The CGB Book - Part 2 of 12 - NL

7/26/2019 The CGB Book - Part 2 of 12 - NL

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If it was easy, anyone could do it!The story of the 2013 Craig Gives Back-2-Back

Cross-Canada Bicycle Tour


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THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

The sun was just coming up on Thursday, August 1 st when I said goodbye to our dogs Loli andZephyr. We packed up the car and headed into Pictou to pickup Craig. Craig and I weretravelling together on Porter Airlines, while my wife had used our Air Miles to book her flight with

Air Canada. Both flights were departing and arriving within twenty minutes of each other, so wewould meet up quickly at the airport in St. Johns. The weather coming into St. Johns airportwas perfect, and I had a good view the Avalon Peninsula as we came in for landing. It had beenexactly twenty-five years since Andrea and I had spent our honeymoon over on the west coast ofNewfoundland on the Northern Peninsula, and here we were back again. The cliffs droppedsharply down to the water along the coast, but it looked kind off flat on the top, at least from anairplane. I was soon to find out very differently!

I had Flat Stanley along during the plane ride for a few photos to send to my niece Kristin, so shecould post to our Facebook page. I thought I had him safely tucked under my t-shirt and into myshorts on my back, but in St. Johns when I grabbed our luggage off the carousel I noticed hewas gone. I felt panic and retraced my steps watching the floor for the flat little guy. I found notrace of him, and so I went to the customer service desk and guess what, one of the airport

employees had picked up Stanley and had dropped him off at the desk. Ok, so now I had lostStanley twice, however I found him twice too!

Landing in St. Johns we were treated like rock stars! Emily from the CNIB office in St. Johnswas waiting for us at the airport and we all jumped into her vehicle and were quickly off to theOZ FM radio station, which broadcasts across the entire island for an interview. From there wewere taken out to lunch and then off to visit the CNIB office. What great staff, most havingsome level of vision loss, but all so friendly and helpful. Amazingly one staff member actuallybuilds gas powered bicycles and has sold a number of them. Seeing all the hills in the city of St.Johns I c ould really see the value of a power assisted bicycle either gas or electric! Craig wasable to get some assistance in learning to use his new iPhone 5, which is so useful to anyonewho is seeing impaired.

That evening we were picked up at the hotel by a work friend, Steve Benson who took us to hishouse in Mount Pearl for a barbeque. The food was terrific and Craig and I had no qualms abouteating as much as our stomachs would hold, as we knew in three days we would be challengedto take in as many calories as we would burn each day. We had a great time with Steve and hisfamily and also his menagerie of pets from fish and amphibians to cats and dog. Steve hadgrown up with a great fondness for all animals and it was shared by his wife and two daughters.

On Friday, August 2 nd , early in the morning we were picked up by Chris Roos, CEO at the St.Johns YMCA and we all headed off to the Rotary Club weekly meeting where Craig and I werethe guest speakers. After that the three of us headed downtown eventually arriving at the TerryFox Memorial where we would be interviewed by CBC TV. On our way we decided to head intothe Happy Hummus Hut and get something quick to eat . To our amazement, a tourist fromOntario who heard of our adventure recognized us in the line-up and paid for our meal. So Istart thinking how popular Craig and I are, but that balloon was soon to be burst. As we left therestaurant and made our way up the street, a young lady recognized us and ran out of a clothingstore and wanted her picture taken with Craig, and could I take the picture! I was still just theguy that was going to bike across Canada with Craig Aucoin! Oh, well it was great for Craigs selfesteem and what would I do with all the attention anyways.

Shortly after we arrived at the Terry Fox Memorial and were to witness what we felt was a goodomen! One reason that CBC TV wanted to meet us at this location and shortly after 1:00pm, is


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that shortly after filming our interview, Cayse Riuter was due to arrive having just completed abicycle ride across Canada to raise awareness for organ donation. He had felt helpless as hisclose friend died while waiting for a heart transplant and wanted to do something. Cycling acrossCanada to raise awareness for organ donation was how he decided to help. His family and hisfriends father were present for the emotional finish of his 8,000km trip and we felt privileged tobe there to share the moment.

Craigs parents had taken the ferry across from Nova Scotia and arrived in St. Johns right afterour interview with CBC television. They had also brought over Janus in the back of their van,and Craigs father Phillip and I left the others while we took the Janus to the YMCA where itwould be on display until our departure the morning of Sunday, August 4 th . With that done weall headed up to see one of the most amazing tourist attractions in Saint Johns, Signal Hill. Itwas a beautiful sunny day and the view from Signal Hill looking bac k towards Saint Johnsharbour and also out to the Atlantic Ocean was stunning. We were sure we saw some whales!

Saturday, August 3 rd we woke up at the Super 8 Hotel and all three of us headed down to get aquick complimentary breakfast and coffee. I decide to leaf through the weekend newspaper,

The Telegram , and there inside the paper was a half page article and colour picture of theCraigGivesBack. In the past two days we had done, television, newspaper and radio interviewsand the message was definitely getting out here in Newfoundland!

