Day 98

8/29/09: St. John’s, NFLD. 41 miles. Final Blog.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Tom, Della, Judy and I went to breakfast in downtown St. John’s this morning, at a place called Thelma’s. This, Tom told us, it the best breakfast place in the city. Now, earlier, like yesterday, they had told us that we would go to town for breakfast, and by town, Judy and I expected some little place in Torbay. But we got ready to leave and found out that by “to town” they meant downtown St. John’s, and so now they have something to goof with us about. They thought that was pretty funny. Yup, just about as funny as wiffy is to Tom………long story short…….Tom sheepishly asked Della one day what wiffy meant when I was often referring to wifi in my blogs. And she just went spastic laughing about the wiffy. She told us the story and now we’re all wiffy’ing Tom whenever we can. So, now Tom and I each have something to get goofed on.

         So, we get to Thelma’s and have our coffee and begin to order, and what do you know…..here comes Barney and Val shopping for a place to eat breakfast. I beat on the window and they saw us and came in. We all moved to a bigger table and had a wonderful breakfast together with the sun just gushing in through the café’s front windows. Oh, how glorious that sun felt this morning after yesterdays chilly winds and chilly finish. I ate like a guy still on the road while Barney just tried to pull back the reins a bit on the appetite. I got the Grand Slam with fishcakes, and then we ordered two toutons to split with the group, this fried dough stuff that’s really good. I buzsawed through the food like usual, and then finished one of Val’s fishcakes and one of Judy’s pancakes. God bless Bareny for his restraint, for he’s a better man than I being able to suss that appetite on day one of the end of the journey. It could take me a week to stop eating like a madman.

         We set a time to meet at the Battery cottage and then all go back up to Cape Spear to get the real photo stuff done. At 1pm we loaded into the van, drove down the the Canary Bike Shop in downtown St. John’s, picked up Bareny and Ryan, I bought my “finish line jersey” and we headed off to the cape. Della was with all of us while time driove up on his own to meet us. Along the way we passed that infamous intersection from yesterday, the one with the bakery, and we all goofed on various themes of that stupid day yesterday. Someone wanted to stop for water and I suggested that they all go to the bakery and just “disappear” when the get their water.

This day just couldn’t have been more perfect for such a photo shoot, as the sun was blazing, there were cotton ball clouds floating through the sky and the wind was blowing just enough to let you know that you’re up along the ocean on the North Atlantic. And then the shooting began next to the furthest point east in NA sign…….shots of Ryan with bike, yak, tee-shirts, sponsor gear………shots of me of the same…….shots of us together……shots of the Hilleberg pearched on the cliffs above Cape Spear……..shots of Ryan and the Hillie on the cliffs…..shots of Judy and I……of Tom and Della…….of Barney and Val….of all of us….of three of us. We had my two cameras, Barney’s camera, Bill’s camera. It was crazy. Good gosh we had more cameras’ snapping than at a paparazzi stakeout at Brittany Spears house. All the while, Tom was telling the curious onlookers of what we were doing, why we were doing it. He was like our agent up there spinning the yarn of our cross Canada bicycle trip. THIS was the day that I had visions of. This was the real ending to a fantastic, amazing trip across one of the most wonderful places I’ve ever had the privilege to visit.

And that was it. We had spent about 1.5 hours up there just shooting smiling, congratulating and having fun together. Yesterday was a hiccup, a burp from over consumption….as Barney phrased it “a Gong Show.” There and then, in my mind, what with all the good vibes, the great friends together for that moment, for that little sliver of time that we captured on our digital cameras, I consider this trip officially over. I’m at peace with everything.

And now I’m back here at the Battery Street cottage, high above the waters of St. John’s Bay, with the clouds rolling in, the seabirds cresting above the rooftops of all these tiney little cottages clinging to the faded grey granite walls of this narrows. It’s a setting that is so picturesque, so aweinspiring, that you have to just stare out the windows, or stand out on the deck in total bliss, and kind of pinch yourself. The bright red, blue, green, and yellow fishing boats are lined up on the other side of the harbor, reflecting the last glimmers of today’s afternoon light. Their day is done. And evening creeping up again to end another fantastic day on the road.

One the road……..I’ve lived my life out of my yak & panniers for nearly three months, and then upgraded to my van for the final 8 days. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to just go home and go to bed, to get up and go to work like a normal person, to eat like a regular guy, to have a sense of normality to my life, to see my friends and loved ones on a daily basis. That was my old world. This new world I’ve been living, experiencing new places and new faces every day, of never knowing what the next day will bring, of pushing and working towards an new destination day after day afer day. Well, I can say that I’m glad to go back to my old world for a good while. I think I’m ready to re-enter the “real” world. The time is right. I feel just totally satiated with this effort.

This trip has been something that I’ve wanted to try all my life, to challenge myself daily, to see how I would handle the mental as well as the physical strain of pushing day after day after day. Some days I was a master of my environment; others – I was mastered by my environment! There was an ebb and flow to good vs bad. But never did I even think of just calling it quits. This was my singular focus for a year with respect to my own personal challenge. Today I have a feeling of total and complete satisfaction. No second guessing. No woulda shoulda coulda. We did it. Ryan, Barney and myself all faced our own challenges, and we did it! I believe we’re better men for it.

