(the tourists becoming honourary newfoundlanders)
daily stats
weather: rain.wet. fog. rain.
total riding time: 3 hrs 56 mins
avg speed: 15.2 (m) / 14.9 (b)
max *speed wobbles* speed: 58.5 (m) / 56.5 (b)
total distance: 59.22 kms
so...as I write this I'm sitting in the mist under an Ultramar sign in Bay Bulls waiting for Bob.
his chain broke (again) and then his semi-broken tool didn't respond too well to the attempt to straighten it with a hammer from the guy in the station. and so he is currently getting a ride back to Witless Bay from one of the girls who works the ? hut (read: visitor's centre) to see about a guy who fixes chainsaws.
seeing as the girl drove a compact 2 door, i figured it best to just stay with all the gear instead of dismantling it all to try and fit it in.
so if the guy with the chains doesn't pan out i guess we find someone with a pick up and hitch a ride home...
boredom lists...
top 5 things to remember for next bike trip (in no particular order):
1. extra chain and/or links
2. extra chain tool
3. can opener that actually opens cans
4. extra socks & underwear, less outer clothes
5. a cellular telephone with service > 25 kms out of a big city
*tied for 5th: a fire starter (to start fires with wet firewood)
places to see, things to do in St. John's:
1. Quidi Vidi (pron: kitty-viddy)
2. Signal Hill
3. Cape Spear
4. whale watching
5. get screeched in
6. hear live (local?) music
to eat in St. John's:
1. Moo Moo's ice cream
2. The Sprout (NL's only vegan resto)
3. International Flavours (Pakistani resto)
4. 24 hr Celtic pub & restaurant (which I'm assuming will be where we eat tonight when and if we ever make it back)
5. cod cakes at The Duke
so there i was making lists and reading Tsunami when i hear a woman's voice.
"what are you doing sitting out in the rain?"
i look up to see a tiny woman with big sun goggles (the kind you wear after laser eye surgery) and lost inside a hooded rain coat staring at me with a huge smile.
"oh hello. i'm waiting for my husband to return. he's gone off to Witless Bay to see a man about a chain."
"well don't wait outside. come in! i live right here."
Annie invited me in for coffee. a nice and wonderful respite from sitting on a curb in front of the Ultramar.
over instant coffee with evaporated milk and Belgian biscuits we spoke of many things.
she's a poet and a published writer. (as i left her place that day i started to think--hope?--that maybe i had just been in the home of Annie Proulx. later i checked out a photo of the famed novelist, and no, not the same Annie.)
this Annie used to be a cyclist in her younger days in England.
also, she's a truly beautiful person.
thank you Annie!
eventually we did make it back to St. John's.
and we did make it (not necessarily by choice) to that 24 hr celtic pub and restaurant, when nothing else was open and we were famished. but nothing was better than a pint and pub food at that moment.
it was then we decided that we deserved to be honourary newfoundlanders as we'd just cycled the Irish Loop.
and so, following true tourist tradition, we set out for the infamous George St (our one and only foray onto the street during the night hours, as we found it reminiscent of John & Adelaide area of downtown T.O.) to cross off #5 on my "things to do in St. John's" list.
just a note, when you get screeched in at Trapper John's, the cod has been replaced with a puffin's ass.
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