We reached Argentia at 10am. The trip took longer than usual
because of the high winds. Once I got my bicycle off the van and my front wheel
on Paula it was 11am. To get to St. John’s from Argentia it would take 140km.
On a day in which the wind was at ones back, the ride would be quite easy;
however, we had the wind in our face and it was the strongest winds we had
experienced on the tour. As such, the last day of the tour became one of the
toughest.
Before we set off on Route 100 a group of us took a photo
under the Welcome to Newfoundland sign. I made it to the final province in Canada!
When I turned onto Route 100 I was struck with the full
force of the wind. As I was making my way to Route 1 I was going an average
12km/hr. The slowness of the ride was frustrating because of the fact that I
had to cycle 140km and I had left late. Luckily a group of us formed a pace
line of 10 people. It was nice to be part of such a large pace line because I
was reminded that I was not alone in this situation; we were all battling the
elements together.
The day was becoming quite long. The hope was to cycle up
Signal Hill which has become the “finish line” of the Tour du Canada.
Unfortunately, the group of us did not reach Signal Hill because we got to St.
John’s at 8:30pm at which point it was dark and raining. We thought it would be
unsafe to cycle up the hill because of the darkness and high winds. As such we
rode to the hotel and decided to attempt cycling up Signal Hill tomorrow.
When I checked it I was given a card from my family. At that
moment the significance of my achievement sunk in. I did it; I cycled across
Canada, coast to coast from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John’s,
Newfoundland!
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