Final Numbers - DW

Day	From	To	km
	The Long Truck Across Canada
	Final Conclusion
British Columbia- 14 Days (12 Biking 2 Rest)
1	Victoria	Swartz Bay	127
	~ BC Ferry ~	Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen Bay	~
	Tsawwassen Bay	Ed & Sue's Maple Ridge	~
2	Ed & Sue's Maple Ridge	Hope (through Chilliwak)	140
3	Hope	Manning Provincial Park	90
4	Manning Provincial Park	Princton	70
5	Princton	Osoyoos	125
6	REST DAY ~ Osoyoos!		~
7	Osoyoos	Greenwood	93
8	Greenwood	Christina Lake	71
9	Christina Lake	Castlegar	79
10	Castlegar	Crawford Bay	93
11	Crawford Bay	Creston	118
12	Creston	Cranbrook	118
13	Cranbrook	Fernie	110
14	REST DAY ~ Fernie!
Alberta- 4 Days (4 Biking)
15	Fernie	Lundbreck Falls	110
16	Lundbreck Falls	Lethbridge	129
17	Lethbridge	Bow Island	124
18	Bow Island	Medicine Hat	77
Saskatchewan- 7 Days (6 Biking 1 Rest)
19	Medicine Hat	Eagle Valley Campground	90
20	Eagle Valley Campground	Swift Current	152
21	Swift Current	Moose Jaw	186
22	Moose Jaw	Regina	82
23	REST DAY ~ Regina!		~
24	Regina	Broadview	181
25	Broadview	Elkhorn MANITOBA	126
Manitoba- 6 days (4 Biking 1 Rest)
26	Elkhorn	Brandon	134
27	Brandon	Portage la Prairie	146
28	Portage la Prairie	Winnipeg	95
29	REST DAY ~ Winnipeg		~
30	Winnipeg	Rennie	141
31	Rennie	Kenora	122
Ontario- 27 Days (24 Bikings 3 Rest)
32	Kenora	Vermillion Bay	88
33	Vermillion Bay	Jackfish Lake	86
34	Jackfish Lake	Minniwake Lake	148
35	Minniwake Lake	Kakabeka Falls	160
36	Kakabeka Falls	Thunder Bay	60
37	Thunder Bay	Nipigon	126
38	Nipigon	Terrace Bay	120
39	Terrace Bay	Marathon	89
40	Marathon	White River	105
41	White River	Wawa (Old Womens Bay)	128
42	Wawa	Montreal River	107
43	Montreal River	Sault Ste Marie	125
44	REST DAY ~ Sault Ste Maire		~
45	Sault Ste Marie	Blind River	140
46	Blind River	Birtch Island	140
47	Birtch Island	South Baymouth	110
	~ Ferry ~	South Baymouth to Tobermory (Crypress Lake)
48	Tobermory	Sauble Falls	95
49	Sauble Falls	Collingwood	110
50	Collingwood	Orillia	116
51	Orillia	Kelly's Cottage (Bobcaygeon)	107
52	REST DAY ~ Kellys Cottage		~
53	Kelly's Cottage (Bobcaygeon)	Haldington	98
54	Haldington	Hardwood Lake	96
55	Hardwood Lake	Arnprior	153
56	Arnprior	Ottawa	65
57	REST DAY ~ Ottawa		~
58	Ottawa	Hawksbury	138
Quebec - 8 Days (6 Biking 2 Rest)
59	Hawksbury	Montreal	120
60	REST DAY ~ Montreal		~
61	Montreal	Trois rivieres	148
62	Trois-Rivieres	Quebec City	150
63	REST DAY ~ Quebec City		~
64	Quebec City	Saint-Jean-Port-Joli	116
65	Saint-Jean-Port-Joli	Petite-Temis	110
66	Petite-Temis	Saint-Bastile NEW BRUNSWICK	130
New Brunswick - 7 Days (6 Biking 1 Rest)
67	Saint-Bastile	Perth-Andover	95
68	Perth-Andover	Great Bear Island	125
69	Great Bear Island	Fredrickton	60
70	Fredrickton	Grand Lake	70
71	Grand Lake	Moncton	110
72	REST DAY ~ Moncton		~
73	Moncton	Murray Bay	84
Prince Edward Island - 2 Days (1 Biking 1 Rest)
74	Murray Bay	Charlotte town	85
75	REST DAY ~ Charlotte Town		~
Nova Scotia - 7 Days (7 Biking)
76	Charlotte Town	New Glasgow	92
	~ Ferry ~		~
77	New Glasgow	Port Hawsbury	130
78	Port Hawsbury	Inverness	95
79	Inverness	Pleasant Bay	117
80	Pleasant Bay	Ingonish	70
81	Ingonish	North Sydney	~
82	~ Ferry ~ North Sydney to Channel Port Aux Basques		30
Newfoundland - 9 Days (9 Biking)
83	Channel-Port-Aux Basques	Crabbes River	96
84	Crabbes River	Corner Brook	131
85	Corner Brook	White Bay Gas Bar	96
86	White Bay Gas Bar	Crooked Lake	122
87	Crooked Lake	Notre Dame Prov. Park	95
88	Notre Dame Prov. Park	Terra Nova National Park	125
89	Terra Nova National Park	Goobies	114
90	Goobies	Holyrood	125
91	Holyrood	St.Johns	48
	St.Johns!
	Total KM	AVERAGE KM/DAY
	8728	110.4810127
TOTAL: 91 Days (80 Biking 11 Rest)
British Columbia- 14 Days (12 Biking 2 Rest)
Alberta- 4 Days (4 Biking)
Saskatchewan- 7 Days (6 Biking 1 Rest)
Manitoba- 6 days (4 Biking 1 Rest)
Ontario- 27 Days (24 Bikings 3 Rest)
Quebec - 8 Days (6 Biking 2 Rest)
New Brunswick - 7 Days (6 Biking 1 Rest)
Prince Edward Island - 2 Days (1 Biking 1 Rest)
Nova Scotia - 7 Days (7 Biking)
Newfoundland - 9 Days (9 Biking)

