Thursday, 20 July 2006

Grand Falls-Windsor to Gaff Topsail (Newfoundland)

The spectacular sunset had given way to a clear cool night, and when I got up the sun wasn't yet over the trees, so the tent was dripping with condensation. I had a quick breakfast and packed up the bike and set off at 7:30 while it was still cool. The campsite was right next to the TCH - although far enough not to be bothered with traffic noise - so I could wheel the bike across a gravel patch and onto the road without cycling the 2 km back to junction 17. I stayed on the TCH for a few km until a point where the T'Railway crossed underneath the road. There I wheeled the bike down the steep track onto the Trail.

The section from Grand Falls was rated as grade 'A' in the book I'd seen but it must have deteriorated somewhat in the 3 years since the book was published. With the ATV (All Terrain Vehicles - i.e. quad-bikes) traffic going along it, it was starting to corrugate and there was a lot of loose gravel. Now more 'B' than 'A'. As I had over 100 km to do on gravel roads and the T'Railway further on, I switched back onto the TCH a few km further on - to save the bike from any extra punishment. (I'm still 'spoke-paranoid'!)

It was 9 am by the time I reached Badger and already it was starting to feel hot. I stopped at Kellie's Motel Restaurant for a pot of tea as this was probably the last bit of civilization I'd see today. From Badger I was planning to take the Buchan Highway (route 370) and then the gravel road to Millertown Junction, and then pick up the T'Railway from there. I asked in the restaurant about the state of the T'Railway, and they thought it was rough but rideable. I set off from Kellie's Restaurant just after 10 am and it took me over 3 hours to travel the 24 km to Millertown Junction. The T'Railway was used by logging trucks at the Badger end and so was wide and bumpy, but not too gravelly. (C) The last 10 km though to Millertown Junction was very gravelly and in places was unrideable (E) - there were long stretches where I had to walk, dragging the bike through the gravel. At least it was a workout for my arms. Imagine trying to cycle on a shingle beach. Impossible!)

At Millertown Junction there were a few houses and cabins; there was one with a garden sloping down to the lake with a picnic table near the water - I decide to stop and ask if I could use the picnic table for my lunch. As it happened I'd chosen the house of Mont Lingard - THE expert on the Newfoundland Railway and has done much to document it's history, publishing a series of books on the subject - which I'd seen for sale in Kellie's Motel Restaurant. Mont wasn't there at the time as he was picking up his fourth son (Cory) from the airport, but I met Craig Lingard who immediately offered me water, tea, coffee, beer, food, use of the washroom and shower. I accepted a tea (although a beer was tempting) It turned out that they were having a family reunion - the first for 15 years. Soon two other brothers arrived, Brad and Blair, and an assortment of wives, ex-wives, children and grand-children. I was part of one big family. Craig called up Mike Shufelt, who is from Maine but first came here back in 1987 just before the railway closed down, fell in love with the place, and took a lot of the photos for Mont's books. He is also a keen cyclist and came over to give me some advice about the T'Railway from Millertown to Howley. They invited me to stay for the party in the evening but I needed to get further along the T'Railway so that I can be sure to get to Deer Lake before the Post Office closes at 5pm. They suggested I at least wait a while to meet Mont Lingard as I'd find him interesting and he'd be pleased to meet me. I waited until 4:30, but decided I couldn't wait any longer as I had a hard ride ahead of me. Little did I realise quite how hard.

The first 6 km from Millertown Junction, the T'Railway was also used by logging trucks and was tough going. I had to pull over to the side of the trail to let one truck past in a cloud of dust. At least the trucks did a little to clear a path through the gravel. The next 2 km were even tougher - at the absolute limit of rideability - for me anyway. It was a full body workout with the front and back wheels sliding in different directions and the bike bucking and jarring on the rough surface. And so it went on for mile after mile, hour after hour. I'm sure there isn't a bit of me that won't ache tomorrow.

It was still a hot day, and I was getting through my water supply. I'd been told that there was a spring about 10 miles along the T'Railway from Millertown Junction, and when I got there I filled every available container I had - about 4 litres - an extra 4 kg to carry. They'd also told me about a great place to camp which was 34 km along the T'Railway from Millertown Junction, so that was where I was headed. I was exhausted, and the kilometres seemed to go by very slowly, as if it were miles being measured and not kilometres, which is perhaps not surprising given the conditions. It took me four and a half hours to cycle those 34 km. The countryside around the T'Railway was beautiful, but I barely had time to enjoy it as virtually my full concentration was needed to control the bike. The only time I got to look at the view was when I skidded to a halt - which happened many times. I could have cycled past moose, caribou or even herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain. (a la Basil Fawlty)

To make matters worse, I had to keep stopping to sort out one of the front panniers which kept coming loose from the rack with all the jarring. (I'd lost one of the clip spacers that fit it to the rack snugly) I had to try to improvise ways to keep it in place. Then I began having problems with the front fork quick release coming loose again, which meant that the front wheel was loose in the forks. However tight I could get it, unbelievably, it would come loose again after only a couple of hundred metres. By now the sun was getting low and casting shadows on the trail which made it difficult to judge or shining in my eyes making it equally hard to see. Every time I stopped to sort out the bike, I was plagued by mosquitoes after my blood - and some of them got it too. My fingers were cramping from battling with the handlebars for hours on end. It was without doubt the hardest cycling I've ever done, and possibly the most arduous thing I've ever done.

I passed Summit, the highest point on the T'Railway, so I knew I only had another 4 miles (6 km) to go to Gaff Topsails where I was advised I would get great views at the campsite. Unfortunately it meant an extra ordeal; from the T'Railway I had to push the bike up a rough ATV track for nearly a kilometre to a concrete platform that is the base of what used to be a radio relay station during WWII. The track was so steep and rough that I had to carry as much as I could to the top on one trip, then come back for the bike and the rest. The sun was setting as I arrived at Gaff Topsails at 9 pm and it took me until 9:30 to carry everything up to the platform and pitch the tent. It was too late to think about cooking with all the mosquitoes around, so I feasted on what I had in the tent.

And the view? It was fantastic, although I didn't have long to enjoy it. Was it worth the effort of the day? I'd have to say not, but it was some recompense and maybe with hindsight I'll remember the view and not the agony. It's certainly not a trip I'd recommend, and if I could go back in time, I'd talk myself out of it.

And of course, I'm only halfway to Howley, so I've got it all to do again tomorrow. :-) (If I have the energy.

I'm tired and dusty, man, could I ever use a shower...

Distance: 87.2 km
Cycling time: 8:02
Total distance: 4232.8 km