Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 11
Day 11 (august 10 2010: Kakabeka to Ignace
Trains – Storm – Rural Superheroes – Dire Wolves – Toilet Paper Fire – Kids vs. Hippies vs. Cops vs. Me
Kakabeka Falls - Ignace (218 kilometers)
The same railway line that ran through Lake Superior’s north shore mountains toys with the road northwest of Thunder Bay, crossing and re-crossing the highway; disappearing into woods and hills to and emerge hours later. This railway zigzag-paralels the Trans-Canada for, I think, its entire length.
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 10
August 9, 2010: Nipigon to Kakabeka Falls
Thunder Bay – As Artist/As Tramp:
Arriving at Thunder Bay on this, the tenth day of my cycling odyssey from Toronto to Saskatoon, represented the second time I’d been there. The first was for a concert Kristin and I were doing: she’d won a “very prestigious competition” and the prize included a national tour, a good bit of money, and the great nuisance of having to deal with the most obnoxious artistic director imaginable. During that stop-over we’d stayed with a Lakehead University music theory professor and his wife who, as well as being very nice and a lot of fun, are also the collective owners of what has to be the most-bizarre-ever portrait of Jesus in existence. They keep it in a special room in the basement, covered by blankets. I wish I’d thought to take a picture of the thing — it’s just not an image one can recreate in words. Read more
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 9 (August 8 2010)
August 8 2010
i. a congealment of hitchhikers:
Regardless of how tight the fist of contemporary respectability, insecurity, and normalcy squeezes the human spirit, some tiny portion of wanderlust will always squeak through. That being so, I’m happy to report to you that hitchhiking culture is alive and well in Canada.
Throughout my cycling journey from Toronto to Saskatoon I found roadside rest stop washrooms graced as much by their marker-drawn slogans as by their misaimed urine: bold words Read more
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon: Day 8 (August 7)
Zeno’s Paradox of Infinite Disitance:
Before arriving, one must get halfway there. Before he can get halfway there, he must get a quarter of the way there. Before traveling a quarter, he must travel one-eighth; before an eighth, one-sixteenth; and so on. This requires one to complete an infinite number of tasks, which Zeno maintains is an impossibility.
Along the north shore of Lake Superior, the Trans-Canada Highway becomes a 300km long slow-motion roller coaster. The slopes seem to grow as you grind slowly up, unfurling an endless length of road behind while maintaining a constant distance between yourself and the summit. Read more
Cycling Blog: Toronto-Saskatoon (day 7)
August 6:
By now I’d travelled more than 900 kilometers, more or less straight north. And I’d discovered that, that far north, and particularly along the shore of Lake Superior, it gets unbelievably cold at night. Even in August.
As beautiful as it was when I made camp, I woke in a shivering cold hours later. I’d brought only a light bedroll with me; not fully realizing that, while 10% of Canada defies human habitation eight months of the year, the rest is uninhabitable year-round. I’d have to buy a proper sleeping bag when I got a chance, until then I’d go with the time-honoured strategy of simultaneously wearing all the clothes I’d brought with me, extra underwear on my head. Read more
Cycling Blog: Toronto-Saskatoon (Day 6)
August 5.
Holmes had Moriarty.
Potter had Voldemort.
Both nemeses’ names derive from the Latin root mortis, meaning death.
Intimidating.
But during this cycling odyssey I confronted a greater nemesis than theirs: Lake Superior. Moriarty matched Holmes’ intellect; but if asked to blow into his adversary’s face for five straight days, he’d have to fetch his inhaler. And, although Voldemort can summon monsters derivative of much better-written fantasy books to hassle Harry and co., I don’t think he Read more
Cycling Journal (Toronto-Saskatoon, Day 5)
August 4.
Do you know how to replace a broken spoke on a bike? Only the most unbelievable idiot would attempt biking thousands of kilometers through the bear-infested wilderness of northern Canada without this basic skill. Needless to say, I had absolutely no idea how to replace a broken spoke until the day before I set out on this trip.
That day I’d stopped by my ‘friend’ Greg Oh’s house to borrow his tent. Being an experienced long-distance cyclist, Greg asked me about the equipment I was bringing:
“Do you have a compact inflatable mattress?” “No. I’m just going to sleep on the ground. I’m not soft and weak like you, Greg. Don’t need no mattress.” Read more
Cycling Journal: Day 4 (August 3)
Cycling Toronto-Saskatoon Journal
Day 4 (August 3): Passing through Mordor – the Trans-Canada Highway – I begin to experience a strange sort of madness – Clarence’s Smoked Fish and Booze (observations on Northern gay/redneck relations) – Campingplatz Parrot Coconut
My father likes to complain about things a bit. The new wind farm on Wolfe Island, near where my parents live is a current pet peeve:
windmills at work destroying Wolfe Island: "they're ugly, noisy, and slaughter birds by the thousands"
The funny thing about a windmill farm is that one doesn’t tend to recognize it as an industrial instillation; I think most people see it as a transformative alteration of the environment and subconsciously interpret it on a scale very different from the one they’d apply to industrial projects. A month ago, I found it quite remarkable Read more
