Days 61-63 Ignace-Upsala-Thunder Bay

An eventful few days started with getting out of Ignace and back on the road East. It was an uneventful ride scenery wise to Upsala but not so uneventful in the equipment arena. I noticed as I was getting into Upsala my rear hub was loose and started making the occasional grinding noise (not a good sign). Luckily I was just outside of Upsala and soon made it to my hotel and tried to fix it.

The next morning I was anxious to get back on the road and make it to Thunder Bay.

I saw this viking just hanging out as I left Upsala and as always I feel a kindred spirit with my nordic brethren.

About 30km out of Upsala I stopped at a gas station because I was having major problems with that rear hub. A band from Montreal stopped for gas and the driver instantly started helping me troubleshoot it, she was really nice and we both came to the conclusion that the hub is screwed. The band is the Ghostly Hounds by the way, and I knew there was something about her (I’m a sucker for the trumpet).

So after some time trying to figure out what I was going to do I determined that my best course of action was to get back n the road and put my thumb out. Going back to Upsala was not an option as there is nothing there that would help me. And apparently none of the drivers that passed me cared to help either. After 2 hours or so I decided to try riding the seizing hub and see if I can get help in Shabaqua.

I made it passed some milestones though. I lost another hour which is never fun and changed watersheds

After some time I made it to Shabaqua and realized the error of my ways as there is absolutely nothing in Shabaqua so I pushed on, lucky for me not only was I pushing a seizing hub but Mother Nature was playing along to with a nasty headwind the whole day. Thanks for that MN!

So at this point there was nothing else for me to do but truck on the last 80km to Thunder Bay. Along the way I passed the Kakabeka Falls which were amazing (no luck on hitching a ride from there either)

From the Kakabeka Falls it was another 40km to my place of rest in Thunder Bay that took a shorter route of the highway which is always a welcome sight for a cyclist but one of concern for me too. If something catastrophic happened, would I be able to get help?

It was worth the risk as the road was quite beautiful and took be through the rural outskirts of Thunder Bay.

I finally made it to my motel (at 8:30pm, 12hrs afterI started) only to realized that it was Thursday and I had online booked for Saturday. Luckily for me the proprietor was super awesome and told me to just cancel the online reservation because they just charge fees anyway and he gave me a better rate on the spot for the correct nights, even though it is a festival weekend and everything was booking up fast. I thanked the man profusely and was very happen to get some rest.

The next morning I made the soggy trek to the bus to take the ailing LHT to the bike doctor to see what can be done for him (all the while dreading and fearing the worst). And I was right after a new hub, rebuilt wheel and 250 dollars lighter I was back on the road.

The price aside, the people were very nice and super accommodating to cycle tourers and triaged me to the front of the list and turned it around in a few hours. So if you need a a hand or a bike shop in Tunder Bay, ON I recommend Petrie’s Cycle.

I’ll leave you with a few morning pics from around town today. Tomorrow I’m back on the road along the top of Lake Superior which should provide some beautiful scenery.