Bikes boxed up

The bikes were tired so we boxed them up ready for the trip home. Leaving St. John's today, a quick stop over in Halifax then home.
I will get our cycling numbers together with pictures once I get home and post a few more. the un-official total was 7665.80km!

St John's...and Done!

Well...we couldn't go any further East today....we ran out of road!!
The wind got up at the same time we did this morning and even though we left camp at 8:30am it was right there with us. Our average speed was only 22.07km/h that's a long day when you have 140km to do! But knowing that we didn't have to get back on the bikes tomorrow gave us the power to push on. We got off the highway and weaved our way through St. John's....past George Street and down to the Harbour. We found a nice little dock to dip our tires into the Atlantic Ocean and get some final pictures. What a feeling!!
I'm not really sure what I'm going to do tomorrow...no where to ride.
Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support, we couldn't have done it with out you!
We just cycled across Canada....holy &#%@! Yipppppeeeeee!
See you soon

And then there was 1

We've been planning this trip and thinking about the end for a long time now...I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day! The cycling gods have decided to test us right up until we touch the water, today the winds were coming from the South/West (the directions we were going) and they are calling for North/West winds tomorrow - again...the direction we are going! Come on!! we can't just glide into St. John's and call it a day....we have to battle through the weather one last time?!?!
I guess it will make it even more bitter sweet...
The rain has been blown away and today was sunny and warm, tomorrow sun but +17 high. We will try to leave the camp site early in the morning to get a jump on the final cycling day of Cycle Canada 2010!
It's been an amazing trip, a lot of ups and downs (not only on the road but physically and mentally) but we all survived the trek together and I'm thankful for the "team" we had. Without them, I don't know if we would have made it this far...thank you.
I will write one more when we get into St. John's tomorrow afternoon...but then we have a date with George Street to attend.
Thanks everyone for your ongoing support...can't wait to get back home!!

It's the Final Countdown!!

If I could cue the song from Europe..."The Final Countdown" It would be playing as you read this! It's been running through our heads for the past few days.
The title of the last post was referring to the fact that we still have to be prepared for what lies ahead of us until the end. It's great to think it's all sun and downhill but in reality there is still the every day cycling issues to contend with....right up until we hit the Ocean in St. John's. An example is the gear shifter cable that broke on me a couple of days ago...issues could still be out there for us. Like this beautiful weather we are having....reminds us of BC when we left in May?!? today was a high of +13 and rainy...
We have been battling with the wind and the clouds for the last 2 days...sometimes we have the wind at our backs and make up some good time, but it always changes with the roads and we are fighting to get up to 20km/h. We are so close that we just push through anything that gets thrown at us! The landscape of NL right now is lots of trees and a few lakes every once and a while, I can't wait to get out to the ocean and have a little change of scenery...tomorrow I get my wish.
We have a few friends/family that know people in St. John's so I think we have a spot to dip the tires and then it's off to taste the drink of NL!!
It's the final countdown....danna naa naa...da....na..na.na!

Still some cycling to do...

I'll dive right in here...so our ferry left 2.5 hours later than scheduled (so we naturally thought we'd arrive 2.5 hours later...) not the case. We still made our destination of Port aux Basques at 1:30am, apparently the ferry doesn't usually go that fast, but we were late for something! (we over heard a couple of Newfoundlander s talk and I think that's what they said) So we got to a campground in the early am and set up our tents...beautiful clear sky and the stars were shining bright. Got some sleep but was up at 9:00 to start the first day cycling in Newfoundland. Back to the ferry terminal and a quick stop at the info center to get a picture at the "welcome to NL" sign. I don't know what I thought NL would look like but it is very scenic and a beautiful place. We cycled beside the ocean for a bit on the first day and then we dove deep into the wooded "hills" of the land. Long rolling hills with "mountains" all around us. The sky has been overcast since we got here and we had rain on the first day and over night as well. This being our last stop, I pictured sunny skies to the end...
Our second day started out with more of the long hills and still overcast, Corner Brook was 60km away and we had no trouble getting there....well if you call breaking a shifting cable on my bike and a flat tire no trouble then we're fine. We fixed the flat and I rode 30k in my hardest gear to get to Corner Brook, where I got my cable replaced. I'm sure my legs will thank me tomorrow. A big thank you to Cycling Solutions, good quick fix!!
The skies cleared and the sun came out this afternoon, so we are getting our first taste of beautiful weather.
We are down to the final 5 days...