Finally, there was one intangible that I had not really dwelled upon before we began this journey, one final wonderful thing that has pretty much been the paint on the canvas of this journey - the awesome people who we had the privilage of meeting along the way, the new friends we made, often within the span of just a day or so, fleeting as these meetings were. These people who came into and out of my life within just an eye’s blink of time, these people have left me with memories and impressions that I’ll carry with me the rest of my life. I cannot name you all, but those of you reading, you know who you are. I love you folks. You were so wonderful to us, not only by what you provided in a material sense, but what you shared with us in a spiritual sense. THAT we can hold onto!  And we will. I won’t get corney here. But that was just so amazing.

And then there ws all of you out there emailing us, sending us congrats, pushing and pulling for us, living each day with us through our blogging, waking up each and every morning and tuning in to the latest edition of the Ryan & Pete, or the Ryan & Pete & Barney, or the Pete & Barney show. Thanks so much to all of you for your interest and your great vibs and karma. You can’t imagine the sense of  duty that I felt each and every day to keep the blogs coming after hearing from so many of you. That was a total surprise to me, but I absolutely loved it. So again, thanks so very much to all of you.

So that’s it. This blog has now officially ended. The website will remain open, and once I get home we’ll have the photo section completely updated and broken into province by province photo excerpts of the trip. And who knows maybe something else lies ahead for “4 the Health Of It.” Never say never!!

Take care everyone and much love to you all………….Pete

Day 97

8/28/09: Off segment. 45K west of St. John’s, NFLD at an exit ramp off of the QEW to Cape Spear, NFLD. 41 miles. Trip complete.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Not exactly a fairy tale finish that’s for sure, but for drama and soap opera theatrics………yesterday had it! And despite the totally “unfun” way this trip ended – it’s now in the books. So for the final time, let’s reset.

We all got in a very good night’s sleep last night what with our “last supper” that Tom had made for us, with the anticipation that today is THE END. So the rise & shine was very casual. We noodled around for a bit, making instant and real coffee, eating some cereal, fresh bread and left-over salad, and watching some morning news. Finally got the ball rolling by loading into the van to go back to the QEW where I last left off, some 45K outside of St. John’s. It took us a good 40 min or so to drive out there from Tom and Della’s in Torbay. Got to our start point and the wind was just blowing, gusting, slashing like I’ve seen only one or two other times on this trip. Thankfully though it was out of the west. But to look at the way the trees were being bent over, the way that my van was being buffeted all over the road, and the way the small bits of sand and gravel were being tossed into us in the parking area, we knew that this was going to be a beast of a wind to ride in.

         So we got it cranking. In some sections where the road was going due west, this was such a powerful tailwind that you could soft pedal and do 28-30 mph. In other areas where the road deviated from the west to east trend, and dipped a bit north or south, it was a dangerous crosswind that could either send you right off the road and into the gravel berm or guardrail, or, could send you to the left into oncoming traffic. Now to up the ante, couple that crosswind with a good descent, and then things really get hairy, as you’re literally S-swaying all over the road to keep it upright. You really had to lean into the wind to keep the bike in a straight line. So again, I’m just thinking, “dude, just keep this rig on the road. Nothing fancy, nothing daring. Just ride with the front wheel really forced down into the pavement.”

         We all rode this way. About 15 miles in Bill got a flat, while Ryan and I had rode further up the road thinking that they were back getting some stuff from Judy. Finally, Judy catches us and lets us know of the flat, and had us wait for about 10 min for Bill and Barney to catch up. Then we got it cranking again. K’s got smaller for St. John’s as we saw the 32K sign, 23K, and finally exit 41a, into the downtown and next to our Cape Spear turn-off. So we take Rt 2 to downtown, and at that point we’re just totally going in a dead easterly direction, just riding this blasing freight train of a tailwind for everything. And then we pass a sign that read: “Pedestrians and bicycles not allowed beyond this point.” Yeaaaaaaaa right! We were just about 5K from the downtown. Oooopppps missed that one. And on we went blasting down towards the ocean.

         Now this is where the *%$^##@ part of the day started. I had told Judy to exit off of Rt 2 onto Cape Spear Drive, otherwise known as Blackhead Road, just before the downtown. But, there was no exit, as Rt 2 just went right over the top of this road and sent us into the downtown in a matter of 2-3K. And I knew that as soon as I saw us go over the top of what looked like a long, steep climb to the east. So we finish the descent, all gather together and look for Judy. Nowhere. So Ryan goes down to Water Street to see if Judy is parked there. Nothing. And I’m bumming because I know that she expected an exit to Cape Spear off of Rt 2. Trouble was that you had to end the Rt 2 freeway, and then go right on Water Street to get to the road out to Cape Spear. So we all rode out on Water Street to the light where you’d turn to go under the freeway and east out to Cape Spear. Nothing. No sign of Judy anywhere. And to make matters worse, there was road construction all the hell over the warf area, so the downtown was a conjested mess.

