Day 56, Sunday, July 20, Sudbury, 103 km

Since we had not had decent coffee in the morning (no power) we stopped in Webbwood just 10 km down the road. The Old Vault is open for breakfast from 6 a.m. and the menu played up the history of the area.
After 43 km we came to Nairn Center which had bathrooms for us. At some point we pulled off at Blueberry Station which was a closed up gas station/diner to eat our lunch in the shade. We have found so many "for sale" or "closed" signs along the highway in Ontario; it is quite worrying aside from the fact that we can't rely on food being available.
Traffic was bumper to bumper today and the highway's shoulder was very narrow and full of holes and deep ruts. It was the worst day of cycling we've had with all our mental and physical energy focussed on not getting in trouble.
Brenda had told us not to go Hwy #55 as we approached Sudbury (in fact, she suggested that we not visit Sudbury as we had originally planned) as it was rough and had no shoulder. However, we came to a divided highway and to the "no cycles" sign and had no choice. But it certainly was quieter and had less traffic so we started to relax.
Eventually after kilometers of new highway and overpasses and no scenery except gravel we came to Carol's Campground which is on Richard Lake, 3 km south of Sudbury.
Later in the afternoon the caravan with the two marathoners arrived....we had been playing leapfrog with them for part of the day. They are each doing a marathon a day in legs of 5 or 10 km at a time; they seem to be well-sponsored.
I think that all of us spent the evening recovering from the terrible cycling conditions.
posted by Yvonne