CCCT 2012 - July 12/12 - Day 54

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Thursday, July 12, 2012 - Day 54 
Dryden to Ignace, ON Trip 114.11 kms Time 7 hrs 2 mins Avg 16.19 kph Max 45.9 kph
We got up at 6:00 AM. Merve already up since 5:30 AM. I had cereal with banana, toast with peanut butter and jam (home made red pepper jelly - very tasty) and OJ. We finished packing our gear and loaded our panniers, etc on our bikes. Larry and Ken were also up to take photos and say goodbyes. Merve did a video. We left Dryden at 7:15 AM and cycled to IGNACE, ON. It was very hot and humid. We had to stop many times, especially if there was some shade. We stopped at a "Rest Area" at 12:30 for lunch. We were desperate for a cold drink. By this time all our drinks were warm. Bev went over to a lady who was sitting in her airconditioned SUV eating her lunch and asked if she had a cold drink for us. She gave Bev a very cold diet Pepsi. Although I'm a die hard diet Coke person I was willing to make an exception for diet Pepsi this time. There was another family, who arrived towing a large trailer, and I went over and asked if they had any cold water to fill two of our empty water bottles. I was given some "potable water" from their "holding tank". Water is water - as long as it's potable! An hour or so further down the road we were once again desperate for a cold drink. We had stopped so Bev could consolidate all the water she had left in her 3 bottles. Bev said she wished she had a cold drink. I started saying "Don't hold your breath ..." and had to bite my tongue. A car pulled over and Bill from Calgary got out with 2 bottles of cold water for us. Apparently he had previously cycled along the same route as we were cycling and knew how desperate we were for a cold drink. He had passed us earlier and gone into Ignace to get some cold water for us and 2 other girl cyclists who were ahead of us and returned to give it to us. Talk about "angels"! We thanked him profusely. We arrived in Ignace at 4:00 PM and went directly into a gas station convenience store to get a cold drink. Afterwards we sat in the Subway to cool off and were also able to fill our water bottles, from the soda fountain dispenser, with icy cold water. We cycled over to the Visitor's Centre at 5:30 PM but it was already closed! Went over to the grocery store and bought some fresh fruit before cycling to the campground. We paid $26 for a camp site and free wi-fi. No other facilities i.e. food. We set up our tent after drinking a beer that we had purchased earlier at the LCBO. Bev got her camp stoves and dishes out and prepared KD with mini sausages for dinner. It started thundering, lightning and raining with pea size hail! We quickly had to put all our gear inside the tent and put the tarp over the tent. We stood under the tarp and watched the hail come down. The storm only lasted 15-20 minutes but it sure made a mess of everything. Bev cleaned up the dishes while I went over to the gazebo (hot spot) and checked out the wi-fi. I was able to get on the Internet and sent an e-mail to Lise to let her know about the parcel we had sent home from Dryden. Bev joined me and sent an e-mail to Brandy's friend in Thunder Bay re visiting for a couple of days. Returned to the tent and went for a shower. Off to bed at 9:00 PM.
Bev and Roly