July 22, 2010 Upsala to Ignace

Our friend Sokichi Takashita is spotted again in Northern Ontario. This time it is from the blog Canada a Velo 2010 - Canada by bike 2010 (http://canadaavelo2010.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/heading-to-the-prairies/) written by cyclists travelling from Quebec to British Columbia.

Nice sunny and windy day, I stopped in English River to have coffee and met two women fron Holland cycling east across the country. We actually drank three coffees and exchanged about our trip so far, I had a good time there! The second half of this day was a bit harder as the wind (headwind as usual) seemed to blow for ever in my face. Just a few km before I reach Ignace, I met another dude that made my day. You thought I was crazy going on this trip by bike, but let me tell you that there is worse! That guy on the picture is actually walking across Canada, pushing a grocery kart he bought in BC. He was japanese, so I thought it would be appropriate to tell him the few sentences I learned in my japanese classes this year. I introduced myself with a bit of an accent in his language, and he started talking very rapidly to me (I couldn’t get a single word of what he said). I signed his flag and wrote the only encouragement I know in japanese (GAMBATE – means good luck or go go go or something like that) and he laughed for ever.