Craig gets picked up by his parents and they head off to spend the day together visiting thepopular tourist spots. We head off to meet with our good friends Kora and Ed who had made thetrip over from Pictou to see us off! We got to go whale and puffin watching!

Now this was the same week of the George Street Festival in downtown Saint Johns and we didnot want to miss out! Great live music and maybe a beer or two, but best of all was spendingtime with friends. We did all have a terrific time, Craig met up with us and we all got back to bedat a decent hour as we had a big day to be ready for!


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NEWFOUNDLAND

DAY #1 Sunday, August 4, 2013 The second rainiest city in Canada is

Day#1: 118kms St. Johns, NL to Bellevue Beach, NL

After beautiful weather from Thursday to Saturday, I would never have believed St. Johns wasthe second rainiest city in Canada. So much for the sun of the past three days! It startedraining, and actually pouring buckets just as we were to begin our epic 85 day, 8,200km journey!

We left right on schedule at 10:00am, but before we did a television interview withNewfoundland Television and then a few invited quests said some kind words and wished uswell. There was a small crowd to see us off including friends and relatives who had travelledfrom Pictou for the start of the grand adventure!

We quickly put on our rain gear, and in the pouring rain we started off with a half dozen cyclistsgiving escort out of the city limits. The cyclists gradually dropped off as the rain intensified withthe exception of one lone cyclist, wearing nothing but a single layer of spandex and absolutelysoaked to the skin! He must have had stayed with us for at least 10kms before deciding to partways, and we stopped to thank him for staying with us so long. It was a very memorablemoment for the three of us, as the rider was a staff member at the CNIB office and fought backtears as he thanked us for doing this ride.

Our goal for today was to travel 118kms from St. Johns to Bellevue Beach Campground, andarrive there by 5:00pm. We knew already that we were going to be late!


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Coincidently, Bob MacDonald and his wife Laureen had also travelled from Pictou toNewfoundland drop off their son at Memorial University for the upcoming school year. Bob asyou may remember suffers from retinitis pigmentosa very much the same as Craig and we hadasked Bob to be Craigs backup. So, knowing they had to take their son to Newfoundlan d theydecided to go a bit early and then they could see us off on August 4 th . They also had decided tospend that same night at the same campground as Craig and I in Bellevue Beach and offered to

take some of our gear with them and therefore lighten our load and we could travel a bit faster.They were on their way back across Newfoundland to the Port-Aux-Basque ferry terminal.

After pedaling in pouring rain for over two hours, we stopped on the roadside at the exit toButter Pot Provincial Park to cook our favourite meal, Kraft Dinner! We were now more than twothirds of the way to our final destination for the day.

Now before we left, one of the staff members at the CNIB had warned us that Newfoundland didnot have any mountains, but it had lots and lots of hills. We were about to find out just how truethis statement was! It was just after we had lunch that the rain let up and we were able to takeoff the rain gear and dry out a bit. That was also when the hills began. We had experiencedmoderate rolling hills all morning, however these were serious and steep climbs.

The steepest climb of the day was late in the day at Long Harbour and we did bike the entire hill,however we had to stop and rest twice to allow our muscles to recover for the next portion. Onthe third and final portion we had just started off and passed a recreational vehicle parked off theside of the road. The driver had gotten out as we approached and as we went by, he said hewas looking for Lloyd McLean. As we cycled by I s aid that he had found him, but in my mindthere was no way I was stopping until we got to the top of the hill. I had hoped he would driveby and park at the top of the hill to wait for us, however he did not, so even to this day I have noidea who the person was and I still feel bad that I did not stop.

We still had a long way to go to reach Bob and Laureen at the campground, so we continued onour way, up and then down, up and then down. We had been in touch with Bob through the dayso that he knew when we thought we would arrive, however we were running so far behindschedule that he set out on his own bike from the campground. I must say it was a good thingto meet him on the road and know we were finally getting close to the end of the first dayonly eighty-four more days to go!

Upon arriving at the campground, we had to register and then make our way through thenetwork of gravel roads to our campsite. I also always take the opportunity to explain to thecampground owners about CraigGivesBack ride, and leave a business card so they can check outour Facebook page. We head off to our campsite and reach a short, but steep climb on one ofthe gravel roads. I ask Bob if he thinks we can make it with our wacky back-to-back recumbentwith trailer and he gave the thumbs up, so we gear down and increase our pedaling speed togain as much speed as possible. Problems started when the front wheel started to bounce onthe rocks, I lost traction and our speed dropped quickly. Knowing we were not going to make it Iquickly unclipped my cycling shoes and dropped my feet to the ground in an effort to support the

bike to prevent it from tipping. Craig was not so quick to unclip and I was unable to support theweight of both Craig and the bike and it flipped over on its side along with Craig.

