Tour Day 51 End Of Canada Aug 15 10

This morning the blood was in the water. I could taste the final 200km to St. Johns. I was mentally and I thought physically prepared for the last km’s. I was going to make it come hell or high water.

I knew right off the bat that I was going to encounter 40km of pass like terrain by looking at my map so I went out and rode nice and slow and took my time. I was actually enjoying the hills today because I had prepared for them. As well after truing my rear wheel (because I hit a huge pothole) my brakes were not dragging. It is amazing how much energy it saved when that was fixed.

Because I was in for the long haul today I pushed my 10am break back to 11:30 so that I would eat lunch later and have energy for the rest of the days ride. The funny thing about touring is you have so much time to obsess over these times that you end up being on the nose for timing. I swear that I am military time these days, and my body knows it. It also knows when I take a detour from said schedule.

My first snack was at a truck stop. A few sketchy hand wrapped muffins were what was in store for me. I was not sure if what I was eating was mold of blueberries but in the end it is just turned to poo anyways. I also had a nice conversation with the attendant who was very interested in what I was doing. He said that I was crazy for try to get to St. Johns today.

Well the hills did not stop it was constant up and down but added to that once I got onto the peninsula I was dealing with a constant 20km/h headwind. No problem though because I was like a man possessed. All I need was some good music in the ears and I was set to go riding.

For some reason maybe it was the mountain dew last night I had to us the washroom every hour it seemed. This is where I learned the lesson of do not pee into the wind, even if it means you have to face traffic. We will just leave it at that and let you fill in the rest.

Lunch was a at a truck stop and pre-packaged sandwiches in order. The nice thing about thee is that were actually made here in Newfoundland… not at zyx manufacturing in twiland. To get out of the stop however was a larger challenge. I rolled down the steepest handicap ramp on the planet. The problem was that I was not clipped in when I though I was. So I roll down with some speed then proceed to nut myself and ram my seat into my small intestine all while almost taking out a parked car.

The rest of the day was rough I kept seeing these signs with distances to st.johns. I was traveling at a super slow speed because of the never ending hills and the wind so these signs just kept pushing me. At the 30km to go sign I started to hoot and hauler. By the end it sounded as if I had tourettes syndrome.

I cannot believe that I have come this far. I cannot believe I crossed Canada. I wanted the picture perfect moment to commemorate it but that was not going to happen because I had to sprint up this embankment, which cost me the time of my self-timer. Anyways it was a long day and I must get to sleep, or socialize a little more with my new Swiss friends.
Trip Distance: 212km
Ride Time: 10:36hr
Avg. Speed: 19.99km/h
Total Distance: 7829km
Total Ride Time: 362gr
Destination: St. Johns, Newfoundland