Gee, I didn’t get out of camp before I had my 2nd flat in three days. Talk about making up for lost time. This flat was in the same location as the first. We reexamined that area of the tire and found the tiniest piece of glass. It had taken time to wear through the inner tube. Not wanting to take a chance, I put on the spare tire.
As for today’s ride, I took the quiet scenic route. I stopped at the local cemetery at Perth-Andover to look at the tombstones. Some of them dated back to the 1700s. The main attraction for this day was the Hartland cover bridge which is the world’s longest. But on the way I came across a NB Hydro park at one of its dams. It was so nice to have all that grass and flowers out in the middle of nowhere. It was here where I pick up information as to how far and how to get to the Hartland Bridge. It took me through Bristol which is a company town for McCain foods. McCain also funded a library that has a good computer system which I used for over an hour. Then to the Bridge. It is a sight to see.
It was even more fun to ride across it. It’s like riding through a tunnel. Then it was on to Woodstock. This turned out to be an up and down affair. Add to this a 6.5 km patch of loose gravel and the ride becomes energy draining. As I neared Woodstock I came upon Harold. We rode into Woodstock via the bicycle path. That meant we had to get directions to, and I kid you not, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park. This is one great campground. What we really appreciated was the showers. The have a built-in seat and I suspect the hot water is from an instant hot water machine because hot is really hot and once set, the temperature never varied. A long hot shower built into the cost of the campsite: Everyone found it absolute heaven.
Tues., Aug 10th – to Fredericton
Today a group of us decided t take the quiet, scenic route on the east side of the river. It’s sunny and you can just tell it’s going to be humid. I have to work to keep up. Then I finally see a photo opportunity. That puts me behind the group I’m with but a second group appears and I ride along with them.
This route has so many hills that are taxing and by mid morning the heat and humidity are taking their toll on us. We rested often. At lunch, by the river, two of us waded in, trying to cool off. Short-term solution. To make things worse, there are no stores or cafes on the route at all. Thus no ice cream and pie.
The campground is geared for the family: miniature golf, waterslides, driving range, etc. It also came with Eric, Nancy’s husband who will be with us for the rest of the journey. We rented the covered cooking area so no tent! It’s a lovely setting above the river and we have a great sunset on which to end the day.
Wed., Aug 11th – to Sussex
It’s cloudy this morning and the forecast is for rain with thundershowers. We started early with a large group of us heading up highway 105, which is flat and follows the St. John River. Poor Eric suffered a flat on his first day with us. Nancy, his wife, hasn’t had one all trip. Not a good omen for Eric.
I made a stop and lost contact with the group. When I reached Jenseg, I turned onto highway 695/710 as it cuts off 6 km of traveling. It is not as flat but the scenery was more varied and interesting. These highways join highway 10, the main highway. This highway takes you to Berwick. It has great soft ice cream made in front of you from a choice of 24 flavours.
Once again the map is out of date. Thank goodness for the information office in town. It gives us the directions to our campsite. I set up my tent then went to an internet location. When I came back I took a nap. And as I was sleeping there was uproar over dinner. The long and short of it was half went to a café, the rest stayed in camp and ate all the leftovers and whatever else that we fancied. This is the first time I have sensed any real tension amongst us thus far. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
Thurs., Aug 12th – to Shediac
Well, we made it though breakfast ok. The route we travel today has many options. Most of the crew takes the scenic route while a few of us take the direct highway route. We just fly up the highway due to a strong tailwind and shallow grades. I was on my top chain ring for most of the ride. Sustain periods of 40 km/hr are not uncommon.
At a Tim Horton’s in Salisbury I am given instruction on how to get to Wal Mart and Costco. (Gatoraide and MLO power bars to see me to the end of the trip)
One of the things that surprised me was the amount of French that is spoken in Nova Scotia. We may as well be in Quebec. That said, getting directions to the campsite was not difficult. It’s ok, but not great. It is, however, close to the beach. Some of us headed there as soon as we could. And yes, the Atlantic is saltier than the Pacific
Last night’s cook team cooked tonight and made up for last night’s fiasco in spades. Boy, does wine at dinner ever liven up this group.
Fri., Aug. 13th - to Borden, PEI
Oh, we were an anxious group. We were on the road by 7:10 to do a 70 km ride to the Confederation Bridge transport location where we might have to wait up to two hours.
