Day 6: Cornwall - Bainsville

Today I got a bit of a sleep in. I was originally planning on going straight to Montreal from Cornwall, but that was going to be a pretty long day, so I wanted to get an early start. Since I knew I was going to have to go to Canadian Tire and deal with my flat, there was no way I was going to make it to Montreal, so I figured I’d sleep in a bit before dealing with my bike. After breakfast, Daniel took me to Canadian Tire, and I got a couple spare tubes. We went back to his place, and I got to work on my bike in his backyard next to a pool and with a mug of coffee. This definitely beat replacing my tube in a field in the middle of nowhere. 

Once I had replaced the tube, I pumped it up as much as I could with my hand pump, but couldn’t get the pressure in the tires as high as I wanted. Daniel pulled out an old floor pump he had, but the tube on it was broken. So I pumped the tires up as high as I could and hoped for the beat, figuring I could always just pop by a gas station for a bit more air. 

Although I knew I wasn’t going to make it to Montreal that day, I figured I shouldn’t completely write it off, and I could make a bit of progress towards Montreal. My good friend from university used to spend his summers living with his grandma and working in Bainsville, which is the first town in Ontario next to Quebec. I messaged him to see if I could stay with his grandma there, and he told me his mom (who I know) just happened to be in Bainsville at the moment and that she would be happy to host me. 

I left Cornwall in the late morning, figuring I’d have an easy ride to Bainsville (30km), and then head to Montreal the following day. The bike paths through Cornwall along the water were nice, but as soon as I got back on the highway, I didn’t get too far before getting yet another flat! I was so frustrated at this point and could not figure out why I kept getting these flats! Daniel had offered to give me a ride to Montreal if I needed it, and Deb, my friend’s mom, had also offered to pick me up. So as annoying as this flat was, I figured it could be a lot worse/be somewhere far more rural where I didn’t know anyone. I messaged Deb and told her about my newest flat, and she came and picked me up and took me to Bainsville. 

In Bainsville I got to see my friend’s bother briefly, before Deb took him to the airport. While they were gone I examined my inner tube and found snake eye holes, which are the telltale sign of a pinched flat (the tube gets pinched between the rim and something external, as opposed to a puncture flat). The final tube from the previous day also had snake eye holes. I went on some bike forums to do some research and learned that if your tires don’t have a high enough pressure, you’re much more prone to pinched flats. Finally I understood why this kept happening. So I put in my final tube, patched a couple of the others, and used the floor pump that Deb had given me to pump up the tires to the proper PSI. Hopefully this’ll get me to Montreal, where I can head to a bike shop and get more spare parts. 

Once Deb got back, we had a little barbecue, and I packed up for the morning. It’s forecast to rain tomorrow, but I’ve already been delayed by one day, and I’m eager to get to Montreal, so I’m preparing to bike through the rain and finally cross my first provincial border.