At first we were not sure if Craig was laughing or crying and we were just so tired it could havebeen either. He acknowledged he was ok except for maybe a bruise on his knee and weunclipped him from the bike and picked both up and safely walked the rest of the way to ourcampsite. Now that we were here and the rain had stopped, the first thing was to get our wetclothing off and hang it out to dry while we setup our tents. I set up mine and Craig did an


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excellent job of getting his own tent setup. Then we were off to our dinner date with Bob andLaureen!

DAY #2 Monday, August 5, 2013 Hills, Rain, Repeat

Day#2: 132kms Bellevue Beach, NL to Charlottetown, NL

Our goal for today was to travel 132kms to Terra Nova National Park and arrive there by 5:00pm.If only we knew how many hills we would climb today!

We awoke to find out that Flat Stanley who had been safely stored behind my seat had sufferedsome moisture damage. He was a paper cutout and had been laminated, but it was no matchfor the rain in Newfoundland and all of the colours had run so he looked faded. We renamed him

Soggy Stanley. We had also awoke n to an infestation of very large black slugs! They were allover the campsite, and I moved enough out of the way so Craig would not step on themaccidentally. They are kind of gross unless you are into slugs.

I cooked pancakes and Craig and I both cleaned up the campsite as we prepared to leave. Boband Laureen had get going as they needed to return to Nova Scotia, so would not be there tomeet us at the next campsite. They did offer to take with them and drop off at our nextcampsite any excess gear we would not require during the day, and thereby lighten our load.We took them up on the offer and were happy to keep our bike and trailer as light as possible.


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The hills started almost immediately and the rain would come later in the morning. It started outas a steady rain and turned into a downpour that would last right until we stopped for the night.

We had a basic and inexpensive speedometer/odometer on the bike, and we were also trying tonavigate using a cycling computer. This was the second day I tried to input our destination andour route, but I gave up as I found using Google Maps on my iPhone so much easier to use. Still

my navigational skills leave a little to be desired, but in Newfoundland we would follow onehighway for almost 1,000kms. The only challenge was having enough battery life, so I wouldinput our destination, which would give us our route and distance and then I would turn it offand put it back in our bike pannier.

Craig and I battled the weather and topography all day long and as we finally reached TerraNova National Park. It became such that we disliked long downhills as it meant a long uphill wasalso imminent. It took only a few minutes to speed down at 60-70kms/hr, but it would be a halfhour climb to regain the elevation we just lost. I started to wonder if there would be any flatsections on this entire island. On top of that was the rain which never stopped once it started inthe morning. It had rained so hard that the road was covered in a layer of water and althoughthe large trucks would move over when possible, they still covered us in a wave of water. Notterrible as we were both soaked under our rain suits from sweat and rain that worked its way in,but not great for Craig. He could not see the traffic approaching from the rear and facing therear would get the water not only thrown on him, but also in his face. There was nothing I coulddo and the more it rained the worse it got and each time a transport truck passed, it would beimmediately with Craig coughing and sputtering to clear the water from his nose and mouth andthen in surprised anger in a high pitched scream he would curse the passing truck, but by then itwas long gone even though the insult remained. Poor Craig, and neither of us was having agreat day of cycling.

I had been told that the campground was just inside the Terra Nova National Park boundary,however that turned out not the case. After trying to raise Craig s spirits that we were almostthere, we passed a road sign that indicated we had another 20kms to go. I thought about itbriefly and then told Craig it was only 5kms! No sense breaking his spirit and he would not knowanyways. We were tired, the sun was starting to drop out of view, and we had been soaking wetall day. We were also hungry and I did not want to take the time to cook, so I asked Craig howhe felt about some raw Kraft Dinner. I also thought this was a good opportunity to takeresponsibility that I lied about the 5kms, and let him get out any anger or frustration, but weended up laughing about it. Now we had to decide if we were going to continue to the campsiteor take whatever opportunity came our way first we were losing daylight quickly.

Well it so happens that not too far inside the park boundary, Newfoundland has town namedCharlottetown too! I asked Craig if he wanted to continue to the campground which would likelybe another half hour to hour, or turn off and try our luck in here. As we made the turn off thehighway it did not at first look promising and we were concerned we were starting to descendquickly, however it did not take long to reach a restaurant and motel. We arrived just as therestaurant was closing, but they took pity on us so we ordered some hot meals to take back to

our room.

Most of our food, our clothing and all our camping gear was at our intended campsite, asLaureen and Bob had done us a favour and dropped it off earlier in the day. We did not needour camping gear, however Craigs medications, my contact solution and all our clothing wasthere and not here. Craig said he would be ok so long as we got there in the morning, I sleptwith my contacts in and we need to try and dry out our clothing so we would not have theunpleasant task of putting on cold, wet cycling gear in the morning. We each took a hot showerand wrung out and hung our wet clothing throughout our room with the hopes it would dry by


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morning. We turned the heat up as hot as we could stand as we were chilled from a long wetday and we had eaten only enough to give us the energy to keep pedaling. Our room lookedand smelled like a damp locker room, but we were warm and the food tasted so good. Sleepwould come easy tonight.

DAY #3 Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Is this the end?

