Bilingual Seagulls?
While touring through the belle province of Quebec, Noreen, Rejeanne, Marthe and Rachelle stopped by a beautiful old church in Cap de Madeline to have lunch in the park. We had all brought our lunch except Rejeanne who needed to buy hers at the restaurant. There we were, eating, laughing and carrying on without a care in the world. We watched other people in the park feed the seagulls, but Rejeanne was very opposed to the idea. Can the seagulls in Quebec understand English?? All I can say is that a few minutes later a flock of seagulls flew over our table and left a tremendous deposit all over Rejeanne's lunch and water bottle. Not one drop was on the table, nor on anyone else's food. They certainly got their message across!
A Star
Noreen, Marthe and Rachelle left Rejeanne to clean up the mess the seagull made and went into the Church to use the facilities before we started riding again. After completing our business we joined the crowd of people waiting for an elevator to return us back to ground level. The elevator arrives and a lady pushing a stroller and three kids start to leave the elevator and then freeze, blocking the entrance to the elevator. The lady starts stuttering and pointing to Marthe, exclaiming "Oh my God", "cycling across Canada" and "tv". They she started talking real fast to anyone who would listen that she saw Marthe on tv and how we were cycling across Canada and how it was so amazing, etc, etc. By this time Marthe and Noreen have joined the people trying to get on the elevator, so I offer the lady a quick smile and hop on the elevator too. Marthe asked what the lady said because she was talking a little too fast in English for her. When I explained, and now everybody in the elevator is staring at us, Marthe gave a little smile and a French shrug and said "I'm a Star"!
Have a Nice Day Officer - an anonymous lady rider
After a night spent in a monsoon at Pictou, our first campsite in Nova Scotia, we feel free and happy as we sped along the highway in the sunshine towards Cape Breton Island. Bryan Riggs and his three anonymous lady friends were cycling together. It was hard to catch all the conversation due to the steady noise of the passing trucks. So two of the lady cyclists momentarily rode side by side on the shoulder. Suddenly the vehicle of an officer of the law flashed by and pulled in front, a muscular arm out the window, motioning us to stop.
"May I give you ladies a word of advice?"
"Of course officer!"
"We have had a lot of accidents on this stretch of highway and we don't want anymore. I suggest you always cycle single file."
"Of course Officer. Thank you for telling us."
Just then Bryan stepped forward and said, "Actually I think these ladies could use a couple nights in jail."
On hearing this remark, the two ladies in question quickly moved off, with a parting remark over their shoulder..."Have a nice day, Officer!".Bosco Remembers
We are on our last leg now. What I enjoyed most on this trip is meeting the people. Our receptions from Vancouver to Montreal from our CCCTS members or relations are fantastic. I am most impressed by the kindness and hospitality of strangers.
A few examples: When Jack and I tried to hide out the coming rainstorm, we hide ourselves under someone's back porch near the highway near Swift Current. A retired gentleman asked us to come inside and offered us coffee and doughnuts. Needless to say we had a nice little chat.
In Carlyle, a farmer offered me a ride to town to make a call. He actually drove me out of town, several kms away because none of the phones in town would work with my calling card. He waited for me to finish the call and drove me back to the campground.
In Duluth, we stayed at the Snowflake Lodge which was an alpine ski lodge. We were there for a rest day which just happened to be a Sunday. It was raining very hard that day, but when I called a pastor of a church, he was able to arrange for someone to pick me up and bring me to church. The retired couple, Coy and Florence, were missionaries in New Mexico. They treated me to a very hearty Sunday buffet.
In Cambellton we camped at Sugarloaf Mountain provincial park about 3kms from town. The Baptist church sent a member out to pick Shirley and I up. After the services, a young couple approached us and invited us to their home for lunch. Andy is a high school science teacher, the only one in the area who uses the internet to teach and Nancy is a nurse. We had a barbeque by their swimming pool. It was a very pleasant and cordial lunch.
When we peddled along the shoreline in the Acadian area of Nova Scotia, the weather was mild, but when it rained it was a downpour. Whenever it rained hard we stopped under the front porch. People often asked us in, including a retired fisherman who made us fresh coffee and offered us cookies.
All I can say is that people are very generous and friendly in nature. In all my years and travel I haven't had any bad experiences, however on this trip the warmth, friendliness and generosity from coast to coast has been overwhelming.
God bless the people of our land. I hope to have the opportunity to do the same for fellow travellers.
