Whitbourne - Signal Hill Day 72

Renne-Liese's mascot for the trip. He fell off her bike once about 20km out of Neudorf Saskatchewan and I happened to find him on the road. We tied him to her front handle bars when we got to Binscarth so he wouldn't fall off again. She was very happy to have found him.

This is Sylvie's mascot..

Kruz, a friend of mine from Kincardine gave this Little Kruz to me for the trip.

Juanita's mother gave her this horn for her bike.

Me, Terri and Terry Light setting off from the Irving's restaurant after having breakfast. This would be our last day of riding.

The bodies of water we passed were not called lakes but were referred to as ponds. There were lots.

The landscape was very rugged and it looked like someone threw all these rocks down from the sky.

Terri is dipping her bike in the Atlantic Ocean in St. John's. There was no beach like there was in BC so we had to be careful not to fall in.


This was a little trickier with my bike but I managed to get the job done without getting wet.

Farther down Water Street in St. John's we found the Terry Fox monument tucked away. It was not very well marked and Mike and Don had gone on ahead of us and scouted out where it was.

This is me just rounding the last corner at Signal Hill.

I couldn't lift my bike above my head so this would have to do.

Terri is pretty happy about the arrival at Signal Hill.

We congratulated each other. We waited a long time to get to this spot but it was all worth it.

Happy! Happy! There were other cyclists who arrived ahead of us (no surprise) and they cheered us all the way to the final inch.

Juanita, Terri and I were the only women who did not take any rides to get to the end. Juanita was the only woman who spent each and every night in the designated campground or university. Terri and I bailed a few times to motels/b&bs when the weather was nasty.

We decided we didn't want to throw our bikes over the edge so we threw the next best thing, the peanut butter sandwiches we had left in our bags.

ALL GONE!!!!

We are pretending we caught this moose. Still no sightings. Hopefully Don and Terri will see one during their trip to the other side of NFLD.

The 72 day group at the dinner to wrap up the tour. We are all quite tired but we all felt really great at the end.
Outside my room at the Battery Hotel, with certificate in hand.


Day 72 and the last day of the Tour du Canada started out very cold. We enjoyed a nice hot breakfast at the nearby Irving station. Don, Mike and other cyclists, Terry, Mike, Bill, Steve and Bev were there as well. We ll had stayed at the motel nearby.

We set off about 8:00 am and headed down Route 100 to get to the Trans Canada. There was an option to do a scenic route but that involved 130 km. Terri and I decided to stick to the highway until we got closer to St. John's. We didn't want to be late getting in and rushed for the final party. The road we took was smooth and we did have some long ascents but overall the worst thing was the noise of the traffic.

We tried to spot a moose along our way and didn't stop for a break until we got to the outskirts of St. John's.
It had been prearranged to meet at a Tim's to ride the last 11 km together as a group. We really didn't expect to see anyone as everyone was so excited to get to the finish, they did their own ride. As it turned out Jim joined us on the last 10 km to the park where we all dipped our wheels. It was pretty special. Jim then went on ahead with some of the younger guys and Terri and I carried on to the Terry Fox memorial. We were a bit disappointed that is was only a small pillar and it was not very well signed. Mike and Don had scouted out where it was before we go there. The statues in Victoria and Thunder Bay were much more impressive. We were still honored though to have our picture with the memorial.

We still had to climb up Signal Hill and the guys told us we would "have to work hard" to get to the top. We were a little intimidated by that but anxious to give it a go. We have to say it was very difficult but it wasn't a steady hill there were some flatter sections as you travelled up. I still had a couple of gears on the back cassette to go when I got to the top. I was saving them in case I really needed them. Terri reached the summit ahead of me and was able to do the climb well.

There were lots of other cyclists from both the 71 and 72 day groups cheering as we made it to the top.We arrived at the summit at about 2:30 pm. The moment was bittersweet. We didn't get as emotional as I thought we would and I think it was because we were concentrating on the climb itself and not the fact that it was the end. Lots of pictures were taken and we threw our peanut butter sandwiches (instead of the bikes) over the edge.

We checked into the hotel and after a bit of a delay in getting the room, we got cleaned up and headed downstairs for the final dinner. It was very special to have Mike and Don join us for the dinner. Everyone was all smiles and hugging each other. Certificates were handed out and group pictures were taken. Several of the riders who are quite musical got together and wrote a song about the summer.

Mike and I have left St. John's and are actually on the ferry going back to Nova Scotia as I am writing this. We were able to see a bit of the area and enjoy a few meals in local restaurants. Some of the group got "screeched in". Terri and Don are spending a few more days traveling to the other side of the island and visiting the Grosse Moraine National Park. They will take the shorter ferry back. Terri and I agreed we would touch base back in Kincardine and hope for some nice fall weather to get a few more rides in.

Our total mileage for the tour was 7550 km.

One of the young men on the tour calculated he ate 255 peanut butter and jam sandwiches.

On Wednesday, August 26th I recorded what I ate for the day. Terri would have been very close to the same:
Breakfast:(quantities are a guess and probably larger than what I think, as always)
1 1/2 cup hot oatmeal with raisins, soy milk and lots of brown sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup all bran with soy milk
2 pancakes with syrup
tea

Morning Snack:
whole wheat bagel with butter, peanut butter and jam
3 timbits
tea

Lunch:
peanut butter sandwich

Afternoon snack:
2 bananas
2 rice krispie squares

Afternoon snack upon getting to camp:
bowl of branflakes and rice krispies with soy milk

Supper:
diet coke
tossed salad with dressing
veggie stir fry with rice
1/2 cup choc pudding


In addition to normal maintenance such as cleaning and adjustments, the following list of parts were replaced by the 72 day group at some point from the time we left Vancouver to the end at Signal Hill.

-93 flat tires (Patrick had 14 and Jim had 13)
-37 tires replaced
-6 spokes
-9 rear cassettes
-3 seats
-17 chains
-3 wheels changed or rebuilt
-3 bottom brackets
-5 pedal cleats
-6 pedals
-3 derailleur cables
-6 brakes
-2 brake cables
-2 cycling computers
-2 sets of bearings repacked or replaced
-3 derailleur hangers
-3 helmets
-1 freewheel spring
-2 chain rings
-2 sets of hand grips
-1 crank arm
-2 bike pumps
-2 CO2 kits
-1 mirror
-1 handle bar taping

Terri and I would like to thank all those who followed us throughout the summer. We had a great time keeping the blog up and it will be a real special memory for the both of us. Thank you for all your support and a special thank-you to Mike and Don for "The Summer the Women Went".