We're waiting out a severe thunderstorm warning under a ledge in Kakabeka, ON. So here's another roadside blog, subject: Difficulty.
Many people told us that the hardest week would be the first. We believed this to be true, and the first two days were particularly challenging, with the weight, routine, and length being unfamiliar. But after day four--when Lindsay came to visit us in Ottawa--we only half-jokingly noted that "if this is the hardest it is going to get, then this is going to be an easy trip." We laughed.
It got a whole lot tougher. One of our main reasons for undertaking this trip is for the challenge, and we are living that goal. Many people we meet ask us what the hardest part is. Well, the biggest challenges are, in a loose order: rain, equipment wear-out, logistics (including food, water, sleeping, communications, and related stresses), headwind, mountains, and road conditions. We hit each of these successively and increasingly, but we have managed to persevere through each with enthusiasm and determination. These factors combined for a low point on Day 10 from Saint-Pascal to Edmundston, which was wet, hilly, windy, and very rural.
We have strategies to mitigate most of these obstacles, but obviously they are not guarantees. For the rain, we take shelter, stay in motels, and get wet. For the mountains, we go slower and shift down. For headwind, we cluster together and increase revolutions. For finding water, we always seem to get just lucky enough, but still carry 4L each. For equipment, well I guess we carry a lot of tubes.
The first week was tough, it got a lot tougher, and we haven't even hit the north shore of Lake Superior yet.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
Many people told us that the hardest week would be the first. We believed this to be true, and the first two days were particularly challenging, with the weight, routine, and length being unfamiliar. But after day four--when Lindsay came to visit us in Ottawa--we only half-jokingly noted that "if this is the hardest it is going to get, then this is going to be an easy trip." We laughed.
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| Low point, Day 10. The ledge. |
We have strategies to mitigate most of these obstacles, but obviously they are not guarantees. For the rain, we take shelter, stay in motels, and get wet. For the mountains, we go slower and shift down. For headwind, we cluster together and increase revolutions. For finding water, we always seem to get just lucky enough, but still carry 4L each. For equipment, well I guess we carry a lot of tubes.
The first week was tough, it got a lot tougher, and we haven't even hit the north shore of Lake Superior yet.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
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