Reports from Jamie's latest tour

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Latest Next

day 67

rock-a-bye jamie

Actual Date: 2007-07-10
Uploaded: wed, 11 jul 2007 20:22:45 -070
Distance: 0.00 km

One of the neat things about bicycle touring and camping in general is that they bring you into closer contact with the outdoors.

When I went to sleep last night it was with thoughts of deciding to either head for Copper Harbour or to continue west.

I woke up this morning to the gentle rocking of the hammock and the complaining groaning of the trees. The sound of the wind was quite strong and once I popped out of the hammock it became obvious that it would be a headwind in opposition to my western advance. The winds turned out to be southwest 50 km/hr gusting to 80 km/hr which is great for windsurfing but not really too much fun to ride into with a fully loaded bike. I could hitch a ride with the wind and blast out to Copper Harbor but if the wind stayed up as the forecast predicted then I could be in for a long slog back. (It would have been nice to go windsurfing but the necessary gear for that is a bit challenging to fit on the bike).

I took a third option and stayed put. It made for an earlier rest day but with the strains of the last couple of days my body appreciated it. Schedule wise I am still doing fine. As fellow author Moni Neville likes to say, "If I was in a rush would I be riding a bike"?

As rest days go this one was really laid back. I avoided a strong downpour by reading a book in the picnic shelter. While laying on top of the table reading a Tom Clancy novel I fell asleep for a couple of hours.

As afternoon turned into evening a park presentation took place discussing local history. It was superbly presented and I ended up filling in a few history blanks for events that happened in the surrounding areas. I guess when you circle lakes you absorb information about those lakes too! (grin)

I was even lazy when it came to lunch and supper. Both times I went to a very close drive-in restaurant (use to be an old A&W drive-in) and ate something from the menu. During my second visit the staff took a lot of interest in my tour and surprised me with a free ice-cream desert of my choice! Thanks!

Although I enjoy free food as much as anyone else a lot of enjoyment for me comes from knowing that these people are interested in the quest and are doing something that allows them to feel more a part of the endeavour. Perhaps a seed has even been planted that will see them on their own tour in the future.

I never hint or even mention free food so whenever it happens it's always a surprise and completely because people want to give something and not because my hand is in some way extended.

Altogether it was a pretty restful day. The only problem at all was that pocketmail was moving data centres which seemed to make journal updates difficult.

Guestbook replies:

Tom: Ultimately I decided against the extra distance. I have heard many good things about Copper Harbor too and your post just confirms my interest in the area for a future tour. Lake Superior is a fascinating lake and in a way I like knowing that I am leaving a small slice for a more laid-back return trip. Thanks for providing your thoughts.

Tiger: The hot fudge sundae was awesome! I hope that your hockey game went well. Thanks for taking such a strong interest in the tour.

~Jamie N

Interested in bicycle touring? www.bicycletouring101.com

------------------------------
Get your service for FREE when you refer friends and family to PocketMail!

Tour Statistics

(Based on riding days only)

Number of Riding Days: 34
Overall total so far: 3840.10 km
Daily Average: 112.94 km
Shortest: 53.00 km
Longest: 163.00 km

Click here to send me a fun, inspiring, motivational and private email!

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Latest Next

These daily log messages come from my latest bicycle touring adventure. I usually update new entries daily although in more remote areas the upload may not occur for a period of time. Rest assured that the missing entires will ultimately appear here.

Clicking on 'Latest' will always take you to the latest entry. To read from the beginning select the number one from the log entry list.

RSS Readers allow you to receive notification whenever a new log entry arrives. If you use a RSS Reader a RSS feed is available for this bicycle touring journal at http://www.bicycletouring101.com/RSS/BT101TourReports.xml. The FireFox web browser actually has the ability to provide live bookmarks from a RSS feed like this one. If you are using Firefox to view this page then single clicking on the small orange icon at the lower right corner of the browser will allow you to subscribe to the feed.