Day 23

Sault Ste Marie has definitely been one of my favorite stops so far. The ride in was nice, with interesting views and a few good hills, but getting in to the site was the real highlight. Velorution is one of the bigger shops out here, and they had a full campsite for cycle tourers that are passing through town. Showers, shady camping, picnic tables, wifi, laundry down the road, groceries nextdoor, and cheap tuneups. It's like biking utopia! There is also a steady stream of cyclists passing through, so plenty of people to meet and stories to share. It's really cool to see everyone's set-ups and try to figure out their touring style.

I ended up staying three days as have had an amazing time. I met around a dozen other cyclists heading in both directions, ranging from full of bush campers who have yet to pay for camping and cook everything on a cast iron grill over a fire, to a guy touring on a POS mountain bike even after having been hit by a car (bike held up great, his arm and face- less so), to a few older guys riding through retirement.

Ended up going out for lots of Italian food, saw Batman opening night, went drinking downtown with the RV girls, got my phone fixed, and generally had an excellent time. It was not easy to leave.

Pictured: site + the unstoppable Dave, a turtle I found, a motorcycle in a tree, and a Dutch couple who were two years into their directionless tour ( currently heading New York to Edmonton to try and be an ice road trucker)