Had a great sleep on the ferry and NO - I did not hear Alec or Craig snore - not even once! Heard the fog horn a couple of times, but the sea was calm or so I thought.
Up and had breakfast at the buffet on the ferry. All you can eat - they sure did not make money with our group! Then a final meeting as the weather was not going to cooperate so trying to shave a few KM off the route. Next thing we know - it is time to get off the ferry. I loaded my bags onto the van and the five of us who walked our bikes on - were able to get to our bikes and walked them off. There was no need for me to go to the van once it was parked for the others to get their bikes so I was off. Got a picture of the Newfoundland sign and then off to see what the weather was like.
Well - there was a hurricane in the vicinity - OK - so it was 500 KM off the shore of Newfoundland, but still that is in the vicinity. The weather was cool - about 18 degrees and windy. Oh yippeeee!!!! I had taken my big rain jacket with me and I had that on with my bolero underneath. No leggings as I didn't think I would need them. Mistake!!!!
I am making decent time up highway 100 on my way to the TransCanada when I ran over a nail and got a puncture in the rear tire. Are you kidding me????? I never had a flat last year at all and now here on the last day - a bloody flat tire. I got my tools out and was just taking the tire off when John stopped by to help. Well it appeared that I didn't have the proper tube (I had a tube for my road bike with me - DUH!!!!) and so we ended up taking that damn tire off three times and by this time everyone had passed - so much for the getting off the ferry early strategy!!!!! Stuart and Cy had stopped as well and Stuart gave me the proper tube. Oh boy - I'm a dolt!!!!! Then I was back on the road. Thanks to John, Cy and Stuart for making that flat tire become a non issue as I was about ready to hitch a ride. Let's just say that the wind was not a pleasant wind.
Finally made it to the Tim Horton's at the junction of 100 and 1. I met up with the rest of the group there (except Alec and Craig who just never stopped any where on any day - they just rode on through). Got something warm to eat and then back on the road. I was sincerely hoping that by changing directions we would get a better wind. Oh NO - the wind was even more fierce and oh look - it is starting to rain.
I tell you it doesn't get any better than that for cycling: head winds, rain, cool temperatures AND let's not forget the fact that we are on a busy highway!!!! I had to laugh though because everyone is challenging each other with this Ice Bucket challenge for ALS. Let's just say that there were TWO occasions that qualified for that challenge and it was NO ICE BUCKET of water that washed over my entire body. Nope - that would be a a HUGE amount of water as a transport went by. Yep - I pretty much felt like I had been inserted into a car wash going at full speed. Couldn't see a darn thing!!!!! And the water just splashed through everything!!!! Ice bucket challenge - doesn't even come close!! Thankfully I only got the "full meal deal"' twice but that is not to say that we were not sprayed by every car that went by. At one point my feet felt like they were in two big buckets of water. My big rain jacket was doing a pretty decent job of keeping my upper body dry and thus warm.
As the day wore on (remember - we did not leave the ferry dock until 10:30 AM - and my flat tire delayed me by at least 40 minutes). It is now getting on in the afternoon. I remembered all the issues I had last year and how demoralizing these NFLD conditions can be. I tried to keep a happy face all the time.
I have mentioned before that riding in those kind of conditions you need some kind of mental game or challenge to keep you going. Once I passed the junction of 1 and 100 - there was about 75 KM to go. So I broke it down into 15 KM sections. I figured that I could do 15 KM in 1 hour. Although I tried to ride faster - that was my goal. I didn't think about anything else but those immediate 15 KM. I think I was able to do the sections in about 50 minutes. But it helped to pass the time and gave me something to focus on.
I did catch up to Stuart, Cy and Bud and rode behind them for about 10 K. They almost threw my timing off, but not quite. Then they stopped for coffee. Oh boy - I am NOT stopping. As I mentioned - time was marching on and I was starting (OK - so I was COLD) and there was no way that I was going to be able to get warm if I stopped (and still at least 30 K to go). So I kept going. I grabbed a chocolate bar from a gas station (OK - so I bought the darn thing) and then I was off again. Another 15 K and then another 15 K. I remembered the roads but it was pretty easy - as we had recited the highway numbers a LOT in the morning on the ferry.
Some of the secondary highways we were on were crappy! No shoulder and broken road which made it difficult to ride, especially when there was so much rain. And let's not forget that I wasn't wearing my glasses so it wasn't the easiest to keep an eye on the pot holes. There were one or two times when I said a BAD word out loud when I hit a pot hole because I was worried about my back tire which didn't have as much air in it as it should have.
