Thursday, 27 July 2006

Cow Head to River of Ponds (Newfoundland)

It rained some during the night but the morning was calm with some sun peeking between the clouds. Inland there was some fog floating around but for once the coast was clear. The water in Shallow Bay was mirror flat.

I took a quick trip out on the bike to get some photos of the bay and to visit St. Mary's Botanical Walk next to the church. My rear derailleur had started playing up yesterday and I had tried adjusting the indexing but it only seemed to get worse. It seemed as if the cable was jamming and wasn't the indexing at all. I was thinking that I would have to try to service it when the cable snapped completely. I went to the Shallow Bay Motel for breakfast as consolation.

The spare gear cable I've had for at least 4 years and have carried on the bike for over 14,000 km will finally get used. I had a brainwave before I started; I took the flysheet off the tent and spread it out on the ground so that when I inevitably dropped a fiddly little screw or other part, I wouldn't lose it in the grass and gravel. It worked too. As careful as I was I did drop a small screw. The cable had snapped inside the trigger-shift mechanism; it seems as though the cable rubs on the hollow adjuster nut as it leave the housing - a design flaw surely. While I was working on the bike, I gave it a check over. The disc-brake pads hardly seem worn at all - after 4500 km. I didn't need to bring so many/any spares! I'd have been through at least 3 sets of rim pads by now.

At least I was lucky with the weather. It would have been miserable trying to repair the bike in the wet. My camping towel and the tent had dried in the sun by the time I had finished, and when I was finally packed up and on the move again it was nearly 11 am. Within the first 10 km out of Cow Head I had seen 2 moose by the side of the road. Like other wildlife, while they may be completely inured to cars and people, they scarper at the first sight of a bicycle. On one occasion a car had stopped by the side of the road right next to a moose; I was wondering why they had stopped when I saw the moose, and as soon as it saw or heard me approach it disappeared into the bush before I got anywhere near.

I had been hoping for a tailwind to push me along the 340 all the way along the coast, but the wind was mostly a weak onshore breeze. At least it was never in my face. It was a pleasant cycle, heading north with the Gulf of St. Lawrence to my left and the Long Range Mountains to my right, but then after 30 km 'ping' - another broken spoke on the rear wheel. I was only one kilometre from 'The Arches' Provincial Park so I carried on to there and then unloaded the bike at a picnic table and set about replacing the broken spoke. I was mighty glad now that I had ordered the cassette removal tool by mail order. I took off my t-shirt to keep it clean[-ish] and to get some sun to my pasty white torso while I worked. It was hot work too in the sun. As I was working, a second spoke gave way. I was having the cycling equivalent of a bad hair day. I was thinking I must have got a 'Friday afternoon' wheel.

I replaced the broken spokes (also carried for 14,333 km without being used before) and trued the wheel as best I could. Quite a few people stopped to talk to me as I worked, with some offers of assistance, but now I had all I needed to do the repairs. Just as I was finished and was hoping to relax and enjoy The Arches in peace, a coach-load of tourists arrived. Damn.

It was 2 pm by the time I was back on the road again, and I stopped 15 km further down the road, at Daniel's Harbour, for a tea so that I could was the oil and dirt off my hands and write some diary. I didn't stop to eat as, with 2 breakdowns, I was running well behind schedule. The road was more or less flat so I could make good progress as the afternoon became more overcast but remained warm but not too hot.

It was almost 6 pm when I got to River of Ponds (Named by Captain James Cook in 1770, but previously known by the French as Rivieres des Rochs - River of Rocks) and I decided to call it a day. Just before the River of Ponds Park was the Cloudberry Cafe, so I stopped for dinner so that I wouldn't have to cook in the campsite. The campground was very pleasant - quite scenic next to the pond. ($11.50, showers $2)

Distance: 84.9 km
Cycling time: 4:26
Total distance: 4637.5 km