Nova Scotia part 2 - Cape Breton

I spent the night in Antigonish at a campground which was nice as there a lit of kids playing. You could see that the teens congregate together as well and they just stood around for the most part, but at least they socialized.

It has been interesting that I haven't seen any other cyclists in NS. They must be cutting NS short or something.

I peddled about 120 km to the town of St. Peters that had live music. And there was a provincial campground almost in town. The campground was on the edge of the ocean and had a lighthouse there. The next day about 20 min away was a surfing competition and they had a warm up party at the campground with a few very talented fellows playing acousticly. Since there was no lights on the road to town I decided to forgo the in town music and hang out there at the gathering which was about 3 campsites down from where my tent was.

The next day I was up bright n early and on.my way to Sydney. I was not making great time with an average spead of about 13 kmh it seemed. It took about 7 hours to travel 85 km. I did stop in a little town of big pond to visit Rita McNeils Tea Room where I had a large bowl of chowder. I do not recommend biking on a full stomach of chowder, your body gets confused and tries to process food while trying to power your legs.

So I get to Sydney and find out that the ferry doesn't depart till Monday at 5 pm and it was Saturday. Sigh.

So I killed time visiting various places and biking around oh and working on my French. Sun night I get a call that the ferry was delayed it wasn't departing till 3am Tuesday morning which meant it would not arrive in NL till Tuesday evening which would be hard on my schedule.

I did catch part of a chef after party. I guess there was a large food competition in Cape Breton and they were meeting for drinks at the pub next to the hotel I was staying at.

So the day of the ferry arrived which was mostly a.sit n wait n kil time day. I went over to north Sydney about 5 pm and waited some more. The ferry finally started boarding and I was on.about 4am. Where I promptly found a couch to curl up on.

I learnt the next day that that ferry was the only one for that week as it was going to go help out the other ferry run as one of the ferries was down. It made amazing time at it had a tail wind and was running full out. We arrived about 4pm which made it an 11 hour run, not the 12-14 we were told.

The ferry had a full dining room and an excellent buffet at an ok price considering we were a captive audience.

I cheated and got a ride to st. Johns with a couple from Ontario. They were really nice and pet me pitch a tent on their campsite.

The next day they decided to stay there and we did the O'Brien's whale n puffin excursion. Alas we didn't see any whales but we did see a lot of puffins which are quite interesting and awkward looking birds. After which we went to cape spear.

I did not realize how much of an impact or involvement that  the area around st. Johns had with WW1/2. They had battlements around the harbour and it was an active port for the escorts that protected the convoys of ships that where crossing the Atlantic.

There is so much to explore I hope I have enough time to see it all.

So far I have been "screeched in" so I am now an honourary newfie, I have discovered that they play fantastic music EVERY NIGHT. I have visited "the Rooms" which is their museum and seen a few of their crazy streets. I also took pictures of the harbour.



Location : 27-61 Bannerman St, St John's, NL A1C 1S2,

Leaving Halifax

Leaving Halifax was pretty easy, I hopped a ferry to Dartmouth and then followed the highway. The new stretch was pretty flat and had decent shoulders for NS. But the old highway was hilly which would have been okay but it was very hot n humid even for NS they tell me.

I spent the night in this quaint little town called Sheet Harbour. It's a gem of a small town and the people are extremely nice n fantastic.

I went out for a drink at the only restaurant open n met a couple of guys there. In fact the only other customers. They had been their since 11 am and had been drinking. They both grew up there and had moved to Vancouver and sine they were both back in town so were catching up. The one fellow was Jody and the other Hillary and both were extremely gay.

The following day I peddled to Sherbrooke it's also a small town. On the way there a couple at a corner store told me of the living museum. I had planned on biking another 20 km past Sherbrooke but thought it might be nice to check out the museum. What is cool about the museum is they literally cut the town in half and then made half the museum. What is also interesting is that it's a producing museum which means that the people that spend their day reliving the olden days also create products for the museum,, the gift store, town and on request. The build boats, furniture from would the blacksmith still builds hinges, hooks etc as needed. And the best part to me is the photography place that captures your photo on glass. So cool. It's the only place in Canada that does it. I think possible in North America. I was there too late to get a photo that day so I waited till the next day and got a coil photo taken. I alas had to bike in the heat of the day but I trekked on to Antigonish.

