The End Is Near

My night behind the Clarenville Visitor Information Centre was another successful wild camping experience. Although, it really stretched the definition of “wild camping” considering I was told I could camp there and the people working there were so helpful in making my stay enjoyable. Thanks again to them – I should’ve gotten a photo, or at least their names.

I left the Information Centre around 8:20 with my initial destination being Subway for breakfast and lunch to go. With it only being a couple of kilometres away, it was a short detour. By 8:40 I was officially on my way to Whitbourne – another 110 km day. And I’d been told by multiple sources that there would be hills. Big hills. “Terra Nova all over again”-type hills. I felt I was ready.

I have to say the first half of the ride was much easier than I was expecting. Not to say it was “easy” but easier than I expected. I stopped for lunch around noon and as it happens I was at 58 km. Halfway. My average speed at that point was almost 21 km/h. So far so good. However, I also noticed that the crosswinds had started to pick up at that point and, based on the map, the hills were close. Very close. I ate my sub, drank my new V8-style drink and then I was on my way. And the hills were quick to greet me.

The hills were in fact similar to those of Terra Nova, but I felt more prepared for them today. They were definitely exhausting climbs but not as daunting as yesterday. Unlike yesterday though, the biggest hills were closer to the end of the ride which was both good and bad. Bad because I was more tired by the time I got to them. Good, because I knew how far I was going on the day so I had a pretty good idea how much climbing was left to do. In this case it was 29 km.

The worst part of the 29 km wasn’t actually the hills but rather the shoulder along the Trans-Canada Highway. Unlike most of the roads on which I’ve been riding, the road today had rumble strips taking up half the shoulder – sometimes more. There were also a LOT of small rocks and sand scattered across the shoulder. Oh, and potholes and cracked asphalt. All of this made for difficult riding. When I approached some of these obstacles there was literally no room to escape except over the rumble strips. Riding over rumble strips on a bike is not particularly enjoyable. To add to the fun, the crosswind tossed me around the narrow strip of asphalt on which I was left to manoeuvre. This became more of a concern on the descents as there wasn’t much time to react.

Fortunately, I managed to keep the bike on the road (or close enough to the road) long enough to get me to Whitbourne by 4:00. All that was left to do was find the Visitor Information Centre and set up camp for the night. Well, I THOUGHT that was all that was left to do. My plan went awry when I got to the Visitor Information Centre only to find “No Camping” signs lining the parking lot. Sigh. Fortunately, this stretch of the highway was very much like Gander in that there were multiple commercial establishments in a row. I rode along looking for an alternate camping location.

I found a nice patch of grass behind the Mary Brown’s restaurant and decided to ask the woman at the Drive-Thru window if I could camp there. She proceeded to tell me that there is a better place down near the pond – away from the noise of the highway. This sounded perfect. She was going on break so she led the way towards the spot in question. A short walk later I was at my campsite for the night. And a couple of hours later I was back at Mary Brown’s, this time for supper (and WiFi).

Today’s Totals:
Distance Travelled: 109.93 km
Time on Bike: 5:57:40
Maximum speed: 59.66 km/h
Average speed: 18.44 km/h

The strangest part of today was that I felt MUCH better on the hills than I did yesterday but, as the final numbers show, my average speed was actually better yesterday. Mind over matter strikes again.

St. John’s is now “just” 70 km away. Even though I’m not a coffee drinker, I’ve decided to make “Fixed” my destination for tomorrow. As you may or may not recall, “Fixed” is a cafe that was mentioned to me by a fellow cyclist (Dave) on the way to Kingston (oh so long ago). If all goes well I hope to arrive there by 2:00. I really hope all goes well.