Day 60 - Cap-Pele' NB to Charlottetown PEI - 120.6 kms
Day 60 Progress - Horseshoe Bay BC to Charlottetown PEI - 6,125.8 kms
An "early" start Our alarm jarred us awake "early" (7:00AM) on this last morning of our adventure with a goal to get away by 9:00AM. We came pretty close - we wheeled away by 9:30AM for our final day of riding with the sun shining, the sky blue and the breeze at our backs. Somehow we knew that our final day would be in good weather even though we had been riding in clouds for a number of days...!
On our way past the beach turn off we noticed that it's actually called L'Aboiteau Beach, not Sandy Beach as reported in yesterday's blog. So in the interest of accuracy we have corrected yesterday's entry. Just as an aside, the word "L'Aboiteau" refers to the drainage channels the Acadian settlers used to reclaim the land from the sea.
On our way past the beach turn off we noticed that it's actually called L'Aboiteau Beach, not Sandy Beach as reported in yesterday's blog. So in the interest of accuracy we have corrected yesterday's entry. Just as an aside, the word "L'Aboiteau" refers to the drainage channels the Acadian settlers used to reclaim the land from the sea.
Our plan today was to follow the Acadian Coastal Trail, hoping to see a lot of the coast on the way. The initial portion was inland, including an unfortunate ride past a crab waste processing facility! (We suspended the "deep breathing" for awhile!) The shoreline eventually did appear on our left, providing numerous photo opportunities - none bigger than the appearance of the Confederation Bridge in the distance. It was interesting that this road - Highway 955 - did not even appear as an option in the bicycle routes suggested by Google Gretta, even though it was much more beautiful riding than the routes suggested by her - and with very little traffic. Gretta certainly has a lot to learn...
We passed the miles on this part of the trip by working through the memories that jumped to mind for each day of our trip starting at Horseshoe Bay and moving day by day. It was fun to remind each other of so many awesome experiences along the way!
We passed the miles on this part of the trip by working through the memories that jumped to mind for each day of our trip starting at Horseshoe Bay and moving day by day. It was fun to remind each other of so many awesome experiences along the way!
An inlet along the Northumberland Strait which runs between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
Our first sighting of the Confederation Bridge (on the horizon)
We enjoyed our remaining kilometres in New Brunswick on mostly flat roads and arrived at the Confederation Bridge visitor information centre just before noon. Since pedestrians and bicycles are not permitted to cross the bridge, a shuttle service is provided 24 hours a day free of charge. (We learned as we approached the bridge that there is no charge to travel the bridge into Prince Edward Island (PEI), but there is a toll to come back across to New Brunswick.)
The shuttle arrived just as we pulled up, and in no time our bikes were loaded onto the bike trailer and we were off to PEI. The Confederation Bridge is almost 13 kms long and was completed in 1997, replacing the ferry service. We lead a truck pulling a wide mobile home across the bridge, so traffic coming from the Island was halted until our convoy completed our crossing. A long string of traffic was waiting to head West as we rolled into PEI and we estimated that they would have had to close the West-heading traffic for about 25 minutes, first to clear the bridge and then for us to cross. We were thankful we didn't get stuck in a similar line-up as we had to get to Charlottetown, dip our wheels into the ocean, and then get our bikes to Macqueen's Bike Shop by 5:30PM where they will be crated for tomorrow's flights.
The shuttle arrived just as we pulled up, and in no time our bikes were loaded onto the bike trailer and we were off to PEI. The Confederation Bridge is almost 13 kms long and was completed in 1997, replacing the ferry service. We lead a truck pulling a wide mobile home across the bridge, so traffic coming from the Island was halted until our convoy completed our crossing. A long string of traffic was waiting to head West as we rolled into PEI and we estimated that they would have had to close the West-heading traffic for about 25 minutes, first to clear the bridge and then for us to cross. We were thankful we didn't get stuck in a similar line-up as we had to get to Charlottetown, dip our wheels into the ocean, and then get our bikes to Macqueen's Bike Shop by 5:30PM where they will be crated for tomorrow's flights.
