July 21, 2014 - Bideford to Greenvale

I'm so tired and exhausted after a long day of riding. The riding was good, but I'm now both physically and mentally exhausted and worn out.

Writing seems to be helping me to focus, so we'll see how far I get.

With an early (9-ish) start, I figured I would have no trouble. I started with the Shellfish museum in Bideford, where my $5 admission got me a lot of information about oysters on PEI and the chance to eat one (I was offered a second) that was freshly shucked.

Well, it turned out I spent over an hour there, so got on the road around 10am, biking a couple more km's back to Ellerslie and the trail. Once back on the trail, it was once more a mix of riding, reading information signs, and taking photos.

Yet another bridge to cross.

In Miscouche, I learned the history of the church and its importance to the community, as well as a little about the Acadian Conference held there, but I didn't make it to the Acadian Museum there.

In Summerside, I mostly grabbed a lunch and met a young man who asked "What's with the helmet?" and didn't understand (although he thought he did) my response of "I'm cycling". He thought I was wearing it because the law says I'm supposed to. I didn't feel like telling him about the helmets I've broken, and that have protected me from certain brain damage, and he didn't ask what I meant, instead saying something about washing a donkey in a bathtub on Tuesdays as his rationale for why he disagrees with the law about wearing helmets when riding a bicycle.

After Summerside I started taking a few less breaks - I had over 50km still to go, and it was already around 2pm.

Entering Kensington, I saw a dairy bar on my right, between the trail and the road, and knew I would need something soon, but decided not to stop, figuring there would be something at the next town - Emerald, in about 14km. So, I rode past the dairy bar, haunted mansion amusement park, and the railway station that had been converted into a cafe, bar, and souvenir store.

It turns out there's not much more than this in Emerald.

Well, it turns out there was not even a convenience store in Emerald, and I started to loose energy, struggling to keep pedaling. Today, the game was physical, not mental. I knew that I needed salt, and not just the water that was in my sports bottle. It had been a got and sticky day, and I'd been sweating a lot. A lick of my arms told me, by the extreme saltiness, that I was getting very salt depleted.

When I made it to Hunter River, I immediately found somewhere to eat dinner and dessert (ice cream), and grab some cookies for the road tomorrow.

It turns out this wasn't enough, as I'm finally feeling recovered after a couple of slices of bread slathered with PB and jam. I'm definitely going to need to remember how much my appetite increases, and avoid assuming that all the communities along the trail will have food for purchase. It's odd: further away from Charlottetown, most of the places I went through had some kind of store or restaurant, but, I guess that if the towns are closer to the city, most people will just travel to the city or another larger centre.

I passed out for a bit and was woken up by a text, which re-energized me. I'm still tired, but engaged, awake, and having a good conversation by text message, not wanting to stop. Two years ago, I never would have believed that statement from myself.

I'm still not sold on paniers as good - the ones I've got don't really lock in place very well (I had them dislodge off the rack from bumps a couple of times today), and the bike response feels weird to me - way more sluggish than with the trailer.

I only really saw a few other people on the trail cycling today, and none of them were touring it. Instead, it looked like they were all doing day rides - a couple I met in Summerside told me they do day trips to do sections of the trail, completing it in about 2 weeks that way. I also saw a mountain biker zip past me somewhere after Kensington, in an area where I thought I had seen mountain bike trails through the woods.


When I got to the Guesthouse in Greenvale, I just needed some down time, and that's what I got, doing a load of laundry and grabbing a shower. On the way to the shower, with all of my clothes in the washing machine, I was nearly naked at the bathroom door when the people staying upstairs got back and one of them tried to open the pocket door between the two sections of the house. As I stood there, naked but for a drybag held strategically, he explained that they had thought no one was here, as there was no car by the house. I quickly shared that I'm on a bicycle, which is in the shed, and am just doing a load of laundry and grabbing a shower. I kind of hoped he didn't think I was rude.

Tomorrow is a short ride day - off to Mount Stewart, so I'm hoping to take a bit more time, rush a bit less, and see some more sights. I want to also pick up a few more postcards and sent those off.

A stream along the way.