Day 63 - Rest Day

Hard to believe but this is our LAST official rest day!!!!!!!   We now have eight days of cycling ahead of us as we work our way through the rest of the Maritime provinces and onto the ferry to NewFound Land. Even though I have cycled all those K, I don't think the enormity of what we about to complete has sunk in. Someone mentioned earlier that this has become our job and we just get up every day and ride our bikes which is essentially what we do.

This morning, I got up to go to the bathroom around 6:30 AM -  yes walked outside to the bathroom which isn't that far away, but then went back to my tent to read for a bit. Finally hunger drove me to get up and by this time, there were a few others up. But it took a LONG time before everyone was up. The day before had been tough - we had also ridden six days and everyone is getting tired. Strong, but tired.

I got my bike ready for the last part of the trip. Gave the chain a GOOD cleaning - it was pretty dirty and checked everything else - I will need new brakes by the time I get home and probably another chain.

Then with nothing else to do - I grabbed my book and a chair and found a shady spot to read. It was a glorious day. The sun was out - it was HOT and yes there were mosquitos!!!!!!   Always mosquitos. A number of people had gone down the road to a little restaurant recommended by the campsite. The report was that they served an excellent breakfast. Hmmmm - I might just go there for lunch. I decided to walk since it was only 1 K away and why dirty up the bike!!!!!   I had a good chat with Yukon Greg while I munched away on a HUGE omelet that was to die for. Very tasty indeed.

They also had some delicious baked goods so I bought a few of those back to camp for an afternoon snack.

Then back to my book (which I just finished) - that makes nine for the trip!!!!!!!   I know - I have a bug and I can't seem to stop reading, which is why this blog has no pictures which take a lot of fiddling and as you can tell - I lost patience with that long ago!!!!!!   I have taken tons of pictures - trying to get more people pictures the last couple of days and succeeding nicely. I hope to put them all into a great book along with this dialog when I get home.

A number of us decided to go back to the same restaurant for dinner. They had a pizza special on, but even though we arrived at 5 PM, the pizza was gone. Apparently they do a great take out business and the pizza was sold. So most of us had fish n chips which was great  - but way too many fries!!!!!!   This time I rode my bike - I didn't want to walk all that way again!!!!!

Yes - as the days wind down, we are all getting a bit nostalgic about the trip, but also looking forward to getting home and back into somewhat of a routine. Me - I am kind of torn - while I am excited about coming home, I really like the cycling. So that means - I just have to get my butt in gear and keep getting out on my bike when I get home. I will need to wean myself off!!!!!  Of course - I might just be lazy and and not ride for a while. I'll see how I feel when I get home. It would be nice to get on the bike and just do a short ride!!!

I have crawled back into my tent for the night and while I have evaded the mosquitos  - it is still a tad hot so I have the fly open to try and let it cool off. While I like my tent - it does have one flaw - the ventilation is not the best.

Everyone is in good spirits as we head into this last segment of the trip. It won't be easy -  8 days of riding - 973 K - The Cabot Trail - well I rode The Cabot Trail last year and while I did cycle the entire thing - there were parts that were challenging and I don't know if I am better to know about them or just go blindly in.

Anyway - here are some stats to date from the trip...............

52 days
6,778.25 KM
316 hours
34,505 Meters of climbing
34,581 meters of downhill
Average speed 21.4 KPH
200,538 calories

On that note - I am out of here. I love having access to the internet in my tent!!!!!  

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

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

And yes - it you want to see pictures of the trip - don't forget to check out Neil's blog - he faithfully posts pictures - windaturback.com