Tuesday, August 22nd, Indian Brook to North Sydney - 48kms
We got up at the normal time, packed up tents, etc and had breakfast in the restaurant. Bags on truck and off we go again, down the road and of course it isn't long before the first hills. After 10kms we arrive at the ferry to have a 5 minute ride to the other side. Then the REAL hill started called Kelly Mountain, but it is just something you have to do! Nice shoulder on the road and we arrived into camp by 12:30pm, just in time to eat lunch, set up our tents, do some washing, find an ice cream shop, have a nap but still saved time for happy hour before we had dinner. It is a tough life. At times like these, I think of my friends at home (if I still have any). About eight riders did an additional 25kms by not taking the ferry and continuing down the road to St. Anne's where there is a Celtic College. The college specializes in (among other things) Highland dancing, bagpipes and the Gaelic language. They spent a pleasant day stopping by numerous craft and clothing stores before arriving at camp.
Wednesday, August 23rd - Day off - North Sydney
Today is a bright sunny day and with a change in our itinerary we have hired a bus to take us to see the Louisbourg Fortress. This was a French Fortress, 250 years ago, that the British captured. The British completely stripped it and of course was left to decay over the last 250 years. When the coal mines started to close here in the early 1960's, the coal miners were retrained to rebuild 1/5 of the Fortress from the original plans still in the archives in France. The French apparently were sticklers for detail. It is quite an achievement and you really need a whole day to see it properly. The tour guides speak both English and French. The guides give you an idea what it would be like to live as the noblemen, merchants, soldiers and peasants did in the 18th century. It was really quite amazing. The bread was incredible too!!
We left Louisbourg to go over to Glace Bay and see the Miner's museum. This is where a retired miner gave us instructions as to what mining coal in the 1930's was like in Cape Breton and then he took us down into a real mine under the Atlantic Ocean. Believe me it is not a job that I would like to apply for. The tunnel started out at normal height, but that soon changed and went less than 5ft. We were all bent over - you should have seen Jack, Geraldine and James!! The miner explained what went on in the mine, the machinery he used, the lamps, the horses, etc. A lot of men died in the mines and still do today. It was really an eye-opener.
Thursday, August 24th - Day off - Sydney
Here I sit writing this after consuming three large pancakes, bacon, eggs and coffee. Now that the cycle trip is almost finished, I am trying to cut back. Today is another day to service the bikes for the last six days of cycling to Halifax. A lot of people went to town to do their last bit of shopping, e-mails, haircuts, etc.
Friday, August 25th - North Sydney to Wycocomagh - 95kms
After a violent lightning and thunder storm with lots of rain, we packed up our very wet tents and away we went again. The skies soon cleared and we had a lovely ride to our next campsite. people in the Maritimes love their big lawns. Many homes on lots from 1-5 acres have huge lawns which they keep constantly cut. As we got closer to our camp we had to take a ferry across "Little Narrows". It took five minutes to loan and the trip across was four minutes. But that was alright cause there was a little ice cream shop on this side of the ferry which we just had to check out. Any ways, a super nice day was had by all.
Saturday, August 26th - Wycocomagh to Linwood - 70kms
Would you believe another sunny day!! Two in a row and it didn't even rain last night!!! Again another nice easy ride as we leave Cape Breton Island. The Island is full of fiddle players and almost every night there are concerts. By the way, one of our riders went for a haircut while he was in North Sydney and got talking about our trip. The barber's wife overheard the conversation and went home to bake us five fresh fruit pies and two dozen scones and delivered them to our camp!! Now that is what I call hospitality!! We stayed at the same camp site in Linwood and the Scottish piper piped until the sun set. This time there was no wind and we had a clear sky so the sunset was absolutely remarkable!!
Sunday, August 27th - Linwood to Sherbrook - 92kms
Sun again, three days in a row. Summer has finally arrived, we hope. Only three days to go and we are finished. Today we took a nice country road all the way to Sherbrook. It was very isolated - not many towns - but still had a bunch of hills. I think we basically climbed all day!! It became so hot today that we stopped at a lake and went swimming. The swimming was very refreshing and cooling for the next hour until our clothes dried out. Two ice cream stops today and we are now camped overlooking a lake. We started to cook up all the food that is on the truck so the truck will be fairly empty when we get to Halifax.
Monday, August 28th - Sherbrook to Sheet Harbour - 80kms
I talked to the secretary of the Mayor of Halifax today and she said the Mayor would be glad to great us as we arrive at City Hall on Wednesday. The sun is still shining and we had a lovely ride through the bay and fishing villages of the Nova Scotia coastline. It has been really beautiful (but very hilly) in this area and I would love to come back, spend some time fishing in this area.
