The Difference a Few Weeks Make

It’s interesting how things change over the course of a few weeks. I look back at some of the things that I struggled with early in the trip and how much differently I react or treat the same situation now. What I noticed most recently is that I no longer wake up every time a little bit of rain starts falling on the tent. Not much of a surprise considering how many nights of rain there have been. For the number of rainy nights though, I think I’ve been somewhat lucky with the number of times I’ve actually been riding in the rain – heavy rain, anyway. Today would be another one of those days.

With a bright sunrise not greeting me first thing in the morning, I didn’t wake up until about 7:30. I had a somewhat big day of riding planned with the goal being Clarenville, about 115 km away. The big unknown was the hills. Part of the ride would include going through Terra Nova National Park. Given my experience with Gros Morne, I suspected there would be big hills to conquer today. But I’d worry about that when the time came. Terra Nova was still 40 km down the road, I focused on the task at hand which was tackling the hills on the way to Terra Nova.

It was probably the lack of a significant breakfast (yes, again … I know) but I definitely felt slower today. The wind and hills likely played a role too. But I also felt like I wasn’t being as aggressive going up the hills as I have on previous days. It was frustrating. I had hoped to find somewhere to stop along the way for some food but nothing came along. I was on my own. My two peanut butter sandwiches were going to have to be enough to get me to Terra Nova.

A few days ago at Gros Morne I was talking with a couple from Dallas and they had mentioned a place called “Splash n’ Putt” with a restaurant and a free place to camp that was located just before entering the National Park. With that in mind I kept pedalling. As much as I would’ve liked to take advantage of the free camping location I knew I had to go further than that, but the restaurant was of definite interest to me.

At 11:40 I saw the sign for Mary’s Diner. Finally. I don’t know if I was happier to just be taking a break or at the idea of getting some real food – and hopefully energy. The energy source in question ended up being a hot chicken sandwich with tators, a side of potato salad, and some garlic bread with cheese as an appetizer. And the waitress was kind enough to bring over a jug of water too. As you can imagine, there were no leftovers.

I returned to my bike a little more prepared to take on the next 75 km – 40 of which was through Terra Nova. Well, I THOUGHT I was a little more prepared. I’m sure I was but it certainly didn’t feel like it. It probably had something to do with the not-so-insignificantly sized hills I was gazing at. I knew right away that this afternoon would be tough. Very big hills. Long. Steep. Headwind. Rainy. Then sunny. Then rainy. You get the idea.

I like to try to maintain a pace of about 20 km/h. It was clear that I wasn’t going to be near that target today. The really big descents couldn’t offset the long steep climbs that sometimes reduced my climbing speed to single digits.

In an attempt to pass the time, I played mind games the whole way. Anything to break up the thought of there being 75 km of these big climbs and descents. I’d tell myself, “Only 10 km to this point” and then, “Only 5 km to that point.” When I reached the 60km point I was halfway for the day, but also only 20km from the border of Terra Nova. I don’t know why but I felt the hills would be more moderate once I left the park. As it happens, it was somewhat true.

Once I left Terra Nova there were a couple of small towns to go through before reaching Clarenville. With only 30 km left to go, things seemed much more manageable.

My plan for Clarenville was to spend the night at/near/around the Visitor Information Centre. Of course, having never seen the Centre I didn’t know if this was an option. All I knew was that I would be wild camping somewhere tonight to help offset the overpriced campsite of last night. Fortunately, the Visitor Information Centre is just like the one in Deer Lake (minus the airport). As an added bonus it was only 2 km from a big commercial area with grocery stores, restaurants, and other shops.

I went into the Centre for a washroom break and to assess if camping there would be an option. The two people working there were SO friendly and helpful. They said camping there would be fine, and they let me charge up some of my devices before they closed for the night. They also gave me some insight as to what I can expect in terms of hills over the next couple of days. It would seem there are more big climbs in my future.

After a quick grocery run I was back to cook up some rice and enjoy a relaxing evening. Much to my surprise, while the rice was cooking I heard someone calling to me. I looked up to see a familiar person waving to me from the parking lot. I didn’t recognize him at first but it was Marc – we met two days earlier at Kona Beach when he had come over to talk with Allan and me. We didn’t talk at all this time but it was fun to see him again.

The Information Centre is now closed for the evening so it looks like I have the place to myself – with the exception of the occasional car that stops in to throw out some garbage. All things considered it was another good, but tiring, day. The biggest downside was that I didn’t take many photos today – there was one really nice view in particular but I was going about 50 km/h down a big hill at the time and it probably would’ve taken me about 1.5 km to stop.

Today’s Totals:
Distance Travelled: 118.88 km
Time on bike: 6:28:39
Maximum speed: 54.29 km/h
Average speed: 18.33 km/h