I'M ALIVE

It's true.

Apologies for the lack of an update, there appear to be nothing but rocks and trees and water in Ontario, which is a bitch, Ontario sucks.

I won't be quite so extensive in this update, because it's costing me money which I need for food and other necessities.

In brief, I'm in Sault Ste Marie, about to leave Lake Superior and head towards Ottawa. I've made four friends - Christian, Megan, Jeremy and Jenna - who are riding to Halifax as well. I've been riding with them for the last two weeks and sadly Jenna and Christian have had to keep going today (Jeremy and Megan and I are taking a rest day) because they really need to get to Halifax fast. We wish them well, it was sad to see them ride away at 0800h this morning.

The last two weeks have been both brutal and beautiful, lots of long steep hills to fly down and slog up. My body has noticeably changed since the start: I'm super tanned, with the ridiculous tan lines to boot, and I've definitely lost weight (although how much, I can only guess, maybe 15+ pounds). For the geeks out there, my fat metabolism is now in the realms of unnatural. I started the trip eating huge amounts each day and burning everything super fast, whereas now I can eat maybe an apple an hour, or about 150 calories, and still finish strong when powering along at 25kmph on the flats all day for 100km or more. These are all very good things.

We were in a quiet campsite in Marathon one morning when a lady came over and told us that there was a bear hanging about so we should keep our eyes open. Ten minutes later ,while we were packing our tents away, Megan said, "oh my gawd, it's the bear." About 50 feet away, just in the hedge, was a large black bear (although he was actually brown in colour). I whistled and made a ruckus and he bolted away into the woods. Exciting times. It showed we were really in the cuds (except not any more, because I've reached civilisation by now).

That's all, I'll go pay for my coffee and internet, and head off to Walmart to get some food. It's huge and scary, and I don't want to go in alone!

Fortitudine Vincimus

Ben