Wednesday, August 28, 2004, 31.1 miles: Another no coffee day, but we only had 15 miles to get to Charlottetown where we were sure we could get our caffeine. Rain was threatened for the afternoon, so we broke camp rather early and were on our way at 8.
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Tuesday, August 27, 2004, 75.6 miles: Word of the day: Coffee! With an exclamation point! Coffee was on our minds from waking to morning ablutions to breakfast of granola and YOPs* to packing up the gear and getting on the road. And we purposely had not brought coffee prep material because I assured Dana there was a Tim Hortons on every corner. Not today and not here.
Continue readingMonday, August 26, 2004, 56.1 miles: Bob cooked us pancakes for breakfast, and “instructed” us in how to eat them: “A little plain yogurt first, then fresh fruit bits, and finally, a little maple syrup.” Glenda had her own style and just used butter and syrup. We liked Glenda’s, “Yeah, I’m doing it my way” attitude. However, the pancakes were great and we ate them up to fuel our trip to the ferry.
Continue readingSunday, August 25, 2004, 58.6 miles: We left Andrew and Kelly to the peace and quiet of Rockcliffe Dr. and started off on our tour to PEI. First leg was to Truro and a warm showers host. To start off, however, we first had to navigate two and a half miles of gravel road through Charlie’s development and a logging area which was closed to traffic. Going this way meant some gnarly gravel riding, especially fully loaded, but it saved 15 miles (and still 2.4 miles of gravel riding) vs. going into Parrsboro first. We averaged 5 mph for those first 2.5 miles, but also saved a hour and 12.5 miles. Fortunately, we had ridden that road in the other direction on our first ride, so we knew what was coming.
Continue readingSaturday, August 24, 2004: Dana heard from a few people that Chignecto Provincal Park had good hiking and was a definite must visit. Dana wanted to ride, I didn’t. I’d been struggling with a ball of foot issue and wanted to be able to hike without adding 37 hilly miles beforehand (and 37 miles back!). So, off she went, and it was a hard ride as it was challenging enough in the car! 😉In the park, we checked out the various trails. Many were meant for two or three days with overnight stays, but we found a good option of about 6 miles with a mile of that on the low-tide beach. We started off on the beach leg to beat the coming high tide and a great, quiet hike. The cutouts I made in my insoles worked like a charm and I was able to hike pain free until the last 1/2 mile or so. All-in-all a win.
Continue readingFriday, August 23, 2024: Still exploring Parrsboro. We drove into Parrsboro today, saving our butts the two miles of gravel on the 7 mile ride to town. We took a hike out onto the Two Island Beach, with the locals warning us not to get caught by the incoming high tide. The Bay of Fundy is famous for experiencing the “Highest Tides in the World!” At low tide, you can walk out to the Two Islands (we were too late for that, though) and camp overnight if you’re so inclined. We didn’t experience that this trip, but maybe on a future outing?!
Continue readingThursday, August 22, 2024 On our first full day in NS, we rode into Parrsboro to scope out our “home base” for the next few weeks. When we got into town, we were immediately met by the unofficial “ambassador” (Tom?) who pointed out things to see and do in this quaint little town. We headed off to Ottawa House a few miles south, took in the mini-museum and spent some time walking the beach out towards Partridge Island. We couldn’t do the island trail because the tide was coming in — one of the first things we learned about this area is that most everything outdoors is tied to the tides, which covers things like the trail to Partridge Island in seawater and makes them impassable. Locals warned us multiple times about not getting caught by the tides. We took that advice to heart.
Continue readingWednesday, August 21, 2024 Day 2 started with coffee and breakfast with Dave & Heather, and packing up for the last leg of our trip to Parrsboro, NS.
Continue readingMonday & Tuesday, August 19-20, 2024 This is the second tour since retirement that Dana was along — more her vacation for the year than mine, but it was a much needed getaway.
Continue reading100.6 miles, 4725 ft of climbing, Wellsboro to State College
Tour totals: 2,052.2 Miles, 73,765 ft of climbing.
I woke up to the smell of bacon in the house. Jennifer made a hot breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, a great way to start off my last day on this tour. I was packed up and left by 8:30 for the 9 hour journey home: a century to finish off my Gaspé Peninsula journey.
Gray and overcast at the start, I took the most direct route which meant sharing RT 287 south with a plethora of dump trucks and tankers — the parade of the frackers. Lots of climbing vs. the rail trail, but I managed the biggest hill from bottom to top to bottom again in an hour — 50 minutes climbing up 6 1/2 miles from Morris/Hoytville and 10 minutes descending 4 1/2 miles to English Center. Of course, the sun came out on the climb, because it works that way! Fortunately, the morning was cool enough to make the climb, shall I say, somewhat enjoyable. The descent definitely was a thrill.
I was only on the Pine Creek Rail Trail from Waterville to the West Side Road about 6.5 miles and that was enough for me. I love rail trails, but give me a paved road and hills to climb and descents to enjoy vs. hours of the constant work that is carrying a load on crushed limestone. One of my favorite parts of this ride is River Road between Avis and Lock Haven and it didn’t disappoint. The best part was yet to come as Dana had ridden out from State College to meet me. A short and harried (impatient and risk-taking drivers) detour around a bridge closure on RT 150 and we met around mile 60 for me and 42 for her.
We rode back to State College through Mackeyville, Lamar, Hublersburg and Irish Hollow and the big question was where to have the celebratory beer. Boal City, Voodoo, Happy Valley? I was determined to turn my 96 mile route into a full century. A slight detour from RT 64/26 to Irish Hollow and Robinson Rd added most of the 4 miles, and the short detour to Voodoo got most of the rest. We ran into Ned, Jim, David and Brian there and had a mini-old-tour-group reunion, too. Dana took the short cut through Thompsons’ Woods to pick up stuff at her house, and I went back to Branch Rd. A quick zip up to the Giant in Hills Plaza assured that I had the century in the bag! Home was a welcome sight to see and Dana and I had dinner and I crashed hard into my own bed after being gone 6 weeks. 6 weeks that were fun and challenging, but it’s nice to be back. ZZZzzzz.