Location : 12-14 Bannerman Rd, St John's, NL A1C,

Halifax n the Citadel.

My full day in Halifax started with a walk to the right of the hostel, just because. Where I found a great little bakery / diner and a bike shop. I had 3 places I wanted to explore, the citadel, the marine museum and Peggy's cove. I doubted I'd get to Peggy's cove but the other 2 should be doable.

Well the citadel is amazing architectural accomplishment. It is so well fortified that no one ever attack it. If you were to attack you would need to climb this steep hill where they would should grenade like canon balls at you. If you made it to the rope there was a drop of 20 feet into the ditch. Where you would have more canons and archers tacking you on from all sides. Then you'd have to scale another 20 ft wall to enter the compound.  What I forgot to mention is that the hill is riddled with little tunnels designed to plant explosives in the hill and blow up the enemy as well.

Oh and the canons on the hill can take out ships in the harbour. In fact the entire harbour is protected by a network of batteries, martelos and block houses.

What intrigued me is that there are tunnels that ran from the citadel through downtown Halifax and to the warf. There is an island that has a military fort on it and the entire island is riddled with tunnels. There are stories that a tunnel runs from the island to the citadel under the ocean. It's possible as many of the tunnels in the island are below sea level.

Well I never got to the marine museum as I spent the entire afternoon wandering the citadel.

So minor change of plans I went back to the Keith's brewery and RFID the tour. Wow is what I have to say, it was an experience. It was the best beer tour I have ever been on and it surpasses any wine tour ad well as an experience. They have a old tavern that would be fantastic as a place for a wedding or other events.

I finished the night off by visiting the warf where I listened to some street performers then stopped in at the lower deck for a quieter evening of music.

Location : 20 MacMaster Rd, Port Hawkesbury, NS B9A 2A9,

Halifax

I was soooo stressed by biking here. The highway has a little stop of a shoulder and there are 4 lanes of traffic just whizzing by. I had to give up biking and walk my bike on the gravel shoulder. At 6am the highway was quiet but not at noon not so quiet.

At the airport I biked off the highway and discovered a bus goes downtown AND takes bikes. Score.

I am not sure if it.was a Sunday or what but Halifax didn't wow me as a place yet. I did meet a lot of friendly people which was awesome.  And perhaps that is what I will take away from Halifax.

I did go to a pub last night that had an an amazing cover band. They played more folly rock music and some maritime music that the droids could easily sing along to. Image a very humid city, in a pub with no a/c. Now fill the pub till your shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. It was a very hot place.I was surprised that they had that big of an event for a Sunday. I guess they normally hold it outside but it decided to rain.

Today I am exhausted and tired. I could sleep away the day but there are things to see n do. Weird that yesterday I was ok all day and it caught up to me today.



Location : 2188 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS B3K,

Road kill

I have to say that I never seen this many dead porcupines before. I think I have seen 50 today at least

, which makes me wonder how many live ones there must be in NS.

So going back a couple days, I did spend a day in Charlottetown where I walked around, saw a parade, ate a yummy breakfast, caught a little of the blues n jazz festival and went on a ghastly tour of downtown. It was quite entertaining. The guide was dressed in period costume and knew his history really well.

Yesterday I woke up early and peddled 62 km to the ferry where I just made it in time. Another minute and the ferry would have left without me. Once I got to NS the sun came out and it really got hot in a hurry. 20 km down the road I hid out at a restaurant/information centre. It was another 65 km to Truro with nothing really in between except what they called a mountain. Dreading leaving I decided to do it and left at 4 pm. I actually did really good time and arrived in Truro at 7:15 where I promptly found a pub n some grub and a beer. I also met a really nice fellow named Ashley and his fiancee also named Ashley.

At 2 ish I found a park and had a sleep till 5 ish. Where I got up and started the last stretch to Halifax of 100km.

Oh I saw a really cool highway it was red. I have never seen red pavement before.  I also saw 3 black hens wandering around Bible Hill first time for that too. Another first was in Cornwall PEI where I saw a tractor in a drive-thru.

Location : Veteran's Memorial Hwy, Hardwood Lands, NS B0N 1Y0,

Road kill

I have to say that I never seen this many dead porcupines before. I think I have seen 50 today at least

, which makes me wonder how many live ones there must be in NS.