Tuesday, August 29th - Sheet Harbour to Porter Lake Provincial Park - 100kms
Another sunny day as we cycle the coastline of Nova Scotia. Spectacular scenery and fishing villages but very sparsely populated. LOTS of hills going from one cove to the next. People are very friendly and easy to talk to. Tomorrow we ride about 35kms to finish at City Hall in Halifax. It is the last page in the book and a lot of people didn't think they could really do it.
Wednesday, August 30th - Porter Lake to City Hall, Halifax - 38kms
Our last day, the one we have been looking for! Everyone was on hand to clean the inside of the truck from tope to bottom. By 9:30am we were ready for the ride to Halifax. The first 18kms was perfect, the sun was out, the countryside beautiful with rolling hills. Then...we hit some real stinker hills (one called "heartbreak hill") and back into city traffic. We had forgotten what riding in traffic was about. All of us were wearing our "Canada" shirts as we wound our way down to the ferry to take us to Halifax. We all met on the Halifax side. With a blaze of 30 riders in red, white and maple leaf riding shirts, we rode on to City Hall. The Mayor, Walter Fitzgerald and his secretary Kelly MacNamara were there to greet us. Lots of pictures were taken, people congratulated each other and had a good time. This closes the last page on an adventure that started 100 days ago.
The End
Donna made the following presentation at our congratulatory dinner in Nova Scotia.
Sea to Sea Journey - Donna
Our Sea to Sea journey has given us a good start at living just one day at a time, enjoying the moment, travelling lighter ... , and we've certainly been going places.
I want to congratulate each of you on completing the journey and reaching the destination. As far as I am concerned, at this moment, you have cycled across the continent, from sea to sea.
It's not just the physical effort that each of you put forth to realize your dream and to accomplish what you set out to do; it is all the other challenges that you have faced along the way. We started out as a group of strangers, each one a unique personality.
We had to work together. We set up our camp together and we packed up our camp together. We had to learn to cook together, and share laundry and shower facilities. We supported each other on physically tough days and also on mentally stressful days. We laughed together and shared a few tears together. We had to overcome differences.
I think we've learned to be more tolerant, more sympathetic, more understanding and less critical. We've learned to be grateful for small things. We learned how to deal with seemingly impossible situations. Kathy expressed it perfectly when she said we were "constantly challenged to adapting". We were grateful to Yvonne for the special things she did for us so willingly, and we forgave her when she missed our coffee breaks.
As unique individuals, each of us comes equipped with our own special talents. It's easy for us to appreciate each person for what they have to offer. It may be one's sense of humour and fun, or one's cheerful disposition, a quiet uncomplaining countenance, willingness to take on a difficult task, or to help with bike maintenance, cooking and cleaning tasks, management of our money, and food purchases and inventory, maps and directions along the way, repairing flat tires, making arrangements for accommodations and special dinners and tours. The list is endless.
This cycle trip will be one of the greatest accomplishments of your life, and your friends and family will be very proud of you. This accomplishment may now become your claim to fame. You are a celebrity.
A trip like this is full of positives and negatives. I would hope that when you are home, and sharing your experiences, that the positive aspects of the trip will greatly overshadow the negative; and that your listener will be able to appreciate the challenge and success of your accomplishment.
Congratulations!
The CyclistsLeader - Horst Hees, Jan Absher, Bicycle repairs - Ken Absher, Brian Altenkirk, Jack Carson, Photographer - Bosco Chang, Michael Daniels, Camp co-ordinator - Peter Den Boer, Ronald Eade, Shirley Fisher, Accountant - Dennis Flewelling, Rejeanne Girard, Eric Hoffman, Kathy Hoffman, Jean Horrocks, Publicist - Gordon Kennedy, Email, 1st aid and booze lady - Rachelle Kennedy, Sonie Kennedy, Marthe Lambert, Mary Lynch, Louise Major, Marilyn Murphy, Entertainment - Donna Nicholas, Renaud Prefontaine, Geraldine Reid, James Reid, Brian Riggs, Ernie Schmidt, Cooking team co-ordinator - Bud Skinner, Arnold Smith, Sally Svensson, Exercise lady - Noreen Timms, Jacques Tremblay, Ed Ungrin, Alec Vennos and Jean-Pierre Audet - extra ordinary support vehicle