Crabbe River to Barachois Pond Provincial Park
The 'failure' of my internal alarm clock caused us to get off to a late start. With the temperature hovering around 6 degrees we set off at 8:20.
Today was all about climbing long gradual hills followed by just as many 'swooping' downhills. The scenery remained the same with 'peaks' in the distance and small 'stunted' trees along the sides of the road. Every once in a while we would get a view of the ocean. The sunshine and very little wind made the temperature climb to about 20 degrees but it seemed warmer. Perfect conditions for a 'leisurely' ride...well maybe not a 'leisurely' one but at least a 'nice' one.
The Trans Canada through Newfoundland has been good to cycle on. A 4 foot shoulder and almost 'no' traffic has made us 'happy bikers'. We were just getting used to that when our 'serenity' was interupted by a 'rumble' strip. Whoever put this one on must have been 'into the sauce'. It wandered all over the shoulder. The strip would be 1 foot off of the white line and 1 1/2 feet wide leaving very little for us to ride on. We are told we will deal with this off and on for all of Newfoundland. OH GOODY!!!
We are camping at Barachois Pond Provincial Park. We are in the 'day use' area because these sites are much more private and quiet. The lady at the gate told us that they "don't let 'locals' camp here" but keep it for cyclists and oversized rigs. Our site is on Barachois Pond nestled under Barachois Mountain ( a stunning rock face hill). Quite a nice little site but our climb out of here tomorrow morning (1.8 km of extreme uphill) to the highway will be a real challenge!!!
Daily Distance = 61.03 km. Time on the bikes = 3 hours 44 minutes. Average Speed = 16.33 km. Maximum Speed = 53.42 km. Wildlife Sightings = Junco, red squirrel, Moose tracks.
Kevin = 3, Sue = 0.