Day#3: 91kms Charlottetown, NL to Gander, NL

We awoke to sun the next morning and we had a kitchenette to cook breakfast, and had enoughpancake mix on hand for a batch of pancakes! Not only did they fill us up, every time I cooked abatch, our load would get lighter. It is amazing how heavy flour is!

Our goal for today was to travel 165kms to Bishops Falls and arrive the re by 6:00pm, and if wecould accomplish this feat, we would be back on schedule. I did not hold out much hope that wewould meet our goal, as we were 10kms behind schedule already as we still had to stop at ourintended campsite to pickup our gear that Bob and Laureen had dropped off yesterday.

The highway through Newfoundland is as scenic as it is hilly! Rumble strip would appear nowand again on the paved shoulder, but usually there was sufficient space to the right of therumble strip to bicycle with some space left between us and the traffic. Overall the highwayacross Newfoundland is in good condition and cycling was no problem. The traffic was also veryfriendly and many drivers honked at us, maybe to urge us on or maybe it was to keep our spiritsup as we tackled the challenging terrain of Newfoundland.

We reached the office for Terra Nova National Park and the staff was so intrigued by our tripthey had us in for coffee, and even gave me a drive in the campground truck to pickup our gear


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at our campsite. This was a great time saver as our campsite was a long way down a windinggravel road, and would not have been a pleasure to bike back up with the trailer now fullyloaded. I was glad we had stopped at Charlottetown for the night, as our gear which was leftneatly piled at our intended campsite was a temporary home for the local slug population!

Back in the parking lot at the office as we started to pack up the bike and trailer with our full

gear, a recreational vehicle stopped to check out at the office and of course the odd lookingbicycle drew their interest and questions. They were from Ontario and we would be seeing themagain!

After carefully packing away all our gear we set off heading west once again. The hillscontinued, however the rain so far was holding off even though the skies looked threatening.We were getting close to Gander and it was now midday and time to stop and eat. We were stilldrying out from the previous day and we decided to take advantage of the sun and a stiff breezeto dry our clothes on a road sign as we cooked and ate our lunch.

We would continue cycling for another couple of hours and then dry portion of this trip came toan abrupt end as the skies darkened, and we stopped at the bottom of a large hill near Gambo toquickly change into our rain gear. Water ran down the steep incline like a river and our feetwere soaked in seconds!

To make matters worse, if that was even possible, Craig had been having difficulty drinking fromthe water tubes that was clipped to the front his shirt and ran down to a 4 litre water bladderbehind his seat. Every time he would take a sip, it would go down the wrong way and he wouldbreak into a coughing fit. We were seated at a reclined angle, so maybe that had something todo about it, but at least it would give us both something to laugh at as it was so reliablesip,cough, laugh, sip, cough, laugh! This was day three and it was almost automatic every time hetook a drink.

Travelling was even slower now that we were carrying our full gear and by the time we reachedGander it was late afternoon and after two very long days I did not have the desire to continuecycling any further, and pass up on the opportunity to stay in a warm dry motel room for thenight. We were on the main street in Gander and there were a few motel options, but alsowanting to keep our costs to a minimum, I wanted to see if there was a campground withincycling distance. We stopped at the Visitor Centre and Craig and I walked up the front steps.

In addition to a deteriorating eye disease, Craig has also had long term issues with balance. Heis always at risk of falling and of course his sight loss over the years has not helped. So whennearly at the top of the steps of the Visitor Centre, after a long day of cycling, Craig let go of therailing to unzip his jacket, but started to lean backwards. I had turned around just in time andquickly my arm shot out and I grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him back. The dropwould have been a good six feet down onto the concrete step, so luck was with us and weavoided what would have been a serious situation. I thought to myself, how many times will wehave close calls like this over the next eighty-two days and I better keep a close eye on Craig!

That evening we washed our stinky clothing in the sink and setup a clothesline in our room.There was a large fan on the desk and we used it to help dry our gear. I cooked supper outsideon the concrete step and Craig cleaned the dishes, and later I would call my wife to give her anupdate. It was not a call I wanted to make and I did not want to worry her, however this islandwas literally kicking us in the butt.

We were now only three days into the trip and 80kms behind schedule. I did not think thingscould get any worse, and only that Craig and I had committed to the three charities and they had


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trusted us and invested much time and effort into supporting us, that I resolved to continue and just do the very best we could to get back on schedule. A mental note to myself was that if Iever did bicycle across Newfoundland was to put an extra two days in the schedule!

DAY #4 Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Or, is this the end?

Day#4: 123kms Gander, NL to Badger, NL

When we awake it was not sunny, but not raining either so in Newfoundland we considered thatsunny! We had a quick breakfast of pancakes, again cooked outside on the concrete step andthen we hit the road early. I had texted Kelly with the CNIB in St. Johns last evening and wewere scheduled to be at the YMCA in Grand Falls-Windsor at 10:00am, which was nowimpossible. It was re-scheduled to 3:00pm in the afternoon and we would make every effort tobe there on time!

