Day 13: Argentia to St John’s

Distance: 132.4km

Total distance: 1363.8km

Average speed: 22.8km/h

Weather: cloudy 

I have been dreaming of this day for 8 years and today we made it! 

After finally boarding the Marine Atlantic ferry last night (which was delayed for almost 2 hours), we scoped out the ship and looked for places to sleep since we didn’t book a cabin. In the end we camped out in the children’s play area and contrary to what we thought would happen nobody kicked us out and we had one of the best night’s sleep being rocked by the rough-ish seas. 

The ferry was like a mini cruise ship, complete with bars, lounges, a buffet restaurant (which we indulged in for dinner), and even a movie theatre. It was very stormy when we finally sailed out of North Sydney and we celebrated with some drinks to say goodbye to Nova Scotia and the mainland of Canada. 

We arrived in Newfoundland in the fog, in true Newfoundland style. People warned us about the wind but we got lucky and it was generally blowing in the direction we wanted to go today. As we rolled off the ship, it really dawned on me how far we’d come.

The first 40km or so of today’s ride on route 100 was incredible, filled with seaside views and just the right size of hills and one of the best roads I’d ridden on for the whole trip. That flow feeling where your pedal strokes and fluid you are one with the bike is priceless. Eventually we had to go on the Trans Canada highway, which definitely wasn’t the worse part of the Trans Canada I’d biked (the prize goes to Manitoba for that one). 

After getting lost multiple times in Conception Bay area, we finally arrived at our last Warmshower’s hosts Neil and Hailey’s cute house at the edge of St John’s downtown area around 8pm, to a lovely dinner of Newfoundland freshly caught cod. We had so many cycling stories to share because Neil himself had biked across Canada as well. 

Combining with the previous trip, the grand distance I biked I across the country was: 5962km

Total days biking: 54 (42 + 12)

Average per day for Tour de Poutine 2.0: 124km (113.6km if counting the first very short day in Quebec City)

As was the first time, it’s going to be weird to stop biking everyday from tomorrow onwards, but we are going to spend some time exploring St John’s and do some hiking and swimming in these next 2 days before flying home. 

Just like the first trip, I was met with such warm hospitality from all the people I encountered on this trip. The Maritimes is a magical place and it’s a bit of a shame I had to go such lightening speed due to the time constraint, but I will definitely return for a more thorough future visit. Thank you so much especially to the man who tied my bike rack with zap straps on the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia; it’s made through hundreds of kilometres after and is somehow still intact. 

Day 12: Whycocomagh to North Sydney

Distance: 93.8km

Total distance: 1231.5km

Average speed: 21.7km/h

Weather: very rainy and blustery!

It seemed many times the odds were against us but somehow we followed my very aggressive cycling schedule and made it to North Sydney, in time for our ferry to Newfoundland!!!

Today was another big challenge, hopefully the last! We knew there was rain coming but didn’t fully expect it to be the kind that stays the entire day (aka the Vancouver kind). We had to be at the ferry terminal by 3:30pm at the latest and even though it will be our shortest riding day yet, to give us as much time as possible, we set an alarm to wake up at 5:30am. It was raining moderately as we left Whycocomagh Provincial Park (where we camped last night)  and then only got heavier. 35km or so later in Baddeck, we stopped for a coffee break completely drenched and seriously contemplated hitchhiking the rest of the way. Eventually we got back on the bike, pedalling towards Kelly’s Mountain as fast as possible to warm up. 

The terrain was beautiful even with the rain, we had glimpses of many bays and the Cabot Trail area across. The weather didn’t get much better but we got more and more excited as kilometre markers for the Newfoundland ferry became lower and lower. 

Now for a restful 16.5h ferry before the home stretch!

Day 11: Stellarton to Whycocomagh

Distance: 161.6km

Total distance: 1137.6km

Average Speed: 22.5km

Weather: sunny 

Late yesterday, we found the best park in Stellarton and ended up “camping” there for the night, celebrating with radlers and cheesecake! There was even bathrooms with running water that were open all night!

Today was another big day! We pushed hard and stayed pretty much exclusively on the Trans Canada, stopping only 3 times just outside Antigonish, in Port Hastings and our stop for the night in Whycocomagh (a native community in the middle of Cape Breton). The highway on the main side of Nova Scotia wasn’t the best for riding especially since there was a lot of construction (if we had more time we would have definitely taken a different route!), so crossing the Canso Causeway onto Cape Breton was a great relief. Cape Breton was much quieter and more scenic, and I will certainly have to come back to explore the Cabot Trail!

Day 10: Bonshaw to Stellarton

Distance: 105.7km

Total distance: 979km

Average speed: 20.7km/h

Weather: sunny

What a day!

We left Toni and Marion’s house relatively early this morning bound for Wood Islands. And we learned quickly that PEI is hilly, not by B.C. standards but hillier than most of the terrain that we’ve biked on so far!

