Marathon – White River

By Deanna on August 28, 2013 • ( 1 )

Today: 97 km

To date: 3,958 km

To go: 3,842 km approx…

Last night I had a horrible dream inspired by recent (and frequent) encounters with the local pests: in this nightmare mosquitos were massive – about the size of a small bird – and their bodies were made of plastic, the type that you can not break no matter how hard you try to squish them. They sucked your blood with long sharp needles….. I woke up in the cold sweat…… this is what I get for camping beside a marsh. Don’t do it!

This morning we met a couple on their honeymoon – they had been cycling across Canada as well, but after a couple weeks of non-stop rain, they changed their plans and bought an old vehicle and are now driving…. I wonder how we have been so lucky to mostly avoid the bad weather?

It was, however, raining when we set out this morning. Perhaps the couple’s bad luck? The rain did not really phase us much; I was much more concerned about the dense fog. I turned on my light and just hoped I was visible – considering I could not see Alex maybe 100 m ahead of me, I had my doubts.

We are riding to White River – a place I have been getting excited for throughout the last few days – why? Because this is where Winnie the Pooh was born!!! I have no idea what this means, but I imagine there will be some sort of Pooh devoted theme park at least… I have the theme song playing on repeat in my head and Pooh references keep popping into my head….. the most common : “I feel a little Rumbly in my tumbly!”

Despite the wet start to the day, the sun came out and the fog cleared. In the last 20km or so, thunder clouds started to gather on the horizon. Soon I could hear thunder and see lightening to the left of me, but I remained dry and warm in a beam of sunlight. I could tell the rain had just been here because as trucks whizzed by me, I could see a rainbow in the water spraying from their wheels. I felt like the sun was escorting me into Pooh land – and the Little Black Rain Cloud was watching.

My luck ran out a kilometre from town and I was in a complete downpour – I was wet through to my core – no shower necessary tonight! It was actually a great end to the day! I walked into the restaurant where Alex was warm and dry – drinking a beer – waiting for me. After a quick change in the washroom I settled down to tea and a piece of pie to prepare for dinner…….

I was slightly disappointed to discover the extent of the Pooh Theme Park was a statue and a plaque…. but oh well, I suppose it is a little town in the middle of nowhere. I was also very disappointed we were about one month too early for Pooh Fest :(