At 6:30 I woke up mostly because of hunger. For breakfast I found a couple packages of instant oatmeal and tea bag in my basket. In the common area there was a kettle to make the hot water. Four of us planned the night before to leave for the bike shop at 8:30. Arlen needed to have his crank looked at because he was having trouble shifting, Sam needed a new helmet, John needed to find a top tube bag, and I needed a new brake lever and a wheel.
Arlen wanted to go to a bike shop that he visited a few years ago called Petrie's. He found that his crank needed to be replaced. The shop luckily had what he needed and he was ready to go in less than an hour. John found what he needed quickly and got the shop guys to file down some of the rivets on his Brooks saddle. John and Arlen went to JJ's, a local breakfast place, and Sam and I headed over to the bike shop that carried Trek bikes called The Fresh Air Experience.
Once at the bike shop Sam found his helmet and headed back to the university. I dropped my bike off hoping that the shop would reassure me that they could fix it and tell me that they had the parts and would have it today but they told me to call them at 2 to get an update. The number 2 bus was the way I got back to the university.
While Ben, Matt, and I were checking out the university grounds we noticed that the signs were in English and some kind of Native Indian language. I asked a four people if they could read the signs and the fifth person could. Her name was Steph Loon and she was from Slate Falls Ontario. She told us the sign was in a dialect of East Ojibwa and she spoke West Ojibwa. She was in a native language program. Steph told us of her life living on a trap line until she was 17. Her family caught fish by gill net for sale, hunted moose, duck, and geese, and trapped beaver. Her picture is below with Ben and Matt.
At 5:10 I received a text from the bike shop telling me that my bike was ready. I happened to be in the store at the time because I had walked down to the bike shop with the guys as they wanted to do some shopping before they went to the movie. Jeff and Will from the bike shop, pic below, fixed me up with a new wheel that they took off a bike on the showroom floor and a new break lever. Both were covered by the Trek warranty. They told me that they found two holes in the new Specialized Armadillo tire that I bought in Regina. I replaced it with a Schwabel Marathon Plus tire. Three people on the tour have them and between the three they have had only one flat. For 600 plus kms I've been worrying if I would make it to the next day and now the worrying is over.
Later on I met Kerry, John, and Arlen at 5 Forks. I just sat down as they served their dinner. Arlen was very nice to share his huge piece of chocolate cake with me. Tomorrow we should be able to visit the Terry Fox memorial. We will only be travelling 105 km so we will get into camp early.
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| Matt, Steph Loon, and Ben learning Ojibwa at Lakehead University |
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| Jeff and Bill from Fresh Air replaced my oval rear wheel |
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| Arlen wondering how he will eat that huge piece of cake. Also wondering 'where is the ice cream?' |
