My Peanut Butter Bike Tour 2017

Day 72 -  1 Sep - St. John's - 83kms    Today started out rainy and overcast again! Our mood had not changed. We ate whatever was left on the truck as this would be our last breakfast together.    Whoa! The hills were very challenging and relentless! The rain was steady and colder than yesterday. We did have a tailwind though. That was a relief.    It should have been a day of reflection and slowly making our way to the finish but the weather made the day all about getting there and getting it over with. I was so cold, my hand and feet were frozen.     We were to meet at the Tim Horton's at 70k, eat, and wait for everyone to arrive. We were then to ride as a group to Signal Hill. I was too cold for that. I stopped, had a coffee, and kept going. I knew what was coming. The road up to Signal Hill is about 2 kms long, a 12% grade, and incredibly windy!    I arrived at the hill and did my best to climb it. It was not pretty, but I did it! I was happy I was still grinding

Day 71 - 31 Aug - Clark's Beach- 93km    Finally here in Newfoundland!!!  After taking pictures of each other at the 'Welcome to Newfoundland' sign, we started out for the day.    The weather was overcast when we got off the ferry but, it quickly changed to rain. I was glad I decided to wear my heavier rain jacket. Because we disembarked at 10am, we didn't get started until 11am. The bikes had to be taken down off the truck and reassembled. That made for a longer day than we anticipated.    There were little villages dotted along the route which would be very picturesque if it was sunny but it wasn't. We had a driving rain and a brutal headwind. My poor little lightweight bike was buffeted by the offshore gusts! There were many times I got off my bike to walk past the bay areas because I was sure I was going to lose control and fall off.     The terrain was challenging. Newfoundland is not called the 'Rock' for nothing! The hills were relentless! All th

Day 70 - 30 Aug - North Sydney - 40kms - Argentia, NFLD ferry    Easy, easy day today! It's ferry day! This is the first time I've had breakfast with the rest of the group! There is no need to get to the ferry terminal too early. We have to be there by 1:30pm.    We left by 9am. What we didn't know was just past the RV park, there was a 200m mountain to climb! Hello Mount Kelly! We were still on the Cabot  Trail after all. There was still lots of climbing to do.    The weather was great. We toodled along taking in all the great views until we got to North Sydney. We had time to have a 'Timmies' while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.    Once the truck arrived we loaded all the bikes on top of the van for transport. We changed out of our cycling clothes and went to the terminal to wait to board the ferry to Newfoundland.    We were very excited! Getting on that ferry meant we were almost finished!     The ferry was 15 hours long! I loved i