Day 54 – Deer Lake, Newfoundland (Monday, June 29, 2015)
I woke at 5:30 and was on the road by 6:30 determined to make Deer Lake which was 163 km through hilly country against a strong cross wind from the east.
It was cool and overcast throughout the day, reaching a high in the teens. I find this preferable over hot days like yesterday.
Cycling was my main focus and although I spent a bit of time fiddling with my GPS connection I did not spend extra time on secondary roads until Corner Brook.
I arrived in Corner Brook at 1:40 pm and, noticing that it was located at a much lower elevation and away from the road, I decided to skirt the town and stuck to the highway. I remembered the owner of the Midway Motel mentioning that the trip from Corner Brook to Deer Lake was down hill. I thought he was pulling my leg since they’re both sea ports. But unless you leave the highway to enter the town your descent doesn’t start until you pass by the town.
Corner Brook is located at the tip of a fjord and may be another town worth visiting. The road signs commemorated James Cook. I found out later that he was famous for mapping Newfoundland.
I arrived at the Deer Lake airport at about 6 pm. I will pick up the cross country cycling tour on Tuesday night.
Somewhere along the way I decided to visit Gros Morne Park. Several people had said that I ought not to miss it if I was going to NFL. Because the park is 70k m off the main route I have rented a car from Deer Lake airport. Ralph and I are staying in Rocky Harbour tonight at the Ocean View where the food is pretty darn good for Newfoundland.
Tomorrow we hope to explore the park.
(June 30, Tour of Rocky Harbour, Gros Morne and return to Deer Lake, Newfoundland)
While I do not consider the next day at Rocky Harbour part of the journey there is a bit of story to tell and a few additional pictures that I will put here for lack of any other better place. I am sorry that I fell short of the 10 photos that Russ requested.
I woke from my sleep at Rocky Harbour early with a sharp pain in my left hip. After puzzling about it I speculate that it was a hip flexor strain from a reflex straightening of my tight quads while I was sleeping; I had caught myself doing the same thing while I was half asleep another night. It was so painful that it resulted in a low grade fever, lifting my leg, and made it difficulty to walk especially up and down stairs. I was concerned that I could not realistically continue cycling. The fortunate part was that I was in Rocky Harbour with a rented car. It was the only day that I would not be cycling.
With this festering issue I limited my visit of Gros Morne to the coast north of Rocky Harbour and the small town of Morris Point. Having completed an abbreviated tour of Gros Morne I returned to Deer Lake by 10:30 am hoping to see a doctor to examine my hip. I reasoned that if I was caught with an debilitating problem between towns in Newfoundland I would be in real trouble. My only recourse may be to hitchhike. Something that I would prefer to prevent.
I had no trouble finding a clinic in Deer Lake. Unfortunately the clinics there were clogged much the same way they are in Ontario. At a about 2 pm I gave up the wait. I hoped instead that I could determine my ability to continue after a good night’s sleep. I shopped for a few things, returned the car to the Deer Lake airport, and rode my bike as best I could to the Driftwood Inn where I had supper and stayed for the night.
I treated my hip by wrapping it as best I could, icing it twice and taking two Tylenols before bed. I was very relieved in the morning that my fever had lifted and my leg was almost as good as new (but that’s the next blog). Although I never lost a day cycling I most certainly would not have been able to ride on June 30.