Our goal for today was optimistic to say the least. We would try to not only bike 177kms, butalso to make a publicity stop in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Unknown to me at the time, my wife and sisters had been working through the evening to get us

help! We were making good time through the morning, and then received a text that anemployee with the CNIB was going to meet us on the road and take some of our gear to ourdestination in Grand Falls-Windsor. We were happy to meet her and took advantage of hergenerous offer and even disconnected Bob the trailer and put it in her trunk. The only strangething was Craig asked if she had any Tylenol and it was then he told me he was having pain inhis leg. I am not sure which was worse, but he was having pain in both his knee and Achillestendon. The only good news is we arrived in Grand Falls-Windsor early so stopped at Sobeysand I bought food and also two bags of ice for his knee and ankle.


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We rested for as long as we could so Craig could ice his leg, and then headed off to make it tothe YMCA on time. It was also at this time the rain started again. We stopped and put on ourrain gear and arrived to a great reception at the YMCA. This branch of the YMCA was essentiallya daycare and all the kids were outside to greet us! There was food and drinks and a reporterfrom the local newspaper, the mayor and also the local Home Hardware franchisee who made adonation that would be shared by the three charities we were promoting. We also had an

uninvited guest, which was rain starting as a shower and gradually becoming a downpour. Weprepared for departure by putting our rain gear back on.

Hoping to make more distance before stopping for the day, we left in the rain which wouldcontinue for the balance of the evening. We had not made it more than 30kms and then Craigstarted having severe pain in his knee and ankle. I did not know how severe the injury was, butit was painful enough that Craig became very upset, as this could very well mean the end of thetour. Thankfully there were no significant hills for the next 10kms, as I pedaled for the two of usas Craig was unable to put any pressure on the pedals without pain and we limped into the townof Badger. Badger is not a large town by any means, but it had two motels right on the highwayso we took the one on the right as I don t like making left turns! I booked us into a room andCraig settled in as I went to get hot food and ice for his injuries. We were both soaked to theskin.

Craig immediately contacted Phillip Ruiz who owns Back To Basics in Pictou to get some adviceon treating the injury. Phillip is a good friend and an excellent physiotherapist and recognizedright away the significance of the injury and arranged for us to visit Jason Billard who was inPhillips classes at Dalhousie University , and now owned Billard Physiotherapy back in GrandFalls-Windsor. Craig then contacted his parents who conveniently were at their cottage in CapeBreton. Craig told them he would not know for sure until tomorrow if his trip was at an end andif necessary he would meet them at the ferry terminal in North Sydney. He was very upset, andvery quiet for the remainder of the evening. Meanwhile I explored options for the best way toget Craig back home if that would be necessary. We were now only 50kms behind schedule, andamazingly had come very close to catching up, but now it was not so much a question if wecould get back to the schedule, but even if the tour could continue.


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DAY #5 Thursday, August 8, 2013 And then there was one

Day#5: 91kms Badger, NL to Somewhere in the woods beside the highway in Newfoundland

Our only goal today was to get an assessment on Craigs injuries and then make the right choicefor both Craigs health and the tour. We were up early as we wanted to be at the clinic as soonas it opened, as if treatment was able to get Craig back on the bike we would need to be back onthe road as soon as possible.

With Craigs injuries w e could not bike of course, so we walked out to the highway and stuck outour thumbs. It took a few cars, but then a pickup truck filled with fishing gear stopped andpicked us up. He was on his way to work which was almost next door to the clinic so could dropus off right at the front door, but first he had an errand to run. He turned off the highway onto adirt road and we came out to a clearing right on the banks of the Exploits River. It was abeautiful location. He had a horse and a pony to give hay and feed for the day on his way towork. The pony was a very rare Newfoundland Pony and he was hoping to breed with anotherto help the breed continue. With the horses looked after we returned to the truck and soon we

were very nicely dropped off at the front door of the physio clinic.

We are right on schedule at the clinic and when Jason arrives he takes Craig immediately andthey begin treatment on his ankle. After an ultrasound and then a Transcutaneous ElectricalNerve Stimulation (TENS) by a staff member, Jason returns to check Craig and give us hisdiagnosis and recommendation. The news is not good, as Craig has acute tendonitis of his

Achilles tendon on his right ankle. He also has a knee injury, but Jason does not see that near asserious as the ankle. He offers us two options. He could tape up the ankle and the tour couldcontinue, however at any point Craig could end up with the injury becoming more severe and we


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might not be close to help when it occurs. He recommends that Craig have two weeks oftreatment and rest. Craig and I quickly decide that we could not risk him re-injuring on the road.Not only did Jason fit us into his busy schedule on short notice, he made Craig a priority and thenrefused to receive payment for his assistance. He said this is actually not the first time he hasseen this type of situation as many cross Canada cyclist or runners underestimate the challengeof the Newfoundland topography and the beating your body takes. Good to know we were not

the first!

