Day 40 Little Current to Tobermory ON - Summer Tour '99 Report - 17 states, 1 province - over 4500 miles - CycleBlaze

Day 40 Little Current to Tobermory ON

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                          A little bit of the view from Ten Mile Point

I'm writing this while waiting for the ferry to Tobermory which leaves in a few hours. We could have made the ferry that left about three hours earlier, but Bob is a slow starter who likes to spend a lot of time socializing. We didn't manage to get out of Little Current till after 9 AM this morning, pretty well ruling out (with Bob's riding style) getting to South Baymouth by 1:30 PM. I was annoyed at the delay, but happy to have relaxed ride down to the ferry. Manitoulin Island is a beautiful place and it would have been wrong to rush through it.

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We only rode 45 miles today. I think my shortest touring day ever is about 43 miles and that was into a 30 mph wind. About 17 miles into the ride we stopped at 10 mile point. This was the site of the original Jesuit mission to Manitoulin Island in 1648. I must complement those Jesuits on their taste. That view is one of the best I have ever seen. Now there is an Art Gallery and Book store there. The store has a small viewing platform with a bench on it and they were playing Indian (North American) flute music on a high quality sound system as I sat here, eating an apple, trying to take in and make my own that view. It was powerful experience; certainly one of the highlights of this trip. Bob, who didn't realize where I was or really look at that view, rode on and, half an hour or so later, I rode on as well. If you are riding on Manitoulin Island, stop at 10 Mile Point!

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The riding was hilly today, although not as hilly as the stretch south of Espanola. 6 has no shoulder, but traffic is light (except when the ferry comes in..) and polite. When we were maybe a dozen miles from the Ferry Docks, Bob decided to take a leak. I stopped on the opposite side of the road and he went off into the bushes. Then the front wave of traffic from the 1:30 ferry arrived. A stream of cars and buses passed while Bob was in those bushes...

We stopped for lunch at Manitowaning which is on the edge of a (non-ceded) Indian reservation. There is a loop road out onto the reservation which I would have taken if I hadn't been with Bob. I bet that would be a nice ride. Actually I bet most anywhere you choose to ride on this island is likely to be a nice ride!

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                              Bay a mile north of the Ferry terminal

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                                                Bob at the ferry terminal

The ferry ride was fine. I get bored very quickly on ferries, but this ride was short enough that I wandered around the ferry, ate supper, and visited a bit and it was over. One hour and forty five minutes at a cost of about $12 USD for the fare and less than $7 USD for supper.

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View from ferry leaving Manitoulin Island

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