Harold was having some leg problems so Inge and I rode with him as we were dealing with a strong cross wind, apparently the tail end of tropical storm Bonnie. The good side of this was that we traveled leisurely to enjoy the sunshine and the tranquil coastal beauty. There were many inlets with beautiful home at the top of the property with long lawns going down to the shore.
We arrived at the transport location around 10:15. We phoned to be picked up and as stated at the top, it took two hours to happen. We were not impressed. But we all got across in one trip. On the other side I was amazed how the sleepy village of Borden was now a bustling tourist trap.
The campsite was nice and dinner was delicious. George can really prepare fish. As for tomorrow, we have many options. It’s less than three hours to Charlottetown and we can’t get in before 1:00. But all shopping has to be done by tomorrow as the town is closed on Sundays, even Wal Mart. The bike trail runs along side the campground so we could do some serious sightseeing before heading to Charlottetown. Decisions, decisions.
Sat/Sun., Aug 14th/15th – to Charlottetown
It was windy and heavy showers from tropical storm Charlie were predicted, but it was warm. Since we can’t get in until 1:00, many of us decided to explore some of the Island. I, along with Wayne, Brendan, Al, and Dave M., chose to ride to Summerside. We checked out the town, including the visiting Polish Navy’s tall ship, then started back to Charlottetown along the Confederation Trail in heavy showers that soon had us soaking wet. Al rode the trail the whole way. The rest of us bailed off the trail at different stages in an attempt to speed up. Mistake. There are many hills in PEI and most of them are steep. By the time I got to the University of PEI I was tired, wet, and thirsty. We were told that the bikes would be under 24 hr. surveillance but they weren’t. Without going into detail, my bike was stolen within half an hour. I contacted the campus police and did all the paperwork but I don’t hold out much hope for its return. Anyway, tomorrow I’ll sort out my options.
Wayne, our driver, has lent me his bike for the remainder of the trip. After adjusting the seat, the bike is easy to ride and the gear ratios are actually better than mine were. After that, Ken, Wayne, and I went sightseeing in downtown Charlottetown for three hours at which time I had run out of gas and went back to UPEI to finish up some laundry and snooze. Dinner at UPEI was a buffet. We ate the cost in volume but the quality wasn’t very good.
Mon., Aug. 16th – to Pictou
We were off to Wood’s Island to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia by 8:00. Dave H still isn’t a 100% so I rode with Mary and him to help if it became necessary, which it didn’t. By the time we were half way there we were behind schedule. There was a route that was arrow straight. We checked with a local who assured us it would cut off 13 km and was no hillier but had more truck traffic. For us that was a no-brainer. We made up all our lost time.
The ferry is for vehicles only. It takes no foot passengers. So we loaded the bikes into the truck and we all piled into Chris & Anita’s RV. This allowed us to get on the ferry for the cost of two vehicles. People aren’t charged. Go figure.
While we were pitching our tents, the owner’s of the campsite brought us a plate of grapes, cheese and crackers, meat slices and bottled water. Now that was a welcome! Between setting up the tents and dinner some of us rode into Pictou. It’s a quaint town and is where the first Scottish settlers landed aboard the Hector. An exact replica is moored at the town pier. The dinner crew cooked steak for dinner washed down with some good quality wine. We went to bed pretty mellow that night.
Tues., Aug. 17th – to Antigonish
At around midnight the part of tropical storm Charlie hit us with a downpour that was still going strong when we go up. We pack up our tents in the rain so they weren’t going to be dry when we set up in Antigonish. The ride can only be described as wet and miserable. It was made even more miserable by the long, long uphill grinds. I was totally soaked within the hour. If you stopped for any period, you cooled off and then got cold when you started up.
By noon the rain had stopped and the sun was out by the time we reached the campsite. The forecast for the next two days was sunny and warm. That lifted spirits. That night the stars were out, it was refreshingly cool, and no humidity. Going to sleep was a pleasure.
Wed., Aug 18th – to St. Peters
The morning was clear and sunny. It was a joy to ride in these conditions. The hills weren’t steep and the scenery was pleasant. At 10:00 we turn off to Havre Boucher for a coffee break. This took us a long way down, but it was worth it. The scenery was quite lovely and the road led back to the highway without us having to climb back up. So far this had been a very nice day. But going down the long hill before you cross on the Canso Causeway, I got a double puncture in my rear tire. Because I was riding Wayne’s bike, I didn’t have the correct inner tube. Without going into detail, it took Harold and me three attempts to jerry-rig a tire and inner tube that worked. We limped into Port Hawksbury, got the proper inner tube and all was well again. The rest of the day was uneventful, thank goodness.
