3rd
Day 6, June 18th: Terrace Bay, ON to Wawa, ON
Thick, pea soup. That’s what comes to mind as I climb down from the RV and look around. A heavy, thick fog is drifting off Lake Superior, making it almost impossible to see anything farther than 5 feet in front of me. I make my way to the community centre where Eric and Jamie are serving breakfast and I help myself to a serving of porridge. The fog is on everyone’s mind as we eat, and we discuss whether it will be safe enough to ride in. After much thought, we come to the conclusion that if we wear reflective vests we will be visible enough to the traffic.
As we began our journey, the weather was cool, but soon warmed until temperatures became so hot they were almost unbearable. The air was thick and damp, making it difficult to breathe and within 10 km of the ride I have an asthma attack. I cough uncontrollably, my body trying in vain to expel the thick, sticky mucous from my lungs, but because my airways were compromised I began to choke, gag and wheeze. As soon as I could, I pulled over, grabbed my inhaler from my Bento Box which sits on the frame of my bike, and managed to get the medicine into me. Within seconds I could breathe again and returned to my bike and continued on my way. I hadn’t had any problems in BC or the Prairies, but as soon as I got back to Ontario all my symptoms returned.
Stephanie and Roger, from Ride Along Team 2, joined us for the first part of the ride. We had strong head winds again, and long, rolling hills, equal to those in BC. I love to climb, love to descend more, and throw in cornering with descending and I’m like a kid in a candy store! The route was amazing, and I was constantly in awe of the breathtaking view all around me. We cycled along Lake Superior and there were beautiful trees and wildlife all around us. It was awesome.
We stopped for a pasta lunch in Marathon, but shortly afterwards we ran into some trouble with the roads—they were blasting with dynamite –so we had to stop for a short time before we were able to pass by. The traffic wasn’t as friendly as it had been out west and the cars and trucks would just zoom by us, with little thought to our safety. Because of this we had to spend most of our time riding in single file.
We arrived in White River for a wonderful supper of homemade stew, chickpea salad, fruit, veggies and homemade banana bread. It was amazing the care that the smaller communities went to when feeding us.
Our final destination of the Day was Wawa, ON where Child Ambassador, 18 year old Gary Creighton, died of cancer two days previously. His parents had requested that we attend the Wake, so we shuttled forward 60km in order to arrive by 7pm, and then rode the rest of the way. We entered the small community funeral home in our SNKCR cycling gear where we met many of his friends and family. In this incredibly sad time of their lives they welcomed us with open arms, thanking us for taking the time out of our busy schedule. People slipped us donations, hugged us and thanked us for what we are doing. But to me and everyone else on the team, we felt that we were the ones who should be thanking them, for allowing us to share such a private and personal moment. As each day went by, it became clearer to me that this journey is not about the bike. It’s about the children and their families that are affected by cancer and if it means we have to shuttle forward 60km instead of riding in order make an appearance at a child’s funeral, then we will do it. Gary and his family are what matters, not how many kilometres we cycled that day.
After we had showers at the community centre, the Mayor and a representative from Sears presented us with a sculpture depicting a rabbit and a goose. We also learned a little boy, around 8 years of age, saved up $20 and donated it to the foundation. We gave him a round of applause and made sure he got a dog tag and other SNKCR paraphernalia.
Once again we climbed into the RV’s and headed to Espanola, our starting point the next day. On our way we stopped at Old Woman Bay where we enjoyed a beautiful view of Lake Superior, while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.
We rode a total of 175km today.
