Archive for September, 2006
Saturday, September 30th, 2006
57km Kinkora - New Glasgow, PEI
A short day’s ride to new glasgow mostly on the Rail Trail. Getting off the trail at Hunter River and following road, route 13, up to New Glasgow. Where we setup at the Highland Campgroud site, letting the tent dry out, and having a bit to eat. We then left for North Rustico, for a great afternoon readed on the shore. Afterwhich we attended the “New Glasgow Lobster Suppers“ for a great meal. Followed by a small ride up the hill back to the camp site.
No Comments » - Posted in Canada, Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Prince Edward Island by andrew
Friday, September 29th, 2006
80km Sackville - Kinkora, PEI
After just a few days of rest, we had the idea to get on the road for a quick trip to the Island, since the weather looks pretty good for the week-end. We ended up taking the NB Trail again, from Sackville to Port Elgin, where the trail started to deteriorate badly and where forced off onto the mnain road. Just before Port Elgin we stopped to take some pictures of the salt water marshes.
The route 16 to the Confederation Bridge, was a bit busy but it was managable. We had to wait at the NB Tourist office, for a lift over the bridge. It was very windy on the other side, a few time almost going sideways, instead of ahead, but once on the old Rail Trail we where able to go forward. Setting up the tent near Kinkora on the trail, just before a heavy rain storm.
No Comments » - Posted in Canada, Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Prince Edward Island by andrew
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
Our First Podcast
Announcing…. our first podcast! We recorded this at our wild camping spot, just outside of Sussex NB, thus the sound of the wind in the trees and other noises not found in a studio. In it, we talk a bit about our trip as well as some of the things we learned packing up our bicycles for air transport. We also share a couple interviews with friends Chris Wills and Michael Smith, who talk about their trips by bicycle. Both interviews were recorded in London’s Canary Wharf, just before we left the country. We hope you enjoy this little show from the road, and plan to share more with you soon, including interviews with a couple cyclists we met on the road during our trip from Montreal, Quebec to Sackville, New Brunswick. If you have any feedback, please let us know as we’re very much learning as we go.
3 Comments » - Posted in Canada, Cycling Trips, New Brunswick, Radio Shows by friedel
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006
We’re home
We’re home! Actually, we arrived in Sackville on Sunday night, but have taken a few days to rest up before updating the site. Our good luck with the weather continued right to the end. Okay, it got a touch chillier and we had a smattering of rain, but nothing too harsh and overall we really couldn’t complain. We spent two of our last four nights wild camping, once in Cambridge Narrows and another time in Knightsville, outside Sussex, so we were glad to reach Riverview on Saturday, where the Clements family kindly put us up for the night and then Sackville, where we’ll be for a few weeks. We’re waiting for the things we shipped from England to arrive here and also have a wedding to attend, before heading back to London in mid-October and continuing on with our journey. Hopefully we’ll have a podcast for you soon. We’re working on it, but the inevitable ‘technical difficulties’ are delaying things. In the meantime, we did have our ‘10 minutes of fame’ by being interviewed on CBC Radio’s NB afternoon show and you can listen to that interview here, as long as they keep it on their site.1 Comment » - Posted in Canada, Cycling Trips, New Brunswick by friedel
Sunday, September 24th, 2006
(63.8km) 294km Fredericton to Sackville
The last few days of our Montreal to Sackville journey passed smoothly, although we failed to keep detailed journal entries, possibly because of a couple longer-than-usual days. We left Fredericton late on the morning of the 21st, having slept in after a night with a friend spent staying up late, chatting and playing games. Despite not hitting the road until nearly noon, we made very good time with a tailwind, keeping up speeds of 25-30km/hour for much of the day, especially between Fredericton and Oromocto. By the end of the day, we’d gone 80km to Cambridge Narrows, where we found a field alongside some walking trails, which offered a good wild camping spot for the night.
The next morning was the first day we can truly say we were chilled getting up and out of the tent, and despite cooking our usual hot breakfast of porridge and mocha (a combination of hot chocolate and coffee) we were cold through for a good half hour after we started cycling. The road wasn’t in the best of shape and was reasonably hilly but it was quiet and we followed the 715 all the way to Coles Island. We’d planned to take the old Coles Island cutoff road from that point on, the 112, but with the new highway it was now known to be deserted and so we delayed hitting that part of our route momentarily, heading instead towards the highway in hopes of finding a store to stock up on food.
We did find a store, and a little cafe, so we stopped for a second breakfast, a nice treat which makes up for some of the luxuries you miss when wild camping! Got some snacks – peanuts, apples, baked beans – at the store and then retraced our route, but stopped for advice at the local tourist bureau.
There the man was so impressed with our plans to cycle the world that he called up the New Brunswick CBC radio afternoon show host, who interviewed us for that day’s show!
Our 10 minutes of fame overwith, and on advice from our friendly guide, we changed our plans and opted instead for the slightly more populated number 10 road down to Berwick. We had quite the climb up a mountain but then a good 3km downhill stretch, where we hit a top speed nearing 60km/hour. We’re not sure that’s safe on a bike but it was good fun. Cut through some back roads and ended up on the 890 towards Petitcodiac. We briefly detoured over to one of the side roads to a German restaurant, Gasthof Bavaria which provided another welcome treat. An expensive meal at $55 for the two of us but very good, and we did order the biggest platters they had and then devoured them accordingly!
With 80km on the clock again, we didn’t go far after supper. We wild camped again just a bit down from the German restaurant, in a little stand of trees, and it was here that Friedel really had trouble sleeping. Too wild an imagination, making too much of all the little sounds around. Another chilly morning meant cold fingers starting out on Saturday but after we warmed up the day was fairly uneventful. We reached Riverview around 2pm with nearly 70km done.
The Clements family kindly put us up in their home and fed us a fantastic supper. It was really so nice to have a warm, soft bed after all those nights in the tent and they were very welcoming. The next day we started out early to Sackville and the hills didn’t abate, but we took our time, stopping at Tim Hortons for a coffee and bagel in Dieppe and again further on for an apple.
The winds took their toll around Dorchester, blowing what seemed like a gale across our path and making the going tough at times. We took turns being in front and it really did make a difference, the first time we’d really noticed the effects of drafting. Despite being close to home, we were hungry by lunchtime so stopped at the famous Bell Inn for a soup and sandwich, before carrying on the last few kilometers. Arrived in Westcock about 2:30pm with 63.8km on the clock.
