Addendum and PEI

Final Tally:  8063.2 km and 70 days on the bike (hurray!)

Time to sign off and thank you all for following my journey. In closing I’d like to share the following quotes which sum up our love of cycling, courtesy of the Velo Cape Breton weekly newsletter.  Adieu!

The best way to discover a new region is, of course, by cycling it! Some might say that it is slow and that it takes a long time to cover the distance. Well, they're perfectly right! And that's exactly why cyclists get to know the area better: they take their time. When pedalling to get somewhere, the travel is at least as important as the destination. It is not an unavoidable hassle; it is actually the main part of the trip. Hidden places, breathtaking scenery - and being able to stop anywhere to appreciate it - challenging uphills followed by thrilling downhills, refreshing sea breezes or subtle pinetree scents, it's all out there for cyclists to enjoy. There is no barrier to keep the environment and the people out of reach. And that makes for a lively trip. - (David Savoie and  Émilie Burelle)

A bicycle can give you the feeling of freedom and speed you get from riding a motorcycle, the sense of well-being and peace you get from meditating, the health benefits you get from an afternoon in the gym, the sense of self-expression you get from learning to play guitar, and the feeling of victory you get from completing a marathon. It's an invention that was in many ways ahead of its time, and whose time has finally come. - (Bike Snob NYC)

Heartfelt Thanks
I would like to thank Wayne, my biggest supporter, for all that he has done to make this cycle the trip of a lifetime.  I could never have contemplated it, let alone organized and carried it out without you.  A big thanks as well, to my daughters Samantha and Adrienne for all the help and posting of blog updates.  Keeping up the blog and knowing there were so many folks interested in following me along really did provide inspiration and motivation through the hills and heat and crises of confidence.  Thank you ALL for your support and your many messages of congratulations.  I feel blessed to have you as friends and family.  Last and by no means least, a special thanks to all the people who have hosted us and looked after us along the way, for those visits and the hospitality we enjoyed made the trip truly memorable.

PEI Total: 132.2 km

PEI Leg - Wood Islands Ferry Terminal to Confederation Bridge

September 17- 18th Finished!!

Distance and Time:  90.2 km at 5:13 and 42.0 at 2:17 (one of my slowest times!)

Route:  PEI Wood Islands Ferry Terminal to Confederation Bridge via TCH, hwy 26, Confederation Trail (through Charlottetown), TCH, hwy 116 and hwy 10

FINISHED!!

I’m sitting at the Visitor’s Centre in PEI updating the blog before we head back to the mainland on the bridge.  We got up before sunrise (yes, me) on Monday to make the 8:00 sailing to PEI from Souris.  There was frost in the air and fog in the valleys - definitely fall weather. It was a choppy crossing with the fresh westerly breeze.  Sailing time is 1h15m, and the ferry operates on a tight schedule, back and forth several times a day with a quick turn-around.

NS hwy scene enroute to Pictou

Wood Islands, PEI

PEI Ferry

Launching on final, final leg

I got away from the Wood Islands Terminal on the PEI side shortly before 10:00 but my good time ended there.  The headwinds were quite strong throughout the entire day and at times my odometer was only reading 12-15 km/hr.  It was all very enjoyable, though, with the sunny skies and fresh air. We stuck to the TCH for most of the day, simply because it has paved shoulders (or a resemblance of such) and traffic was light.  At this time of year the TCH in PEI seems more like country roads in the other provinces.  Hwy 26 provided a scenic alternative with less volume coming into Charlottetown and I elected to take the Confederation Trail through the city.  It is part of the Trans-Canada Trail, on an old railway bed with a hard packed gravel surface.  It took less than 15 minutes to traverse Charlottetown (not a big metropolis), but like in other cities, there were no street signs on the trail itself and I had to ask locals to identify cross roads a couple of times!

I popped into the main Cows store late in the afternoon as we left the city at the west end.  One can’t visit PEI without a visit to Cows for some of their famous ice cream.

PEI cows are just as cute as those in Saskatchewan

By that time it became apparent that we would need two days to cover the PEI leg as we were not going to make it to the bridge with the amount of daylight left.  This was a good call, however, as it gave us time to pop in on Blaine and Norma Jelley, friends from Belleville who spend their summers in Canoe Cove just southwest of Charlottetown.  What a lovely spot with all windows facing south and the beach a stone’s throw away.  They are almost directly across the Northumberland Strait from Marilyn and Bruce’s cottage (our overnight location on August 26^th).

Gorgeous setting for a cottage - facing Northumberland Strait to the south

We parked for the night in a ball field tucked away from the road with complete privacy.  The setting was so quiet, with a blanket of stars and the Milky Way overhead.  PEI in fact, seems quiet and tranquil everywhere.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I get this sense of peacefulness every time I’m here.

Our last night of the cycle called for a special dinner

Tuesday was another beautiful day without a cloud in the sky and somewhat less of a breezy headwind.  I dawdled big time, taking a few quiet seaside roads along the coast along with the potatoe trucks and not many others.  It was an absolutely lovely way to spend the very last day of this cycle.
Scenes along the way:

1800's iceboat ferry service across Northumberland Strait

 

First glimpse of Confederation Bridge

Bridge commemorative structure

September 14-16^th Weekend

After disembarking from the ferry we spent a lovely afternoon at the Coast Guard College near Sydney.  It was great to catch up with many old friends and colleagues and have a look at the State-of-the-Art Simulator (thanks Ron).

Continued on to the mainland via hwy 4 along the Bras D’Or Lakes (oh, so scenic) and stayed in New Glasgow Friday night and Saturday with Gerard and Janet.  After a windy afternoon cycle and great dinner at “The Dock”, we carried on to Chet and Doris’s home near Truro on Saturday evening and hung out with them on Sunday.  It was kind of cool to see Kevin and Audrey’s brood of chickens, ducks, dogs and one cute little girl, Gracie.

Billy, a sly Rhode Island Red Rooster

 

Gracie and the duck brood

Cozy parking spot

The three Amigos

Focused or what?

We managed to get another cycle in late in the day to the Masstown Market.  This place keeps growing every time we visit!  Now is has a beautiful lighthouse structure housing a fantastic fish market and a cool photobooth.

Bobble-head and the guy in the red vest

I've been craving lobster since arriving on the East Coast

Tomorrow we are heading over to PEI via the ferry on the NS side (with the motor-home and all), and hope to cycle to the bridge on the NB side by the end of the day.  Vehicles only pay to leave the island and the bridge fee is much less than the ferry, so we figured why not take it?  That way Wayne can cycle along and provide support.  

September 13-14th
Argentia to North Sydney ferry:

All over?

An incredibly beautiful voyage