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 Gross 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, Gross 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 Gross Morne to the coast north of Rocky Harbour and the small town of Morris Point. Having completed an abbreviated tour of Gross 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.

Day 53 – Robinsons, Newfoundland (Sunday, June 28, 2015)

I attempted sleeping on the ferry in a lounge chair but it was rough. I may have got a few hours at the very most. At any rate it was a lot less than normal nights in poor sleeping positions.

I had breakfast on board just after the ferry had docked.

We disembarked at Port aux Basque at 7am Newfoundland time and were immediately greeted with unique Newfoundland landscape.   In retrospect (I am now writing this in Rocky Harbour) I realize now that Port aux Basque is worth visiting.   I was interested in getting some miles in before crashing early to catch up on sleep.

I had lunch at a road side restaurant near Jeffery’s NL and learned from the local people that there aren’t many places ’til Corner Brook. So I resigned myself to staying at my original destination, Midway Motel and Lounge.

The day was good for cycling. It started cool but a nice tail wind picked up from the south bringing with it (I guess) the warmest day of my trip. I found the heat sucking the energy out of me.

As it turned out the Midway Motel (Robinsons, NL) was closed and the property was up for sale. When I arrived I was tired from lack of sleep on the ferry and quite hot so I pitched in the rear and crashed. Corner Brook was another 110 km I had no other place to go.

At about 7pm the owner came by and we chatted. I explained my situation and he was more than happy to let me stay. Apparently even when the motel was open he had reserved an area at the rear for cyclists passing through. (See the comment below.)

Day 52 – North Sydney, Nova Scotia (Saturday, June 27, 2015)

Today was a bit of a challenge.  I had to make 143km with unknown hilly terrain and a 13km head wind.

I ate grocery food in the hotel room and was on the road by 7:40am.

Despite the hills I was happy to make Beddeck by noon and spent some time exploring the town and visiting the Bell museum. Although Bell seems like a nice fellow with a good family he seems more like an influential tinkerer than a real scientist. Regardless we likely need more people like Bell who muck around and leave a lasting legacy.

Of all the places on Cape Breton I like the waters and surrounding hills of the Bras D’Or Estuaries the best. I can understand why it would have attracted a guy like Bell who had the good fortune of being able to live just about anywhere.

After Beddeck it was heads down riding the remainder 55km or so to North Sydney.   The climb between two parts of the Bras D’Or Lake was the steepest long climb since British Columbia. It was the first time since BC that I had to use the first chain ring.

I was satisfied to arrive in North Sydney before 6pm. I grabbed something to eat at Subway and spent the time before boarding the ferry at 9pm to do some bicycle maintenance. I replaced a broken spoke and patched a tire on the lawn of a museum.

I am currently on the ferry to Newfoundland. We left North Sydney harbour about 20 minutes ago. Now I have time to spend in a big chair trying to get some rest before I start bicycling again tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Day 51 – Port Hastings, Nova Scotia (Friday, June 26, 2015)

I woke to my alarm at 4:48am, packed up my tent and was on the road by 5:30am determined to make the first ferry to Nova Scotia. I arrived at the ferry dock almost 1 hour before the departure but I had enough time to eat breakfast of muffins and fruit that I had bought the day before.

The ferry arrived in Nova Scotia about 7:30am and I set off toward Pictou.   At the fork near Pictou I decided not to visit Halifax in favour of a direct route to Sydney.

Highway 104 in Nova Scotia was hilly but otherwise not especially interesting. At one point I decided to take a secondary road running parallel in hopes to get a sense of countryside. But while the road was quiet it was poorly maintained and wove around like a snake and I ended up returning to the main highway.

I ate and stayed at the Heartstone Inn in Port Hastings for the night. Ideally I would have liked to have gone another 20-30km to shorten tomorrow’s distance to Sydney.  The weather and the wind were favorable but the people at the information booth could not confidently assure me there was any suitable accommodation for some distance. The Heartstone was a pretty good place; better than the hotel franchises and had a clear view of the channel between Cape Breton and the mainland.

Day 50 – Northumberland Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island (Thursday, June 25, 2015)

In the morning I met Steve, the host of Victoria Inn B+B.   He informed me about the latest history of the unique town of Victoria, a town which I just stumbled on, and pointed me to the best route to take both on the island and on Newfoundland. He suggested that I travel west through Charlottetown, on to the Wood Islands, and take the ferry to Nova Scotia. I didn’t even know there was a ferry.

After breakfast I set off. The weather was excellent and the wind favorable and I made Charlottetown in good time.

I approached the downtown off the main road as Steve had suggested and spent time eating a lunch (of store bought food) in the park by the water on the southwest corner of the city.   After lunch I passed a historic building constructed for tourists like me. I am intrigued by the history of the cities I visit and like to imagine what it would have been like for struggling pioneers years ago. But outside the building there was a notice “Closed on June 25”.

Not deterred I carried on toward the harbour doing my best to find directions to some history. After all I heard a bunch of guys got together to sign some important papers here in 1867. I ended up at a marina restaurant where the waitresses first directed me to the information center, and from there I found the location of Providence House.

Providence House as it turns out was closed for renovations.   I can understand that they may want it fixed up for Canada Day. I’ll make that presumption. But I was disappointed. It’s likely the most significant Canadian place in my trip since I have by passed all the capitals. Regardless of the reason it was closed I couldn’t help but think that Canada has all grown up. Its history is becoming more irrelevant.  It is a cynical thought. The country that now exists is the legacy of those guys who took the risk to act on their dream.

The cathedral which was also on the list of places to see was closed ’til 12:40pm. It wasn’t really important to me. Just added to the list of places that were coincidentally not open on the day or the time I happened to by riding by.

On the positive… the art gallery and the open outdoor spaces in downtown Charlottetown were quite nice.

Traveling from Charlottetown to the Woods Islands was uneventful. I followed the main road since the secondary roads didn’t lead me to where I wanted to go. The road was good, but hilly with buildings sparsely scattered.

I arrived at the information center by the ferry at about 4:30pm.  Had I known a ferry left at 4:30pm I would have hustled and made it to Nova Scotia.   Instead I settled on buying some food at the cafeteria near the ferry dock and, enduring mosquitoes, camped at the nearby Northumberland Provincial Park.