         The guys waited on their bikes on the sidewalks at the light while I rode back to look for Judy just several blocks back towards town. Ryan’s words were, “I’m not moving from here.” Rode back into town and I eventually just parked myself at the intersection of Water and at the bottom of the freeway exit, as this is a small city, and I know that she had to come back this way somehow, someway, and figured that she’d ask for directions to Cape Spear and then come out on Water Street. Well, it took about 10-15 min, but she did indeed come back at me on Water Street. I then had her follow me back to the intersection that the guys were waiting……except now THEY were gone. Not a sign of the three of them or their bikes at the intersection. So I just had Judy turn onto the Cape Spear road and park in a little gravel turn-off prior to the initial climb while I went back for my second personnel search. Back east down to Water Street, past the deli, then east again towards town, thinking that maybe they jumped on a side street. Nothing. I thought that maybe they’d hit a small grovery, so I went to this joint called Oranges. Nothing. Maybe at the convenience/drug store. Nothing. Wonderful. So I go back to this triangle that sits up next to the beginning of the climb and wait. Nothing. Ride back down the sidewalk to the intersection where I originally left them. Again………nothing.

         At that point I was wondering if they decided to do the start of the Cape Spear Drive and just wait at the top, or maybe even just noodle and let Judy and I catch them. By this time it’s been close to a half hour since I last saw them. I finally told Judy to start driving up to Cape Spear because this is about the only other logical possibility of where they could have gone. Figured I see them waiting at a rest stop up ontop of the mountain. So off we go, and this climb was a zinger of a climb. First real middle cookie thing I’d done since back in Nova Scotia. And it took you up pretty quickly to a wonderful vista about St. John’s. But it wasn’t over. Descend just a smidge and it’s right back up again, this time hitting a very steep pitch for about 300 meters. Got over this and it was a bit of a gradual up again for a bit until it finally leveled out. Then it was the giant push of the wind as I rode east again. But still, no sign of the guys. I kept thinking that they’d be just around the corner, just hanging out. Nothing. And then I see the van parked up ahead and figured that they were there talking to her. Nope. So we go further down the road, and I have another long OTS climb in the middle ring to surmount. This one is steep, but now a killer, and I top out within several minutes. At the top I look down the road, down this moderate descent and off to the east about 2 miles, and there it was - the Holy Grail – the furthest point east in North America, right there in front of me.

         At this point I realized that the guys had not done this road, as they’d certainly have hung at the top of this puppy for the finish together. They were still back in St. John’s somewhere, possibely riding all around the city looking for Judy and I. So it’s now bitter-sweet, the end is in sight, the end to a ride of 3.5 months  - that I’m about to finish alone, except for Judy at my side when I got down to the Cape, but the guys who I rode with are not here. I stopped at the top for several min and just gazed down at the view of the Cape, of the deep blue sea, the waves just hammering the shoreline, the lighhouse just to the north, the last 2-mile ribbon of highway threading its way to the end of the line – a parking area with a boardwalk that went down several hundred meters to the tip of Cape Spear. It felt good/it felt bad, so happy to have finality to this journey/so sad to not share my feelings with the whole group. It was Judy and I.

         Clipped back in and did the descent down to the Cape. Spun up to the parking area and met with Judy. I was anticipating the guys probably figuring out that I went ahead possibly looking for them on this road, so I held out hope that we’d see them tooling down this descent in the not too distant. By now it was just a complete cluster F of second guessing yourself, something I’d done several times on this trip when one or several people were not where you expected them at a certain place in a certain time frame. Judy gave me a big kiss, and then we got two of my cameras and I coasted down the boardwalk to the Cape. I waited for a tour group party to take pics of everyone next to the sign detailing this as the furthest point east. Then I held my bike up in the air in front of the sign and had Judy take two shots each with the two cameras. That was it. I gave her a big hug, and we walked back to the van half expecting the guys to arrive, but still no sign. Very disappointing to say the least. I had visions of what that moment would be like, and THIS was never one of them. This was a total let-down.

         We had planned on having a number of sponsor shots done at this time, so we hung out in the parking area for another 15 min. Nothing. Such a solemn ending to such a fantstic trip for sure. Well, we put my bike on the rack and headed back to St. John’s, still thinking that around one of the curves would be three riders coming towards us. Finally, we got all the way back down to St. John’s, to that &%$&^#^#@ intersection, and again – same story. This was totally bizzar. So we drove around the immediate downtown looking for the guys. And then one final time we drove back to what had now become, for me,  most famous intersectionm in this whole trip - Water and Cape Spear Drive. Nothing.

         Ok, I give. I had no computer, thus no phone numbers. And I was thinking, “for a time when I should be on top of the world, this SUCKS!” So we drove back to Tom and Della’s house in Torbay. Popped open my computer and got Barney’s cell number and called from the house. He answered and said that they had just started up the Cape Spear Drive, with Tom and Barney’s wife, Val, following. They had moved away from that infamous intersection, and crossed the street to a bakery and waited inside for over three hours - with their bikes parked on the outside. Massive cluster F here. I told Barney that we’d already been to the Cape and that we were in Torbay. So I was nearly speechless, and at that point I’m even more disappointed about this day.

