CCCT Part II - Whitbourne to St. John's, NL

Sunday, July 28, 2013 - Day 45
We both slept poorly due to room being to hot and humid and lots of trucks coming and going. We were up at 6:45 AM and after a quick breakfast in our room we packed up our bags and loaded them on our bikes in the room and wheeled them out to the parking lot. We set off for St. John's at 7:45 AM. Again it was overcast and a bit cool so we put on our sleeves and vests. It was a miserable rainy, misty, foggy, windy, hilly day. We had to make frequent stops to wipe our glasses off, to rest our butts, etc. There were no convenience stores or service stations between Whitbourne and St. John's. The only thing that kept us going was the fact that it was our last day of cycling. We arrived on the outskirts of St. John's at 12:30 in cold, rainy and windy weather. We passed several exits and I thought "Great, the next one is where we want to get off." Only it turned out to be another 10 kms down the highway and with several more hills!!! Finally we arrived at 14 Ledum, chez Krista and Mike's, at 1:30 PM. We were thoroughly soaked and chilled it was that windy and cold. I had wanted to go on to Mile 0 for the photo op but because of the lousy weather I changed my mind. It was great to see Krista and Mike who were home to welcome us. We quickly unloaded our essential clothing bags and put the rest of our gear and bikes away in the back shed. Krista showed us our room upstairs and we quickly had showers to warm up and changed into dry clothing. after a short nap, Mike drove us to a nearby Sobey's where we got some groceries and beer and champagne at the liquor store next door. It was still quite windy and bitterly cold. I was glad I had brought my jacket. We returned home and had a beer while Krista prepared fish cakes. I also checked out the Wi-Fi and Bev posted a message on FB re our arrival in St. John's and the completion of our Cross Canada Cycling Tour. Besides delicious fish cakes we had coleslaw, macaroni salad and roasted tomato and red pepper salad for dinner with sticky cinnamon buns for dessert. It was good to be in a warm, dry house and not have to worry about getting on our bikes again tomorrow. What a sense of relief knowing that we had cycled from Trois Rivieres, QC to St. John's, NL, another 2,514 kms to complete our CCCT for a total of 7,994 kms.
At home, Ottawa, ON - Thursday, August 8, 2013