Day 32: 90k meditation

I have had some unfamiliar feelings creep up on me the past few days. I think one of them is loneliness. Another is the feeling like the ride is something to get finished, rather than a fun thing to do. And the worst is a creeping insecurity that I can't quite place but I think was caused by the Austrian shopkeeper. 

Most people when they hear I'm doing this trip alone tell me that I'm brave or courageous or whatever, especially because I'm a girl. I resent being given extra credit for being a woman so I usually shrug off such comments by saying that being a woman travelling alone just means that people are extra nice to me, which is true. 

The Austrian shopkeeper however, said that I was brave (in a tone that meant he actually thought I was stupid), then added "there's a lot of bad people out there, you better watch out, I'm tellin ya, a lot of bad people. They find women in them roadside ditches, abused and murdered. I hope you know martial arts or somethin! I wouldn't let my daughter do a trip like that alone. You watch out."

All morning I angrily stewed over his pointless scaremongering. What am I going to do, sit at home all day and dream about going on adventures? You can't live in constant fear of what might happen. I might get hit by a truck, I might hit a pothole at 60kmh and break my arms, I might get murdered, I might get mauled by a bear. But if I don't go on adventures, I will most definitely regret it and might get murdered or hit by a truck anyway!

So I wasn't in a good mood when I was getting ready to go out. But the air was cool, the sun hot and the breeze blowing in the right direction for me - perfect! The hills were ridiculous today and loads of fun. I'd do 3km of uphill, the sun baking my back, the sweat dripping down my face, the flies swarming around my head and a calmness settling over me. Then I'd spend 10 minutes zooming all the way down again, feeling like I was stood in front of an air conditioner on full blast.

The views were incredible! I'd get to the top of a hill and there would be nothing but forested hills in every direction, punctuated by rives and lakes. I've never seen so many trees! And I've never cycled so fast! I was done by 2.30pm.

The hills, the views and the nice people of the day calmed my nerves and after 90km I found a lovely B&B in Nipigon, which is a pretty town and sweet relief after last night's stopover. I'm going to head to the marina for some dinner.