Day’s distance / Trip distance – 433 miles / 2,013 miles
Temperatures during the day ranged from mid 60s to mid 80s with sunny skies.
The hotel had secure underground parking where the bike spent the night. After breakfast, I brought it out for loading.
It was already warm and quite sunny.
I left the hotel about 8:30. Most of the traffic was coming into the city, so my journey east wasn’t too bad.
A short time later, I crossed into Ontario.
Following Hwy 17 now, I continued east towards Thunder Bay. The road is mostly two-lane concrete with occasional passing lanes. There were many construction zones between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.
In each construction zone, they appeared mostly to be resurfacing the roadway with asphalt. Typically, only one lane was open and traffic would be allowed in one direction at a time.
Plan for delays. Although the map indicated the ride should take 7.5 hours, the reality was it took over 10 hours, counting fuel stops and lunch.
Lunch was in Vermillion Bay at the Comfort Table Bakery.
I had a strong cup of French press coffee and a meat pie that was delicious.
In Winnipeg, I had a wedge salad with dinner. Those seem to be a very midwest thing. Meat pies, also midwest and east coast.
The road looked pretty much the same through the day – woods on both sides with small lakes dotting the landscape.
The speed limit along Hwy 17 was 90 kph – roughly 58mph. It made this high mileage day also the longest day in the saddle. In addition, I crossed another time zone.
Cell reception was pretty consistent along today’s route. I was able to update folks back home throughout the day.
It was dark and foggy when I arrived at the hotel. Apparently I just missed a huge downpour. All I saw, besides the fog, were wet roads, which didn’t make sense until I heard it rained.
Tomorrow I take a day mostly off the bike. I’ll stay in Thunder Bay and use the motorcycle only to visit the local falls and see the downtown. The hotel has a gym and pool facilities, so I’ll plan on a good workout, too.
After speaking with a number of people with experience visiting Nova Scotia, and getting weather updates as I get closer, I’m planning on modifying my schedule a bit. Stay tuned for more on that.