Tour ATlantic - DAy SEven

OK - so same deal here. No access to the interent, I will load the pictures and text later, but here are the stats.

Tour Atlantic - Day Seven


And YES - that hill really was that steep of a descent. Yikes - pretty scary - thank goodness there was not a lot of traffic around.



OK - here is the data as I typed it a couple of days ago.



We tore down the camp this morning and ANOTHER day of a WET TENT!!!!! I am so tired of putting up a wet tent and taking down a wet tent. What a pain. It just seems that everything is damp and no chance to let it dry out. I just want a nice sunny day!!!! Heck - I will settle for just a couple of hours of sun shine.

I left camp bright and early and I READ the directions - turn LEFT from the campground. Actually I didn't get lost the entire day. I did take one street too early right at the end of the day, but that easy to fix and added not even one K to the trip. And we had a LOT of twists and turns in the day.

After 4 KM of a MASSIVE descent (which we knew about the night before as there were signs posted), the day settled down into a nice ride. Some ups, some downs, nothing very strenuous. Mike and George caught up to me around the 25 K mark. Obviously they left quite a bit after I did!!!!

This was the view from the top of the hill

I got off to a very slow start. While the hills were not big at the beginning, my legs just didn't seem to want to move. I thought I would never make it to camp. But then things started to loosen up, including crap in my lungs and I was fine and rolling along. Then I see in my mirror - the dynamic duo!!!! They forced me to say that they are the " sunshine"  of my trip today!!!! Oh how they lie!!!!! Actually it was fun riding with them again, but after 15 K - they went on their way.

I needed to stop and take my jacket off and put sun screen on. Yes - sun screen - the sun actually came out. But then it went away again!!!! So while we had no rain today, it was cloudy which was probably not such a bad thing.

I did stop along the way and took some pictures, but there isn't too much interesting - yes there are trees, yes there are farms, yes there are stuff, but how many pictures of STUFF do you want.



There are a LOT of old cars here - this guy had lots!!!

One of things that I have noticed here is that a LOT of houses have a STAR on them. Now what is the purpose of the star??? We have seen them in Nova Scotia and here in New Brunswick. We think that they are from the star on the Acadian flag. Of course - they could just be a decoration. So I set a goal for myself to find a house with a star on it and get a picture. Which I did.

Then we arrived in Moncton - what a LOT of twists and turns to get through that city, but manged WITHOUT getting lost. Found a Tim's and had lunch - my usual Monday fare of cream soup and orange juice. No hot chocolate these days - the orange juice is a great pick me up.

As I was zipping down the street to a T junction, what should appear before my eyes - but Fabricville. Of course I had to stop to get my fabric. I have only acquired 4 pieces so far - the quilt is going to be SMALL. While there have been stores in several other towns we went through - you don't want to get off the beaten path. Time, weather, distance and not getting lost are all factors to deal with.

Oh yes - forgot to say that around Hopewell Rocks, there were several places that were selling quilts from their houses.

The route today was pretty descent and basically just rolling hills. I even spent most of the day in my BIG gear and that helped with the speed (or so I think!). Not that I made better time - I arrived in camp around three, but then I did stop a lot. Stopped and had a couple of bites of muffin or sandwich and then I was good to go for some more. I find that if I eat a lot at once - it just doesn't sit well. So small snacks work best.

We also passed this river which was pretty cool - it is the river that goes through Moncton and starts with P - I will fill in the name later!!!!

This was a stream that fed into the river which was nicknamed the Chocolate River

Mike has this thing for chocolate bars!!! Snickers I think it is and I see him eating his chocolate bars all the time on his bike. Then I got a craving and had to buy one (not a Snickers). I did not get a chance to eat it as I had enough food, but I am sure it will come in handy.

Then I stopped at the big lobster in Shediac to take some pictures. The wind blew my bike over and next thing I know - my handlebars are TWISTED. CRAP CRAP CRAP. I was able to ride to camp - only 3 k left to go at this point, but what a pain.

BIG road side attraction - lobster in Shediac

Oh yes - did I mention the headwind. Yes - there was a wicked headwind for most of the day today. But again, my legs are feeling pretty strong so I really didn't mind it too much. Way better than on previous trips - specifically ASHCROFT day.

And the sun came out in the afternoon. Wow - what a TREAT!!!!! That meant when we got to camp that we could get all our wet/damp stuff out. Yeah - finally my tent will be DRY and I was able to air out my sleeping bag.

Oh boy - I think it the moment has come when we are all "sleeping with the enemy". Or whatever would be a good name for "gettign on each other nerves". Yes - the group is small and while I like everyone - there are moments. I grabbed my book after my duties were done and took a chair and went of into the corner of our site to read. Then I could block out the noise. Nothing bad, just a few annoying things that I needed to get away from!!!!

Diana (our teacher from Brooklyn) was already in camp when I arrived. She got a ride part of the way to camp and has decided to leave the trip in PEI. She has decided to not do the Cabot Trail. Yes - while we think some of these days have been tough, it is just PREPARATION for what lies ahead. I can hardly wait. Unfortuantely she has struggled a bit on our current trip. Most importantly, she is OK with her decision and that is all that is important.

We had hamburgers for dinner, some of the people went to the beach and I sat around and finally got into the conversation, read my book, prepared pictures and got everything organized for tomorrow. While I don't have a lot of stuff, I think I still brought too much. All that cold weather gear which hopefully I won't need, but then we haven't hit the Cabot Trail yet.

And it turns out that Joyce R (not the Monday Motivator Joyce) is in the neighbourhood of the Cabot Trail. And the timing looks good that I should be able to connect with her once we finish. That is going to be cool.

I see they are getting a camp fire going, so I had best go and get myself organized for that.

Oh my MOM instincts kicked in today - Spencer was complaining that he was tired at dinner. I told him he could ride my bike tomorrow and then he would see what TIRED was!!!! It came across a bit strong!!! What the hell!!! I don't care! Anyway - I really can't complain that I am tired - I am ready for bed at 10 PM - get up at 6 AM. Just wish I could sleep a bit better, but really not doing that badly.

I don't think I mentioned everyone that is on the trip but we have Spencer and Renee as our cooks/drivers, the participants are Geroge, Mike, Frank, Brian, Bruce, Scott, Diana, Diane and myself.

OK - time to go.

　

Have a great day!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!