Day 90: The Day Before Tomorrow

Goobies to Hillrood 125

(Courtney)

This morning. 

For the second last time. 

We crawled out of our sleeping bags. We packed up our tent. We put on our (slightly smelly) biking outfits. 

Tomorrow afternoon, in just 165km, we'll be in St. John's at the end of our journey. But let's not get ahead of ourselves too soon. We still had to get through today. 

One of the first conversations we had was with a lady who was joining her trucker husband on a work run. She asked is if we'd taken advantage of the wonderful free showers inside the gas station. Danica and I stared at her in disbelief. There were showers? We hadn't showered in days, and no we hadn't even heard of them. Oh well it was too late then. 

We packed our worldly possessions and our declining hygiene standards onto our bikes and began following the signs for St. John's. 

It was another windy day on the rock and believe it or not the wind was (again) blowing against us. This combined with the hills made for a slow day. 

At around the 25km mark we were zooming down a hill when I ran over what must have been a particularly sharp rock. My front tire was now making a slightly disconcerting hissing noise... Tire change!! 

That done we set off again for a town called Whitbourne that we had set as our lunch break. We found the Tim's and settled in. 

Talking to people we meet has become progressively more fun the further get across the country. So naturally, here in Newfoundland has been the best so far. People are astonished at how far we've come just on our bicycles. We met a few ladies in the Timmies who'd also traveled from BC (by car). They loved hearing our stories. 

We set out again for a campground 40k down the road. Hopefully there would be a little restaurant were we could get dinner. When we got there we were greeted with two pieces of bad news. The campground was full due to a Band Perry concert that was happening in the area the next day. Also they didn't have a restaurant. They offered us a nice patch of weedy gravel to pitch out tent and suggested we bike the 5k down into the town of Holyrood to find dinner. 

So off we went. The ride into Holyrood was super easy. It was literally all downhill which was awesome but there was NO WAY we were biking back up it. Not for the nicest patch of gravel in Newfoundland. We found a little diner right on the bay for a delicious meal then went to subway for desert. Maybe not our usual hang out on a Friday night but we just wanted somewhere warm inside to hang out and charge our phones for a few hours. Afterwards we went across the street to the Irving gas station and got permission to camp on their lawn. Tonight we'll be dreaming of finish lines and champaign!!

Some rugged scenery

Just your average road sign

The view at dinner. 

Camping by a dumpster... Not our finest

Final Day 91!

Holyrood to St. John's!