So going back a couple days, I did spend a day in Charlottetown where I walked around, saw a parade, ate a yummy breakfast, caught a little of the blues n jazz festival and went on a ghastly tour of downtown. It was quite entertaining. The guide was dressed in period costume and knew his history really well.

Yesterday I woke up early and peddled 62 km to the ferry where I just made it in time. Another minute and the ferry would have left without me. Once I got to NS the sun came out and it really got hot in a hurry. 20 km down the road I hid out at a restaurant/information centre. It was another 65 km to Truro with nothing really in between except what they called a mountain. Dreading leaving I decided to do it and left at 4 pm. I actually did really good time and arrived in Truro at 7:15 where I promptly found a pub n some grub and a beer. I also met a really nice fellow named Ashley and his fiancee also named Ashley.

At 2 ish I found a park and had a sleep till 5 ish. Where I got up and started the last stretch to Halifax of 100km.

Oh I saw a really cool highway it was red. I have never seen red pavement before.  I also saw 3 black hens wandering around Bible Hill first time for that too. Another first was in Cornwall PEI where I saw a tractor in a drive-thru.

And today I was at the half way point between the north pole and the equator.

Location : 4-8 Beech St, Elmsdale, NS B2S 1H2,

PEI Cavendish Beach

So while I was waiting for the shuttle I was swarmed by these really small flies that bit, and by swarms I mean they were all over me. I immediately thought of the song "Little Black Fly" which goes like this... It was early in the spring when I decided to go work up in the woods in North Ontario, the unemployment office they aente to the little apatity and the survey crew, and the black flies always a black fly no matter where to go, I will die with the black flies picking my bones in north Ontario.

So I digress. I met a fellow cyclist as we boarded the shuttle who had similar bike plans as me so we hooked up for a day of cycling. The island boasts a bike trail also from an old railway line so the first 40 km wasn't so bad. Alas the last. 20 km I drank 3 litres of water in the 33 degree Sun going up and down these blasted hills. If the goal wasn't to go enjoy the beach in the afternoon I would have hid out and biked in the cooler evening.

We did a fairly quick tour of the GreenGables property and then headed for the beach. It's what they called white sand but had lots of larger red rocks in it. The water was warm but wavy and murky. So walking in the water was challenging as these rocks kept on getting in the way and hurting my feet. So far Parlee beach still rocks but I was surprised that this was also a warm water beach.

I guess there is a beach called Singing Sand as the white sand squeaks as you walk on it some place in northern PEI.

It was a good thing I didn't wait till evening as they had some small rain storms come through. I would not have enjoyed the bech. 

We heard great music coming from.the.way back so started heading back. Unfortunately we lost where the music was coming from and it became dark.  We ended up sleeping on a nice gentlemans lawn.

We biked back to Hunter River where I had the most amazing cinnamon buns. It was here where Ashley headed off as she was much faster than I was and I was slowing her down. Being 20 something and a toothpick probably helped some plus she had biked completely across Canada from Victoria at this time.

So I peddled up one hill to go go down and up another. I took photo's to illustrate. Eventually I made it to Victoria By The Sea and then to Argyll Beach. It was nit as nice as I was expecting with almost not beach and what was there was all rocks. And it was very windy, but it was scenic.  It was here as I was packing up that Ashley pulled up. Heading on I new she would catch up to me.

So PEI has a variety of towns such as Toronto, Kingston, Cornwall etc. That are common to Ontario.

I was surprised how hilly PEI is, isome how thought it would be flat but it is anything but.  Now each hill is not that long compared to a mountain pass, but they do wear me out.

Charlottetown is a nice city the downtown is quite dynamic and full of life. I had difficulties finding accommodation as there are 2 big events on this week. One being the jazz festival.

I dud bump unto Ashley twice more in Charlottetown and we were to meet for beers at the brew pub but we never did. As soon as I left my room it started to rain and didn't let up till morning. I couldnt complain as this was the first real rain they had all summerit just sucks it happened on my trip.

I tried out the brew pub and enjoyed their meals and beach chair beer.

Oh! I had the most aggressive chipmunk ever. He kept on checking out my bike and trying to eat my cookies.

You can see by the laundry photo how windy it was along the south coast. And I waw the most amusing truck, it had a giant potato on the back.

Something I have never seen anywheres else was a tractor going through a drive-thru.

