Nunavut?!

Aug 16 - AM:

Yesterday wildlife stats:

1 weasel

1 wolf

I’m in the Radisson campground.

After passing Amos, the traffic lightens, and at Matagami, it nearly ceases altogether.

Just north of Matagami, I arrived at the gate to the remote James Bay Road.

Inside the building, I registered my name and home location for safety and security reasons.

On the way back, I let them know I’m leaving, so there won’t be any search and rescue operations.

They gave me a complete listing of everything on the road and each mile marker to emergency phones, camping areas, etc.

After passing that point, the road went from wide, smooth and marked to narrow and unmarked with rough, broken pavement.

And the speed limit went from 90 to… 100!   (??)

It’s 381 km to the only gas station, and 620km to Radisson.

Although the James Bay Road is paved, it’s a long way from being a typical paved road. It is littered with what Alaskans call “Frost Heaves” - random dips and humps that you can hit unexpectedly and can launch you into the air. Also, the pavement joints had separated long ago, and provide quite a jolt when you hit them. 

The only way to protect your neck and back from the slamming is to ride “on the pegs” - standing up, letting your legs become shock absorbers to soften the blows.

On a longer ride, say 620 KM OR SO, this can cause severe leg fatigue, also known as “quadriceptus flabbyosis”, which causes you to walk like a drunk when you get off the bike. 

No problem getting to sleep last night!

The campground here is the best I’ve stayed at so far.

The showers/rest rooms are actually a converted mobile home.

Two bath/shower rooms, a laundry room, and a big kitchen/dining area with a large table.

With another load of laundry done, I think I can make it all the way home from here.

I met a guy in the next campsite named “Jon Luca”(sp) Ferrari, from Genoa, Italy.

He is here riding his bicycle on every gravel road he can find.

He spends his time at home on Google Earth, searching for the most remote gravel roads on the planet. I asked him about the Dalton Highway and he said “Three times!”

Patagonia, New Zealand, Finland…

We (he mostly) talked until after midnight about places we have been, and found that we had stayed at the same campgrounds in Alaska, Yukon, Labrador…

When I got the bike all packed up to leave camp, I could hear him still snoring in his tent.

He described his schedule to me:

8:00 wake up

9:00 start moving

10:00 get up

11:00 get things ready

12:00 noon:  eat breakfast

I’m off this morning to visit Chisasibi, the largest Cree town.

I discovered that it’s pronounced “she-SASS-a-bee”.

The trip up here was mostly sunshine and 80 degrees, but turned cloudy near the end. 

On the way here, I passed Rupert Cascade:

I got the tent up before it sprinkled a bit, but no serious rain yet.

The forecast is rain all day.

I just finished breakfast in a fancy French Restaurant:

======

Aug 16 - PM:

The Nunavut Quest is over.

I rode the 100 km from Radisson in the rain, knowing that the last 12 km after Chisasibi was dirt. Except for that “rain” part.

It was mud, but not the kind I found in eastern Quebec. This wasn’t very slippery or deep, and the sparse gravel wasn’t deep enough to cause problems.

The issue was the bone-jarring “washboard” surface. It always makes the bike sound like it’s going to fly apart.

After the 12 km, I arrived at the rocky beach area.

Before I took the bike down the bank and onto the rocks, I took a hike and scoped out the conditions. I was alone out here, and I didn’t want to get into trouble.

When I found a spot I felt I could ride to, I rode out onto the rocks. I may have been a bit optimistic, but I was able to get the bike to the point I had picked out.

My GPS doesn’t tell me provincial boundaries, so I wasn’t sure if I had actually crossed into Nunavut.

I saw a peninsula jutting out into the James Bay that I could easily walk to, but the bike didn't have a chance. I walked out on the last rocks at the very tip, and pushed the button on the SPOT Messenger to cause a yellow flag to be placed on the SPOT page (link on the right).

At that point, I had done all I could, but still had no way of knowing where the boundary actually was.

When i got back to a motel in Matagami tonight, I went to the blog and found that I didn’t quite make it.

Too bad. Maybe I’ll bring my wife up here for a vacation, and we can both SWIM the last 50 yards to Nunavut!

The ride back down the James Bay Road was uneventful, except that the surface conditions didn’t improve any from the day before.  "Hang in there, legs!"

It rained all morning, and finally quit about 2:00. Then it was cloudy until 4:00 when it came down in torrents for 15 minutes. After that, it cleared up completely and ended in a colorful sunset.

Tomorrow, I'll be heading for the Ottawa area after sorting out an intermittent headlight issue.

I managed to get some good close-up nature photos with the GoPro today:

==============
Aug 17 - AM:

When I woke up and looked at the time this morning, it was 8:30 - that's 2 hours later than any other day on this trip.
I must have been tired for some reason...


Trivia:
Canadian currency has see-through windows:

Trivia question:
What is pictured on the back of the Canadian 1-dollar bill?