Day 118: Deer Lake, NFLD -> South Brook, NFLD

Date: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Start: Deer Lake, NFLD (Airbnb)
End: South Brook, NFLD (Kona Beach Campground)
Distance: 132km

I woke up in a bed at my airbnb.  I was warm and dry.  And better yet I could easily get out of bed and would remain warm and dry for the rest of the morning.  Many of you have probably heard me tell the story about how whenever it rains I stand at the window and enjoy a cup of tea as I watch it pour.  About how every cup of tea I have while warm and dry inside watching the rain is the best cup of tea.  After a summer of living in a tent (minus all the couch surfing) I don't think I'll take the feeling of warm and dry when waking up for granted anymore.

I wanted to try to get away as early as I could.  I had to do ~130km today and based on the headwinds and hills of the past few days (and possible rain) I wanted to give myself as much time as possible to get to my campground.  A big part of this was that it was another day of nothing between Deer Lake and my goal of South Brook.  Almost 130km with no place to stop.  I HAD to make it!

So what did I do with my time?  I started with a shower.  I figured I had the time, and it would be a good way to relax and start the day.  After this I made some oatmeal and had a cup of coffee (the airbnb host had all kinds of little goodies left out, including the coffee).  I packed up, made sure I had everything, packed my bike, and set off.

It was strangely warm.  I say strangely because it had been about 12C when I arrived at 6pm the previous night.  It was now almost 19C when I left at 8:45am.  I don't pretend to understand the weather, but I'll take what I can get!  It was warm enough that I didn't need my jacket.  And the world was soaking wet.  I think the decision to take the airbnb had been the right one!  Otherwise all my gear would have been soaking wet and I would have been cold.

I set off from Deer Lake and jumped back on the "TCH."

It was another day of highway riding.  This meant there was very little to see.  Again, almost all the towns in Newfoundland are built on the coast and not on the highway.  As I was leaving town I noticed the Newfoundland T'Rail - the rail to trail that crosses the island - as it passed by Deer Lake.

I biked off, the highway soaked with little puddles scattered around.

Leaving Deer Lake meant leaving the West Coast of Newfoundland (I'm told that West Coast = Best Coast according to those that live there).  I would now head inland and roughly follow the North Coast of the province, though always about 30km inland from the coast itself.  This would mean I was in the forests.

It didn't take long before I knew that leaving the coast was affording me a much gentler road.  All the hills from Port aux Basques to Deer Lake seemed to have melted away.  What climbs there were were long and gentle, and the downhills were similarly gentle and long so I could keep some speed for longer distances!  It took me about 20km before I realized that I had a tailwind.  I was cruising.  I could easily keep 22km/h without too much effort.  As a bonus, the solidly clouded sky started to open up a bit.  The sun even came out.  At times I could see the clear blue.  It's been so long since I've had nice weather, a tailwind, and few hills that I think I'd forgot what easy biking is like.  It really put the wind back in my sails to have easy distance and pleasant biking again!

I did get to see SOME water today.  A few times I would pass lakes.  And they were large and ringed with forested mountains and it reminded me of home in The Eastern Townships.

At some points the day even became warm!  I was expecting solid rain all day, and so this was a welcome change of plan.  I spent the day in the shoulder of the Trans-Canada but the road was in excellent shape and the shoulder was easy riding.  I always had the inkling that I was about to hit the hills again as I was constantly seeing mountains in the distance, but the highway always seemed to find a way around them.  Except for the odd forestry road, there was nothing along the highway to see...just clouds and landscapes!

At just after noon I hit 70km into the day and - as chance would have it - found the only pull-off of this entire day.  I stopped and ate lunch on another highway guard rail.  The weather was pleasant, the day was warm, and I enjoyed the time eating and watching the traffic go by.  I walked around the pull-off a bit because I noticed a lot of garbage around.  It seems some people enjoy just tossing their trash here and it was terrible how much garbage cluttered the area.  Of note was a whole pile of mussel shells.  They were pilled up so expertly that I'm convinced someone walked out there with a pot and dumped them all out.  What I'll never know is why.

Something I haven't really talked about in this blog is the people that toot their horns at you as they go by.  In almost all cases it is a good natured honk of encouragement.  Usually they're accompanied with some waving and smiles.  I think the Canada flag on the back of my bike gives away what I'm doing and some people are just encouraging.  I happened a lot in British Columbia, sometimes on the Prairies, at least one or twice a day in Northern Ontario, never in Southern Ontario or Quebec, never in New Brunswick or PEI, but started again in Nova Scotia and now in Newfoundland.  Fun note: VW vans and micro-buses are almost always good for a friendly honk.  Those folks are alright.  I must have had at least six people honk today.  It helped to keep me smiling.

I texted a friend while eating lunch that the day was warm, sunny, not raining, I had a tailwind, and there weren't many hills.  The warm and raining part soon changed.  It clouded up immediately after I left the rest stop and in the distance it threatened rain.  Eventually I reached an area known as Green Bay (or Baie Verte as the town in the area is known).  Again, the bay was some 30km away but the roads to access it were nearby.

Past this I started to get closer to my campground.  Some 10km from my goal I noticed that all the cars in the oncoming lane had their windshield wipers on.  I could also see the telltale haze on the mountains ahead of me.  I was about to bike right into it.  I checked and had no cell signal so I couldn't check the weather radar.  I reasoned that the storm couldn't have come from the West since that's where I was biking in from, and so it was either moving directly towards me from the East (in which case I couldn't avoid it) or it was going North/South.  Figuring it was the later I slowed down to give it time to maybe move off...

And...

It worked.

The roads were sopping wet, fresh with rain.  Each semi truck that passed by tossed up a cloud of water.  But it never rained on me.  And I could see the storm moving further South as I approached.  I turned South at South Brook and found the campground just 3km down the highway.  It had just been hit, but I was always right behind!  I'm managed to avoid it!

I checked into the campground at around 4pm and so had made excellent time!

I setup my tent, called home, and then showered.  I had supper, charged everything, and wrote this blog post!  Supper was instant mashed potatoes and mackerel!  It was just like old times.  The campground feels abandoned.  I saw a school bus go by today and it was full of children.  It occurs to me that everyone must be back at school.  I can still remember when they finished.  I watched all the high school kids in their prom dresses and suits in Saskatchewan.  It really has been that long...

Today was a really pleasant day of biking.  Tailwinds and easy elevation made for a great ride, and the sunshine definitely helped.  If all goes well - I haven't talked about the creaking and clicking sounds from somewhere in the bottom bracket, cassette, or derailer - then I should reach St. John's by Thursday.  Four more days.  Then the real challenge of rejoining society!