Last Province!

Well...we just killed Nova Scotia!! 2 days...day 1 - 119km day 2 - 172km! and we're done. Got to North Sydney this afternoon with time to spare. Apparently your need to book ferry's ahead of time (not like Vancouver) so we had to frantically call 2 nights ago and settle for a 7pm departure on Aug 8. Originally our departure date was Tues Aug 10, everything else was sold out, but one came available and we snatched it up! (We're getting smarter though...we've already booked for the ride home)
Weather has been fantastic, sunny and warm both days. We cycled through what seemed like BC for a little while (with much lower "hills") trees everywhere and curving roads through valleys. Once we got past that point it was cycling beside the Bras d'Or Lake, which was beautiful. I think the excitement to get to our last Province has driven us these past 3 days and now it's only 7 days left through the terrain of Newfoundland. The excitement will turn very quickly to the last few days and then it's off to George street!!
Note to Legs, lower backs and butts: hang in there guys...we promise this will all be over soon! (until the next race of the year ;)

Single Digits...

I can't believe that we are counting down from 10! We finished PEI yesterday with a trip into Charlottetown and a tour of the Cow's Creamery factory...then we had to continue on to Wood Island where the Ferry takes us over to Nova Scotia. Road conditions were good on Trans Canada HWY #1, wide shoulder and surprisingly not a lot of traffic. The dark clouds moved away and the sun came out for our last day in PEI.
We are on the Ferry now heading to our 9th province!

Atlantic Ocean!!

Since the last post, we've seen a lot. We crested over the hills of New Brunswick's Fundy National Park and had our first look at the Atlantic Ocean! What an exciting feeling...we still have a ways to go to dip the tire into the water but seeing the Ocean was very uplifting. We stayed 1 night in the park and rode to Hopewell Rocks the day after to walk on the ocean floor. An amazing sight and feeling...I'm allowed to walk on the ocean floor but I can not touch the water until we get to St. John's.

Our path took us up the bay of Fundy into Moncton, through Dieppe and up to the north/east side of NB to Cap Pele, a campsite right on the shore. We had a quick time out in Dieppe to check the bikes in at Mike's Bike Shop and came out with new cassettes and chains each...our bikes thanked us. We knew they had to be changed and Mike's was very accommodating to do it so quickly, in the middle our our ride day. What a difference that made, it was like we were riding new bikes...no skipping of gears anymore!
The weather changed on us over night and we actually had some rain for a change, the next morning it was cloudy and misty as we rode along the north shore of NB towards PEI. On any clear day I think I would have taken 300 pictures....instead of the 50 I took (thanks Dad!). We got the the Confederation Bridge and had to put the bikes on the back of the van to get across...I was wanting to cycle it but the authorities had spoken!! So now we are in PEI and enjoying our last day off until the end of the trip. Our Lobster dinner at St. Ann's Church will last us into next week...so now it's a 10 day push to the grand finally!
Exciting but sad at the same time!

Brunswick New...

Traveling through New Brunswick has been exciting for us, although the pathways of Quebec still hold the top rank the beauty of New Brunswick is right up there. We've been heading south for a few days following the Saint John river, back and forth from side to side, each little town has a bridge crossing over it and roads on either sides. The weather has been amazing...in the mornings the sun is bright and the air has been cool....cycling along the rivers edge and taking in the scenery of the hills is very beautiful. We stayed in Grand Falls overlooking the Gorge and in Woodstock at Connell's campground (C...C....C...Connell!!) We got out of there just in time, as the Old Home Fair was rolling into town!
We cycled through Fredericton today, stopped in quickly to eat ice cream at the lighthouse and spent some time chatting with a friend. And of course we couldn't pass through with out stopping at the bulk barn...it's been the 1st one since Ottawa (we were all running dry!). The day ended after 164km but we were excited to get to Upper Gagetown...because tomorrow we're off to the bay of Fundy!
It's amazing to think of all the places we've been to during this trip, as we cycle during the day they are consistently running through our heads...we have to remind each other some times of the little towns and city's we've stayed in. This Country is stunning from one end to the next and every day we are thankful for living here. A few more days and we will experience it to the fullest extent....Can't wait for St. John's!!!!