I wasn't ready to quite riding yet, so I said "let's go to Echo Bay". Dave agreed, and then looked in the phonebook to see about possibly accommodations in Echo Bay. As he was looking, I saw that there were over three pages of numbers for Echo Bay, so I simply said "don't worry, they definitely have a motel there if there are that many pages in the phone book".

Well those turned out to be famous last words as we rode the 26km (in the rain) to Echo Bay only to find the closest place with accommodations was either Bruce Mines or Sault Ste. Marie! There was no way we were heading back to the Soo, so we had little choice but to go the 40km to Bruce Mines. Dave wasn't keen on the idea, and he wanted to check a sleazy bed and breakfast in Echo Bay. I really wanted to press on though as it was still early, and any more progress towards Sudbury would be great. Dave finally caved in, and we set out for Bruce Mines.

As we were leaving Echo Bay, the sun started shining, but it was short lived as we were back in the rain within 15 minutes. We rode the 40km to Bruce Mines in perhaps the worst rain of the day and then finally pulled into the Bavarian Inn to get a room for the night. Within a half hour upon arrival, the sun had broken through again, allowing us to dry the bikes off outside our room. However, there was no way to dry all the gear! As I unpacked my clothes, every single thing I had was wet right at the spot where they were touching the bottom of the saddle bag.

So here I am now, lying in half wet clothes with everything hung up in the hopes of it drying by morning. However, I surprisingly felt great! I actually didn't mind (almost enjoyed!) riding the rain. Also, not only did we just make some progress, as we had talked about in the morning, but we put in almost a 150km day! We got much further than we ever would have dreamed, and we did it in some pretty nasty conditions. As a result, we are in great position for two decent days of riding to get to Sudbury. It is a good feeling knowing that we won't have to bust our ass to make the trip in two days. Unfortunately, the forecast is calling for more rain tomorrow, but at least now I realize I can ride in the rain without having my spirits dampened!