After a quick seafood lunch at the "touristy" Gateway arrival area, we started out for Charlottetown, once again endeavoring to avoid the TransCanada highway as the waitresses warned us that it had many steep hills! In order to accomplish this we would rely once again on Google Gretta... (We are suckers for a good adventure it seems! Besides, the Island is not that big so what could possibly go wrong?!?)
Once again, the back roads did not disappoint us with respect to getting closer to everyday PEI and providing us with amazing scenery. We were constantly reaching for our cameras as one beautiful landscape followed another. The intensity of colour and texture seemed to explode at us today, perhaps drawn out by the bright sun. We both agreed that the beauty of this section of our ride rivaled anything else that we had seen on the entire trip.
The downside of following Gretta once again was that she took us on a number of sections of gravel type surfaces and we certainly didn't avoid hills as the roads were generally built straight up and down the hillsides, rather than going around them. These were usually steeper than what we have seen through much of our trip with one reaching a grade of 13 percent!
Once again, the back roads did not disappoint us with respect to getting closer to everyday PEI and providing us with amazing scenery. We were constantly reaching for our cameras as one beautiful landscape followed another. The intensity of colour and texture seemed to explode at us today, perhaps drawn out by the bright sun. We both agreed that the beauty of this section of our ride rivaled anything else that we had seen on the entire trip.
The downside of following Gretta once again was that she took us on a number of sections of gravel type surfaces and we certainly didn't avoid hills as the roads were generally built straight up and down the hillsides, rather than going around them. These were usually steeper than what we have seen through much of our trip with one reaching a grade of 13 percent!
 Hills - PEI style! |  If we weren't going up a hill, we were heading down one... |
During one of our frequent "route check" stops deep into Google Gretta's back-road adventure, we heard a dog barking and then a friendly voice asking us if we needed directions. We had stopped directly in front of Debbie Matters' rural driveway, and soon she was filling our water bottles with refreshing cold water and giving us directions for alternative routes to Charlottetown. Debbie is a fellow cyclist and triathlete! As we have seen a few other times on our trip, her generosity came at just the right time as the afternoon heat and multiple hills were depleting our water stocks. For her kind hospitality and friendliness we are naming her our "Angel of the Day"! Thank you Debbie!
Our final "Angel of the Day" Debbie (with Jude)
Flat Tires: Cam 8, Ken 1... Our ride was still on schedule to get to Confederation Landing in Charlottetown by 4PM, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the final "arrival" and then to get our bikes to the bike shop before they closed at 5:30PM. As Debbie had promised, our route still had plenty of hills to climb, including the 13% hill we mentioned earlier. As we approached an important turn onto Kingston Road that would take us to Charlottetown, Cam started to notice that his ride was dragging a little bit, and not long after that, he realized he had a flat on his front tire...! It was amazing that he had covered 6,105 kms without a front tire flat, and this hit about 20 kms from our final destination. With our tight deadline, we quickly got to work. We found and removed the sharp sliver of metal that had caused the flat, and were on our way with a new tube. However, as has been the trend on this trip, within minutes the front tire was flat again. Once again, we moved very quickly to fix the tire, worried about our timeline to get to the bike shop. It seems that the tube must have been faulty as there were no more slivers in the tire, and the second replacement tube held air just fine.These repairs cost us about 20 minutes and so we were forced to ride harder to finish the final 20 kms. With 17 kms to go, the words "just one ride home from work" went through Cam's mind for the last time and he smiled recalling how he had used this little trick about 50 times over the last two months to help put the end of each day's ride into perspective.
As we approached Charlottetown, thankfully the land flattened and we started to make better time. We had seen online that the Confederation Landing park in downtown Charlottetown looked like a good place to finish the ride, but we didn't know what was there or whether we would be able to access the water to ceremoniously dip our wheels into the waters of the Atlantic as we had done in the Pacific Ocean at Horseshoe Bay 60 days ago.
