It’s been a low-morale day for the most part. I survived another thunderstorm in my tent. There was a severe weather warning last night for Dryden, which was about 150 kms away. I caught a piece of it, rain, lightning, thunder, but the lightning never came closer than seven seconds away.
I lost some sleep last night for another reason. I kept hearing a noise like something was outside my tent. I made some coughing sounds, but it persisted. I then blew my whistle, and it stopped. But then I heard it again later. There was definitely something out there, and very close to the tent. Finally, I opened up the tent and flashed my light outside. Nothing. Everything looked normal. So, I went back to bed. Just as I was falling asleep, I heard the rustling again. Was there something in the tent with me? I flashed my light, but there was nothing. Perhaps there were mice running through the moss under my tent. I pressed down but couldn’t feel anything. Finally, I opened my tent again and looked out. Still nothing. It was only then that I noticed the branch of the little shrub rubbing against the tent fly. Aha! And I went back to sleep.
I was tired today. Very tired. I’m tired of fighting off the hordes of deer flies and horse flies all day and the mosquitoes all night, after having spent the last three weeks fighting off the black flies. I’m tired of this godforsaken highway 17, which, as part of a national trans-Canada highway system, is nothing less than a slap in the face to the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. I’m tired of focusing so intently on the traffic heading toward me, and sending out the mental message, “share the road, share the road, share the road”. I’m tired of the rain. I’m tired of idiot drivers who drift close to me with their cell phones perched on top of their steering wheels. I’m tired of the selfish drivers who, for whatever reason, refuse to share the road. I’m tired of drivers who tailgate other vehicles, thus unable to see me, and then swerving to miss me at the last second. And I’m tired of drivers displaying a complete lack of empathy by passing vehicles behind me when I’m on the highway and can’t see them. I’m just plain tired.
Today, I gave a driver the finger for the first time. It’s not the kind of person I want to be, but everyone has a breaking point and I’d had enough, so, I gave him the finger with as many mental daggers that I could muster. He was headed straight for me along the white line while I was trying to grab some asphalt. I quickly looked behind me to see if he was avoiding oncoming traffic, but the highway was empty. He kept coming at me, so I pulled the stroller off the asphalt into the dirt. This is usually enough to satisfy the handful of drivers who drift toward me, seemingly, to ‘teach me a lesson’ for trying to walk on the asphalt, but this guy kept coming straight toward me. So, I pushed the stroller into the ditch, took another step aside and gave the jerk the finger. I held that finger up for two full seconds before the guy noticed and swerved back into his lane. Then I went back to being tired.
Later, while I was having some food in a restaurant in Ignace, a guy came up to my table and asked if I was the one who was pushing the stroller that was parked outside. I nodded. Then he apologized for almost hitting me on the highway.
Me: Are you the guy I gave the finger to?
Him: Yes. And thank you for doing it. I was daydreaming and when you lifted your hand and gave me the finger, it woke me up. So, thanks.
And we shook hands.
You just can’t make this shit up. Real life is stranger than fiction.
Here’s how I deal with a low-morale day. I just keep walking. Putting in some kilometers is the best recipe for dealing with the blues. Walking is the key success factor in the completion of this cross-Canada quest. You can always start to feel better when you continue to take steps toward your goal, even if at the moment you feel that the goal sucks.
Ontario has been tough on me. I’ve endured bites from black flies, mosquitoes, deer flies, and horse flies. I’m still suffering from a poison-ivy rash. I’ve been walking along the worst part of the trans-Canada highway for weeks. And I’ve had to deal with the worst drivers, not necessarily because Ontario has the worst drivers, but because highway 17 just highlights the worst. It’s been a tough go.
But every morning, I still get up and say, “Dave, you only need to walk eight hours today.” Although now I’ve changed my mantra to 9.5 hours/day. And so I do it.
Most of the time after I’ve had a break, I really don’t feel like getting back on the highway and facing that traffic again. But I do it anyway. I’m stubborn, which can be a good thing when trying to achieve a goal. And if dealing with the challenges of bugs, poor highways, and bad drivers is what it takes to achieve the goal, then bring it on!
It’s not all hardship, of course. There are good days with sunshine, nice views, and nice people. It’s what makes all this worthwhile. Without the challenges, how could we ever appreciate our good fortunes? So today, with my morale low, I walk on towards a better tomorrow.
