Day 67- Mr. Roblin's Strange Roadside Menagerie

I woke up at 5 this morning, and the cool morning calm was noticibly vacant of the whirligig of screaming children present in the crowded campground the evening before. I packed and ate in this wonderful silence, careful not to rouse any of said noisy children as I departed.

I continued on down the scenic secondary route, snaking around and sometimes crossing the major highway which cyclists are not permitted on. A dense fog hung over the road and the maple and pine forests that lined it, obscuring anything beyond 50m from sight. Each bend and each hill emerged from the misty cover as a surprise as I drew close. Barely another soul was to he found on that road, as I winded my way through the countryside and over Mt. Thom. It was a peaceful ride, and continued all morning until the fog finally lifted as I began to reach towns around 10 AM.

First was Bible Hill, where I encountered a carnival of a front lawn, plastered with weird decorations. Buoys of all colours, lobster pots, statues of cats and dogs, random antiques, and three bizzare sculptures of goblin-like creatures littered the lawn of one W. Roblins. It was a rather entertaining spectacle. Next I was onto Truro, where I stopped for a chocolate milk break at a gas station. As I was leaving, my foot got stuck in my peddle clips, and I toppled sideways with my bike onto the pavement. It really hurt my recovering hip and hip flexors, so I was in considerable pain for a few hours after.

The winds were steadily becoming stronger, and I was becoming quite tired of fighting them, so I stopped for a roadside lunch somewhere outside of East Hants. With 50 KM left to go until Dartmouth, my motivation and strength were at a low point under the pressure of the wind. I continued nonetheless, and slowly inched ever closer to Dartmouth, where I would be staying at Richard's family's house.

Once I reached the Waverly area, about 15 KM from my destination, I hit an absolutely gorgeous stretch of road around a chain of lakes; winding amd undulating along the water under a canopy of maple trees. There were many docks, boats, and cottages around, as well as many people out enjoying the summer weather. Its a popular cycling route, and I plan on returning often once I move to Halifax this fall. My phone was low on battery life, so sadly no photos of this section.

I crested the final steep hill onto Richard's street, and rolled up to his house, shakey and exhausted. Tomorrow will he a rest day, so I will be extremely happy to relax and spend time with friends.

Day 66- Another Province Bites the Dust

I intended to get up at 5 today, but I was feeling too tired, so I went back to sleep until 6 AM. I ate and packed pretty fast to make up for it, and said my goodbyes to Nick's family and thanked them for their generosity before heading out.

The weather fought me right from the start today. The wind that pushed me west to Summerside yesterday staunchly opposed my journey eastward today. The road to Charlottetown was also surprisingly challenging, with many steep hills I did not recollect from my experiences driving on the island. It was a slow and difficult 60 KM to Charlottetown, as I crawled through endless countrysides of red earth, potatoes, and livestock. Oddly enough, though I was surrounded by farms, it was not the livestock I smelt. I was in the middle of the island, yet what I smelt was stagnent ocean water and raw seafood, as if I was inside a fishing wharf like my Uncle's, not amongst fields.

I reached the far end of Charlottetown before noon, and stopped for a rather large curbside lunch outside a gas station before diving into the second half of my trip across the island to the NS bound ferry terminal. The second 60 KM went much smoother; the winds had calmed down and the terrain leveled off, so I made steady progress. I passed many more farms, but the road ran more along the coast now, so I got some nice ocean views along the way. It was still plenty hot and humid out, and I was tired out from this morning, so I was quite happy to reach the ferry terminal in Wood Islands, PEI. I bought my ticket and some ice cream, and relaxed in the shade while I caught up on my journal writing until it was time for the 4:30 ferry to depart.

It was a relaxing and scenic ride across to Nova Scotia. I sat and watched the red shores adorned with lighthouses of PEI recede as we departed, and the brown shores of NS grow larger as we approached the mainland. After the hour long break on the boat, I left the vessel with renewed vigour, and zipped on down the road into Pictou. I felt good to go for a while longer, but I soon reached the only campground in the area and had no choice but to stop for the night. I am pretty wore out and hungry despite my second wind, so its nice to call it a day anyway.

Day 65- Bud the Spud

I decided to sleep in this morning, knowing that I had a relatively short day ahead of me, so I wasnt out of bed until after 8. I ate my breakfast, packed my gear and the lunch the Legeres had made for me, and I was on my way by 9. I am thankful for yet another night of kind hospitality.

It rained all last night, and the grey clouds and scattered showers lingered all day today. Despite being cloudy, it was still quite humid. A stiff wind resisted me all morning as I pushed onward down the road past bays, inlets, and marshland for 60 KM until I came in sight of the Confederation Bridge. This was another one of those moments where I reflected on how far I have come. I recollected thoughts of a time way back in BC where the Confederation Bridge seemed like a distant star; a lifetime away. Sadly, there is no bike or pedestrian traffic allowed on the bridge, so rather than biking across this cool landmark, I had to take the shuttle service across. I couldnt get a good picture of the bridge from either my pick up or drop off locations, so Ive included a handy and very informative diagram below.

Once across the 12 KM long bridge, there only remained 30 KM of travel with the wind favouring me west to Summerside. I drove past endless fields of PEI's famous red dirt, where I presume they grow their potatoes and Anne of Green Gables character actors. In time I arrived in Summerside, a quiet town on the water with plenty of tourist spots on the ocean side.

Today I am staying with Nick Cameron and his family, who happily took me in and fed me a nice meal and dessert. After supper, I spent the evening talking with Nick, Caitlin, and their friend Richard; even finding time for a grand tour of Summerside. We saw a water tower and a Canada Revenue Agency building, very exciting stuff!!