In Charlottetown, we stopped for a proper breakfast at Leohard’s, supposedly the best place for breakfast in PEI (there was quite a line as we left so I would believe it!), before continuing on the Trans Canada highway. 

A few kilometres down route 23 when we eventually turned off the highway, I noticed that a metal piece on my bike rack broke off so the rack was no longer held in place! We realized that we were likely not going to make the 1:30pm ferry, but Leanne took most of my stuff and I somehow made it the last 10km or so to the Wood Islands ferry terminal with a broken bike rack! The next ferry was 3:15pm, which gave us time to have the best lobster poutine ever from a shack at the terminal!

On the Northumberland ferry to Caribou, Nova Scotia, we tried to hitchhike, but instead we found a very nice man with an RV who managed to tie my rack with 3 zap straps! Somehow the rack is holding in place and we biked 35km or so from Caribou to here in Stellarton!

I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow but we are going to try to bike as far as possible towards North Sydney!

Day 9: Moncton to Bonshaw

Distance: 124.3km

Total distance: 873.3km

Average speed: 21.7km/h

Weather: sunny with clouds, a small storm on PEI which we mostly dodged 

After yesterday’s crazy ride and going to bed past midnight, we still woke up at 8am and got going by 10am. The downtown of Moncton had what looked like many heritage buildings and the road out was lovely and gentle (as was most of today). 25km or so later, we stopped at Shediac, home of the world’s largest lobster, where we finally got our first glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean! I even got an overpriced lobster roll for the full experience. 

Our final riding day New Brunswick was in my opinion the most beautiful, as we followed part of the Acadian Coast and passed idyllic, picture-perfect seaside villages with colourful houses. I got excited as the view of the Confederation Bridge came closer and closer! You aren’t allowed to bike over the bridge so we had to stop at an exit just off the Trans Canada highway to wait for a shuttle to take us over to PEI, which was actually super nice. It felt weird to sit in a vehicle after so many days just sitting on a bike!
On PEI, we were dropped off at a village square in Borden-Carleton where we decided to share a tiny glass of beer at a brewery to celebrate our many miles! Not sure if the beer was to blame or the lack of a proper lunch today but we definitely struggled on the last 30km or so to our Warmshowers hosts’ home in Bonshaw haha! 
Toni and Marion were lovely and had dinner all ready for us even when we rolled in almost an hour later than what I originally anticipated, knowing well that we would be very energy deficit. The rest of the evening went by quickly as we explored and learned about their amazing house and cabin and cool “military shower” that was all self-built!

Day 8: Fredericton to Moncton

Distance: 182.6km

Total distance: 749km

Average speed: 22.9km/h

Weather: Rainy turned to cloudy and partly sunny 

My watch says we rode 182km but I would say we did closer to 190km because I accidentally stopped it for a few kilometres. Needless to say, a big day! 

After leaving Tom’s house at 7:45ish, we went to Radical Edge bike shop in town to get Leanne’s bike assembled and checked properly. In the meantime, I also checked out the Fredericton Boyce Farmer’s Market and got some goodies that fueled us throughout the day! By the time we left Fredericton, it was almost 11am, super late for a big riding day but we weren’t too worried. 

At the suggestion of the bike mechanic, we took the 105 and stayed on the north side of the St Johns River. The rain stayed with us for first 60km or so but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the downpour on my way to Rivere du Loup. Leanne got a flat 5km enroute to Jemseg but we managed to fix it on the road!

At Jemseg, we stopped at a gas station/road side restaurant for a hearty breakfast (even though it was past lunch time) before continuing on. We got back on the 105 before joining with the 102 for the biggest and most remote riding section of the day! The weather cleared up and we got beautiful glimpses of the Grand Lake! Somehow we only had to ride about 5km of the Trans Canada Highway today and the rest were all on quiet rural roads.

After many many kilometres of nothing but trees and lots of breaks, we finally made it to Salisbury, the village on the outskirts of Moncton! We stopped by the grocery store and ended up cooking dinner on a bench right outside, in true bike touring style! At the same time we also booked a place to stay in Moncton for the night, which turned out to be super fancy self-catering unit in a beautiful house! The last 23km was done mostly after sunset, which was a first for me in bike touring!

Day 7: Rest Day in Fredericton

What an unusual Canada Day filled with very little activity! Leanne arrived around 10am as per scheduled but unfortunately her bike didn’t arrive on the same flight from Montreal. Our plans to check out the Canada Day festivities in town were scrapped and instead we spent the day chilling around Tom’s property eating lots of food and having conversations about all sorts of topics while waiting for her bike to show up. It was a real test of patience and letting go of situations that we can’t control and frankly we weren’t very good at it. Finally the delivery came 12 hours at 10pm! We started putting her bike together right away and can’t wait to finally get out on the road tomorrow!