Remember yesterday (I think it was) when I mentioned how I would like some simple things???? Well I would LOVE to eat breakfast without being eaten alive by mosquitos and I would love to brush my teeth without flies crawling all over my legs!!!! Just simple things!!!!!
We got up and ready to hit the road this morning, but that campground was infested with mosquitos!!!!!! One way to avoid them was to stand in the road (off the grass) and let the breeze (what little there was) get rid of them. Needless to say - we did not stick around for very long. We had thought of going to that restaurant that we went to yesterday so we could have breakfast, but then we would have to wait until 7 when it opened so we had breakfast at camp and headed out.
There was a bit of a hill right at the start and I geared down and BANG - I lost the chain on my bike. I knew that I had to STOP immediately because the more you try to pedal, the more it gets jammed in the gears. So I managed to unclip and hop off before I fell off. YEAH!!!! And lucky that the chain was not that jammed so very quickly I was able to get it out and back in place. However Neil didn't know what had happened to me so he came back down the hill and then had to go back up again!!!!! I guess the chain was so SHINY and slippery from the degreasing it had the day before that it just didn't know when to stop!!!!!
The day went by pretty uneventful. We had a couple of "detours" off the main highway and I must admit that Neil took a wrong turn - no let's say that he missed a turn (and I DID NOT catch it) and next thing we knew - we had a HUGE body of water on our right. WAIT A MINUTE - that huge body of water needs to be on our left!!!!! We backtracked about 1 KM and were soon on the right path. Then we did take another wrong turn - well we missed another turn when we were in Buctouch, but I do blame that on the fact that we were looking for a bakery and none to be found so we had to stop at a gas station for our morning snack.
Then we arrived in Shediac for lunch, but not before we took pictures at the BIG LOBSTER. I remember being there on Tour Atlantic except I was by myself and had no one to take picture of me, but this time, Neil took the picture. I had to laugh because we met a couple of tourists who were admiring my "Paris" jersey. Too bad it didn't come from Paris, but it is a nice jersey - I will get a picture to show you. Neil had his London map jersey on so we ha quite a European flare today.
There was a pretty strong wind today, but for the most part it was a cross wind although at times it was a head wind and then for a bit we had a tail wind. I had to laugh because close to the end of the day when it became a REAL tail wind, we ended up on a gravel road where it wasn't really meant to be going full speed ahead. No worries - we still made pretty good time and not a bad day at all.
We did take a "very" scenic detour although it wasn't really worth it and we ended up riding directly into that head wind for about 5 K and it was BRUTAL. It was also hot today and I just wanted cold drinks which of course we have to stop and buy. The water in our bottles does not stay cold very long.
Some of the shoulder was crap today and some roads had NO shoulder. It is very hard to look at scenery when you are watching the road because of the traffic or because of the potholes and other unwanted details on the road. Sometimes, I think it is better to stay on the busier roads with WIDE shoulders - then you can relax a bit and enjoy the ride instead of being on guard all the time.
We are definitely in Acadian country. Holy cow - everything is painted red, white and blue with a gold star. Telephone poles, flags everywhere, lobster traps, bicycles, you name it - it is painted and on display. There are also stars on a lot of houses. Now the question is - are they there for decoration or because of the Acadian connection?????
Oh yes - I have to tell you about some of the stuff we see on the road. The other day a transport went by and it had building materials on it. The first one went by and I thought the load was hanging quite far off the right hand side, but I didn't really see it. After the second went by - oh yes - there are HUGE trusses hanging off the right hand side of that truck. He had to take a BIG detour to the other side of the road to miss us. Thankfully he gave us loads of room. But then you have the idiot camper who goes by with his stairs hanging out into the road shoulder and probably doesn't even know it. That is an accident waiting to happen - not just with a bike - but with anything on the side of the road. Do these people not do a walk about BEFORE they take off?????
This is our last night in New Brunswick. Yes - another province down and three remaining. The end is so close now - I think as much as we are all getting tired of riding - well most of us are - it is going to be difficult to leave this all behind. I could miss the mosquitos and flies, but the rest of it - I really like.
One other thing that we have noticed is the reaction of others when we chat about what we are doing. In the west when we told people we were riding to NFLD, most sort of wished us good luck and probably thought we were idiots!!!!! Now when we tell people that we started in Vancouver and are riding to NFLD, they are IMPRESSED that we have ridden so far!!!!!
I know most people could probably never imagine undertaking this type of journey, but I think it is important for everyone to undertake some kind of journey that allows them to reflect on life, but mostly to challenge themselves and do something that they have always wanted to do, but never had the courage. It is never too late. As one TdC vet said - she wanted to lose more weight before she did the trip and then thought - I have to just do the trip and she did. The thing is if you leave things for "later" - later never comes.
No internet tonight - so will try to post this tomorrow.
Have a great day!!!!
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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