Manitoulin Cycling Odyssey – Day 4

We decided to ride to the Westernmost settlement on the island today, Meldrum Bay. It was too far to ride there and back from the cottage – the guys decided to do a gran fondo, and Dayle and I, decided on 60km. They headed out earlier than us, in Wayne’s car, and started riding while we drove to a point 20km further on. We passed them, parked the car on a quiet road off Highway 540, next to a field of cows, unloaded the bikes, and set off to discover that the road surface was new tar and chip which meant a very rough ride.

We stopped 2km into the ride in Silver Lake and asked a man mowing his lawn if the road improved. He replied that it improved in 7 or 8km, so we decided to carry on. David caught up and then passed us. Wayne was lagging behind taking pictures., but also caught up. Shortly thereafter he needed a water and cool down break. Unfortunately, when removing his helmet he lost his earbud, something he did on our last trip, but found. He wasn’t so lucky today. David waited for us where the road finally improved to settled tar and chip 15km into the ride. The autumn colours are improving day by day and there was quite a bit more colour today than on Saturday when we arrived.

The rest of the ride into Meldrum Bay was much less bumpy. As we turned toward the water a couple kilometres out of Meldrum Bay the air temperature dropped five degrees.

Meldrum Bay consists of a marina, a closed general store and an inn closed for the season. We knew that before we headed out so had food with us for our lunch.

Everyone that passed us as we sat on the steps of the general store greeted us and wanted to know how far we were riding and where we were from. It was a very friendly place.

I stopped to straddle the place where the road surface changed. Once I got back onto the new tar and chip I just wanted to get back to the car as quickly as I could.

Wayne and Dayle got tired of the jarring about 5km from the car. David and I were ahead. David was determined to get his first gran fondo of the year so he carried on to Wayne’s car and I drove the van back to Dayle and Wayne. I didn’t have to go far.

We loaded the bikes and headed to Wayne’s car, passing David with about 11km to go. He got his gran fondo and possibly his fastest ever to boot.

We went to GG’s in Evansville for takeout fish and chips which we ate in a local park

Back at the cottage in Spring Bay David, Dayle and I have collapsed on the couch and tended to our aches and for me to write the blog. Wayne went out to catch the sunset.

My wrist did alright today considering the road surface. The swelling is mostly gone, but the bruising has gone into my thumb. I was able to put about 70% of my normal weight on the bars today, which was good because otherwise I could not have managed the ride with only one hand.