40   Thursday, October 09   Sault Sainte Marie, ON

Hello again, my friend. It's been a while since we have 
spoken, I know. I have, as usual, been remiss. What can 
I say? A lot can happen in 4 days, although it is really 
only three. I have been awake for no more than 5 hours 
of the previous 24. A lot, then, can happen in 3 days. 
My arrival in Thunder bay was a lot as has been my 
arrival in other locations: I barely made it. During the 
night, some animal had decided that it liked the taste 
of my tyre. I awoke to find the ike dragged a couple 
metres into the bushes, with the front tyre chewed to 
pieces (Insert 30 mile walk into Thunder Bay). I am now 
carrying an extra tyre on my, as well as just tubes. I 
once described Fernie (BC) as a "Decrepit little 
hamlet." I now describe TB as a "pitiless little 
hellhole." I make no judgement as to which is worse. 
Stuck there for 2 days, waiting for my bike to be fixed 
(chain and rear derailleur -- the roads again), 
wandering between the steel yards and the pulp mills. 
Pounding past the port and up and down the unpaved 
hills. To those back in Vancouver, I assure you, you 
have no reason to complain about out Transit service. 
None at all. Worst of all, there is nothing to do. 
Nothing, zilch, nada. Wasted 3 bucks on the cheap 
theaters Tuesday night. Went to see the Terry fox 
memorial earlier the same day. The only thing in the 
town worth doing. Interesting to think that between he 
and I, we have crossed Canada (okay, except Swift 
Current -> Regina). Of course, I flatter myself greatly 
by putting myself on the same line as he. There is no 
comparaison. And I do this for not so worthy a cause, 
but rather for but my own amusement. Yet, you can't help 
but think, standing up there on the hill in the cold, 
the wind, the rain. You gaze first up to the grey 
clouds, then averted downwards to the brown lake, the 
black shipyards, the smoke-belching factories. You can't 
help but think at what he must have felt. Standing at 
the same spot, staring at a very similar scene, and 
knowing that that was it. That this was the end. That he 
could go no further, and that dammit, dammit, he had to 
give up. After 3400 miles, it came to this, a 
slag-ridden mill town. But again, I flatter myself. I of 
course have no idea what went through his mind. *sigh*

   The rest of the time I spent sitting on my ass 
reading a cheap 2-dollar spy novel I bought at a corner 
store.

   Actually, I had brought some stuff, Mark Twain and 
"Lord of the Rings" with me to read, but finished both 
ore than a week ago. Now, by way of a sideline, I give 
the impression that the bike shop wasn't great. Au 
contraire, I found them to be one of the best so far. 
That, actually, is why the bike was there for 2 days, so 
the guy could go over it and make sure that everything 
was working as well as it could. Even charged me no 
service in exchange for good word-of-mouth, so here's my 
plug :) "Young's Cycle & Recycle," right at Simpson and 
Victoria in Fort William (Thunder Bay). Especially if 
you have hard-to-find parts (like me). But also I found 
the service and expertise to be really good (and that's 
me speaking, not just my plug).

   You may have noticed that that brings us up to 
yesterday, still in TB, and I am now in Sault Ste. 
Marie, with a 450-mile difference between the two. 
That's some pretty impressive pedalling! Well... no. I 
took the bus. Anything to get out of that damn city. 
Although to be honest, I had half-intended to do so 
before I even arrived in Thunder Bay. It boils down to 
time and weather. Or rather, with winter coming, 
time=weather. And the weather that's coming isn't great. 
As well, I was almost 5-10 days behind schedule and the 
weather's warm right now; normal for this time of year 
is 1/2 a foot of snow on the ground. So I did the 
prudent, but heart-breaking thing, and took the bus, 
bringing the total to almost 1000km of motorized 
transport so far. *sigh*

   But the weather here in the Sault is noticeably 
different, a good 5 degrees (10F) warmer, and people no 
longer giver such stares at someone wearing a T-shirt :) 
Also, I hit a good bus. Didn't take Greyhound, but some 
Northern Ontario Bus Services, for about half the price. 
Met some really cool guys on the bus. One guy going to 
the Sault, one to Oshawa, and 2 girls on their way to 
Hull, Québec. Hehe... everyone else was going back home, 
I was the only one still heading away. Anyway, they were 
pretty cool, and we played cards and stuff, most of the 
way. 8-hour poker game! Just for fun, though, no money. 
I didn't take the night bus this time, as I had such a 
bad experience with it in SK. Unfortunately, I think 
this was worse. It left TB at 8:00 (AM), and anyone who 
knows me knows probably too well my vice of sleeping in. 
Fearing I would miss it (there was no way I wanted to be 
stuck in TB for another day. NO. Wrong.), I stayed up 
all night, frequenting a 24-hour Robin's Donuts & 
wandering around. This explains my semi-comatose state 
for the last day. Arrival in the Sault -> crash! Just 
woke up a couple hours ago.

   You know, I've always wondered why the Maple Leaf on 
the Canadian flag is red. One of the original proposals 
was for a green leaf bordered by red. Besides, everyone 
knows that leaves are green, but for a few weeks in the 
fall. So why choose that particular time? Why red? You 
see, we don't have maple trees in Vancouver (well, we 
do, but only a few). We have evergreens. We have other 
trees that turn yellow, orange, brown. Sure, I *know* 
that maple leaves turn red before they fall. I knew, but 
I had never seen. You mus. Beautiful. To anyone "back 
home" who has never seen them, you must come out this 
way in the fall. I have seen all I need; I can go home 
now :) Well, maybe not. But neither will I write further 
of the endless forests of red. What are words? You must 
see them for yourself.

   *sigh*

   On-on!