Day 25 — Monday, July 14

Kenora to Dryden — 135.6 km
I was so hot when I woke up. I didn’t feel good this morning either. I ate some random things and we took off. We had to stop at a Canadian Tire so Kelly could get a new rain jacket. While he did that, Kelly, Vanessa, and I went to Mcdonalds where we feasted on burgers filled with energy and other things that make your bones stronger and your waist smaller.

This was a long day. It seemed like it was taking forever. My knees started to hurt a bit. My left one would ache a bit and then my right one, for some reason. I guess riding over 500 km in the last three days doesn’t help.

The roads were quite hilly. No mountains though. I don’t know what people were talking about when they said “oh the terrain by Kenora is worse than the Rockies”. Either they had neither been to both, or they were drunk at the time. This was pretty easy compared to the Rockies. It took forever, but it was not difficult. Compared to the Prairies, it was challenging though. I guess.

It started to pour (yet again) and it was coming down very hard. It was slow going but we kept trekking on. It has been raining a lot lately. With all the twists and turns in the road, it was hard to notice the tailwind behind us, which was also pushing this storm over us.

I was lagging behind Kelly and Vanessa for most of the day so when they stopped for a coffee I decided to keep going. I did the last 70 km solo and pulled into Dryden. About 50 metres short of where I wanted to stop, because my knee started hurting. So I decided to stop and wait for them there. Another cyclist appeared and was coming down the hill. It turned out to be Devin from Hazelton, B.C. who is biking for a youth group he belongs to. What an awesome idea. We chatted for a while and then chatted some more when Kelly and Vanessa arrived. Photo above is looking at Dryden from where I stopped. The large buildings straight ahead are part of a pulp mill which I suspect is the driving force behind the city of about 8,000 people.

We racked the bikes and went back to a campground to set up camp. Vanessa and I went into town and bought a little food. We went to Mcdonalds again and I had the exact same meal I had this morning. I could feel my body thanking me. Thanking me with punches to the inside of my stomach, that is.