Then we got onto a decent highway which is actually a major highway into St. John's and the traffic was crazy busy. The water was spraying everywhere and that damn road just went on and on and on and on. Well you get the picture. You would climb up a long hill and then down the other side. Then up again and down again. The downs were way worse than the ups since the rain was pelting me in the face and I had no glasses on so the rain just bit into my face.
Can you tell - we had a good day????? I must admit that I almost lost it on this section of the road and I think this is where I lost my sense of humour last year. Even though I think the conditions were way worse this year! The good news was that when the rain started, the wind did die down a bit. Yippee!!!!
AT LAST - the damn exit. I was so glad to get off that highway. The constant slog in the rain, the spray from the vehicles, the dump trucks who did not give a damn (and there were a lot of them) was getting to me. But I had another issue to content with at this point. Riding in the city and my feet were like ice at this point and when I unclipped at a stop light, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to clip back into my pedals. My hands were like icicles, my legs were numb and I was wet through and through. The constant spray from the road finally invaded my big rain jacket (plus I think the side vents were partially open).
Anyway - I made it down one section of the town and then onto the final road which changed names three times. My GOD - how long does this road go on for?????? AHA - finally the first name change. And then the second and OH MY GOD - there is the Shopper's Drug Mart which I knew was just by the hotel. I MADE IT!!!!!!!! I zipped into the parking lot - took a quick picture with my bike and into the hotel where the ones ahead of me had arrived just minutes before me - well may 15 minutes before me. Except for Alec and Craig who had been here for longer. Our van had not arrived yet so they were still hanging around in their wet clothes. Are you kidding me????????
I grabbed my room key, ran to the room, stripped off my wet clothes and had a hot shower and crawled into bed to get warm!!!!!! Well now that I was warmed up (and had something to eat) - I still had nothing to put on that was dry. And my window over looks the parking lot so that was handy. I saw when the van arrived. I grabbed my dampish cycling jersey and a towel - no room for pride in this world of survival. I wasn't the only one wearing a towel in the lobby - Hans had spent the ENTIRE day in just a cycling jersey. He was in bad shape when he arrived. My hands were so cold when I arrived - I couldn't even hold the pen to sign at the front desk. But dry clothes and I was a happy camper.
The lobby of the hotel was a mess - there were wet bikes, tons of luggage and 20 people in there, but we managed to get everything straightened out. Gavin had bought a bunch of snack food for us so I helped set that up as the others had showers and got changed. Then we sat around and chatted and ate and drank beer and well - just tried to unwind from a "lovely" cycling day. At the same time - it was the LAST day so there was a LOT of unwinding to do.
I don't know why I was in such a foul mood last year when I arrived, but I was NOT going to let that happen this year. I was so happy to arrive - perhaps because I was so cold? But it was more than that. I really let that last part of the road get to me last year and I had this big vision of riding up to Signal Hill - well I shared that story with everyone and so no one had those expectations which considering the weather conditions was good. Only Guillaume who is a young speedy cyclist went up Signal Hill last night even after he took a side trip - seriously Guillaume?????? Yes - he whizzed past me at one point. Crazy Frenchman!!!!!
We all pretty much arrived within one hour of each other which was good, but Gerrald got lost and ended up doing an extra 34 K which was NOT a good thing to happen on a day like yesterday. He finally arrived after 8 PM - it was dark - and everyone was worried but he made it in safely.
I hit the sack about 11 PM but I heard that a few others went out on the town and didn't arrive back at the hotel until 3 AM. I guess those days for me are over. I'm too old for that late of a night!!!!!
Sorry this is so long, but for those of you who plan to do a Tour du Canada in the future - I think it is important to note that the last day is probably one of the toughest. So many emotions, the weather conditions, the distance and the start time - all of them together become a HUGE challenge. It can be done - but watch out!!!!! And I have to say that we came directly to the hotel and did NOT go down town so there was NO climbs to get to the hotel. What a relief. I remember coming around the corner last year and saying a few bad words out loud when I saw the hill that we had to climb to get to the hotel.
Even though this wasn't a Tour du Canada for me - I still had a huge sense of accomplishment when I arrived. My goal was to have a decent last day on the trip and I can honestly say that I did NOT let the conditions get to me. Having the right attitude, the right gear (well almost all the right gear) and the desire - can make all the difference in the world. I have no idea how many KM I actually rode by according to Bud's mileage - it was about 2,884 KM, And our total for the last day - instead of 140 K - I thought it would be 120 K by eliminating some of the secondary roads, but it ended up being 130 K. Still not having to ride that last 10 K was welcome!!!!!
On that note - I am out of here.
Have a fabulous day!!!!
Ciao!!!!!!!
Congratulations Elaine. A great accomplishment.
ReplyDelete