Day 12

We woke up early and headed to the ferry. There was no real markings and we were kind of half asleep still, so we headed to the line with all the cars. Jerry waited there while I ran inside to ask if we were correct. The woman inside said yes the line outside as if I was weird for asking if people not in cars should be in the car line. 

We paid and boarded the ferry. We we’re put in the front near all the motorcycles. After securing our bikes we made our way upstairs to the cafeteria. Lucky us, got a early ferry with breakfast! Food and movement all in one. 

Just before we landed Jerry went to the rest room. The man (part of the couple behind Jerry) came over to ask how many miles we can go in a day. An odd way to start the conversation, but ok. But quickly it devolved into staying in the states would have been easier. I quickly questioned why is this man going out of his way to tell me I’m doing it wrong? I’ll admit I am guilty of this often. However, this guy didn’t look like he’d ridden a bike since single digits. I would spend the most of the rest of the day thinking about the ways I should have / could have responded. In true hindsight what ever, but it really bothered me that this obese man felt the need to tell me I could have had an easier route. 

When the boat docked I was happy to get off and start our ride. It of course started raining. There were a second pair of guys on touring bikes exiting the ferry. We didn’t talk to them. Not really sure why, if there was some underlining reason for us or them, but either way they were off and a minute or two later we were. They had a great pace right out of the gate and I slightly regretted not speaking to them. 

Third flat. 

Jerry’s rear wheel.

We pulled off the road into a driveway that had some trees for shelter from some of the rain. The good part of so many flats is we are starting to get a real rhythm with changing them. However this time we did’t take off the panniers so by the time the wheel was done I was pretty ready to put it down. Just then a pickup pulls in the drive way. They ask if we are ok. We say yes and they basically say ok. It was kind of interesting that there was no questioning about being on their property, or anything like that. We finished up and joked that we found the one driveway that had any action. 

The rain stopped soon after. Though the roads were wet for most of the rest of the day. We had been noticing white, something on our tires the last day or two. We assumed it was the white line of the road coming off on our tires. I bring this all up because the wet of the road had a film that looked like it could have been soap, or maybe the white line coming up. How can a place where it must snow lots have such easily removable lines in the road. 

Manitoulin Island looked to be mostly native peoples with some farm houses and a few vacation homes. It was really beautiful. I thought a lot about the distant past and what those people’s lives must have been like on the rolling hills of this island in off the shores of Lake Huron.  I’ve got to believe winters sucked but July painted an idealized picture… even though it was kind of a crap day. 

When we stopped in a gas station for some water it was kind of surprising that we were the only people in the store with out some native blood. It almost felt like we were on the reservation. They had posters and flyers for native crafts and language lessons, festivals and gatherings. It was a real bonus, for me any way. It just added to the we are doing something different here. Yes we could have stayed in the States, or I could have even just kept working. But we chose to do this thing and now we are getting the experience. 

We got back to the riding. Off the island and back to the main land. Suddenly we had bigger hills and winding passes. Most of it was so beautiful. I have been struggling with being away for this long (even though we just left), not having enough money, not being prepared enough… All of that faded away with these slopes fading into lakes, tributaries and streams, lush ever greens speckled across large rock croppings. 

Fourth flat.

My front tire. 

It was scary that I really felt it going down one of the steeper hills but all in all we stopped and our changing skills came out. 

Jerry said he was getting a slight chill from standing so he wanted to put on his jacket. At first I thought, we’re so close to the hotel, why bother. But I followed my pace car and put on my jacket too. When were all zipped up and ready to move we felt a drop. And a drop. And then it was pouring. Just like that we went from almost totally dry from our ride this morning to fully soaked in two minutes. Up and down a few more hills and we were pulling into town. The rain filled all the streets holes making it scary to hit a puddle. There could be an inch of water, or it could be a giant hole. Some of the puddles were just a splash some hurt pretty bad. Either way it was becoming harder and harder to see anything with our glasses covered in rain. We had a race to the hotel verse total rain out of vision. We made it to the hotel and just as we pulled in the rain stopped. Just another day riding across North America. 

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

MikeDiazTheFirst

Mike was born in Queen, New York to a blue collar family. An avid self educator, artist, and traveler he’s traveled around the globe three times while immersing himself in the culture of 48 different countries and counting.  Read about his journeys and musings here.

Latest posts by MikeDiazTheFirst (see all)

• Pandemic - April 15, 2020
• A farewell to EJ - March 27, 2019
• The three children - February 13, 2019