Timmins

Michael and I woke up to the great pleasure of our own beds in a warm cottage. We had many kilometres to catch up on. We set off bright and early as we had a large task ahead of us. The road was long and empty, as was the usual for these Ontario roads. But we made great progress for the first part of the day. Things became progressively harder as the sun rose in the sky.
   Our progress was impeded by the intense heat, but we struggled through. I prepared lunch by the side of the road while Michael took a breather as heat exhaustion was a frightening thought for the both of us. We were back on the road in no time but it was not long before the heat was getting to us again. We cycled to the next restaurant to take shelter in a cool air conditioned room and enjoy a couple iced teas.
   As we pulled into the parking lot, Michael ran in to the restaurant to place our order. My heart rate rose to a speeding panic as I reached my hand into my bag to grab my wallet, and only come up empty. I searched all my pockets but was equally disappointed with each one. My wallet was lost. That along with all my fun money, about 150$ for food and all my identification. Michael still had some money so he offered to pay for me.
   Our iced teas and sandwiches tasted bland for the only thoughts occupying my mind were regarding the wallet that was no longer in my possession. After a hurried meal i returned to my bicycle to search my kit once again. When all my bags lay open and all my kit was scattered among the ground, almost on cue, the sky came crashing down in a torrential downpour of rain. The rain helped to wash away some of the dirt from my face and hands, but it could not wash away the feelings of disappointment and resentment i had towards myself for losing such an irreplaceable piece of kit.
   Downey helped me gather my kit and move it under the nearby restaurant roof where we sat waiting for the rain to let up. After an hour of waiting in the wet air it became clear to us that the rain would be here to stay for a while, therefore we chose to just get showered on for the next 50 kms knowing we'd be well received in Timmins. Downey did his best to console me, but my mood was bad and the weather only made it worse.
   We finally arrived at the Comfort Inn in Timmins around 1am. We had a room reserved for us thanks to the manager Don Paley who heard about what we were doing. Don had suffered directly at the hands of ALS when a family member of his passed away from it years ago and this was a way for him to repay us for our efforts.
   Back at the hotel i took a long hot shower, then watched some television and was off to sleep in no time.