Today, 104 km, total 2926 km
A dewey morning. Everybody woke up to find little pools of water on tent floors, and various objects dripping with water. Even Pete and Judy, sleeping in the back of the van, noted that the insides of the windows were steamed up ... but maybe that's another story.
First sound heard this morning was the pumping of the Coleman stove, and by the time my eyes were fully open there was coffee on the go and eggs in the skillet, and Judy handed me a bowl of yoghourt and granola. Thanks, Judy, what luxury!
Definite cahnge inthe wetaher today. The following wind that has served us so well for days`hs swung around, and tody we are pushing into the teeth of it. The weather has turned colder, and the skies are leaden. I broke out the woolen jersey that has been hidden in my gear bag for nearly 3,000 km, and added the goretex jacket to cut the chilly wind.
Our plan had been to make the 140km to Arnold's cove today, which would have made St John's reachable tomorrow, but given the changed conditions, it was obvious that that would be a tough ride. Pete and Bill headed out first, and Ryan and I hung back for a few minutes while he tried to call his daughter, Quinn, on her first day at kindergarten - he missed her by a couple of minutes but left her a message.
Judy resumed her sag duties, stopping every 10 miles to make sure everyone was on track, handing out cookies and soft drinks as needed znd keeping us informed haow evryone else was doing.
We headed off into the wind, taking it in turns to pull and maintaining a decent pace of about 24 km/hr. The terrain was the familiar wooded heathland, with occasional lakes, long false flat climbs with the occasional steeper pitch to keep us warm. After an hour or so, we caught up with Judy and the other riders at a gas station. Bill decided to load his bike on the car, and Pete and Ryan took off at their usual higher speed, while I followed up in the rear. I felt good, but having been accustomed to the rocket boost of the last few days, every rise just seemed that much harder.
Pete has been showing me how to ride out of the saddle, which I find helps a lot on most types of climb. The idea is to shift to a higher gear, then use your weight to pedal with more effort but lower cadence to maintain speed and use a different set of muscles. This has the effect of allowing muscle recovery, and also significant relief for the seat bones. The trick is to keep a controlled pace and a comfortable motion, which doesn't come naturally and needs some practice, but as I work at it I find that it really conserves energy and improves comfort.
Around 1pm, I stopped at a gas station for a coke and some jerky bars, and called Valerie on my cell phone; haven't been able to get a good signal or internet for some time. When I got back on the road, it started to rain, and at the same time the road started to steepen into long straight climbs, pretty hard going given the headwind. By this time, the others had reached Clarenville, and Pete and Judy came back in the car to check on my progress. I waved to them, and they said that they would wait for me at the tourist centre.
When I arrived, Pete asked me if I wanted to press on to Arnolds Cove. I answered ... NO ... and he said that's good because they had already found hotel rooms in Calrenville. So back for a relaxing shower, internet catchup and dinner at the hotel.
Expecting rain overnight and early morning, so we will probably make a late start. We have 180 km left to St John's, which we will split into 2 days. Really looking forward to meeting Valerie on Friday. I can't believe this great adventure is nearing its end, but I'm excited to think of a few day's sight-seeing with my lovely wife.
Until tomorrow
Barney
PS Check Pete's blog at www.transcanada09.blogspot.com
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