Thurs., Aug. 19th – to Brae d’Or
Today was my birthday and a breakfast I was presented with the perfect birthday card: Opus pondering about eating pie and cake and fitting into his undies. I was treated royally all day that I really appreciated.
There was a change in plans. We were going to Louisburg but due to the Parks Canada labour dispute and the short time we would have to see the fort, we opted to head straight through to North Sidney. That would give us until 3:30 to explore the area before we got on the ferry to Newfoundland.
The morning started clear and cool. It soon became clear that we were back into high ups and downs. After two hours the hills smooth out to become comfortable. We came to Big Pond and Rita McNeil’s Teahouse. Seven of us stopped for morning tea. As we ordered, George told the waitresses that it was my birthday. They brought out our orders, and then came out with a lemon tart with a lit candle singing happy birthday. It was so neat!
At this point Eric, Nancy, and I were riding together. Eric is just a hoot. He charges past you on the downhill, gets to the top of the next rise and waits for you. His child is alive and very healthy.
Our campsite was supposed to be located in Brae d’Or, 6 km west of North Sidney. That was the camp’s postal address. The actual site was 21 km further west. Add hills and a headwind and no one was happy when they reached camp.
Wayne had driven to Louisburg to pick up my birthday package from home. Gail, Carol, and Beth sent great cards and Gail had sent along a yellow riding jersey to wear into St. John’s ala Lance Armstrong’s victory ride into Paris. The lady has class
Dinner dessert included a dark chocolate birthday cake with candles. This was certainly a great birthday day.
Fri., Aug. 20th – to the ferry
Since we had lots of time to get to the ferry, breakfast was to be late, as in 8:00. But as you could guess, such was not the case. We ate, packed and loaded the truck before 9:00 and heading for North Sidney which, because of the tailwind, was only a little over a hour away.
I quickly found the library and a computer and went to work on the web pages until noon. We loaded the bikes into the truck then headed off to have lunch and do some sightseeing. We were back at the ferry terminal by 2:00 only to learn of a glitch in our reservation for the truck. We on the West Coast interchange the terms van and truck for smaller trucks. In the Maritimes a van is like our panel delivery truck. Everything else is a truck and they have different charges. Our reservation had the truck registered as a van. We lost the reservation but were assured we would still get the truck on the ferry.
The ferry was a cross between a BC super ferry and a small cruise ship. Unfortunately the food was BC ferry’s quality. However the staterooms were quite comfortable. It will be an early rising tomorrow as we dock at 6:30
Sat., Aug. 21st – to St. John’s
When the boat docks, it backs in. The dining room is right over the props and in reverse the vibration is like a major earthquake. Trying to drink your coffee was risky business.
Weather-wise, it was foggy and damp. When we unloaded our bikes we started off and of course ran into the customary big climb up a hill. It was fairly hilly coming up the Avalon Penninsula. Wayne stopped the truck up the road and we regrouped. It was decided we would miss Cape Spears as the road in was supposed to be very hilly and gravel in places. Also the weather report of the day was windy and misty. The decision was to push on to St. John’s and hope we could get the campsite we had reserved for the next day, today. So off we went up highway 100 to the Cross Road where we phoned ahead to the campsite to see if we could get in today and we could. So onto Canada 1 all the way into St. John’s and Pippi campsite. The fun(?) was guessing how close to St. John’s you actually were. You would see a sign saying 35 km to go, then your bike computer would say you had 15 km left only to be told you had 25 km to go, etc. Talk about being frustrated! Anyways, we all arrived safe and sound and the hugs and congratulations and toasts all started. The journey was over. We had done it!
That night all but three of us headed into town to get screeched. Wayne, George, and I didn’t go. I phone Gail, my wife, to tell her that we had made it. I told her that we had decided to bypass Cape Spears and go there if the weather was better tomorrow. After the call Wayne and I talked. After about 20 minutes arms rapped around me from behind. Wayne said, “Guess who”. I guessed and was wrong. I turned around and there was Gail who was there to surprise me at the finish which was to be tomorrow. Now that’s what I call a loving person. There couldn’t have been a better end to this journey.
The next two days were spent sightseeing and the whole crew going out for a victory dinner which was great fun. Nancy and I had reworked the word to “Moments to Remember” and sang them at the dinner along with Dave M, Al, and Harold. Great fun. Most of us got out to Cape Spears via car and found the road to be paved the whole way. We could have cycled out there after all. It also would have made Gail’s plans work out as she had planned them.