Location : 204 Hillsborough St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4X1,

Life's a beach (or 3)

So the ride from Moncton to PEI bridge wasn't to bad although the heat and me don't get along. I should have started out earlier. I stopped in at Shediac and got a picture with the lobster. And then I went to possibly the best beach in Canada.

Parlee beach is an ocean beach where the water was 23 C, the water clear, small waves a great sandy beach with no rocks. Whe wind was calm and the life guard told me that weather rarely hits the beach due to its location.

It is better than beaches in South Carolina even which is saying something!

As I was getting close to the Confederation Bridge I stopped for a pop at this shack along the very rural highway and I was stund at the # of people who stopped there for bite to eat. It was a steady stream of people and they all knew each other. It was really novel to listen to them talk about going out mackerel fishing.

I did get a couple of pics showing the length of the brdige.  At the info centre on the NB side you call and get a shuttle over. The bridge looks fine for biking so I don't know why no biking.

The bridge is an amazing marvel of engineering, to think a 17 km long bridge through an ocean channel where massive iceflows are a problem.

This area is very proudly Acadian as you can see from.the power posts and flags. The day after I cane through was Acadian day which would have been fun to see.

And as the sun was setting my feet touched down in our only island province.

St. John NB to Hartwell Rocks.

St John feels like a fishing town and the tide here is a amazing. So they call it the reversing falls, but in reality its a reversing flow of water. Can you imagine a large river of water having its flow stopped and reversed such that it actually flows in reverse? That's what happens here. It's an amazing show of the power of tides.there some rapids and whirlpools that show.

Oh I didn't get a chance to go to it but there is a whirlpool near St. Johns. I also didn't walk in any caves here either which I wanted to, I must have missed the turn.

But the road to Hopewell is pretty with a few stretches along the coast. There is a beautiful park call Fundy Park that you could spend a lot if time in exploring. I alas passed through them.

I did try a lobster roll which wasn't that fantastic and clam chowder that was also mediocre.

At Hartwell Rocks it was amazing... Yes I am using that word a lot. You can walk along the beach and walk through and around these massive rock out croppings.  And the tide here is huge. On average its a 12m vertical change and it can be upto a 16m change. The tide will rise by upto 2-6m an hour! When most tide changes around the world are measured in a couple of feet that makes this truly cool.

Also very common along here is covered bridges.

In Moncton I found a cool brewery pub called the PumpHouse which is worth checking out for the beer and the food. Plus it has the coolest draught dispenser, 2 fire hydrants!



Location : 330-344 Noel St, Moncton, NB E1C 4G9,

Freddy town (Fredericton)

It was mostly overcast and a bit foggy when I arrives here. I wasn't in town long but I did bike a bit of downtown and the river.  Downtown is quaint and lots of history. Alas I had to skip.the history. I did visit the lighthouse and the world's largest pin hole camera. At least I suspect it is the largest as I could walk in it. 

Oh in Woodstock I had deep fried pepperoni which seems to be a maritime delicacy.

Location : 330-344 Noel St, Moncton, NB E1C 4G9,

Over the hill

So the day from Edmundston to Grand Falls was wet, cold.and miserable. It is the worst day thus trip. I even quit early at 4 found a warm supper then camped and slept till.morning. I was so cold, wet and miserable. I wanted to give up.

It was a mildly hilly day with a moderate criss wind. Just enough to notice and throw rain at me. I barely did 75 km.

The next day was overcast and threatening but didn't rain. It was a very hilly day and a very strong head wind that fisted to 60 on occasion. But I did make it to Heartland. The bridge here is very cool and crazy long. It's a good hike to get across. I stayed at the only BnB in town and ate at the only restaurant. The restaurant had amazing meals all homemade so not you McDs fare. But the price was quite reasonable. I had a squash bisque that came with a prostito bread. The lobster club had a home made pomergranite dressing on the salad. I finished the meal off with a maple bread pudding that was also yummy.

Oh when I went through Grand Falls they had the falls turned off! How rude!

Location : 79-109 Waverley Ave, Moncton, NB E1C 7T8,

C'est pleut! (It is raining)

The trip from Rivière Du Loup to Edmunston was a mix of cloud and Sun. The day was gorgeous as it wasn't to hot.  There is an old railway that runs to Edmunston which has been converted into a gorgeous trail. The first half is all up hill at a gentle incline of 2%. The second half is all downhill at 2% and the 3rd half is generally flat.  It must be the gravel trail that slowed me down as those km seemed rather long. It took me the day of biking to make it to the little town on the North side of Edmunston called St. Jacque.

