Travelling Light

Why it's worth getting kevlar-reinforced tires!

Crabbies River, NF August 21

Today, 95km. Total 2,295km

Pete and I waited in the Ferry building until about 8:30, then Pete went up to the vehicle entrance to wait for the rest of the crew to arrive and give them their boarding cards. A few minutes later, I saw Ryan at the window, looking fit and relaxed after his vacation with his daughter Quinn in California. Hard to believe that he as been away for 2 1/2 weeks, and how much has happened in that time.He had had some great family time, and gave Quinn her first surfing lessons.

We quickly went out to meet Judy and Bill. I have spoken to them both on skype, and now was able to match faces and voices. They had driven non-stop from Cleveland, over 24 hours, aqnde were pretty bagged, so we all set about packing all our gear, including 5 bikes, into Pete's Van. That done, we were able to board the ship.

The trip from North Sydney to Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland is over a hundred miles, on a route that can be stormy; however, tonight the water was calm. The ferry is a huge ship, with restaurants and a casino. We chose to sleep on the couches in the saloon, rather than take cabins.not the most comfortable way to spend a night, but a professioanl entertainment duo was there to help pas the time with Newfie music and, of course, jokes. It was apretty good show. The food we got from the snack-bar was so-so, mostly prepackaged sandwiches, but e were able to wsh them down with a few beers from the bar.

None of us slept well, and we were all pretty groggy; this was not helped by the fact that we have now entered the NF time zone, which is an odd-ball 1/2 hour ahead of Atlantic time. When the ship docked in the sunny and picturesque Port-aux-Basques harbour, Our first act was to drive the streets to look for breakfast. Although it was after 8am, with lots of other travellers on the same quest, everywhere was closed, except Tim Hortons, which had cares linedup for several blocks. We eventually found a hotel,which provided a good meal, with amazingly slow service. Welcome to island time!

Fed, we went to the Tourist Info to get maps, and chnged into our riding gear in the washroom. Pete and Judy had been here before and wanted to show us a trail on an old railway bed the wound along the coastline with beautiful beach vistas. Unfortunately, the gravelled surface had been ruined by ATVs, and it was really heavy going, even without our touring loads, which we had left in the van. In places, the ballast was several inches deep, and I actually fell off twice trying to negotiate it. After 20km, we were all getting tired, and ready to get back onto the trans-canada. Judy rode back to get the van and the rest of us pressed off along the highway.

The 800 Km ride to St Johns will be a slog if today is anything to judge by. We had a mild headwind that at least provided cooling across the interminable series of power-climbs ofer the rolling heathlands After 90 km, we all met outside a campground and decided to call it a day. Pete and Ryan are both suffering from sinus infections, and the rest of us were just bonked.

I'm writing in my tent with no wifi, so I don't know when I will be able to post this.
Until next time,
Barney
See Pete's blog www.transcanada09.blogspot.com