Languages, like our bodies, are in a perpetual flux, and stand in need
of recruits to supply those words that are continually falling through
disuse. -Cornelius Conway Felton, educator (1807-1862)
Hello Campers!
Trust all goes well in the tents.
P,
Glad to learn that the bike and clip less pedals are working for ya.
Great story of Papa & Mama Bear's folly. Hope the owner makes a full recovery from your stay and his mishap.
We have had a perfect week of weather in paradise. Packing up today - not sure where we are headed.
Fond regards to all, W
dear pat & corinne, first of all happy birthday corinne i hope you had a good day,
well pat we arrive from toronto on air canada 181t at 1303 on the 31st august.
some of the people i remember are barry gilmore, fred ensom -250-9411897
ted blair, af & linda khan, reider getz and probably the same people you knew.
is there anything you would like us to bring you from down here.
cheers for now, kevin & bev
Hi Bev and Kev!
Sorry that I have not replied sooner but it has a been a very busy time on the road ever since we left Vancouver just over a week ago. Thanks for the names. I'll work on contacting as many of people you mention as I can. Not quite sure of the whereabouts of Ted Blair and from Fred's area code, I think he is probably on Vancouver Island. Did you know Brian Covernton? If so, I'll invite him.
We've had a lovely time, here at the lake, ever since arriving. I've been for some terrific rides on the relatively quiet roads in this area, enjoying and gettng to know my new road bike with clip-on shoes, footwear I've never used before. Wanted to wait to use them until I was in a situation where I had more time to learn how to release my feet from the pedals. A number of my riding friends have toppled over when first using them, forgetting that they were clipped in! Here in the country there are not as many places one needs to stop, intersections, traffic lights, etc., so that other than having to keep a look-out for the numerous deer, (Falcon is provincial park so they are protected.), which often cross the road, often quite nonchalantly, there are few reasons to have to come to a complete stop. Pleased to say that I am becoming quite comfortable with the cleats and they certainly make riding long distances much more efficient.
Not quite sure when you are actually leaving Perth but if you have not yet done so, and it is not inconvenient, a couple of bottles of Margaret River or Swan Valley wine would be a treat. However, please don't worry if you don't have time or opportunity.
I'll certainly be in touch once we are back in Vancouver, probably around the 25th of this month, but definitely a day or so before you arrive, just to be sure flight plans have not changed. Fond regards from Cora Lee who sends thanks for your birthday greetings. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: My new bike outside our patio; Cora Lee with her sister's friend, Maureen, yesterday on the deck of their cottage at War Eagle Lake, just outside Kenora. I rode from Falcon to War Eagle on Friday afternoon. (See account below, if interested.) We stayed with Pam and Greg there on Friday and Saturday night. Swimming right off the dock was glorious.
Friday, August 3rd:
About 11:30am I started to pack my things for the next few days. We were going to spend two nights at War Eagle with Pam, Grog and Dustan. Coriandre was going to drive there with all the luggage and supplies, while I intended to cycle. I had always wanted to do so ever since the highway was resurfaced a number of years ago. Project, from around Kenora, west to the Ontario/Manitoba border started in about 2007 and I was first aware of it when Sarge and I drove to St John’s that year. Ever since, when on that section, I have taken note of the extremely wide shoulders and knew it would be quite safe to ride.
Once my gear was assembled I had a large plate of lasagna, overlefts from the Durston’s Seniors’ dinner of the night before, to fuel me for the coming ride. Around 12:45pm I was ready to go so Coramandel stored Pam’s number in her phone, (for an emergency), and I double ziploced it, (rain was possible), put it in the small carrying compartment of my camel pack, donned it and kissed the Babes farewell. Dusty insisted on a fall-back plan which entailed Cora Lee meeting me at the access road off the highway if I had not shown up by 4:15pm. Although I really didn’t think it would take me three and a half hours or more to complete the ride but I was not familiar with the hills I would encounter en route and I knew the wind would probably be a factor, so the rendezvous time was an overly conservative estimate. I was also concerned about the condition of the surface of the access road and didn’t want to have to negotiate it with my narrow road tires.
Once our watches were synchronized I set off, waving goodbye as I clipped in, now almost second nature. Ride to West Hawk was pleasant enough, with but a slight crosswind. However, once I neared the Exit to #1 at West Hawk I knew I was going to be fighting a strong head wind all the way to my destination. Bit of a thrill as I took to the shoulder and started my journey into uncharted bike territory. Traffic was pretty steady and heavy, huge semis, countless moving vans, endless 5th wheelers and large campers, but the shoulders are generously wide and I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable over the course of the ride.
The hills were really not an issue, not overly steep but usually a long, manageable grade. The wind was another matter altogether and truly presented the most difficult part of the ride. I usually stand up, to stretch my legs and rest my bottom, on any downhill runs, but when I did so I would slow down considerably, no matter how steep the descent, almost coming to a complete stop at times, the wind was so strong. Nevertheless, I gritted my teeth and soldiered on, gaining occasional respite from the wind in the lee of a rock face or bluff of trees. At times I wished I’d put in ear plugs as the traffic was so noisy. At other times, between packets of vehicles, it was so quiet I could hear bird song and insect sounds.
