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.
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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.
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