(Danica) We've finally made it to St. John's! Signal Hill National Park was our final stop and we made it 48km down the road to our final destination by 10:28am. Wooting, hollering, yahhhaaa's and wooo-whooo's we climbed the last hill. Kelly and Laura did a bad job of describing this hill... It's a bloody steep one! Signal Hill is a national historic site of canada with a bunch of history and such. However hate to say we didn't care.. It's the final point of our trip and a terrific view of St. John's. On the way to the top there were so many people who told us encouraging thoughts.. great job! Your almost there! Just another corner! Everything we were needing to hear. At the top we raced to the end then threw our bikes against the wall ending in huge hand fives!! Just imagine sweaty stinky out if breath girls screaming "we did it" again and again!! We scared a lot of tourists! Eventually some asked where we started... B.C.! Others asked where we were going... No where ! We are D O N E ! ! ! We phoned our loved ones back home to wake them up and they couldn't complain as we just finished biking across this f***ing country. We had quite a few people take our photo and shake our hand in congratulations. I didn't realize I needed to hear it but wow it feels so great to hear a congratulations on our accomplishment. After we took a lot of photos later we finally left signal hill. We didn't read or care about the history of its just us standing there getting every photo we dreamed of and finishing the trip! Wow we are done the trip of a lifetime. Before we went to the bar on George St to meet Cates friend and have lunch, we went by a small harbour to dip our tires in the Atlantic Ocean! Not as significant as doing it in Victoria but it caps off the adventure nicely. Lunch was lovely as they were still serving breakfast!! And beer! 

Coming to St. John's was the biggest count down of my life. Court and I talked about it and never before have we counted down so intensely for a bigger moment. Not Christmas, birthdays, or any other event before. All week we've woken up saying how many days left, how many kms. Every corner felt like a long time coming and every hill has been twice as hard to do. All of our phones have been mapping out signal hill since we started this island. We meet one guy today who talked to us on the ferry. He said wow so how many days was that? We replied 92.. He said "wooo nooo the ferry was like a week ago." Ah no  we didn't just bike across Newfoundland, we started in Victoria bc. In May. We met another who finished yesterday and is 70 years old. He was supported by his wife and friend and was raising money for  sick children. Biked 10000kms in 76 days and made 50 grand. Amazing story!

Overall I think we did close to 9000kms. As one gentleman put it today... It's not the destination that counts but the fact you've gone somewhere. If your on a journey and something along the way interests you never be afraid to take the detour. As long as your not stuck saying I should do this or want to go here, but you keep moving forward, you'll go to great places. All it takes is that first pedal. 

Laura's and Kelly's Epilogue

Best shoulder: Saskatchewan. By far. You fit three riders across and rumble strips. 

Best weather: July in general. It was freezing in May and June and rained what seemed like very day. And August was pretty similar. 

Best license plate: Prince Edward Island. There's four to choose from all complete with pictures. You're bound to find one you like. 

Best drivers:  northern Ontario.  Terrible roads, no shoulders and yet we never ran into any close calls or problems with these drivers. 

Best/ cyclist aware : Quebec. This province is full of cyclists and bike paths and the drivers are more than used to sharing the road. 

Best welcome sign : rennie 

Best largest object: The wawa goose. It's massive, it welcomes you to wawa, It celebrates the highway going to wawa. BUT it's falling apart, don't worry you can buy a feather for the mere price of 50 dollars because they're rebuilding the goose of course. 

Best Ceaser : you'll have to ask Danica to confirm this but my vote is Medicine Hat at the local. Served in a boot. 

Best London fog: Halifax, the wired monk. Delicious and they even had flavours including coconut chai, delicious. 

Best camping: Ontario, great stealth camping by Lake Superior. And their provincial parks were the nicest. A bit pricey but definitely the most secluded from other sites. 

Best wild life: Ontario; bears and moose and deer. 

BC; mountain goats one time, and a baby near and deer. 

Best scenery: Newfoundland is our vote. Mountains, fiords, lakes, moose and rocks. If the weather had been better this would be a clear winner. OH and there towns are so colourful and cute. 

Best headwind: going into Winnipeg. We drafted that whole day in rain and wind. Completely awful. 

Best tailwind: leaving Regina we had an awesome tail wind and ended up doing another 180 km day without really trying.

Best rest day: Ottawa. Hands down. We all met friends there and.... Snooooooop lion? And awolnation and childish gambino. Blues fest was a time. 

Best natural disaster we averted:  a few day after passing kenora Ontario we heard that the water that had been at high levels near the trans Canada had flooded the road and the traffic was being diverted on a big detour. 

Best (worst) natural disaster: the blueberry Paulson. I'll paint you a picture: you summit a mountain after six hours of climbing. At the summit it begins to pour and thunder. That rain turns into a torrential downpour of hail. Then a park ranger tells you to beware if grizzlies on the road. Worst day. 

Best (worst) detour: Brandon was a day of detours. First gravel, then potholes, flooded parks and Danica falling. But that first 5 km in gravel was the worst.

OR

the day with just Danica, Kelly and I opting not to take the detour and instead we biked through an active construction site. 

Best google directions: tough mudder. Otherwise known as google telling us to bike through atv trails. 

Best hitch hiking: British Columbia. 

