Day 4

I was full of trepidation when I woke up this morning – the big question, how was the knee going to survive? I had ibuprofen for breakfast and managed to scrounge a tensor bandage. From the get-go I decided to make it an active rest day, a short day to keep my knee on the read to recovery. 50km was the plan – to the town of Espanola. The riding was beautiful – I’ve transitioned into the Canadian Shield – hilly, rocky terrain, filled with overgrown bush and brimming with wildlife. The weather was shit. It was half raining and gusty headwinds – it was going to happen eventually, why not now.

Every turn of the pedals was filled with grim expectation. I was waiting for the pain to erupt and thankfully it never really eventuated. Sure it hurt like hell, but not like yesterday, not even close.

50km fell in just over two hours – the town of Espanola is a bit of a hole to be honest. Gone are the charming lakeside towns – this is a Northern Ontario pulp mill town. The rotten fart smell of the mill lingers through the scruffy streets. It feels like the whole community is on life support, just waiting for the powers that be to pull the plug. There is a heavy heart here. There’s no joy in the faces of the local’s just an underlying sense of impending doom.

I’ve spent the afternoon relaxing and recovering – the knee feels alright and I’m looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. Oh and one more thing – long time readers of this blog will be familiar with my traditional meal that I have at some point in every country I visit. Well today was the day to visit The Coronal and it was awesome…

Recap:
Distance - 50km
Location - Espanola
Accommodation – hotel
Meal of the day – 3 piece original recipe with fries
Beard status – looks on purpose now
Song of the day – no music today, it was raining
Photo of the day – Vitamin I