I did meet some nice people on the trail. One gent from Germany was biking the trans-canada trail. And another couple strangely enough from Cochrane who now live by Quebec City were doing a small excursion down to Edmunston. It is sadly funny that they left Cochrane for the same driving reason that I have. They were hounded by bi-law enforcement over the stupidest of things.  I have the same issues myself.

But back to the trail. It winds along through the forest through and by many small towns. It also hugged a very long  big beautiful lake.  There are many places to stop and rest as well as tent. I was surprised that there were way-stations that you could stop at and eat.

So this must be a very very popular trail.

I was happy to finally reach NB and did a little dance at to border. The town of St. Jacque has a nice provincial camp ground next to a beautiful botanical garden. It was late so I just peeked at the garden.  The town was funny. There was a Tim Hortons, a small convenience grocery store, a couple of lunch type restaurants, a single pub and a sex shoppe. Yes of all things. And there wasn't even a liquor store.

So I stopped in at the pub and met many many nice people and pushed my donations to over $240.

Location : 382-392 Connell St, Woodstock, NB E7M 5G5,

Quebec city last day

Yesterday I took a different tact to the day. After going back to the hostel and dealing with a room change I found the book Oz, and spent a little time working my way through the first paragraph. I succeeded mostly after an hour. Yeah! I found a nice pub where I had sangria and realized I needed company. It's ok being by myself but I really enjoy being with others.

Next on my non list was to visit outside the walls and I went up to the pains of Abraham. They don't look like much, but that's what is amazing about them. They hide the citadel, a massive fortified military city on the top of the hill. 

After a tour of the area I wandered back to the hostel, had a shower and it now early evening I went to the hostel pub to see what it was like.  It took a while, but I did have some small conversations in French, learned a new card drinking game and made some new friends.

Once the hostel pub closed at 11 we went to another pub in Quebec in what I called the entertainment area and visited. A lady from.England joined us so alas my French skills got a breather. It was interesting to me that earlier in the day I noticed a need and later in the day it was fulfilled.  Given a really late return to the hostel I also started off late today. But I did have an amazing pastry for breakfast and got some photos of the fêtes which I will post below.

I now have to prepare for tomorrow's departure and try to see a little more of this great city.

Oh I also purchased a small French book to read... Key words are that it's small and I hope easy to read as its a age 8-10 book. And musical spoons - caron l'écouyer. And as promised many more photos below.

Enjoy.



Location : Boulevard Henri Bourassa, Quebec City, QC G1J,

Québec

One of goals was to learn a French while I was here. To really become part of a place I think that's important to immerse yourself into the culture. What I have learned is that I know a lot of French nouns but lack verbs, adjectives and adverbs plus I can't construct anything but simple sentences.

Now there is a method to my madness as I would like to visit here at Christmas. And by then I would like to speak reasonably well in French such that I don't have to use English.... Much. EasterEgg: There is a certain someone who if asks me about this will be very happy.

So back to the city. It's so old and majestic. Even though it's touristy you still have a variety of stores. Banff for example is dedicated to tourists and so looses its culture. Vieux Montreal also looses some of its history because it's so tourist focused. If I lived there, other than to eat or drink there isn't anything there. No clothing stores for example. Now Montreal is great its just that the old city has lost its place.

To make my time here even more busy is that there is "le fête de le nouvelle-France" going on which us like stampede but. with the old culture... Pirates, merchants, ladies, etc. So yesterday while wandering I discovered    this and spent most of the day at one of the venues. Where I listened to 8 hours. of folk music en francais. Ate lots of cheese. They have so many many great cheeses here. We are very deprived in Alberta. I also drank beer and had what I call the original bubble tea which has 2 shots of screech, some other stuff and. bubbles (picture below). Oh someone said to add more pictures so I took a bunch on my phone which I will add to this post.

There is so much to say about this place that it's hard to know where to start. The people are friendly and willing to talk in English. If you look lost someone will stop to ask if you need help. The streets in old Quebec are amazing as the twist and got at angles to each other. They also have hills. In otherwords no cookie cutter architecturally controlled subdivisions like we have as we love to have everything aesthetically pleasing and in doing have nothing left.

The food here has been great. I have been nibbling so I haven't had any large meals as I want to try so much.