I reached the turn-off to War Eagle at close to 3:30pm so I decided to head on in to Kenora, about 10K further down the highway, figuring I'd have about an hour before Cora Lee started to worry about my whereabouts. We had driven there earlier in week for some shopping but I wanted to explore that section of the highway on bike. All went well and I turned back just before the first bridge into town to make my way back to War Eagle. When I arrived at the access road, no sign of my support vehicle so I decided to try cycling all the way to the cabin. Much to my pleasant surprise, the surface was excellent. For some reason I had misremembered it as being an unsealed road. In fact, it was in far, far, better condition than some of the sections I regularly traverse closer to Falcon Lake. Pleased as punch, I even rode down, quite slowly, obviously, the quite steep and rocky driveway to the cabin yard, keeping to the narrow grass verge to the side of the unmanageable, (with my particular tires), rutted, centre strip. Overall, I clocked 78.1K in about three hours and fifty minutes. I neglected to make note of all the stats after the ride as I was upset by the fact that my Search and Rescue Team was sitting on the dock, suntanning and napping, with nary a thought about a lone cyclist languishing on the roadside!
Shortly after severely chastising the negligent, I changed into my swimming trunks and took a refreshing plunge into the lake. What a wonderful way to end a wonderful ride!
Up at 7:00am to brew myself a pot of Industriale. Learned from Rosita, the day before, that the brew I was consuming was un-leaded! The Dustman had purchased decaf in the belief that his gout-stricken better-half would be able to drink this anaemic java, given that coffee was on the banned list of over-the-counter substances she is to shy away from. As I sipped my first hit Ryan waved from the garden as he had let their dogs out for a run. Shortly thereafter, Barb appeared with Quinn in her arms and Emmett came up to the bay window, waving his arms like a windmill in a hurricane.
Clarisse appeared a few minutes later. She’s been up since 5:00am as she simply couldn’t sleep. When I came out of the bathroom I heard the washing machine in full spin mode and assumed that it was on some sort of timer which allowed them to pre-set cycle to do a load when there was no other draw on the water system. When I told her what I thought, she laughed and explained her early rising. I asked her if she had done any vacuuming and we chuckled about Ayn who had done just that, about 6:00am on Boxing Day, many years ago, when we’d all spent Christmas at Ventura!
After a tasty breakfast of sausages and waffles we sat around chatting until close to 10:00am when Alvina XXX dropped by to visit. Her son has a cabin on the South Shore and she was there for the long weekend. She used to be Dusty’s secretary at the Hydro office in Steinbach and before that used to baby sit Corinne and her siblings. She is a lively, intelligent woman and I enjoyed meeting her. Of course, Cora Lee and her parents had a wonderful time catching up.
Alvina said goodbye about 11:30am and I started to pack my things for the next few days. We were going to spend two nights at War Eagle with Pam, Grogg and Dustan. Coriandre was going to drive there with all the luggage and supplies, while I intended to cycle. I had always wanted to do so ever since the highway was resurfaced a number of years ago. Project, from around Kenora, west to the Ontario/Manitoba border started in about 2007 and I was first aware of it when Sarge and I drove to St John’s that year. Ever since, when on that section, I have taken note of the extremely wide shoulders and knew it would be quite safe to ride.
Once my gear was assembled I had a large plate of lasagna, overlefts from the Durston’s Seniors’ dinner of the night before, to fuel me for the coming ride. Around 12:45pm I was ready to go so Coramandel stored Pam’s number in her phone, (for an emergency), and I double Ziplocked it, (rain was possible), put it in the small carrying compartment of my camel pack, donned it and kissed the Babes farewell. Dusty insisted on a fall-back plan which entailed Cora Lee meeting me at the access road off the highway if I had not shown up by 4:15pm. Although I really didn’t think it would take me three and a half hours or more to complete the ride but I was not familiar with the hills I would encounter en route and I knew the wind would probably be a factor, so the rendezvous time was an overly conservative estimate. I was also concerned about the condition of the surface of the access road and didn’t want to have to negotiate it with my narrow road tires.
Once our watches were synchronized I set off, waving goodbye as I clipped in, now almost second nature. Ride to West Hawk was pleasant enough, with but a slight crosswind. However, once I neared the Exit to #1 at West Hawk I knew I was going to be fighting a strong head wind all the way to my destination. Bit of a thrill as I took to the shoulder and started my journey into uncharted bike territory. Traffic was pretty steady and heavy, huge semis, countless moving vans, endless 5th wheelers and large campers, but the shoulders are generously wide and I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable over the course of the ride.
The hills were really not an issue, not overly steep but usually a long, manageable grade. The wind was another matter altogether and truly presented the most difficult part of the ride. I usually stand up, to stretch my legs and rest my bottom, on any downhill runs, but when I did so I would slow down considerably, no matter how steep the descent, almost coming to a complete stop at times, the wind was so strong. Nevertheless, I gritted my teeth and soldiered on, gaining occasional respite from the wind in the lee of a rock face or bluff of trees. At times I wished I’d put in ear plugs as the traffic was so noisy. At other times, between packets of vehicles, it was so quiet I could hear bird song and insect sounds.
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