Day 44 - Marathon, Ont. to White River, Ont.

June 26, 2026 

Start Time: 6:15 am 

Stop Time: 12:15 pm 

KM Travelled: 96.7 km 

Elevation: +770/ - 629 m 

Special Stuff: 900 km into Ontario mark, Winnie-the-Pooh

The rest day, as always, does much to boost my enthusiasm for riding. I’m up before my alarm. I’m impressed that I still want to keep doing the ride today. I thought that maybe when Brian got here, I would not want to ride anymore – like, maybe we would just drive the rest of the way. 

Yesterday and this morning, I feel like I’m doing a bit of an orientation with Brian. I’ve learned so much about safety on the road, maintaining food and water, and being prepared for the unexpected (e.g., not having resources where I expected to have resources). Being informed and prepared is essential. He's been a good sport and is receptive to the knowledge transfer, even though much of it he probably already knows.

The weather today has hot temperatures around mid-day - up to 25 degrees (which is warmer than I like it). I want to get a jump on the day so I can get to White River earlier - minimizing my time in the heat.  

I’ve been biking on my own for a while, so I now have a routine that works well for me – where I confirm I have the essentials for the ride. Brian and the RV bring some benefits, but they actually involve more work. It feels like I'm maintaining two systems (on the bike stuff and off the bike stuff) and of course I do my part to contribute to the upkeep of the RV (aka household chores). 

Making the decision to drop down into Marathon was not ideal. I like to stick as close as I can to the highway (why make the ride longer than it needs to be). I leave Brian at the campsite at 6:15 am and get back to the highway (5 km uphill) by 6:45 am. 

A few hours later, Brian passes me and stops along the side of the road to offer me a snack and the toilet. I decline both. His offer comes from a place of caring and being supportive, but chocolate on the bike upsets my stomach, and to be honest, I’d rather take my bathroom break in an outhouse or along the side of the road now (my, how things have changed!) 

At 10:20 am, I get to the 900 km from the Ontario marker. 'Catch the marker' as it hits the next 100 km is one of the games I play. It keeps me present in my environment. Sometimes I miss it or it does not exist (which is always a bit disappointing). 

Today’s ride has long stretches of straight roads. The biggest hill (coming out of Marathon) is behind me. I ride on a skinny little shoulder the entire day - some sections are crumbled away, so when it does not exist, I ride on the white line. In some sections, the white line is eroded and becomes a trench – unrideable - so I need to ride in the traffic lane. (I should have taken a picture of the terrible road conditions!) On today’s ride, I understand how spokes get broken and wheel rims get bent. There are a very few sections (like in the picture above) where there is a short stretch of nice shoulder - usually associated with a rest stop, bridge or big corner - it does not last long.

I pass a couple of lakes - White Lake and Green Lake – both of which have brown water. The water in the lakes in Ontario, for the most part, are dark and murky (but still beautiful). Growing up in BC, I’ve taken it for granted the amazing clear blue water that we have in our lakes. 

Today I think about how great this bike ride has been for getting exposure to all kinds of different ways to travel by bike. I think my favourite type of bike ride would be a 5–7-day tenting (or cabin-stay) loop ride with Brian or a group of friends in a rural (not remote) area where we can go through little towns while staying in campgrounds overnight. I like doing 100 km days, but I’d be okay with doing 30 - 50 km days. Ideally there would be charging stations for ebikes because for some, pedaling long distances or up hills is challenging. I’ll have to look into organizing something like this when I get back. 

I get to White River, and Brian is there waiting for me at the Information Centre parking lot. He heads off to an online meeting while I get food for tomorrow's ride and get him a snack. 

White River’s claim to fame is that the bear that inspired the Winnie the Pooh stories came from White River. The Winnie the Pooh point of interest has lots of happy people congregating. One tourist says that she’s been "singing the Winnie the Pooh song for 10 miles" as she approached the town. Now I’ve got the song in my head! I bump into her again at the Subway and we have a nice chat. She wishes me "safe travels" when I leave – and I wish her the same.

At the Information Centre campground, there are two solo french bikers going west – one tiny lady in her 60's (who is doing the circle tour around Lake Superior), and a young man (who is going down to Montana and then over to Los Angeles). Both started in Toronto. 

The afternoon is long. I would have loved to continue onto Wawa, but it makes no sense because the Sault St. Marie bike shop I need to get to is closed on Sunday and Monday. If I rush to get there, I’ll only be rushing to wait for the shop to open on Tuesday.  

I spend the afternoon and evening catching up on household and business matters – stuff that I don’t really like to do, but needs to be done. When Brian finishes his work day, we explore the area a little bit as I wait for the clock to strike 8:00 pm when I get to go to bed.