It's Not Over Till It's Over: Day 93 - Clarenville to Whitbourne - And Then We Pedalled...... Cross Canada 2015

September 3, 2015

It's Not Over Till It's Over: Day 93 - Clarenville to Whitbourne

So youse 'ad your cod dinner, gots your picture of d'boat in d'bay and you tink Newfoundland's all done den.

Well, y've not 'ad yer 'elpin of 'ills and 'eadwinds so here y'goes....

Take yesterday and turn it 180 degrees weather wise (but keep the hills!)

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We woke up to a beautiful morning in Clarenville. Marie and Kirby sent us off with a great breakfast and we headed down to the harbour under bight sunny skies.

Some beautiful views and pictures, and half a dozen conversations with all the people at the marina, and before you know it, the clock says it's 9:30. Oh well, another typical start time for us. At least the weather forecast says the south wind won't start until 12.

Well, the forcast was wrong today, the south wind started at 9:45 and the hills started immediately. Very beautiful riding though through or past classic Newfoundland places with names like Goobies, Come By Chance, and by the end of the day everyone's all time favourite,.... Dildo.

We we basically riding south along the narrow isthmus of Avalon, which is more or less a collection of barren hills mashed together without a piece of flat ground in sight. Although quite beautiful, the terrain looked like alpine or sub-alpine systems we get in the Rockies at 2000 m elevation. Here we were getting them at 200 m elevation and further south! It gave us a stark indication of what the weather is like here most of the time! Tough place!

Today was tough cycling for all of the 106 km's. The terrain is hilly, we climbed almost 1200 m, one of the biggest days of our entire trip, but as always it was the wind that made it really tough. It was strong, about 25 - 30 km/hr, and relentless. To compound the wind and the hills, the traffic was also quite heavy. Newfoundland doesn't have that many people but the majority of them live between where we were and St John's, and the TCH is where most of them drive. Oh, it also seems like the highway department hired one of the bozos from Manitoba. The once really good shoulders deteriorated and were more than half filled with rumble strips. Come on Newfoundland, why are you trying to ruin a good thing! To add insult to injury I also had my first flat. Not bad after 93 days and over 8500 km's. Kirsten had one flat too back on day 5, so we really can't complain.

And although this may seem like complaining, it's not. It's just how the day went, and that's bike touring. We were all pretty stoked to see the St John's signs with the numbers that kept falling. They are now in two digits..... And that's what's teed up for us tomorrow. Finis, complete, done.... once we get to St. John's. Until then we have to remember that it's not over till it's over! But we can sure see the end now!

Mark, Marie, Kirby and Kirsten before setting off from Clarenville. Thanks for the great hospitality

Clarenville harbour in the early morning

More views of Clarenville... Beautiful setting

Looking north to Clarenville. We were gong up and down along the coast. Very beautiful but tough cycling with a strong headwind

Spectacular views with all kinds of bays and inlets

Clouds starting to gather and traffic starting to build.... Still have the hills!

This picture could have been taken in Kananaskis country ... Looks like a sub alpine ecosystem. Barren but pretty isthmus of Avalon

Where we came from ... Lots of heavy trucks on this road

Where we are headed.... This was the most dramatic looking hill, but there were several more of the same size before we reached Whitbourne. And to really rub it in, look at those damned rumble strips taking up the whole shoulder!

Song of the Day:

Our Last Night by Los Lobos

'Cause it is our last night of this trip. Hard for us to imagine but it's coming to an end

Historical Monument of the Day

Nothing for today, it was head down and pedal into the wind. Lots to make up for it tomorrow though... St John's is one of the oldest cities in North America

Hang tight till then.

Today's ride: 106 km (66 miles)
Total: 8,652 km (5,373 miles)

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