Day 57 - Woodstock to Fredericton NB - 110.2 kms
Day 57 Progress to Fredericton NB - 5,771.3 kms
Ken at 1:45AM on the steps of the motel! Last night was a late one for getting our work done. The WiFi signal didn't reach our motel room so we ended up doing our blog in the motel lobby until we felt bad for keeping the manager up so late (he felt bad about the WiFi situation, so he was very accommodating). We finished the blog sitting on the steps of the motel office at about 1:45AM...! We seem to be in a "death spiral" of sorts lately - we stay up late working on our blog, which means we wake up later in order to get enough sleep. This delays our departure times, which delays our arrivals, which means we get started on the blog late. Fortunately we are almost out of days, so things will work out just fine.
First Tim's breakfast of the trip... Woodstock calls itself "New Brunswick's Oldest Town", but we must say that we found very little appealing about it. We realize that we were there for a very short time and didn't see all of it, however, we did see as we were heading for breakfast that today was parade day - so perhaps that might have changed our impressions!?! Unfortunately, we'll never know....
This morning, for the first time, we stopped at Tim Horton's for breakfast. The upside is that it's fast and cheap. It was also on our way out of town and Cam needed to use their WiFi. Tim Horton's has a pretty standard formula, however, even the Woodstock Tim's underwhelmed us.
This morning, for the first time, we stopped at Tim Horton's for breakfast. The upside is that it's fast and cheap. It was also on our way out of town and Cam needed to use their WiFi. Tim Horton's has a pretty standard formula, however, even the Woodstock Tim's underwhelmed us.
Thanks for nothing Gretta! We left town around 11:00AM, and once again took a less than direct route out of town thanks to "Google Gretta". If you read yesterday's blog, you will recall that during the morning we realized that we shouldn't be blindly trusting Gretta and researched the route for the afternoon more carefully. Well, I guess that you wouldn't call us quick learners, as we set out this morning blindly trusting her once again and ended up on a rutted, muddy, dirt roadway. Fortunately, we were able to find a detour back to Main Street.
Highway 165 was great for bikes Once we were finally out of town, we found ourselves on Highway 165 which was a delightful paved road with little traffic that ran along the St. John River. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day for a bike ride. Compared to riding the TransCanada Highway, the secondary highways have far more character and allow you to view more closely what life in New Brunswick looks like. Because they run alongside the river, they also usually have far fewer hills.
As we continued riding, the picturesque 165 turned into Highway 102, many sections of which used to be part of the original TransCanada highway. While there were signs of past development, we found a serious lack of services along this stretch, likely due to the building of the new TransCanada far from the river. By 3:00PM, we had ridden over 70 kms but still hadn't found a place to stop for lunch. Finally, the Kings Landing Historical Settlement appeared, and we were able to buy some overpriced sandwiches and drinks from the museum gift shop. While we would highly recommend this route for cyclists versus the TransCanada, we would also suggest that it would be a good idea to pack snacks and a lunch.
As we continued riding, the picturesque 165 turned into Highway 102, many sections of which used to be part of the original TransCanada highway. While there were signs of past development, we found a serious lack of services along this stretch, likely due to the building of the new TransCanada far from the river. By 3:00PM, we had ridden over 70 kms but still hadn't found a place to stop for lunch. Finally, the Kings Landing Historical Settlement appeared, and we were able to buy some overpriced sandwiches and drinks from the museum gift shop. While we would highly recommend this route for cyclists versus the TransCanada, we would also suggest that it would be a good idea to pack snacks and a lunch.
An impressive suspension bridge along today's route It was a good thing we were able to find food, as the final 35 kms approaching Fredericton involved considerably more hill climbing.
Speaking of climbing, those of you who have been following our adventures might remember that on Day 3, Cam was finding that his hill (mountain) climbing capabilities were a little lacking and said that "he hopes to ride the hills of New Brunswick and PEI alongside his riding buddy Ken!" Well, now that we are here, we can advise that Cam's hope is being realized. It is interesting that we now find that our climbing capabilities are very similar. It varies from day to day, or from morning to afternoon, but generally we are very comparable in our hill-climbing - and we are both dramatically faster at climbing hills than when we began...
