A visit with Terry Fox en route to Dorion

Today we came face-to-face with a Canadian legend, a man whom we all admire very much, Terry Fox. His Marathon of Hope was cut short just East of Thunder Bay, due to his cancer struggles. A monument in his name was erected just outside the city, close to where he was forced to abandon his dream of crossing the country, running 26.2 miles every day (the length of a marathon). Slightly further East, and surprisingly unimpressive considering the paramount importance of the location, is the actual spot along the highway where he stopped. A small plaque commemorates it, indicating the number of miles he had completed. His courage and spirit brought the nation together, so it was amazing for us to share at least a part of history while we were there.

We forgot to mention that coming into Thunder Bay yesterday, about 70km out, someone had written "GO MUSCLES MOVING GO" in white paint on the shoulder. The paint was still wet! Whoever it was, we really appreciate the gesture, and hope you let us know who you are so that we can thank you.

We got a pretty late start today, taking advantage of the hotel, and first having breakfast with Judy Bouchard and her daughter Jessica. They took us to a fantastic Finnish Hoito restaurant, which had absolutely incredible pancakes and french toast, very reasonable priced. Jessica then took us on a quick sightseeing tour of a lookout before heading back to the hotel and getting on the road.

The weather is getting hotter and we started right in the middle of the heat. The terrain is getting a bit hillier, but not overwhelmingly so, but we crawled along the under-construction highway to Dorion. The traffic and the road quality were pretty brutal, and there were a lot of numb hands from the vibration of the bikes as they went over all the potholes. We'll need to get used to it, because apparently most Ontario roads aren't so great.

Tomorrow we'll make our way somewhere between here and Marathon, arriving in the latter on Saturday.
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