But, the real drama began when Tom stopped back at the house to pick up some of the guys stuff, this to move over to a nice like cottage that Barney and Val rented for the weekend in dowtown St. John’s on Battery Street. Tom comes in and warned me that a couple of the boys are a bit mad at me for not waiting for them. And that’s when 10,000 sticks of dynamite go off in my brain. MAD…..at me. Those of you who know me well enough know that my fuse is, well……….rather short at times? And this was all I needed to just go over the edge into temporary and complete insanity. And Tom further informed me that I HAD to drive back up to the Cape to “rescue” the boys, because they did not want to ride back into town to the Battery cottage of Barney and Val’s. Well, unfortunately Tom heard a flurry of four-letter words just gushing out of my mouth like a broken, wide-open fire hydrant. I was about to blast off and land on Mars. “Mad at me,” I thought.” So now I was pissed at them for bloody moving out of the spot that they were supposed to be waiting at. Tit for a tat! And poor Tom is listening to me vent, and trying to calm me down as I’m ranting like a psych ward patient whose about to get injected with a sedative.

He spends a couple more min talking to me, pleading with me to hold my composure if “one of the boys” says anything. And I’m like, “Tom do you own boxing gloves, because if anyone even like vaguely gives me grief it’s on,” Nope, I was just a mess, and this day to end 3.5 months of an amazing journey, has in my mind turned into a massive spiraling abyss with such nonsense. So Tom has to hurry back to drop off the gear, and get back to work because he took a couple hours off to come watch the “Big Finish.” Me, my brain was racing as if I were on amphetamines. So Judy and I headed out to “rescue the boys.” I just stripped off my cycling gear, jumped in shorts and top, and out we went. And poor Judy is just talking and consoling me. And she was right - it was just a major mess with no fault on either side. But still, that seed had been planted. So we got up to the Cape, and it’s almost dark, and the winds were blowing and gusting like no tomorrow. It was freezing out there and the guys looked pretty cold. We all kept our cool, with no bad words said, but still, there was a LOT of tension in the air. This was the big finish!

We drove back to Barney and Vals cottage on the water, a fabulous little place that we’ll all hang at tonight and tomorrow night. Plan was to just go back to the cottage, they’d do the showerless switchO changeO and we’d hit a pub on George Street for some food. Bill decided he wouldn’t go without taking a shower, so just the five of us rolled back down to the nightlife of George Street. And it was there that we, mostly me, just kind of put this stupid mess up, out of the way, and began to mellow out and celebrate the accomplishments of the three of us: Ryan – going coast to coast in Canada for 4260 miles and then adding NFLD to the game, Barney – going 2000 miles from Quebec City to Cape Spear, and me – doing 6269 miles across Canada. We listened to a really good solo act who did Irish folk, music that Barney said was truly the “real deal.”  We ordered some Irish red ale, some wine for the ladies, and Ryan had his usual softdrink.

And then life began to feel good. The accomplishments of us all were toasted, and we toasted our fantastic ladies, Val and Judy, for their patience for their understanding, and for their support during this very long journey.  We were going to leave after the solo act, but then this place is filling up like a concert hall, and this young kid tells us we were about to hear the main act, a 5-piece NFLD Irish band who is the most popular on the island – the Masterless Men. So we hung for one song, and then two, and then 3, 4, and finally stayed for the whole first set. Ryan was on the dance floor kind of gyrating and shaking, Barney was literally singing the songs verbatim, Val was clapping, and  Judy and I were tapping our feet. These guys were really good. We had a great time, and finnaly left at nearly 1am. And Gearge Street was just rocking like you couldn’t believe. This place is one of the party capitals of the world. People were everywhere. We dropped the three off at the cottage and Judy and I drove back up to Torbay to Tom and Della’s.

Tom was up when we got back and kind of talked to me, and I told him I was fine. We’re good. He was real concerned about this whole deal. But I assured him that all was good, and that it was time to hit the rack. So it’s now Saturday morning, the sun’s out and it’s just a fantastic day here in  Newfoundland. No riding today, no want to ride, no obligation to ride, no itinerary to ride for, no destination to ride to. I’m there. I’m done. Mission accomplished. Now I’ll just sit back and savor the day, soak up the warm fall rays raining down on this the furthest point east in North America. We’re home! 

I’ll do one last blog for tomorrow kind of summing up this whole trip, my feelings, and maybe find some meaning to all this madness. Then, that’s it. Game over. So, until tomorrow……all the best………..Pete

Day 96

8/27/09: Segments 97 and 98 http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment97.html http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment98.html Clarenville, NFLD to 45K west of St. John’s, NFLD at an exit ramp. 81 miles.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Crazy freaking day for sure. Man……like where can I start? We’re so close and the mood is so high that it’s just off the charts. Ok, reset to this morning.

The clouds were just hanging when we got up so there was really no hurry to get going, as the forecast said that the clouds would dissipate by noon, and the sun would come out. So we just took our time at the motel this morning. I watched some weather channel, some news, and some junk. Ate Judy’s left-overs for breakfast – cod cheeks and tongues, with some calamari and salad. Then chased that with some pancakes that Judy brought in from the motel restaurant. Awesome. Did a bit of work on the computer, brewed some motel room coffee, and I was golden. Then I just waited for the group to get ready for the second to the last day on the road.