Speaking of climbing, those of you who have been following our adventures might remember that on Day 3, Cam was finding that his hill (mountain) climbing capabilities were a little lacking and said that "he hopes to ride the hills of New Brunswick and PEI alongside his riding buddy Ken!" Well, now that we are here, we can advise that Cam's hope is being realized. It is interesting that we now find that our climbing capabilities are very similar. It varies from day to day, or from morning to afternoon, but generally we are very comparable in our hill-climbing - and we are both dramatically faster at climbing hills than when we began...
"Is my tire trying to tell me something?" Once we reached the outskirts of Fredericton, we were able to find a scenic (and flat!) bike path along the river that took us to a Tim Horton's for cold drinks (thanks to Google Gretta...!). From there we were able to book a room in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Fredericton - formerly called The Lord Beaverbrook Hotel! Being downtown will allow Cam to visit a nearby bike shop first thing Monday morning to have a new back tire installed as he noticed yesterday that his tread was wearing through to the blue rubber warning strips which means there is a few hundred kilometers left in the tire. Fortunately it got him to Fredericton! (For those of you who recall that Cam replaced this tire in Brandon, Manitoba. It has lasted for 3,500 kms since then, which is pretty good considering the weight it is carrying.)
After checking in and cleaning up, we headed out for supper at the rooftop patio of The Snooty Fox and enjoyed a very nice meal. We are both getting tired of restaurant food, and Ken has already put in his order for Elaine's signature marinated BBQ Pacific salmon for his homecoming! Cam will have to wait a little bit as he is meeting his family in Chicago to celebrate his fiftieth birthday after the trip is done.
Our meal was followed by blogging, which has once again kept us up until after 1:00AM! This was in spite of the WiFi not allowing us to upload pictures, which means we are going to have to do that in the morning. (Note that we stopped at Tim Hortons this morning on the way out of town to upload the pictures for the blog. We plan to do the Photo Gallery when we arrive at the hotel tonight.)
Ride Details:
- Distance: 110.2 kms
- Riding time: 5 hours, 23 minutes
- Average speed: 20.5 kms/hour
- Wind: East, light to moderate
- Temperature: 24 degrees Celcius
Tomorrow's Destination: Petitcodiac, New Brunswick - 140 kms. This was the plan, but we were not able to see any accommodations at Petitcodiac and some locals have told us not to expect much between here and Moncton. Our new plan is to ride Highway 105 and 112 towards Moncton, and take the first suitable place we see after we pass 120 kms.... We are hoping not to repeat our Shawville Motel-less experience tonight!
For more ride details see Strava.and for more ride photos from today, you can check out our Photo Gallery (once we are able to get the pictures uploaded...)
After checking in and cleaning up, we headed out for supper at the rooftop patio of The Snooty Fox and enjoyed a very nice meal. We are both getting tired of restaurant food, and Ken has already put in his order for Elaine's signature marinated BBQ Pacific salmon for his homecoming! Cam will have to wait a little bit as he is meeting his family in Chicago to celebrate his fiftieth birthday after the trip is done.
Our meal was followed by blogging, which has once again kept us up until after 1:00AM! This was in spite of the WiFi not allowing us to upload pictures, which means we are going to have to do that in the morning. (Note that we stopped at Tim Hortons this morning on the way out of town to upload the pictures for the blog. We plan to do the Photo Gallery when we arrive at the hotel tonight.)
Ride Details:
- Distance: 110.2 kms
- Riding time: 5 hours, 23 minutes
- Average speed: 20.5 kms/hour
- Wind: East, light to moderate
- Temperature: 24 degrees Celcius
Tomorrow's Destination: Petitcodiac, New Brunswick - 140 kms. This was the plan, but we were not able to see any accommodations at Petitcodiac and some locals have told us not to expect much between here and Moncton. Our new plan is to ride Highway 105 and 112 towards Moncton, and take the first suitable place we see after we pass 120 kms.... We are hoping not to repeat our Shawville Motel-less experience tonight!
For more ride details see Strava.and for more ride photos from today, you can check out our Photo Gallery (once we are able to get the pictures uploaded...)