Day 51 - Thessalon to Serpent River

83.3 km - Total so far 4,417.93 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5704629

When we got up this morning the tent fly and tent were completely dry. It is so much easier to pack a dry tent that a wet one and the dry tent weights a lot less. 

We left around 8 am heading for Serpent River 82 km away. The route was mostly inland so we did not expect much scenery and we were not disappointed. To add insult to injury, we had a nice headwind to contend with. On a positive note, the forecasted rain did not happen. 

The Missisagi River

As we neared Blind River, we caught a glimpse of wild life walking near a road sign and we stopped to take a picture. Hélène laid down her bike on the shoulder of the road and the sight of her bike laying on its side caused a Harley rider to stop and inquire to see if we needed help. I thanked him for his concern and he was off. As for the wildlife, it turned out to be a coyote that was now up on the railway track and walking away from us. We took our time observing him as he walked away but then all of a sudden, the coyote turned around and started trotting back towards us. We thought that it might be best if we got on our bikes and quickly got out of there.

Big coyote walking away from us

More water lilies

As we pulled in to Blind River, we saw a cyclist resting by the side of the road and stopped. The gentleman came over and chatted with us. He was from Newmarket and was cycling to Sault Ste Marie to visit family. He was pulling a fully loaded Bob bicycle trailer and had experienced difficulty yesterday on Manitoulin Island when the cross winds often pushed him and the trailer onto the roadway. Some people swear by these trailers and others think they are difficult to handle and without brakes making them dangerous on the downhills. The individual was waiting for his relatives to pick him up and drive him back to the Soo. We believe that was the end of his bicycle trip.

In Blind River, we dropped into the Tim Horton's and had their dark roast cofffee since it tastes very much like McDonald's coffee. While there, we spotted another cyclist headed East just like us. As we got back to our bicyles, Hélène was checking out a fully loaded BMW motorcycle that appeared to have waterproof Ortlieb bags just like we do. 

We ended up stricking up a conversation with Gilles and Lili both from Gatineau. They are on their way to an international BMW motorcycle rally in Billings, Montana. Interestingly enough, we both travel using different modes of transportation, but have similar interests in respect to camping equipment and what to carry on road trips. They expressed an interest in someday using bicycles to travel and Hélène and I had previously chatted about using a Harley to tour around the Great Lakes. We exchanged travel/blog cards.

Our 15 minutes coffee had turned into an hour and we finally got back on the road.  5 minutes later we stopped taking pictures again.

Logging industry memorial in Blind River

The level of detail found on the scupltures, especially the face, was striking 

Tomorrow we are heading to Hilly Acres Campground located between Espanola and Little Current.

51.76 miles - Total so far 2,745.17 miles