         We finally got the ball rolling around 10:30am, more like our typical Barney and Pete starts. Rain was just barely spitting, but we were getting it going nonetheless. Bill, Barney, Ryan and I headed out while Judy did sag. Our old friend from yesterday was with us – the headwind, and it wasn’t any kinder today than the day before. I just led it out pretty easy and we all stayed together for about 30 min. Then, on a long downhill, Ryan got in the tuck position and took over lead, heading into the next climb. And it was here that I got a revelation………..my bud, my captain, my friend……I decided then and there to let him have the privilage of pulling into the headwind for a bit. I was so content to just sit back and suck wheel. Well, Ryan got it going so well that we dropped Bill and Barney. So I just tucked in and went along for the ride. Thirty min go by, and Ryan’s still pulling. One hour – still pulling. One and a half hours in and he’s still pulling like a champ. So I’m thinking, “ok, time for Ryan to get the initiation into the big league…..by pulling the whole day.” And at two hours in we see Judy pulled over and Ryan signals to stop. Good to go. So we stop and I tell Ryan that he’s now pulling the yellow Jersey all the way today!” We laugh at my idiocy and he acknowledges that he’ll continue to take on pulling duty for the day – to 60 miles. At that point we’d gone 28 miles into the same wicked headwind as we endured yesterday. The one that totally numbed my brain for the last 24 hours. By this time the sun had come out and it was just a completely wonderful day despite the blowing wind. But it was so good to have the sun back.

         So we coked up and exited in a matter of 5 min. And Ryan just put it all into the next 50 min of pulling into the headwind, cranking on the climbs out of the saddle, tucking down and hitting the flats ITS, and just mopping it up with effort. By 2:50 in, about a third of the way up this long, neverending climb, Ryan looks back and tells me he’s totally toast, just gassed and on empty. So I did what any good roadie does…….I went around him and continued the climb on my own! I know, I felt a bit bad, but hell, that’s cycling right? So I just popped it down a gear or so and mashed out the rest of this massive climb up to a flats, Moorish area with lakes and ponds and crosswinds that were just ferocious. I was getting blown all over the place, and this little rumble strip that separated me from the road on the left, and left me just one foot of asphalt to ride on on the right – I was just getting blasted into this rumble strip constantly by the crosswind. It was buffeting, blowing, shearing. It was NFLD winds all the way, and just what I expected on this trip.

         I topped out into this malsrtrom of wind on what felt like the top of Mt Everest. It was crazy just how hard the wind was blowing up there. Now at that point I’d had taken the headwind apposed to the cross, due to the dangerous nature of it blowing me right out into a semi truck or any kind of vehicle for that matter. I felt really, really good, having not pulled my ass off for half the day, so I just put it down on the descent……until the crosswind literally lifted my front wheel right off of the ground in the beginning of the descent. This was a first for this trip. We had encountered many a crosswind on this long trip, but this was just off the charts. So I then just pushed down super hard on the front bars to try to bury the tire into the pavement. Then came another gust which just slammed me out into the vehicle lane as I was doing about 30 mph on the descent. Again, a bit of my life flashed in front of me. “Dude,” I though, “this is too close to the finish for a crash. Have to buckle down and use the brakes a bit here.” So I braked as I descended for the rest of the way. It was totally hairy.

         Got to the bottom and looked up ahead, and it was just this ribbon of highway that rolled up and down into the horizon. Cool. Time to get this thing rolling! And I just got into a rhythm and rolled over these things. Felt great. And about this time I ran into Judy, and she turned around and checked on me, and I told her to just go get the rest of the folks and that I’d just continue to ride until she came back. So she went back and checked on the guys while I continued to ride. And round about the 60-mile mark, I had this massive curve in the QEW, and it took me into a direction where the wind was now at my back. And I was just flying. FLYING! And I started passing the St. John’s signs: 72K, 60K, 50K, and about that time I was thinking that I’d ride to within 40K of St. John’s. But before then Judy caught me and gave me hell about riding so far ahead while Bill and Barney were back in need of support. We got that taken care of within 5 min of her stop. I loaded my bike onto the van, memorized the exit I was at, and we –Judy, me and Ryan - started back on the hunt for Bill and Barney.

         We found Bill parked at an information center about 17 miles west of where I stopped. So we pulled in. And as soon as we got out I get this big bear-hug from Tom, who’d drove down from Torbay with his wife Della to hook up with us today. So I’m like blind-sided by Tom, Bill is on cloud nine from having this stellar ride today, and we’re just waiting for Barney to complete the picture. Tom and Della met Bill and Ryan, and we all just talked and goofed off for a bit. It was just awesome to finally reach these guys after such a long journey. Gameplan was to let Barney ride to the info center, and then we’d drive straight away to Tom and Della’s. So Tom and Della left for their house as we waited for Barney to join us. Now Tom had told us that he had actually already met Barney, when he was looking for me. So all the meetings were done. Barney rolled in about 20 min later. We coked him up, loaded the bike, and off for Torbay we went. Torbay is a town north of St. John’s. Took us about 40 min to drive to Torbay to Tom and Della’s, where we were met with micro brews, wine, and all the fixings for a great meal.

         Tom commenced to fixing a 7-course meal, something out of this world, something that I’ve not had but maybe two times during this whole 3.5 month trip, something totally amazing. We  started off with moose for an appetizer, then went on to cod filets, and then on to fresh Atlantic muscles, and next to fresh, giant sea scallops, and finished with steak, salad and finally date tarts. Let me tell you, this was a King’s meal, something you’d go into a restaurant and pay out the ass for! No one left that table with even a thimble of hungar. It was pure Newfoundland hospitality at it’s finest. Wow! Like, it’s been about 1.5 hours since we ate………and I’m still a freaking blimp! And then Tom and Della won’t let us touch the dishes. “Go into the living room and relax,” they said.