Another person who had been following our tour was Steve Benson, who is the owner ofWoodland Nurseries in Paradise, Newfoundland and has trucks crossing the island weekly todeliver bouquets and plants to all the Sobeys stores. I had been providing him tour updatessince we had started and he had a truck driving right through Badger today around 1:00pm.Since I would be continuing the tour on my own he could have the truck pickup any now un-needed gear and arrange to get it back to Pictou.

The evening prior in the motel, Craig and I had discussed what we could do differently as thetour was not going as planned, and we need to look at all options to help ensure we could meetour commitments to our charities and stay on schedule for our appointments. We decided thatJanus and BoB needed a divorce as it was just too much weight carrying all our cooking gear,food and the trailer. The pancake mix alone that we were carrying must have been close to10lbs!

We arrived back at the motel and sorted and packed our gear. Craig packed what he would needfor the next day and a half that it would take to travel back to Nova Scotia, and I packed only theessentials, which was my clothing, one tent, sleeping pad and sleeping bag. All the cooking gearand food along with the trailer were going back to Nova Scotia. I would snack on granola barsand jujubes through the day, and eat breakfast and supper at restaurants along the way.

While back in Grand Falls-Windsor, I had stopped at a cash machine and took out enough moneyfor Craig to get home. He would catch the bus right in Badger as it stopped at the gas stationalmost next door to the motel, but you paid the bus driver when you boarded. I bought histicket for the ferry over the phone and then gave him money for meals. After the truck stoppedand picked up our gear, I took Craig for a walk to introduce him to the locals. I took him to therestaurant and bar where he could have supper that evening, then down the road to the gasstation where I asked the staff to make sure Craig was on the bus headed to Port-Aux-Basquesthe next day at 2:00pm.

It was now 3:00pm in the afternoon and I had resolved to continue the tour on my own andCraig would rejoin hopefully when I headed west from Pictou on Saturday, August 17 th. Sure itwas not two weeks, but maybe with nine days of treatment from Phillip Ruiz, Craig would beready. If not I could continue on a solo journey until he was able to rejoin.

I gave Craig a hug and told him to tell everyone on the bus about our adventures and get thebus driver to honk as they passed me on the highway. I then left to continue the tour on my

own.

I had also been feeling an ache in my Achilles tendon on my right ankle yesterday, but I am atthat age when aches and pains come and go so hoped it was only temporary. It was not. Ibiked over 80kms from 3:00pm to 7:00pm and the pain from my ankle became greater thelonger I cycled. I thought it may be my cycling shoes rubbing against the back of my ankle, so Istopped and cut a slit down the back of the shoe to alleviate the pressure. It worked for a bit,but eventually I decided to stop for the day. I found a great campsite just off the road alongsidea fenced in power transmission site. I setup my tent out of site of the road next to the fence.


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My biggest worry, since this was Newfoundland was getting trampled by a moose! I ate asupper of granola bars and drifted off to sleep.

DAY #6 Friday, August 9, 2013 When the inn is out

Day#6: 157kms Somewhere in the woods beside the highway in Newfoundland to Cornerbrook, NL

I was back on the road at 7:00am. I ate a couple granola bars and hoped to find a restaurant onthe highway for breakfast, brunch, lunch or all three at once if necessary! My goal today was tobike as far as possible. I had to be in Sydney, NS in exactly three days.

This was the flattest and most scenic portion of the entire trip across Newfoundland. By10:00am I had covered almost 80kms and finally came across a roadside restaurant and orderedenough food to fill me and last until supper. I also chose a table near an electrical outlet so Icould recharge my iPhone which was my sole source of communication and navigation, eventhough navigation is pretty straight forward on Newfoundland as there is only the one highwayfrom St. Johns to Port -Aux-Basques!

I knew the flat portion of the day was about to end at Deer Lake. There is a significant climbleaving Deer Lake heading towards Corner Brook, and then of course waiting in Corner Brook ispossibly the highest climb I would experience until Northern Ontario! I made the climb up fromDeer Lake without stopping which is no small feat when pedaling solo on a tandem recumbentbike. I then soon reached Pasadena and followed the gorgeous Humber Valley to Corner Brook.

Almost to Corner Brook and late in the afternoon I stopped to enjoy the view of the Humber Valley and eat a couple granola bars. During the entire afternoon I had kept an eye on trafficcoming from the east, looking for the bus that Craig would be on headed to Port-Aux-Basques,and there it was! The driver honked as the bus approached and then sped by as I waved. It


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was good to know that Craig would make it to the ferry, and his parents would be waiting forhim in North Sydney! At least one of us would for sure get off the island safely!

Now back on the bike and on to conquer the climb to Corner Brook. The entire climb isapproximately 240metres in elevation gained in a distance of 8kms, and I made it to 5kms just tothe exit to Corner Brook, when my legs were burning and I said to myself, Its almost 5:00pm, I

biked over 150kms today and already did one major hill today. What do I have to prove? Istopped, got off the bike and walked it up the remaining 500metres to the turnoff, got back onand headed down to the Superstore for food and advice on lodging. I know there is a Sobeysdown near the bottom of Corner Brook, but there is no way I was going to bike back up that hilltoday! I loaded up with food and was looking forward to sitting on a motel bed, doing nothingother than eating, watching television and resting to get ready for the next day. I was about tobe disappointed.

