Through Gander Like Corn Through a Goose

Definitive view of Newfoundland from Trans Canada Highway

Gambo, Newfoundland August 25

Today: 148 km, total: 2822 km

Got up this morning to find Pete and Ryan sharing cold leftover pesto penne pasta out of a ziplock bag. Ryan upped the ante by scoffing half a bag of Chunks Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, then declared that he felt sick and that he would drive sag today. Rest of the crew expressed sympathy - not!

Ryan and Judy drove to a gas station restaurant at Bishops Falls, and the rest of us followed by bike. Pete and Bill, who seem to have shaken off their sinus infections, sailed straight by, while I stopped for a more conventional breakfast. Then Judy took of in the van to ride with Pete and Bill, and I carried on solo.

The terrain was more of the customary interior highlands, but conditions were great under a blue sky with the same stiff tailwind, so I kept up a good speed, chasing cloud shadows along the road to Gander. Bill and Ryan met me at the tourist info and fed me Coke and fig newtons, then took off while I hung around to check email.

Sorry to learn that Marilyn Ohrn, Tetrad's receptionist/clerk/everything person was taken ill in the office and rushed to hospital. Best wishes to you, Marilyn, I wish you a speedy recovery.

After my lunch break, I carried on at the same rapid pace. The hills here are still the same long false flats, usually ending in a steeper kick that I could mostly manage in high gear by getting up out of the saddle. Ran into a nasty construction zone where the surface had been ground off for about 10 km. The shoulder was more or less intact, but covered in debris, with abrupt drainage channels cut across the surface so they couldn'tbe avoided. I learned later that Pete had hit one of these at speed, and got a nasty whack on the ankle when his pedal unclipped.

Closer to our destination of Gambo, we ran into a couple of long steep climbs. By this time I ws starting to get tired, so I slowed down and just spun the lower gears. At the Gambo turnoff, I say Judy waving from the overpass, and we turned off on Joseph Smallwood Drive to find the campground that Pete had already speced out. (Note to non-Canadians: Joey Smallwood was Premier of Newfoundland and brought the province into Canada in the 1940s. He was born in Gambo).

The campground is a clean and attractive park forested with small pine trees and a ground cover of moss and what I believe to be Labrador Tea. We all headed off for a great dinner at Shiela's Home Cooking restaurant - I had an enormous meal of split pea soup with dumplings followed by a real turkey dinner and partridge berry pie.

Now sitting at the picnic table. The nights are getting colder, and we have a fire going in the pit. Evidently Fall arrives early in Newfoundland.

No sign of wifi within 50 miles, so I will post this when I get a chance.
Good night
Barney
Pete's blog: www.transcanada09.blogspot.com