Memories

it seems like forever ago we were cycling...

A few numbers from the cycling trip:

72 days total (64 cycling days - 8 days off)
10 provinces
8 days over 150km - 42 days between 100 & 150km - 14 days under 100km
8 provincial capital city's
64 nights in a tent
2 chains
10 tire tubes
2 tires
1 gear shifter cable
2 cassettes
112 Cliff bars
2 bee stings
322 mosquito bites (all in Manitoba!)

7665.49 total km's
23.7 km/h - total average speed
119.77 km/day - total average km's per day
323 hours of riding

What an experience!!
If you want some more information just e-mail me CycleCanada2010@gmail.com I'd be glad to share.

I've also got some pictures up on line of the complete cycling trip, e-mail me (CycleCanada2010@gmail.com) and I will send you the link.

A must do for everyone Canadian!! Have Fun!!

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 ;)