The Journeys End Hotel was right on my route back to the highway so that was where I headed.It was an uphill climb and a good workout just getting there, however my efforts were notrewarded as they had no vacancy. It was Friday night and nearly everything was booked up inCorner Brook. They suggested a motel down into the city, but there was no way I was bikingdown a hill I would have to bike up the next morning! That is a horrible way to start a day!

I got back on the highway and headed out of the city looking for another roadsideaccommodation. After 5kms I found a dirt road off the highway and did not have to go far tofind a spot in the trees hidden from traffic. Turns out I was camping beside not only the towndump, but also a local off road 4-wheeler trail. I made sure both the bike and my tent were wellhidden in the bushes as there were a few vehicles that went by and I did go by a no trespassingsign, but it did not say no camping so I carried on.

I had just got the tent setup and a shower started. I crawled inside and slid into to my sleepingbag and ate supper. I started to get a scratchy feeling in my throat and was felt like I wascoming down with a cold or flu. This was great, as on top of everything else that had happenedI was now coming down with a cold! I had a restless sleep.


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DAY #7 Saturday, August 10, 2013 Famine, Locusts, Wind!

Day#7: 112kms Cornerbrook, NL to a motel beside the highway in Newfoundland

Another early morning and again hoping to bike as far as I could, as I still have well over 200kmsto go. I had to catch the ferry in Port-Aux-Basques tomorrow and it leaves at 5:00pm.

Checking my iPhone and notice I received a text from Bob Ma cDonald, thats right the same BobMacDonald that I had asked to be Craigs backup, the same Bob MacDonald that we never hadthe time to include in our training, the same Bob MacDonald that had seen us off our first day inSt. Johns and helped us out our first two days of the tour. He had heard that Craig was headinghome and was offering to come to Newfoundland to help me bike back home. I did not respondback to his text right away, as I wanted to think about it. Newfoundland was a real challenge

and I did not want to have Bob who had never even been on a recumbent bike before to begiven a crash course on the hills of Newfoundland. I did not even want him to have to learn onthe hills of Cape Breton and suggested he meet me in Antigonish to help bike for the receptioninto Stellarton and Pictou on August 13 th . I texted him back and he was ok not coming toNewfoundland, but said he insisted that he would meet me in North Sydney Sunday night orMonday morning, depending on what time I arrived.

Physically Bob was stronger than Craig, but lacked the endurance, which he could developquickly. Even with all the training Craig and I had done, my legs had been sore for three days


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after the first day. I was very concerned with how Bob would be able to handle Cape Breton. Hewas also ten pounds heavier than Craig who was ten pounds heavier than me. For the pilot of atandem bike to be smaller than the stoker, it can create challenges, but if half of the extra twentypounds is muscle we should be ok!

It is also funny as I did not know Bob all that well, and it was through his wife Laureen that I had

met him. It took me over a year of training for a couple 10km races with Craig before I decidedto ask him to do the cross Canada bike ride. I had little knowl edge of Bobs personality, but Iknew he had a good sense of humour which he was definitely going to need. I looked forward tohis company, but was nervous as to how it would work out. With this on my mind I headed outfor another day of rain and for an additional challengewind , crazy wind.

My cycling day starts out well enough. Not that warm, but then the wind begins to get strongerand stronger as I near Stephenville Crossing. I am a fairly strong cyclist and even on a tandembike by myself I could tackle just about any hill, however the head wind was becoming so strongthat it would almost stop me dead on the flats, let alone the hills. The wind grew in strength andalso became more and more erratic, seeming to swirl and change direction from headwind tocrosswind. Right after an intense crosswind nearly blew me and the bike off a bridge, I finallystopped for a lunch break. I was beat and lay down in the ditch out of the wind and ate a couplegranola bars and then had a nap. It was so dangerous to bike in this crosswind I was in no rushleaving, but after my nap the wind had died down just enough so off I went as I did not have theluxury of taking the rest of the day off.

Since I had not stayed in a motel or stopped at a restaurant for over 24 hours, my water supplywas now almost exhausted and I had not passed through any communities so for today andcould not find any on the map within the next 50kms. To avoid the dangerous situation ofbecoming dehydrated, I opted to go on a secondary road that would take me 10kms to the westto a small village called St. Georges . I felt it was the right decision, and heading there I had thewind on my back as I sped along. I found a convenience store and refilled my water bladder anddrank a root beer to get sugars back in my system. That was the good and now the bad was Ihad to bike back into the wind and uphill. It was a much slower trip back to the highway, but Iwas now well stocked even if I camped on the roadside, which is what I was planning as I hadanother two hours of daylight left and wanted to get as far as I could today.