Day 64- Rock Lobster

After running back and forth getting my bike repaired yesterday, I was ready to depart once more today. Mom drove me back to the place on the highway where I crashed, and after a second round of goodbyes, I was on my way again.

Things were running smoothly, and I cruised along all morning, making steady progress. This section on NB highway is pretty boring, so there is not much to report, I simply made my way down the Trans Canada as it became quite hot out. Not long after lunch I took the exit into Shediac, and entered the lively cottage and tourist town on the ocean. Many waterside nic-nac shops, ice cream parlours, and seafood vendors greeted me, along with a long absent smell: salt water! I made way through town, and stopped for a few photos of the famous giant lobster of Shediac, before finding my way to the Legere's cottage on the water.

It was a pretty little cottage, in a pleasant little cluster of cottages on the water. I was welcomed by Vero's sister, Melanie, and we talked all afternoon as I relaxed until her parents returned and bbq'd a great supper. They were all very kind and welcoming and were happy to have me over. After supper Melanie and I took a trip down to a local tourist and boating spot on a nearby point, where the coast guard office Melanie works at is located.

We walked around, enjoying the waterside shops and the evening air, before heading over to talk to a few of Melanie's coast guard friends. When they heard about my trip, one of them described an encounter with a cyclist at a gas station yesterday, that sounded just like Mark from the Chain Reaction team. I sent them a text, and wouldnt you know it, they were in town, and wanted to come visit. What another awesome coincidence. We met up not long later, and excitedly talked about our seperate journeys, overjoyed at the chance reunion after nearly two months of travel. I introduced them to Melanie, and we talked for almost an hour, eagerly exchanging stories of our adventures. Sometime later, we returned home, content and ready for bed.

Day 62- Do a Barrel Roll

I woke up early after days of the luxury of sleeping in, and enjoyed a home breakfast prepared by my parents before finally hitting the road after almost a week at home. While I relished the comforts of home, I was still anxious to continue my journey, and to resume the rolling stone lifestyle. My bike was over packed with food, and weighed more than it has since I first rolled out into the early morning light in Victoria.

The morning was refreshingly cooler than I have felt in quite a while, and I was eager to go. I cruised along familiar roads through Oromocto and across the Burton bridge onto the old highway on the far side of the Saint John River; Shediac bound. My course followed the river for many KM in the cool, quiet morning air. It was quite a nice and relaxing ride. I had the option to either stay on the secondary route or switch to the Trans Canada Highway near Jemseg, and by doing so, save 10 KM. In the end I chose to take the highway and avoid lengthening a long day even further.

I was strolling along happily enough despite my heavy load, but my front fender kept rubbing against my wheel and making tons of noise in addition to the friction it created. I kept stopping and trying to fix it, but it kept doing it, frustrating me to the point where I stopped thinking altogether. I lost my temper and kicked it while still biking, and my foot went inside the spokes of my front wheel as the bike continued to move forward with tons of momentum. I felt a sharp stab of pain in my right foot and leg, and before I could react, I had flipped through the air in a complete circle and came crashing down on the pavement. Great dismount, but I botched the landing. My foot and leg were tangled up in the front wheel, with the overburdened bike pinning me to the ground. I was in complete shock. I dragged myself out from under my bike, taking in my bloodied and torn hands, my wrecked front wheel and fender, and my aching right hip as the shock response rushed in on me and the shakes began. I called mom and asked her to come pick me up; I would be going no farther today. A car stopped soon after, and two cyclists, one who happened to be a retired doctor, stopped to help and looked after me in my shock condition. For anyone not familiar with the term, shock refers to the physiological condition after extreme physical or emotional trauma where your body reacts to the stress by over dialating your blood vessels, leading to inadequete blood perfusion to your body. This causes shaking, confusion, weakness, a racing pulse, potential loss of consciousness, etc. It is fun stuff, and often ends off being an over reaction that is worse than the accident itself, like today's scuff up. Eventually my body calmed down, and mom arrived, so with bandaged hands we packed my gear in the car and headed home in temporary defeat.

Despite being a holiday, Savages Bike Shop was open until 2 PM, so we brought my front wheel into Fredericton to be repaired. It wont be ready until tomorrow at noon, so I likely wont be able to leave until Wednesday morning. My right hip and hip flexors are quite sore, so a little rest might be a good idea anyway.

I am very frustrated and upset with myself for my complete lack of anything resmebling intelligence when I put my foot anywhere near that wheel. While this is another large setback, I am thankful that it once again happened close to home where I have the support of my parents. I am thankful for all the extra work theyve done for me while I have been home, and I feel bad for making them worry so much with incidents like this.

Days 59, 60, & 61- My Double Life as a Mattress

Ive spent the last few days resting and relaxing after the grueling push from Toronto to home. Thats not to say I was idle though. I spent tons of time visiting friends in the Fredericton area; enjoying good food and company. I even found time to earn a few bucks on the side advertising for Brian Lewis' mattress store. To be more specific, Friday evening found me dressed up as a mattress on the corner of Regent and Prospect waving a sign at traffic. People were smiling and waving and taking pictures the whole time. It was surprisingly fun and proved to be really effective advertising; bringing in tons of people who saw "Matty the Mattress".

It is now time for me to hit the road once more, before I become too accustomed to the comforts of home and cannot leave. Over the next two weeks, I will zig-zag across the Maritimes, visitng many friends and exploring corners Ive yet to see. I plan to finish up with a tour of the coastal areas around St. John's and a trip to Cape Spear; marking the completion of my grand voyage.