8/11/09: Off and on segments. http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment80.html
http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment81.html Rt 11 south to Rt 134 south, and off routes along the coast. Miramichi, New Brunswick to Cap Pele, New Brunswick. 103 miles.
Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/
We got Barney’s century in today fully loaded. That was kind of a goal of his for the past several weeks. And today – mission accomplished! Now let’s start from the start. Got up at the hotel and hi tailed it down to Subway for the breakfast sub. Then went back and brewed some hotel coffee and ate the sub while emailing. We got on the road about 9am, and today was the best day we had to look at to try to get a century in between here and the finish in Newfoundland.
So we rode back up to Rt 11 south, out of Miramichi, on this nasty little early morning climb back up to the freeway, and then just went freeway for about 30 miles. This was some pretty easy riding what with a cross tailwind today, and a berm that changed between great and meager. My idea was to let Barney set the pace and do this thing on his own terms, with me not pushing the pace or pulling like a madman – that would make for HIM getting the century in on his own, not with my prodding. So I just hung back and let him set a nice pace. So we took Rt 11 all the way to the National Park of Kouchibouguac, and then turned into right towards the ocean and the park. We went through just a sliver of the park, so I really cannot say that I’ve been there or checked it out very well. Then we got on the “Starfish Route”, the seaside route, Rt 134 south, and just hung along the ocean for miles on end. Every once in a while we would deviate off of 135 and go on these little peninsulas that jut out into the ocean. This was much preferable to the Rt 11 south, dealing with the freeway traffic, semis, and the everchanging berm situation. Plus, it was quite quiet and scenic. So the additional miles were well worth the effort.
We could finally relax on the seaside route and just meander around coves and hamlets along the ocean. Again, I let Barney set the pace, and he kept it nice and steady the whole way. We took a rest break in the town of Bouctouche, and stopped at my ……….nemesis………Timmy Hortons pee house! Only game in town, as we really had a craving for chocolate éclairs. But no bakery in town, so we had to settle for Timmy’s. Went in and ordered a dozen doughnuts, 6 each. To be fair to this Timmy’s – the stuff was very fresh. I woofed my half dozen down in like 5 min. When I was done, Barney still had 3 to go! Chased the doughnuts with a Pepsi, and that was all I could take. The sugar buzz was alarmingly high. With this done, I know now that Barney has the gremlin living inside of his belly!. Burp, gasp, uhhhhhhh…..we get back on the bike and kept it rolling around the winding ocean front roads. I could taste those doughnuts for a good two hours after we stopped at Timmy’s. And believe me, the aftertaste was no where as appealing as the first time!
Round about 6 hours in we arrived in the town of Shediac, a seaside resort town with a cluster F… of traffic and people and a slew of beaches. We hit the information center to find a camping area. This place was a zoo, and I’m real happy that we did not stop there. It’s one of those tourist destinations that have all the junk – game area, massive RV parks, a downtown of restaurants and pubs, and crazy traffic and pedestrians everywhere. Not my idea of fun. So we got direction to a place that was just about enough of a distance away so that Barney would get his century. But we had to take this detour onto a freeway for several miles to get there. So we wheel out, find the freeway, and then get to motoring. By this time, the sugar buzz had worn off of me, and I was beginning to experience my infamous hypoglycemic downturn – the shakes, low energy and a foggy head. So I just put it down a bit so that I could finish and eat asap.
We finally get off and back onto Rt 135, and head to the town of Cap Pele. And we ride for a good bit. I look down at the odometer, and notice that I’m at 99.7, and Barney was worried that he’d have to do a parking lot loop to get in his 100. Not today! Came to a campground outside of town, but we vetoed that because it did not fit all three criteria: wifi, restaurant, beer store. Asked a local about more campgrounds and he told us that there was another down about 3 miles, and it was closer to a restaurant and beer store. Sold! On we went. Now Barney had no worries about nailing his century, it was a done deal. We found a place down a side road going to the ocean, and while I went there to get a site, Barney went another K into town for the beer run.
We have a spot right on the ocean, right in back of this massive sand dune. We’re last at the camp periphery, and have no “overlap issues” to worry about as we did at the last campground. I got my tent up by the time Barney had returned, and we just sat on the table, toasted his first century in 46 years, and drank some micro brews and ate chips and dip. The wind off of the ocean was very nice, though a bit on the cool side. Nonetheless, we just sat there for a good hour BS’ing and having chips, dip and beer. What a combo after doing 100+ miles with full gear on the bikes!
We’re now about 40 miles from the bridge to PEI, and should be able to make it by noon tomorrow. Then we’ll cross on a shuttle and do the PEI section of the trip. We’ll likely just do 40 or so miles in PEI tomorrow, and then finish and cross back over to Nova Scotia on Thursday. That will give us a full week to do the Cape Breton Highlands area and be in North Sidney on time to meet with the gang.
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