Oh I now have 4 spare tubes that will fit my bike. Yeah! Now what to do with all of the ones that don't...











Location : 100-132 Rue Bell, Quebec City, QC G1K 9C7,

Location : 325 Rue Saint Paul, Quebec City, QC G1K,

I am there

So this is me at Sunset beach near downtown Vancouver.  Getting here from Hope was an adventure in itself. I woke and had a lazy morning taking my time to take down the tent and then went into town to have a leisurely breakfast. I did find a nice home cooked restaurant that was really perfect.  I had a great breakfast and then I left Hope about 11 am.  Leaving Hope I realized I had miscalculated how far today''s bike ride would be instead of 130 km it was 150km.  A significant extra chunk to do, but I thought I could still do it, as I had done 140km the day before (with lots of hills).  The first stretch was rolling hills, but really pretty with a gently winding road.   When we got closer to Chilliwack the mountains parted and I was in the delta.   After that there is one big hill that needs to be climbed.  Its about 1.2 km long and 9% grade.  I had taken a photo of the hill before I took it on. Once I was over and back in the delta, I stopped at a blueberry stand for 2 baskets of blueberries.  Each was about 3lbs and big! all for $5 each! So I sat and munched on berries for a while, then thought  should check my messages so went to pull out my phone and I could not find it AT ALL.  I searched everywhere for it and it wasn't on my or in my backpack.  So I reluctantly biked back to that hill (without the trailer) and climbed it again.  I found the phone sitting on the side of the road near where the hill had started. So I technically did the hill 3 times, although without the trailer it was a lot nicer!  


I plugged away for the rest of the day and reached Maple Ridge about 9 pm at about 130km mark.  With only 20km left I decided to keep on trekking, I should be in a nice warm hostel by 10 and a refreshing shower was awaiting me.  At Port Moody, I got lost twice as the signs aren't very clear it was a construction area and that complicated things.  I had one lady point me back the way I had come, and when I had returned to the construction zone I met a cyclist PJ.  PJ was a really nice guy who by now should be living in Calgary as that was his plan then.  What made PJ special is that he only had 1 leg, the other was only down to his knee.  He had it removed as a child do to a rare form of cancer.  Now that was not a limitation for PJ, as he could easily out peddle me with just one leg compared to my 2! I was very impressed.  He is training for the para-Olympic team and I bet he will make it.


He showed me a route and biked with me for a stretch until it started to get dark where he had to turn around.  The route was hwy 1, but said bikes single file. later on I ha a van stop and give me a handful of change as his wife had seen my banner.  That is where I saw a sign saying "freeway starts"   but I didn't see any signs saying "no bikes". So I kept going, and biked through some very nasty construction.  Now its really dark, and this nice cop pulls over, lights a flashing yelling at me to get off the freeway.  I tried to say I didn't see a sign not to be here but I'd get off, he didn't get it, but I repeated I'd get off.  His car was almost smooshed by another car while I was there.  I peddled up a little and there was a car with a flat.  The cop told her that she couldn't change the tire there as it was too dangerous, then told me to throw my bike down the embankment which I did and my trailer.  Luckily Hwy 7 is a block from there so I was able to continue on on hwy 7.  I finally made it downtown around midnight.  I did stop for McD's and to charge my phone for 45 min.  And entering downtown ancouver I met a cute 20 yr aussie who was travelling Betty was her name.  She been o a greyhound in the states prior to being in Vancouver and had made a couple criminals who had gotten out on parole.  In the states when your released you get a free bus ticket anywhere.  Well she facebooked them which I don't understand.  Anyway I turned her around as she was going the wrong way.  How I knew that given I had just arrived in Vancouver was funny in its own right.  Well I kept on going and biking downtown looks really sketchy at 1am, but I finally made it to the hostel which turned out to be a sweltering sauna.   


Given how tired I was I should have been able to sleep through anything, but even after my cool refreshing shower, I had a hard time sleeping. 


So I made it in 10 days of actual biking.  It was 1,150 km total to this point and I did another 50km to visit a friend who helped me get to the airport and is going to help get my bike & trailer home.  When I got home I weighed myself and had lost 11 lb.  Not bad for 10 days of biking!  From the day before my Ride to conquer Cancer last week of June to end of first week of August (6 weeks) I lost a total of 18 lb.  or 3lb a week.  