Google Gretta lead us skillfully through the busy city. We had been able to work through the emotional side of the completion of our dream over the last few days, and both Ken and Cam felt a growing excitement as we rode the final roads of our adventure. Gretta took us by historic buildings, bustling retail areas and quaint restaurants, and then we turned a corner and suddenly we were at the water with a boat launch inviting us to ride directly down and into the ocean. Ken rode first and gave a fist pump as he fulfilled his dream. Cam followed and a thumbs-up signaled the fulfillment of his dream. This was followed by one final high five and exclamation of "Living the Dream!" And with that, it was over. We both agreed later in the evening that our adventure had surpassed our highest expectations in every respect. It has truly been our trip of a lifetime!
As we approached Charlottetown, thankfully the land flattened and we started to make better time. We had seen online that the Confederation Landing park in downtown Charlottetown looked like a good place to finish the ride, but we didn't know what was there or whether we would be able to access the water to ceremoniously dip our wheels into the waters of the Atlantic as we had done in the Pacific Ocean at Horseshoe Bay 60 days ago.
Google Gretta lead us skillfully through the busy city. We had been able to work through the emotional side of the completion of our dream over the last few days, and both Ken and Cam felt a growing excitement as we rode the final roads of our adventure. Gretta took us by historic buildings, bustling retail areas and quaint restaurants, and then we turned a corner and suddenly we were at the water with a boat launch inviting us to ride directly down and into the ocean. Ken rode first and gave a fist pump as he fulfilled his dream. Cam followed and a thumbs-up signaled the fulfillment of his dream. This was followed by one final high five and exclamation of "Living the Dream!" And with that, it was over. We both agreed later in the evening that our adventure had surpassed our highest expectations in every respect. It has truly been our trip of a lifetime!
We made it!
With that done, we raced a couple of kilometres to the bike shop and arrived just before they closed. We left our bikes and carried our gear about a kilometre to a Quality Inn where we got the last room - which turned out to be a beautiful suite in a heritage building on the property at regular room prices. It was a great place to spend our last day together!
After cleaning up, we set out to find a suitable restaurant for our celebratory dinner. There were many to choose from but we agreed on The Olde Dublin Pub with its third floor patio. We both ordered The Lobster Dinner which was delicious! While we ate, we relived some of the many highlights we experienced on this most excellent adventure. We also agreed that we have the most awesome wives ever to support us so on a huge trip like this. It hasn't been easy for them to handle everything on their own and we can't wait to get back to see them and to share our excitement at having completed this dream. Thank you so much Elaine and Sue - you are our Heros of the Trip!
After cleaning up, we set out to find a suitable restaurant for our celebratory dinner. There were many to choose from but we agreed on The Olde Dublin Pub with its third floor patio. We both ordered The Lobster Dinner which was delicious! While we ate, we relived some of the many highlights we experienced on this most excellent adventure. We also agreed that we have the most awesome wives ever to support us so on a huge trip like this. It hasn't been easy for them to handle everything on their own and we can't wait to get back to see them and to share our excitement at having completed this dream. Thank you so much Elaine and Sue - you are our Heros of the Trip!
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We've summarized our rides from coast to coast in the following short videos - we hope that you enjoy!
| Cam's Cross Canada Adventure Youtube Version Weebly Version (HD) | Ken's Cross Canada Adventure Youtube Version Weebly Version (HD) |
Ride Details:
- Distance: 120.6 kms
- Riding time: 5 hours, 32 minutes
- Average speed: 20.8 kms/hour
- Wind: West, light
- Temperature: 24 degrees Celcius
- Cumulative: 6,125.8 kms
Tomorrow's Destinations: Ken - Calgary to see his family! Cam - Chicago to see his family!
For more ride details, see Strava. For more photos from today, see our Photo Gallery.
- Distance: 120.6 kms
- Riding time: 5 hours, 32 minutes
- Average speed: 20.8 kms/hour
- Wind: West, light
- Temperature: 24 degrees Celcius
- Cumulative: 6,125.8 kms
Tomorrow's Destinations: Ken - Calgary to see his family! Cam - Chicago to see his family!
For more ride details, see Strava. For more photos from today, see our Photo Gallery.