         So it’s 10:40pm NFLD-Labrador time, and Judy is crashed. Barney is working on his blog in the computer room. Ryan is crashed on the living room floor, and Bill is getting ready for the sack. I’ll have a beer on the bridge with Tom and then call it a day. What a totally amazing day on the road. And it’s really my last long day on the road. Tomorrow is really a promanade into St.John’s and then on the 15K to Cape Spear. It’s been such a long ride, and such a fantastic journey. Am I sad tomorrow is the end? Well, no, not really, as every great journey has to have an end to be great. My end, our end, will be tomorrow and it will be something amazing to experience. So, until tomorrow, take care and all the best. I’ll give you much more in the way of reflection on tomorrow, THE final blog of this trip. Goodnight all………Pete

Day 95

8/26/09: Segments 95 and 96 http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment95.html http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment96.html Gambo, NFLD to Clarenville, NFLD. 71 miles.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Barney and I were joking yesterday about just WHO it was who brought such good karma to our NFLD portion of the trip, what with all the horrific weather possibilities we’d just not had thus far. Of course I thought that I was the one who was the good karma guy. Yep, just when you think you have it figured………….right back in your face! Today was a day of hellish headwinds courtesy of the OTHER Mr. NFLD. So just who wants to take credit for today’s karma? Well……..I guess Barney will!! Ok, so that’s the tone of the blog today, so let’s get back to a reset on last night and this morning.

         Wonderfull night of camping as the stars up here in NFLD just seemed to be falling out of the sky like  a beach full of tiny diamonds last evening. The sight was very impressive, and I just couldn’t help staring up, out of my van side windows, at the amazing stellar spectacle above us. With this clear sky the temp really dropped again, and we woke to a quite chilly morning with a very overcast sky. The local CBC weather station was forecasting rain for the Gander-Gambo area for late morning, with the rain moving to the east over the course of the day. So we had a definite sense of urgency to getting today’s ride under way in order to beat the oncoming weather front. As usual, I was the last one up, while Bill had the colman stove humming with boiling water for coffee. Within the hour the sun actually broke for a bit so we were able to find a seat in the sun to drink some coffee. Judy took care of the chow situation with some granola and yogert, and then some egg sandwiches – this in order to save time and just get the ball rolling early.

         I knew it was going to be a pretty long day as my sinus condition was taking a turn for the worse yesterday, and got even worse last night and this morning. Felt like I had a head full of snot coupled with a drum-beating, pounding headache with a scratchy throat. But, with the end so close there’s really nothing that’s going to keep me down now. I think anyone in this position would feel the same way – the show must go on. And indeed it did. Bill and I headed out first thing, and Barney and Ryan were a bit behind us as Ryan needed to call his daughter before her first day of school today. Judy was going to do sag and possibly ride after Bill did 2.5-3 hrs. I was quiet, solmn, and had a kind of resolve to get this day done so that I could just rest. So Bill and I rode a chilly 5 miles out of Gambo and back up to QEW 1. And we noticed a gnarly cross wind on this easy portion of the ride. I warned Bill that we could be in for a very nasty day if that thing was a headwind. It was.

         Got on the QEW and there it was, a headwind just beginning to whip up into our faces. Gone were those lovely miles of doing a false flat at 17-19 mph, today we were reduced to struggling up these false flats at 11-12 mph, in and out of the saddle, and fighting for every foot of forward progress, as if in a football game of rushing only. My original intention was to ride with Bill for 2.5 hrs and then Judy for the same. But once we got going against the headwind I found that we really had to just go it every man for himself. It’s one thing to just hang back and do someone else’s pace with a great tailwind at your back. Not really a problem there. But against a stiff headwind, it’s pretty tough to noodle. So today soon became a day where we were each going to have to find a pace that worked, and stay with it. Today I could only just plug along against this wind wall at my own pace. So Bill and I parted about 20 min into the QEW. I was standing on almost everything the went up, as that gave me the opp to put more weight into each pedal stroke, despite exposing more surface area against the wind. Somehow I got into a rhythm and just wanted to keep it rolling from there on in, non-stop, to the end, which in this case was the town of Clarenville. Any thoughts of going further east, possibly of doing another 100-mile day today, were just sucked right out of my brain with my sinus condition and the terrible wind.

         It was about this time that I noticed my rear tire having a whole lot of bounce to it. I bounced on the saddle a couple of times and sure enough it was a rear flat. ^%$%#%@@#  That should tell you my state of mind at the time. So I figured that I could ride it out until I run into Judy and what do you know……she’s right there parked on the left side of the road. Fly in, hang the bike on the van’s bike rack, remove the wheel, and there is this big staple in the tire. So I just opened the tire, removed that section of tube, and patched it with 75% of the tube still in the tire. By this time Bill, Ryan and Barney had ridden in for the first support stop. I zipped out ASAP and got the suffer fest going again. Ryan must have bridged sometime within the first 10 or so min that I was going again because I heard his creaking bottom bracket behind me. I didn’t say a word. He didn’t say a word. Today was minus fun, minus frivolity, minus small talk, minus talk in general. Today was the “Git er done mode.” Nothing more. Nothing less.