Location : 117-145 Glenhill Dr, Cochrane, AB T4C 1H2,

A new Hope

Leaving Sorrento a few days ago I wondered if I could make it to Vancouver in 4 days doing over 500 km. Then battling that 50s kmh head wind and only making it to Kamloops meant that the remaining days would be long ones.  I have been up at 5am and on the road till 9pm both days with a nap in the middle of the day on both.

Talking with the owner at the campground last night I have been lucky as the temp is usually 38 C at this time of year and its not uncommon for it to hit 48 C there. I have to say that I never knew that and would have been dead by now if it had been.

So I have had another flat tire making it 4 now and have seen 2 snakes. Just for those keeping score.

So today I had a really tough day as the road was never just flat. It was either going up at 8% grade or down.  Now going up was tough but I had another windy day which added to it. And downs can be challenging with a trailer, but throw in the wind and I had to go down pretty slowly.  So it took me nearly 7 hours to do 75km and I arrived at Bostan Bar about 1.  I went to a restaurant and nearly fell asleep while waiting for my food to arrive.  So yes I had a great nap outside under a big cedar tree once I had finished lunch/breakie. Oh I have been trying to find a fruitstand but either they were closed last night and this evening or they didn't exist like the rest of the day. So tomorrow morning I am going to go get lots of fruit alas from Coopers and not a local stand but fruit I will enjoy.  I so wanted to sink my teeth into a peach today. I biked along day dreaming of all the local fruits I could eat... Mmmmmmm.

Oh the posted picture is of Hells gate. Yes I did enter and yes I did make it through alive.  I liked this shot as I am in one tunnel and you can see the next one.

After Boston Bar the road slowly calmed down and so did the wind.  It was a whole and an utter joy when the road became flat and I could actually bike at more then a snails pace. If you include the Sorrento to Kamloops day which the road was most gentle rolling but had brutal winds. It would be 3 days since I last had a level gentle ride, I was very elated.

Today I did 140 km, and tomorrow I think will be about the same if I want to hit the coast. But I am sleeping in till 8, having a warm breakie perhaps and buy some fruit before going on hwy 7 to Vancouver.

Oh! The 2 guys I met in Salmon ARM, they had just arrived at Bostan Bar as I was leaving, I found that quite funny.  I also ran out of water about 30 min from BB. So I was glad to get there, although I had to buy water as the town is on a boil advisory.

So I have my tent right next to the Fraser River which I will photo tomorrow. I also have 2 neighbours who are biking. One has come from the states and is more touring then biking and another who has flown in from Europe and has done a variation of my trip but he did the Kettle Creek trail.  I will have to do some research on that one, but I already know my bike would die quickly on that trail.

Well time for sleep.


Location : 63405-64273 Tom Berry Rd, Hope, BC V0X 1L2,

Day 2

The pic is of Castle Junction a very beautiful campground. I met a dutchman at the campground who was traveling accross the US and the Rockies of Canada.

The ride from day 1 with the head winds had really drained me. It made the ride today really hard.  Add to it the sun and heat and I am surprised I made it to Radium.  Sinclair Pass is just before Radium and it is 10th km of going up up up. Then you get a 13 km drop into Radium. 

I talked with one fellow who told ne that there was a massive accident near Radium on Friday.  A tanker collided with a motorhome and immediately blew up.  So on Saturday they had partially opened the highway and then they had the rockslide by field that diverted all that traffic south through Radium. I am glad I missed all that as it would have been nasty.

When I had just got to the very top of the pass I key a cyclist who was staying at a hostel in Radium. It didn't take any convincing to sway me to stay there when camping rates are 24 and the hostel was 27. To me that is a no brainer.

I spent a lot of time deliberating if I should go backbto Golden and the hwy 1 or go on to Creating then back to Revelstoke.  Radium-Golden-Revelstoke is 250 km. And via Creston would be 550 km.  Now I need to be in Sorrento for a reunion on Fri eve. Do to go the ling route would mean doing 150km every day. Which could be very very difficult if not impossible. So alas I have to go the other way just to make sure I can make it.


Location : Redstreak Rd, Radium Hot Springs, BC V0A 1M0,

Embarking

Even tough I did this trip last year it wad really hard to actually take that first peddle and perhaps it was because of last year that I hesitated.  I tought of being sore and tired every day and flashes of memories of being soaked for days at a time. 