Sometimes you have to wonder if things are a coincidence or if they do happen for a reason. Iam biking along, the wind is dying down, I have food and water, but then over to my left I see amotel right on the highway. In front of the motel are two tandem bicycles and also a DemontsTransport truck. Demonts Transport is based out of Pictou County where I live and I took theseas signs I needed to stop here for the night. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I madethe entire trip.

There is no community or restaurant, but there are some pre-made sandwiches and soft drinkssold at the front desk of the motel . I dont even ask what type of sandwiches, he has, I just buythe three he has left. I go out and begin to push my bike over to my room, but as I pass the

room with the tandem bikes out front the entire family of four emerges and they have questions,like where is Craig? They were biking across Canada from west to east, so they were close tothe end of their trip, while mine had just begun. They had seen the video for our trip at EmpireTheatres in Fredericton, NB just over a week ago, so when I walked by their door, their youngestson, Eric saw me and the bike and yelled to his parents They are here! Well I was here and itwas good to meet with some fellow cyclists and share stories. Shane, the father and I wouldspend the evening sharing stories and tips for adventure cycling with most of the informationcoming from Shane, as he was much more experienced than I.


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Shane Worman, his wife Lisa and sons Eric and Joel were actually on their third long distancebike trip. On their first they had biked through Europe, then across the United States and nowacross Canada. If I remember correctly they were on day #100 of their trip and I was only onday #7! They were doing this trip with Lisas parents, both of whom are in their 70s! They werenot on a tandem, but kept up everyday covering an average 90-100kms daily. Shane sharedsome good advice with me and I knew I would be busy when I got back to Pictou to tweak the

gear to lighten our load!

DAY #8 Sunday, August 11, 2013 It that the ferry or is it a mirage?

Day#8: 107kms A motel beside the highway in Newfoundland to Port aux Basques, NL

I was up and gone before anyone else. There was no restaurant here, so it was a simple granolabar breakfast. I had over 100kms to reach the ferry before it left at 5:00pm and the wind wasstill strong coming out of the east, so I needed to get an early start.

There are hundreds of cyclists that bicycle across Canada every year or at least parts of it. Theytravel the more traditional route of west to east to hopefully catch the prevailing wind comingfrom the west, however there is never a guarantee. The Wormans told me they had terribleheadwinds coming from the east when they crossed the prairies. For them it was the mostchallenging portion of the trip, when for most cyclists it is the easiest as you sail along the flat


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prairie roads with the wind on your back. So today I would meet a few of these cross Canadacyclists speeding by me as they raced along in the opposite direction as me with the wind ontheir back. It was incredibly annoying as I strugg led along into the windagain!

It was however a wonderful sight to descend into the beautiful Codroy Valley with the tabletopmountains on my left. It was gorgeous and with every pedal stroke I knew I was getting closer

to the end of the province. Finally I reach the western coast of Newfoundland and I hoped thatthe ferry terminal was only a few kilometers away, however the highway continued to curve backinland and through spectacular scenery until finally I arrived at the exit to the ferry terminal. Iwas at the terminal just before 3:00pm I was in the same line-up as the motorcycles, waiting toboard. I of course was the belle of the ball and everyone wanted to have a closer look at Janus.I was tired and my ankle was very sore, but I was happy to finally have completed the nearly1,000km trip from St. Johns to Port -Aux-Basques! By 4:00pm I was on the ferry and had settledinto a comfortable chair, and at 5:00pm the ferry left for Nova Scotia and I was sound asleep.

I awoke a couple of times during the night and each time there was a different person or no onesitting next to me. I figured either I was snoring or smelled bad and I assumed it was likelyboth! Then I awoke and I was alone with no one else in the room, let alone next to me. Wewere in North Sydney and every vehicle had departed from the ferry except me! I grabbed mybag and darted out of the room. There was a barricade to the stairs so I jumped over it andmade my way down to the floor on which Janus was lashed to the side of the ferry. I freed thebike and jumped on, and the ferry workers put the ramp back down so I could leave. I hadnearly ended up staying on the ferry and heading back to Newfoundland! Talk about my worstnightmare! It just took me eight tortuous days to get off that island!

It was now nearly 2:00am and dark, but I had a couple of small LED lights that I used as aheadlight. Not perfect, but I could see enough and hopefully other traffic could see me. I onlyhad a couple of kilometers to go to meet Bob and Laureen at the Arm of Gold Campgroundwhere they said they would be camping. I cycled into the campground and found the sectionwhere tents were setup. In the dark I found what I thought was their car and tent, and setupmy tent nearby. I am red-green colour blind so I was not good at identifying cars and tents, butif I was wrong I was sure the owners would be understanding! I quickly fell asleep, but soonwas awake for another day and there was Bob in his spandex and cycling shoes waiting for hisadventure to start.


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Top left: Day #1 - Departing St. Johns YMCA, Top Right: Day #1 First campsite, Middle left: Day #3 Lunch and drying out, Middle right: Day #5 Craig visits Billard Physiotherapy, Bottom left: Day #6 Beautiful Humber River Valley, Bottom right: Day #7 Meeting the Wormans

The CGB Book - Part 2 of 12 - NL

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