         We climbed into some just ferocious headwind situations. We descended into some where we just could not soft pedal or coast. We had to continue to put some meat into each pedal stroke during the downhill – or else you’d coast to a stop at the bottom with no roll up onto the next climb. And as each hour wore on the wind got harder. Every once in a while I drop down into easier gears to spin up the climb, but this was the exception rather than the rule. It was just much easier to get OTS and just crank up the climbs with more meat into each stroke.

         Bill rode for 2.5 hours and then gave mother nature the big bird. Judy chose not to fight the wind and tempt the rain that was looming on the western horizone. Unfortunately this section today, going through Terra Nova National Park, is a very wonderfull section of highway. But with the high winds, the impending rain, the overcast cloud cover, you really couldn’enjoy it from the bike. It figures……….I just cannot remember going through Terra Nova on a good day. It’s always been this dismal, this gloomy. Judy and Bill were stopped several times up ahead of us anticipating a stop for pop and food, but we just waved and kept riding. I figured that I had ONE stop in me and then it was ballgame. And I was saving that last stop for about 20 K left in the ride. So they’d then wait for Barney to go by, and then drive back up ahead of us and wait again. And on we went, with legs feeling like concrete pillars as each mile of headwind continued, and more and more climbs rose up after the next descent or around the next curve. And then rain drops began to fall.

         It had looked like that was our last card to be turned over – the “not getting caught in the rain” card. I’d look for windshield wipers moving with the oncoming traffic  to see if we were riding into a deluge. We were not. Finally the signs of civilization began to appear. Restaurant signs, hotel signs, pub signs. 12K, 10K, 8K, 5K. One of those signs was a Subway sign, and that was our cue. DONE. So slowly, every so slowly we chugged up one last climb, one last long climb, into a headwind that felt as if it were sent from angry Greek Gods, just howling down the mountain daring us to proceed just one more pedal stroke. It was bending small trees, grasses, weeds, everything in its path, back down to a horizontal position. The feeling was otherworldly to fight this wind for one last time today, as it was at it’s peak ferocity, just daring us to go any further. So I got that bug up my ass and just shifted down a gear, stood on the pedals and jumped into the headwind like an angry bear. And did that take it out of me. We topped out and I was just sucking air.

         We descended down to the exit for Clarenville and rode straight to Subway. As usual, the universal meeing place if you’re not sure where you’re commrads are………is Subway. And darned if Judy and Bill didn’t pull in five min behind us. They were worried about Barney, who hadn’t gone through his checkpoint on time. So we ate, quicky booked a couple of motel rooms, and then we off to hunt for Barney – with my van’s heater just blowing out hot air to warm up Ryan and I who were still chilled from the day’s ride. Sure enough there Barney was chugging up that very same final climb that blasted Ryan and I. Met him at the top by the information center, got him coked and cookied and then him and I rode down to the motel together about 2 miles.

         Now those guys ate dinner at the motel restaurant, while I had the Chinese restaurant Jones going, so I went solo to a little Chinese place up by the Subway. Homerun for sure. Met the group back at the motel restaurant for a bit and then we all called it a day. Tomorrow – well, we hope to at least make it a 60-mile day, and then finish with one more 50-mile day to the finish on Friday. Weather for tomorrow is iffy for the morning, and better for the afternoon, so it could very well be a Barney & Pete late morning start. But that’s ok!! Two rides to go and Trans Can is a done deal……..Pete 

Day 94

8/25/09: Segments 93 and 94 http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment93.html; Grand Falls-Windsor, NFLD to Gambo, NFLD. 92 miles.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Wow. What a totally awesome day of riding here in NFLD. The weather was just some of the best I’ve experienced out here – in this my 5^th trip to Newfoundland. So let’s reset the day back to last night and then this morning. Last night Judy cooked up an awesome dinner over the coleman camp stove. We had some great pesto pasta to start the evening off with, and then some fresh, pan fried cod and haddock for the entrée. We all ate until we about burst. Perfect ending to a very nice day of riding last night for sure. Had a couple of beers and some white wine and that was the evening. Bill hit the showers, Judy and I retired early, and Ryan and Barney solved some of the world’s problems out on the picnic table for a bit into the night. Woke up to our camp roosters Bill and Barney, with Bill firing up the stove and getting the coffee going. We had our java on a very nippy morning this morning. This morning is more the norm here in NFLD in August. Sipped coffee and I had the remnants of the pasta dinner last night. Ryan finished off the remainder. And then them major blunder……..for Ryan…….as he got TKO’d by dipping chocolate chip cookies into his coffee to replace the lack of sugar we had. He ate a big bag portion of pasta, then gorged down I don’t know how many chocolate chip cookies soaked in coffee. Result – a very massive stomach ache pre-ride.

         So by virtue of the cookie chaser – Ryan did support in the van today! We pretty much gave him grief all day with vomit jokes and simulated puke miming. He took it very good natured. So Judy and Ryan began in the van as support while Bill, Barney and I began the ride from the camp. Barney did his usual “Bat Out of Hell” start, so Bill and I just motored a bit on the more moderate side. There was though, a massive tailwind today that just pushed and pushed at your back all day long. Barney wanted to stop in Bishop Falls to buy a real breakfast rather than attempt to do my cold pasta impression, or worse yet, Ryan’s cookie chaser impression. So Bareny pulled out at Bishop Falls about 20 K in while Bill and I kept it rolling. And as I said, this was a fabulous day to ride, as we began on a cloudless morning with about a 20 K tailwind – that eventually grew to a solid 30+ K tailwind.

