Thunder Bay

Distance: 124km
Time: 4hrs 30min

We made it to Thunder Bay early in the day to avoid a possible rain storm and to pick up Amy who was arriving at the airport. Needless to say AJ was definitely looking forward to the day as he and Amy have been apart for the last month.

This weekend was special in two ways: first it is the first time that we have all six members of our Brothers Bike 4 ALS Team together and secondly it is the first time we have two rest days in a row! The weekend here in Thunder Bay has been very relaxing and has definitely been a much needed break from camping. We have been fortunate enough to stay here in Thunder Bay with AJ's friends Scott & Miriam with some highlights including: seeing Kakabeka waterfall, touring a cheese farm and going to church at Redwoods Alliance Church.

A Not So Eventful Day

Distance: 120km
Time: 4hrs

The ride from Ignace to Upsala was fairly uneventful. We made our distance in fairly good time and spent most of the ride without seeing much civilization. Our accommodations was about 20km past Upsala and was the first "resort" we stayed at. While the term resort has a broad definition it was definitely stretched to the limit with this place! They were very nice though and let us stay in one of the old cabins for free. After camping for a number of days with lots of bitting bugs it was great to be indoors.

Close Calls

Distance: 150km
Time: 6hrs

This morning the boys got up early despite the rain and mosquitoes to make it to a radio interview in Vermilion Bay on Q104. The girls packed up the campsite as quickly as they could because they were being swarmed by mosquitoes! They drove into Vermilion Bay and met up with the boys early.

The radio station had given them stickers with 2-for-1 Big Mac Coupons, so group decided to stop at MacDonalds for an early lunch. As they entered the parking lot, a police man pulled up behind them. The girls got worried because they were trying to park and were taking up 5 parking spots and Adam was worried because he had just made a slightly illegal move on this bike entering the parking lot. The girls took off in the van, and the police man came over to Adam. The police man introduced himself as Dave and shook the boys hands and said that he'd heard them on the radio this morning and that his own father had just passed away from ALS.
Thankfully he didn't give anyone a ticket and said that he'd make a donation online.

A little while later, the boys got pulled over by a Ministry of Transportation vehicle, and were worried for the second time that day that they were going to get in trouble for something. Instead, it was a lady named Della who's friend Martin had just passed away from ALS. She had heard them on the radio, and then seen the boys biking, so she rushed home to get 2 cases of bottled water and a donation.

The encouragement continued as near the end of a long day of biking, the boys ran out of water they decided to stop at someone's house for water. She was very willing to refill their water bottles as she'd just read about them in the paper that morning.

From Beach to Bay

Distance: 165km
Time: 5hrs 50min

We stayed at a place called Falcon Beach which apparently was the site for a TV show shot here for a couple of years. The days ride was our longest for the week but as we made our way from Manitoba into Ontario it was nice to see the scenery changing and to begin to bike past the many lakes of Northern Ontario. The ride was more hilly then it has been for quite some time but with the twists and turns came more to see as we rode along.

We met up with a cyclist today named Dennis who was heading in the other direction. He said he has come across many cyclists so far, which is not surprising considering most travel from West to East. Dennis himself admitted that if he had of known about the prevailing winds coming from the West he too might have decided to travel in the other direction. As it was his journey had already brought him from St. Catherines in 14 days so while he may not have the wind with him he is definitely making good time. All the best Dennis! Tonight's stay is in Vermilion Bay at another campsite and tomorrow morning we are to have an interview with a radio station.

lords of the flies

Distance: 145km
Time: 5hrs 20min

To our avid readers it is with our sincerest apologies that we have not been more prompt with our postings for this last week. It appears that if you want to truly be in a remote place then Northern Ontario is likely a good place to start:)

On to this week's postings! Having had an enjoyable time at the Ifland's in Winnipeg us boys headed out on Monday morning. It seems to be official that Mondays (aka the first day of biking after a rest day are extremely tough at least from a mental perspective). On this particular morning our highlight was seeing Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait who are both running around North America. It is an incredible endeavor which puts bike riding across Canada into a new perspective as these two are definitely more crazy then we are:) Matt and Stephanie are running to raise awareness for the environment and actions that can be taken to sustain it. To find out more about their journey visit www.runforoneplanet.com

From our chance run in with Run for One Planet we made our way to the longitudinal center of Canada, marking our half way point from a longitudinal perspective. The rest of the day was less then enjoyable. The wind was a little against us, the sun was getting hot and worst of all we came upon swarms of flies that followed us for the majority of our afternoon ride. The flies were really bad as they would fly around each of us in little clouds above our heads and would fly into us every so often, bouncing off our helmets and bodies. The only good thing was that the flies would not land on us or bit so it was mostly just really really annoying. As the title suggests we could have been the lords of the flies but instead I think each of us felt more like the character "Pigpen" from Charlie Brown who always has flies buzzing around his head!

A Weekend in Winnipeg

Distance: 90km
Time: 3 hr

The trip into Winnipeg was good as we enjoyed sunshine and the wind at our backs. Arriving in Winnipeg we were warmly greeted by the Iflands. Orion and Rebecca have treated us really well and we have definitely enjoyed our time with their little guy Seth. We also had a chance to connect with one of Mike's old friends from youth group days, Tim Gibbons. Tim is married and has two beautiful little girls.

The rest day has been much needed and Orion was good to take us downtown to the Forks (where the river forks). It is a really nice area and we were able to take in some of the jazz music as there is a big jazz festival happening. Next up is Ontario where we will spend a third of our journey!

No Need to Portage a la Prairie

Distance: 130km
Time: 3hr 30min

After our short ride into Brandon we had a longer but enjoyable 130km ride into Portage le Prairie. The weather was beautiful and sunny with the best part being the wind at our backs. I think us boys have decided that this is the way biking was meant to be done!

We made it to Portage by lunch time and had the afternoon to enjoy some time off. The camp ground we stayed at was on Island Park in Portage which was an actual island; not something you expect to see in the prairies. Portage was larger then we had thought and the island was quite picturesque.