Day 34 – Panoramas (Nipigon ON – Neys ON)

Toady was billed as one of the longest and hardest days of the tour – 100+ miles of climbing over the Canadian Shield. The weather was great, mid 80°s and not a cloud in the sky. Our biking tans are coming along really well.

Our first stop of the day was in the town of Nipigon.  As is my cuatom on the ride when I am visiting at towm I am not familiar with, I will approach a local and ask "If you had 30 minutes in town, and had only one thing to see, what would you see?"  When I asked thsi of a Local Ontario Provincial Police officer this morning, she responded "The road out of here!"  She then said we should visit the marina which was quite neat!

The ride itself lived up to its billing with lots of long climbs, but the rewards were great scenery of the vistas of Lake Superior. The route was cut through granite in some sections which made for spectacular views. On one of the longer and steeper climbs of the day, we had to contend with a pretty strong headwind.

That said, it seems that all this riding has helped me with my climbing. I am going uphill at least 50% faster than I did in my training in New Jersey, and my heart rate stays at a fairly low level (less than 80% of max.)

Here is a of "stitched" shots of the scenery alongside the route today.

Although the ride was a long one, the campsite was amazing – just off the shore of Lake Superior, with access to a large beach. Apparently the area was used to house German prisoners in WW2 where they were in a labor camp working as loggers.