Do You Believe In Magic?

After yesterday’s long, wet, windy day, today started a little more sluggishly than my usual spry morning self. I still woke up early, as per usual, but I wasn’t in a rush to get on the road. Once again, that may have been because today was only going to be a 100km day.

While I packed up my stuff I also threw some of my still wet clothes in the dryer. Something tells me these clothes will never be able to be worn near other people again. And I’m definitely going to need a new jacket at some point. Oh, and new shoes. Anyway, that’s all stuff for another day.

Breakfast was had at Eddy’s Restaurant just up the road from the campsite. There was a headwind on the way there and that actually made me very happy because after this ride to the restaurant I’d be cycling the other way for much of the remainder of the day.

I was ready to hit the road by 11:00 – a later start than usual but still manageable as I still figured I could make it to the next stop by 5:00. Allan still had some packing up to do so I was on my way first with the plan of meeting up with him later at Bishop’s Falls Municipal Park.

There were three unofficial segments to today’s ride. The first was a 52km ride from the campground to Badger – and it was a pretty easy ride. Even though I was climbing for much of it, there was a nice tailwind to help me along. There isn’t much in Badger but I stopped for a bit of food, a water refill, and an ice cream cone. Thirty minutes later I was pedalling again, this time to Grand Falls-Windsor.

The road made a major turn to the east beyond Badger so the tailwind that I had been enjoying for much of the ride was no longer my ally. However, the uphill climbs from earlier in the day had mostly changed to descents so everything pretty much balanced out.

I reached Grand Falls-Windsor by 3:30. Along the highway there had been signs for a McDonald’s so I thought I might stop nearby to take advantage of their WiFi. However, as I neared the McDonald’s I noticed a Tim Hortons about 100m further along. I went there instead. I spent the next hour eating a double-chocolate donut, drinking a frozen lemonade, and updating my blog with yesterday’s tales. Okay, I spent about 14 seconds eating the donut, slightly longer on the lemonade (you’d think I’d learn not to drink those fast), and the rest of the time using the WiFi.

The final stretch of today’s ride was a mere 18 kilometres to Bishop’s Falls. And remarkably, the sun actually came for about 20 minutes. When I left Tim Hortons, I was so surprised to see blue sky that I even took a picture. I had almost forgotten that there was blue sky in Newfoundland. It made the easy ride to the campground even more pleasant – I was very glad to feel the warm sun after so much cloud and wind.

Bishop’s Falls Municipal Park is a very scenic campground overlooking the Exploits River – a salmon river which apparently has had a major decline in salmon numbers this year. There’s also a small damn and a hydro electric facility here. On the camping side, there’s also a couple of large gazebos with a picnic table which became the official kitchen for the night.

I had my tent set up and electronics charging by the time Allan rolled in. Another day of successful riding was complete.

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Good, but uneventful. Cooking up some food, talking about the day and the trip, comparing camping gear – stoves, in particular, and other such essential things. We were just about to call it a night when the best part of the day occurred. Almost like magic, a young girl from one of the trailers next to the gazebo came over carrying a plate with four cupcakes on it. Yes, they were for us! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to have cupcakes. I was probably happier than I should’ve been but I mean, seriously, cupcakes after a long day on the road. Oh, and did I mention they were still slightly warm? The young girl disappeared as quickly as she had arrived but her impression will last a lifetime. Or at least a LOT longer than the cupcakes – although, they did last long enough to get a picture. Barely. Sadly, the batteries on my real camera were dead and the camera on my phone wasn’t up to the low-light challenge. But it’s better than nothing.

I don’t know who that magical girl was but I can only say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Today’s Totals:
Distance Travelled: 103.11km
Time on bike: 4:44:14
Maximum speed: 51.12 km/h
Average speed: 21.75 km/h
Cupcakes eaten: 2