Best ice cream: cows, pei. Sorry kawartha dairy you're a close second. 

Best hospitality: Rebecca and family for taking in smelly bikers and Sam. Thanks again!! 

Best wipe out: the obvious choice would be Danica in Brandon. But we're going with Danica in bow island who managed to be thrown from her bike after trying to get on the sidewalk from the grass ( a tiny lip). This fall caused her to have the yips about curbs for the whole trip. 

Best flat tire: Danica. Coming into Princeton on a down hill AND a 1/4 inch nail puncturing her newly purchased tire in her home town of kenora. 

Best bike shop: mission, BC.  Specifically Bruce. 

Best newspaper article: the one from the Lindsay times. 

Best bridge encounter:  northern Ontario. We crossed a lot of bridges under construction one day. 

Coming into Schreiber we saw the opp blocking one Lane. Turns out one of the bridges had been washed out and it would take 4 days to fix!! Thank god we got over it. 

Best bar:  George street Newfoundland. The whole thing. 

Best timmies: to us they looked the same, but honestly we should have been sponsored by them because of the amount of tims we consumed this trip. 

Best moose sign: Quebec, it honestly looked like it was prancing across the street

Best deer sign: Quebec, the deer was "jumping" but really just looked like it was flying. And was an odd looking deer. There were also quite a few Rudolph's and one winged deer outside of fernie. 

This trip has definitely been one for the books. From the BC mountains to the shores of Newfoundland we crossed them all. I know that I've had some experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life. And some that I wish to forget ( Brandon, Manitoba). But all in all this was an amazing way to see the country... In really slow motion.  Something I would recommend to anyone even thinking about doing something similar.

 To everyone who helped us along the way, thank you so very much! Your generosity and hospitality was amazing. This country is truly filled with amazing people.  Thanks to everyone who read the blog, I hope we kept you entertained with our stories for the past 3 months. 

We all finished this trip separately, and at different times. Missing our amazing German, Veronika for our east coast leg.  It just wasn't the same without her. But in the end we made it to St. John's. 

Having checked one of the bucket list, now it's back to the real world. Hopefully, with a bed, a climate controlled environment and a real stove. 

( by Laura and Kelly) 

We wrote something, Can you spot it? 

Make it to St. John's. 

( written with red wet chalk) 

Day 89. BC. Three for the money.

Terra Nova Provincial Park to Goobies.. 113 km. 

(Cate) We left the national park early with no more run-ins with the park warden. It was a quiet 80 km into Clarenville. Of course, the headwind and drizzling rain put a bit of a damper on the ride, but who can complain on the THIRD to last day of biking?! We liked Clarenville almost as much as we liked Brandon, Manitoba. Feel free to refresh your memory on our sentiments if need be (http://thelonghaul2014.blogspot.ca/2014/06/brandon.html?m=1). Our lunch break in town started out swimmingly. We all had a booster juice and enjoyed our sandwiches. That is where the fun ended. Upon deciding to leave, Courtney realized she had a flat tire. While she did the tube change, Danica and I hunted and gathered dinner supplies. We were still cold from the morning and decided a timmies break was necessary before carrying on. We wheeled our bikes 20 m between the two joints and relaxed in timmies for a while. When we were finally ready to leave (after stretching our lunch break to 3.5 hours) we noticed that now one of Danica's tires was completely flat.. What bad luck. She had to use her last tube, which caused us to instigate a search for a bike store in town to grab a spare tube. We cruised down into town, as per googles instructions, only to find out the bike store had moved up the hill, two doors down from booster juice and three doors down from timmies. So we biked back up the massive hill only to find out that they don't carry her tube size, even though it is pretty freaking common. To top off what was now a messy, 5 hour break in Clarenville, I dropped my phone and cracked the entire screen.. Whoops. If you bike across Canada, do yourself a favour and buy an good, waterproof case to save yourself a lot of grief. Now, not only were the events which took place in Clarenville less than fun, but the drivers were insanely impatient. Everyone layed on their horns constantly and sped- not the safest for us cyclists. We eventually did leave the town to bike another 30 km to Goobies to call it a day. Yes, the towns name is Goobies. And yes, our reaction was the same as yours (see photo below). There is a town near St. John's called Dildo; unfortunately we deemed the 15 km detour off the highway to go there unnecessary so we will have to settle for seeing the signage on the highway tomorrow. We set up camp outside the visitor info center, had dinner and then went for dessert and a game of cards at the nearby gas station. TWO MORE DAYS! 

200 km to go!

Tim's tire change. 

Gorgeous view back towards the awful Clarenville. 

Awarded: best town name.