But I took that first pedddle and kept on going. Thinking back to last year I had a much easier time on that first set of hills leaving Cochrane compared to last year. I was feeling so good I thought .... Maybe I could really make dome distance today.  And then I entered the wind zone. Last year I lucked out as it was only a gentle breeze. Alas today I have had to peddle into the 50km winds for 40 km. I hope after I leave Dead man's Flats the wind calms down.

About an hour ago I started to worry that I may have forgotten my tent poles at home. Do it was with a HUGE sigh of relief that I wound them safe n snug in my bag when I stopped here. Now I can stop stressing over them and focus on biking.  Only 30 km left to Banff and then to see how I feel.  Next campground is another 50 km after Banff.

The clerk told me that there is a rock slide near Field.  That is going to force me to take the longer route. Unfortunately all the idiots on the road ware going to ne taking that route through Radium as well.  And its usually such a quieter route.

Location : Canmore, AB,

Celebration

Today was a different kind of day as I got up later then usual at 8:30 and then spent most of the morning having breakfast.

When I got to Langley I realized that I had been thinking my destination was horseshoe bay but telling everyone Tsawwassen. And I felt like Tsawwassen was where I was supposed to go. So I biked along today and enjoyed more delicious fresh fruit, especially the blueberries. Now there are many places I could have choose to pi as my destination including.Stanley Park even though Tsawwassen was really out of my way I still came here. I arrived at the ocean about 6pm and asked a couple on the beach if they could.take a pic of me. I amuses myself by walking into the water with my bike because my feet were still soaked from biking in the rain today that it didn't matter. 

His name was Kenton and hers Joanne. They offered me a glass of wine to celebrate and I enjoyed a great blackberry wine with them. In talking to them it turns out.they have never been to that beach before and was only due to a strange set.if circumstances that he had choose it shortly before I had arrived.

Somehow this finale seemed so perfectly arranged. All the prices of this trip have been guided by an unseen hand. The timing of each was impeccable. For example.yesterday minutes before Ithe bus driver came up to me I had my biked parked by the gas station which would have been hidden from the road by the large RV filling up.

It's been an amazing trip. I did it in a record time. I am going to bike around Vancouver and then the island so u will post about them over the next few days.

God bless you all who have and are praying for me.

Guiding hand

Yesterday was quite a day as I became resigned to a head wind for the entire trip. I left Hope and peddled to Harris Hot springs on great roads with good shoulders. Aka Hwy 7  which has been mostly flat other then a 2km grade 11% incline up a windy stretch with zero shoulder. I didn't even consider peddling it as even pushing the bike was a good effort. 

The day was overcast with rain falling most of the day. I initially wore a second layer and a shell for the hill down to Hope but have just worn my biking jersy and shorts for the remainder if the day.  It's been not overly cold so a light rain has been not to bad.

Do from my estimates today I peddled 180 km. A record for me! And I am amazed I did it!  At Hope I was told to stay ay Rolly Park but when I arrived at Mission I learnt its a busy park and 20 km up a bunch of hills so after some searching I decided ti go to Fort Langly.  As I peddled a long about 7 at night I decides to stop for guidance and the gas tendent had no clue about this area. As I left u thought I would call a friend to see about meeting perhaps Sunday. As I was duali-g this bus driver comes up to me and tells me he met me in Rogers Pass.  After a short chat with Russell I talk with the driver who had indeed met me briefly in Rogers Pass and he had saw me biking in Mission going the other way.  He had turned the bus around and found me. Thus totally floored me. He asked where I was going and I told him Fort Langley. I guess the ferry accross is closed and the nearest camping was a little RV site 8 km down the road just outside Maple Ridge. Much closer than any of my other options.  His fortuious appearance had to be Gods hand at work in a visible way. That's 2 days he has provided Luke that for me and its amazing. I keep praising Hum for the good and the bad every day. Yes even the endless rain that has kept my hands wrinkled all day.

I do have to say the socks I am.wearing are great! My feet are not sore at all even though they have been soaked all day and I.peddled.all.day.  The jersey and shorts have been also fantastic as they hold so little moisture so u have not had any sores from.rubbing thus entire trip.  I do recommend that 3rd pair if socks especially on.wet days. 

So if my  projections are correct the coast is a measly 60 km away and my destination. 

I will continue thus blog when I get there. It almost seems like a dream but I am also getting excited even if it will be a cold wet ride.....