Blow Me Down Provincial Park, NL >> L’Anse-au-Clair, NL (via St. Barbe ferry to Blanc-Sablon, QC)
270 miles/6 hours (+25-mile, 2-hour ferry)
Holy downpour today! And to think there was only a 30% chance of rain; I hope it’s not worse at 60%!
If this is any indication of a hurricane’s strength/fury/normalcy, I could be in trouble… I won’t be able to do much riding if the weather continues like this for the next few days. And I must go to a laundromat tonight, as nothing is wearable right now.
Oddly, while I should have been miserable riding in the rain, soaked as I was, I wasn’t. It was actually kind of funny: damned if you do and damned if you don’t. And I was already wet, so stopping and not making the ferry would have been pointless, and I was only going to get wetter the more I rode. Still, I’m certain I won’t be able to deal with 3 or 4 more days of this.
Managed to make it to St. Barbe, Newfoundland, in time for the 6p ferry to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec, which was a relief. Outside of the jacket, epic fail by every piece of gear. The bike held up fine, it ran smoothly the whole time even though when I’d stop, it’d slough water everywhere.
The day started off warm and I didn’t mind a little drizzle, but then the skies opened up like Noah had just finished loading two of every animal onto his ark. After riding in this cataclysmic downpour for a few hours – and having no idea how much longer I had to endure it – a sign for the ferry materialized and indicated I was only an hour away; turns out it’s just over 200km from where I filled the tank. Good to know for the trip back.
Speaking of heading back, L’Anse Aux Meadows is off the itinerary at this point, as my main concern is getting to St. John’s for the ferry and staying dry. Need to get two grocery bags for my feet because both boots sprung a leak; no real quick fix for the gloves though. If I can catch the 1p ferry tomorrow, I should be back in Newfoundland ~2p and hopefully make it at least to Deer Lake before nightfall.
Saw a moose cross the road about 20’ in front of me today; definitely don’t want to tangle with one of those… It looked like a 1,000-pound peanut brandishing an intimidating set of antlers mounted atop giraffe legs. For something so clumsy looking, it also had the uncanny ability to pivot on a dime.
Ran into Glen (the guy I shared a table with at breakfast in BC) at the ferry station this afternoon. Absolutely unbelievable. “I saw that bike when I was riding through town and thought it was yours.” He was on his month-long vacation from the oil rigs. Talk about a small world!
A group of about 10 BMW riders got off the ferry from Labrador; they looked remarkably similar to the posse I saw in front of the bar in downtown Skagway the morning I was headed to Haines. Wish I could have found out if they were one and the same.
[On the ferry]
I would have preferred to stay on the car deck by the engine room – which had hot air billowing out of the doorway – but there was no chance to dry off, the crew motioned me to the exit and the main deck.
[Later]
I arrived in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec, tonight, rode 3-5 minutes into Labrador and found the B+B I planned to stay at, but the owner was at church, per the cashier of the mini-market across the street from her house. Talk about a small community where everyone knows each other’s business!
Turned out to be not much of a B+B; I’m just renting a spare bedroom in her house. I skipped dinner in lieu of a hot shower and asked my host if she could do a load of laundry tonight so I could have something dry to wear tomorrow morning.
Lights out.