         We had a bit more climbing today, but with the headwind it was really pretty inconsequential. The scenery was just as stellar today as on the past several days here in NFLD, with just these long stretches of nothingness for miles on end. Today there were a few more alpine lakes to pass, and then the massive Gander Lake later in the ride. Once Bill and I got over this really long gradual, past what looks like the Trans NFLD  pipeline, we hooked up with Judy. We blasted through the city of Gander in notime, and then had another 25 miles to get to our day’s destination – Gambo. The three of us rode on for a stretch until we hit this gnarly construction area, where they had one of the lanes, the right land, graded off for repaving, with the berm still intact. It was pretty awefull to ride on due to the truck traffic. So I got on this 3-foot wide section of berm that was smooth for my riding surface so as to stay out of the traffic. And then, out of nowhere, there’s this cut across the berm that’s a good 2 feet deep and 3 feet wide, and I’m right on top of it. So I do this massive pull up in the air for a bunny hop and actually clear everything, but as I went airborne my well worn cleats pulled out on the right side. I came down unclipped on the right and banged my ankle bone on the pedal pretty hard.

         Enter temporary insanity. I landed, banged my ankle and then blasted out a non-stop flurry of obsenities for a solid minute, cursing everyone in NFLD that had anything to do with the road work. After a quarter mile I gathered myself and we continued to ride – NOT on the smooth berm with these horrible cuts, probably put there for water drainage off of the highway and into the side of the road. Lesson learned. We continued on, finally out of the road construction, and back on good pavement. Bill rode for about 3.5 hours and ended up with about 56 miles for today. Judy stayed on and continued to ride with me. Barney we were told was about 30-50 min back from the breakfast stop, so I didn’t get a chance to ride with him today.

         Clouds began building over the course of the afternoon, but really had no impact on the day as far as weather went. Ryan and Bill did support for us for the rest of the day, and we did stop for a very quick coke stop, and then continued for another 10 miles to the town of Gambo. Now Judy started to loose just a bit of steam over the last several climbs, so she motioned me to just finish by myself, so I motored on for another 4 miles to meet with Bill and Ryan at the Gambo exit. I waited for her at the bottom of the exit, then we rode up to meet with the guys and wait for Barney. And this is where we ran into the Road Grader Nazi. This guy is grading the road next to my van, and he’s getting closer and closer to my van and the guys. So I pull up to look at a map with Bill and this guy backs up the grader and damn near hits me, and Bill yells at the dude. Then Bill and this old Newfie Grader Guy start yelling F You to one another like two kids on a playground. It was actually hilarious now. They were just going at it with the F’s, and the F’s included mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. No one was exempt from this massive F you fest. We’re totally joking about it now, and we’re all doing our impressions of how it went down. Funny stuff.

         I rode down into Gambo to scout out a camping area. Finally found one about 4 miles from the freeway, way the hell up in the woods. It’s a pretty cool site we have, with this giant camp spot for all the tents and the van, out in the open in the sun and under the stars, with a big fire pot. So once Barney arrived we all hit the site, with me driving my van solo down this one-lane, rocky road to our site. I had to have them unload bikes and personnel due to the weight – not catching an oilpan on the big rocks in the road. Got there and just chilled for a bit with a couple of beers and we all sat in the warm sun. We hit the local eatery deamed the best by the people who run the campground – called Sheila’s. And it was a homerun for sure. Three of us had the fresh cod and two had the turkey. The mashed potatos were home made. The batter for the fish was light and excellent. The portions were great. It was just a wonderful meal. Back to the campsite where our camp hosts had piled a bit of firewood next to the fire pot. So this is the first campfire we had on the whole trip. Barney is currently at the picnic table with headlamp on doing his blog, while I’m here at the van plugged into my power inverter on the van, and Ryan and Bill are huddled around the campfire. Very nice night in NFLD. And very cool! Stars are already out at 9pm NFLD-Labrador time.

         This was just a wonderful day where I got a chance to ride with Bill and Judy, and really enjoy the beauty of the day. We’re now looking at 170 miles to finish this trip. If the weather is nice tomorrow we may shoot for 85+ miles to get us almost to the Avelon Peninsula, and then one more 85-mile day to the finish, Thursday, to St. John’s. If the weather is so-so to bad tomorrow, we’ll cut the ride down to 60 miles and just go to Clarensville, and then go two more 60-mile days to Cape Spear. That’s it from deep in the forests of NFLD. All the best……..Pete

         Note to Della and Tom: No skyp possibilities for the past several day, so that’s why I have not gotten ahold of you. What I’ll do is try to use a regular phone tomorrow night and call you. We could be in as soon as Thursday evening, and we’d just ride to Torbay, to your house, and then wait until Friday to do the ride to Cape Spear with you guys with us to the finish line. Or, if the weather is not so nice in the next two days, we could just so as planned and meet up with you on Friday in St. John’s and ride to Cape Spear with you then or on Sat morning. Either way, send me an email and let me know a good time to get ahold of you on Wed or Thursday of this week.