Day 55 - Edmundston to St. Andre NB - 49.6 kms
Day 55 - Progress to St. Andre NB - 5,533.6 kms
We arrived late to Edmundston last night, and even later to the Days Inn, which required that we ride an extra 8 kms from our dinner spot. One of the reasons that we agreed to ride that extra 8 kms (rather than take a hotel close to the restaurant) was that being closer to our destination tomorrow would allow us to sleep until we woke up without an alarm. With just 90 kms the next day we weren't worried about a late departure. Unfortunately, when we finally shut the lights out at 2:30AM we realized that the free continental breakfast ended at 10AM and the CFO of the team (Cam) wouldn't approve a paid breakfast when we could get one for free! So we set a 9:30AM alarm and didn't get the extra sleep that we had both been looking forward to.
Speaking of the CFO, it is interesting as we come to the end of the adventure to see how clearly our relative strengths (and weaknesses) have translated into our respective roles on this adventure. It is not that dissimilar to the leadership of a company.
We are co-CEO's of C&K Adventure Corporation, both having had the vision and passion to bring the adventure to life.
Speaking of the CFO, it is interesting as we come to the end of the adventure to see how clearly our relative strengths (and weaknesses) have translated into our respective roles on this adventure. It is not that dissimilar to the leadership of a company.
We are co-CEO's of C&K Adventure Corporation, both having had the vision and passion to bring the adventure to life.
Our CFO at work (note that we have a lax dress code!) Cam is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) - responsible for budgeting, cost accounting/reporting, and historical information capture/reporting. (He is aided in these tasks by his amazing memory - he can name, in order, the towns we have stayed in and the accommodation where we stayed!) He has dutifully maintained a detailed spreadsheet on a daily basis capturing all financial and ride information. (For those of you who may have wondered, we take turns paying for the meals and hotels and through this spreadsheet ensure that we have both paid for about 50% of the total costs. By the time we are done, we will be very close to equal in what we have each paid and a small adjustment might be required. The CFO has it all under control!)
Our CTO managing some of our technology Ken is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - responsible for execution of the plan, attention to the details, risk mitigation, bicycle technology and bicycle maintenance. He is very careful to look forward and ensure that we are proactively managing all details to avoid issues and problems. You've also seen the deployment of technology on his handlebars that provides information required by the CIO...!
A dark and gloomy "road ahead" picture... Once again, the morning time warp hit us and it wasn't until noon that we were getting on our bikes after a 9:30AM alarm. One of the reasons for the delay was that as Cam was getting on his bike, he did a pocket check and realized his wallet was missing. After a check of his bags, he concluded it must be in the room and went back, relieved to find that an information card had fallen over top of it on a counter. Finally ready to leave, and having taken our "road ahead" picture, we felt the first raindrop...the first of many that would follow on a very wet day. This slowed us further as we had to dig out our pannier covers and cover up our bags.
Ken leaning into the headwind as he crests a hill... Finally, we got going with a moderate headwind. We hadn't yet made a hotel reservation and so we decided that we would ride a quick 30 kms to a Tim Hortons in St Leonard and then call for a hotel reservation at our destination, Perth-Andover. This 30 kms turned out to be not-so-quick. The TransCanada Highway gave us plenty of climbing with three hills of about 2 kms and grades of 5 - 6% over that 30 kms in a heavy rain. We arrived at the Tims wet and tired.
Unfortunately (or fortunately as we later realized), the hotels in Perth-Andover were completely full because of a tournament of some sort in town over the weekend. One of the clerks told us that we should try hotels in Grand Falls - which was just 19 kms Southeast from where we sat in the Tim Hortons. We managed to reserve a room at the St. Andre Quality Inn, just outside of Grand Falls. We decided we would have a short day today (about 50 kms), leaving a ride of 110 kms on Saturday - which wasn't so bad. This would give us a bit of a "mini" rest day today and lifted our spirits knowing that we weren't going to have to climb any more big hills today!
Unfortunately (or fortunately as we later realized), the hotels in Perth-Andover were completely full because of a tournament of some sort in town over the weekend. One of the clerks told us that we should try hotels in Grand Falls - which was just 19 kms Southeast from where we sat in the Tim Hortons. We managed to reserve a room at the St. Andre Quality Inn, just outside of Grand Falls. We decided we would have a short day today (about 50 kms), leaving a ride of 110 kms on Saturday - which wasn't so bad. This would give us a bit of a "mini" rest day today and lifted our spirits knowing that we weren't going to have to climb any more big hills today!
Highway 144 is part of the "Fiddlehead Scenic Drive" One of the unforeseen benefits of this turn of events was that the route to the Quality Inn took us to Highway 144, a secondary highway that follows the St. John River. This highway, about 5 kms Southwest of the TransCanada, was almost empty. It had great shoulders and far fewer and shorter hills than the TransCanada, and we were also happy to see that the wind had shifted and was now behind us. We will be able to follow this , and other secondary highways all the way to Fredericton, which should make for a very pleasant ride. This highway forms part of the Fiddlehead Scenic Drive that follows the St. Johns River from the Quebec border to the Bay of Fundy. We are very much looking forward to following this route as we approach the finish line.
Cam used our "found time" this afternoon to get some administrative work done (yuck!), while Ken was able to have a nice nap and also did our laundry (one of the COO's responsibilities...)! We were able to get everything done, and are heading to bed an hour or two earlier than we are accustomed!
Good Night and Bon Nuit (New Brunswick is 50/50 English/French in our experience so far).
Cam used our "found time" this afternoon to get some administrative work done (yuck!), while Ken was able to have a nice nap and also did our laundry (one of the COO's responsibilities...)! We were able to get everything done, and are heading to bed an hour or two earlier than we are accustomed!
Good Night and Bon Nuit (New Brunswick is 50/50 English/French in our experience so far).
Ride Details:
- Distance: 49.6 kms
- Ride time: 2 hours, 24 minutes
- Average speed: 20.7 kms
- Wind: Southeast, moderate. Changed to Northwest after Tims...
- Temperature: 14 degrees and constant rain (there is a rain warning in the area until 8AM!)
- Cumulative: 5,533.6 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Woodstock, New Brunswick - 110 kms
For more ride details, see Strava and for more ride photos see our Photo Gallery.
- Distance: 49.6 kms
- Ride time: 2 hours, 24 minutes
- Average speed: 20.7 kms
- Wind: Southeast, moderate. Changed to Northwest after Tims...
- Temperature: 14 degrees and constant rain (there is a rain warning in the area until 8AM!)
- Cumulative: 5,533.6 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Woodstock, New Brunswick - 110 kms
For more ride details, see Strava and for more ride photos see our Photo Gallery.