Distance travelled: 126km
It’s a strange feeling, waking up one morning and realizing that everything you worked for the past 1.5 years for will soon come to an end.
Woke up in the misty hills of Chance Cove and, realizing we were very short on water, hustled to main highway hoping we’d find something to eat along the way. It was amazing how the day turned out; at first I was told that it was going to be a rainy and miserable end to our trip, but it turned out to be a glorious occasion of warm weather, the nicest we’ve had in Newfoundland.
We stopped at a gas station after jetting it for 45km and found ourselves drooling all over a delicious dish of bacon and eggs — who knew that a gas station restaurant could be so good!! Just as we were finishing up our meals we met Tanya and Ray who seemed impressed with our efforts. We gave them wristbands and then Ray was SO generous in paying for our meals! Not long after I discovered that the Doreen from the Delta in St. John’s had offered us free accommodation for the night, and to literally top it off, the waitress then came and offered us more coffee even though we were well past done eating – suddenly, looked like it was going to be fantastic!! What we learned through talking to Tanya and Ray is they both serve in the military, and have worked in places like Afghanistan, making me realize that it is them that we should be in awe of; I think they deserve a heck of a lot more credit than we do!
Back on the road, Brad’s tire was getting louder and louder as the wheel continued to scrape the frame upon each rotation, and we were in a long and mad sprint to the finish. During this time, I really pushed myself to the limit and felt all that build up of determination flow into my legs as I powered through many hills – I was determined to not give up, but unfortunately for me so was Newfoundland.
Thoughts raced in my head as I saw the road sign digits to St. John’s steadily decrease; 102, 76, 60, 52, 49….. There had to of been over 25 signs pointing us in the direction to St. John’s today, always with the same arrow “keep going straight.. and then keep going..” as if it was a never-ending road. It was definitely cool to see most of the signs with no other city other than St. John’s, clearly because it is as far as you can go! But as I cycled, I thought back to how all this began, with my grandfather being diagnosed and a simple joke/comment I made about cycling across Canada. Never in my wildest dreams did I actually believe I would end up here, though I knew I could never stop trying. One thing that was always a sobering reminder is the hundreds of crosses which we have passed since BC along the Trans Canada Hwy. Though I would never learn these people’s life stories, these crosses remind me of many things, such as how life is so delicate and precious, especially when you trust your life to the hundreds of large trucks that drive by at 100km/hr each day. They also remind me of how we are all connected to cancer victims, all across Canada, and that has been constantly in mind as I have received numerous emails of people telling me their own personal stories throughout the past 2.5 months.
We entered St. John’s at around 3:15pm but did not actually get into town until 4:00pm because of our photoshoot at the sign as well as the fact that St. John’s has a long-winded way of getting people into their downtown core! What was fitting though, is that as we were on the highway entering St. John’s, I hit 8000km on my odometer, which was a pretty special occasion that I have been working up towards (our original route plan said this would take us 7998km, so that is pretty darn precise!!!).
We made it — and now we relax in a Delta Hotel, the only chain that has offered us accommodation more than once (this is their third time donating a room! We are SO grateful for them!). As my old professor would say, it is now time to ponder on the “So What, Now What?”
Well, as for the So What, we have raised some $11,440 for our cause, and have spread the awareness that 1 of 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer if we do not learn to get checked regularly. We have met many, MANY kind people along the way who have encouraged and often inspired us as we have moved along, and we thank all of you. We also hope that in some way we have inspired others to follow their goals to the end and help others.
Now What? I guess we need a bit of time to think that over. Tomorrow we will head to the Terry Fox memorial, Cape Spear (most eastern part of North America!) and dip our bikes in the Atlantic. After that, we need to figure out how we are going to get a bike box from the shop to the airport so that we can pack up our stuff for travel; it should be a learning experience. Also there is the question of what I want to do about this $25,000 goal — is it realistic? Could I use my unmatched charm and wit to somehow persuade 1000 people to donate less than $14?
Upon our return, hopefully we can find some time to write up a more coherent review of our trip and all it’s highlights. What do you think the next move should be for Pedalers For Prostate?
FYI: Our plane is a West Jet flight that arrives at 12:13pm on August 6th at YVR Airport, WS 0467 I believe. We’d love to see you there.
Until then there is only one thing to say as we leave the Atlantic coast:
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
Sam
