Ignace to Dryden, ON
Traditional territory of the Ojibway and Anishinabek
127 km
Sunshine all day, 27 ºC
Today felt pretty uneventful when I looked back on it. There wasn’t a lot of wind. There was a lot of sunshine. I think highlight was meeting Andy, a cyclist from Ireland (although we technically met the night before), and crossing paths with her multiple times today. She and I chilled out together at a Tim Hortons in Dryden while she drank an enviable iced lemonade before parting ways.
The following story is from the following day (writing this a day late) but Asad wasn’t there and I do want to share it. A pickup truck with a trailer drove by me east of Kenora and honked as they went by, then stopped at the bottom of the upcoming valley. I figured it might be a coincidence but the driver put out his hand to signal to me to stop.
No sooner did I stop and look back that I realized it was Andre, whom we met in Rolphton at the start of July! I don’t use exclamation marks lightly so you know how tickled I was by his stopping on his way out west.
“I saw from your last email that you guys had left Thunder Bay,” he told me, “so I was keeping my eye out.”
So for the second time he gave me all the water I needed. It was really fun to reconnect with a complete stranger for the second time in three weeks. People stopping, waving and honking has been an ongoing pleasure throughout this journey. Also giving water.
