It’s really funny how life can really throw you a curve ball — and how awesome it is when with that pitch you hit a home run!
I was not expecting to write a new post so soon as we have ceased biking the longer amounts and now it’s all touristy stuff – or that is what I thought!!!
Waking up in St. John’s there lies a speechless Sam Wade in a Delta hotel room (LOVE Delta!). How is it that I am looking out onto St. John’s Harbour first thing in the morning? Wasn’t this only a little blue inlet a couple days ago when I was looking at it on Google maps from Richmond, BC?? I honestly cannot tell you how I made it here, it seems like a dream… a very good dream 
. So the three of us went to the bike shop first thing to accompany Brad as he acquired an entire new back wheel. Then after lunch we were a little shaken up realizing that the 3 cycleteers were splitting up (yes Brad, we grew so fond of you) as Brad continued on his venture and we completed ours.
Brian and I headed to one of the several destinations we had in mind – Mile 0 – and waited for the newspaper photographer to arrive. When we got to Mile 0, it was another one of those finalizing (and tender) moments. To begin at Mile 0 in Victoria with all motorcyclists, politicians, loved ones and other supporters…and now to be at the other end. How symbolic! Now… to dip our wheels into the Atlantic in the exact same location which Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg… wait a minute. There is a construction everywhere and everything beyond the monument to the water is fenced off. Well I guess that is it then.
Nope. Not for Sam Wade. Not after coming this far, 8010km to reach this final destination point. I am _going_ to dip my wheel in the water where Terry Fox did no matter what. I marched into the port authority and had to talk through several people. They kept trying to convince me it was a lot easier to do it in a wharf further down the street, but to that suggestion I restate the several previous sentences. My stubborn nature once more prevailed and we were admitted past all the fences and had one of the biggest moments in my life. Every September of my life I have been reminded and inspired by Terry Fox, and if you read my post from Thunder Bay, you’d understand even better how I feel about him and his determination. I dipped my front wheel in the water, and as I did I felt just a rush of relief and joy. I had made it to my final destination, and this symbolized all that and more. I could go home and say “Yes. I did that. I biked to St. John’s harbour just like I promised, and I did it for my grandfather.”
But obviously if you know me, you know that was not enough. I realized I was 14km away from the further eastern point of North America. So why not? It’s only 28km round trip, how hard can it be?… Well, there was only one word needed to answer that. Mountains. But, once again, my stubborn nature got the best of me. I felt like Forrest Gump by this point when he decided “So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama.”
So Cape Spear… that was no easy hike. I don’t think hills like those ever get easy when you are carrying a whole bunch of gear up with you, no matter how many km you’ve already biked. Unfortunately it took long enough that Brian had to turn back halfway to ensure we had bike boxes for the flight the following morning (Thanks Brian!!). As I said at the beginning of this long post, sometimes things don’t end like you expect. Sometimes, you spend so long looking for luck and when you finally quit, it shows up. I arrived at Cape Spear and said hi to a man who was looking my way as I rode up to the plaque that said “Cape Spear”. “I was NOT expecting it to be that hard to get here” I said, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead and hoping I looked somewhat presentable. ”Where you riding from?” he said. “Well, just St. John’s today.. but originally Victoria, BC.” He looked at me in disbelief, “and you JUST made it here!? Well congratulations man! You just made it to the most eastern part of North America!” he reached out and shook my hand in quite a bit of excitement. “I can’t believe you aren’t doing cartwheels right now” he continued. “Well.. I’m..pretty tired” I replied in a what must have been a pretty calm voice for that moment, as he was clearly right. And if I could do cartwheels without embarrassing myself, who know, maybe I would have. Either way, with this little bit of commotion, one of his friends came over to congratulate me, and then a different couple, and before I knew it, I was surrounded by a semicircle of at least 15 people, all strangers to me and each other. They all gave me a round of applause and were taking pictures of me, with me, and all. I felt like a real rockstar! As things calmed down and I answered some questions, I decided to make the most of the situation at hand and work on some public speaking “Hey well… I suppose since you are all here, I was wondering if you’d like some wristbands” and before you know it, I was tossing out wristbands left, right and centre while collecting donations – almost $60 was raised for the Prostate Centre in that moment.
I would sincerely like to thank everyone that made that moment, as well as donated and supported what I was doing. Knowing no one in St. John’s, I found it really hard to believe I was going to stop biking the next day without any real cut off or reception, and this was totally unexpected! I was in so much disbelief and finally got that feeling I’ve been searching for – the feeling that everything that I have been through, all the abuse I’ve put on body, it was all worth it even if only for that one moment. Not because I was receiving all this praise and congratulations, but because I was surrounded by a bunch of strangers, all who seemed moved by my efforts and willingly threw out their wallets and gave me whatever they could to support others. I could not help but get emotional as I biked back over those mountains to St. John’s. Despite the fact I had little to no water on the way back, it was a lot easier than on the way there as I felt a burden was lifted off my back and everything I was carrying was featherweight. If my biking could continue to encourage people to do what just happened there, I would gladly bike all the way home to Vancouver.
In the meantime, Brian was picking up our bike boxes and I met him in what turned out to be a shady spot in the city of St. John’s. Nevertheless, we met an amazing gentleman named Ron who chilled with us for an hour or two as tore our bikes apart and packed up. We had some fish and chips to celebrate after the tedious process was complete, got our cab and “slept” at the air port. What a rough night!!
To follow up with our motto here at Pedalers for Prostate — Promises have been kept, the miles have been completed… I’m just not sure whether sleep was ever really part of the equation in the first place 
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Gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around, and I’ll keep this world from dragging me down. Gonna stand my ground, and I won’t back down.- Johnny Cash
Sam
