Holyrood to a quarry north of Bellevue, NL
Traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk
70 km
Clear skies and a massive headwind, 12 ºC
Woke for the sunrise above yesterday’s dirt bike track. Packed and were on our bikes within half an hour, which was pretty impressive for our first time taking down camp—but we had a sunrise to catch.
After oatmeal, banana and hot chocolate, we started on the gravel track of the old railway bed, shortcutting to Avondale on Highway 63. From there it was a south morning ride to rejoin the Trans-Canada Highway headed northwest.
It was windy. Really windy. We made a few hills and took a break under a giant highway sign, sheltering out of the wind behind its outcropping. We haven’t really weighed our loaded bikes yet but we were pushing about 40-50 lbs, uphill, without a granny gear, against 20-30 km/h wind. Even some of the downhills weren’t much easier with the wind resistance.
Around 3 PM we were sitting beside the highway, drinking some protein mix, and a car with a trailer drove slowly towards us along the shoulder of the road. “Take us with you!” Asad called jokingly, knowing they couldn’t hear us.
The car braked, pulled a u-turn and drove in the opposite direction. There was a brief pause. “Never mind!” I shouted.
We were aiming for the intersection of another railway trail and the TCH, but with about 10 km between it and us we called it quits. On a big hill, predictably. Which turned out to be another stunning campsite in an abandoned quarry, where we set up camp and ate dinner in the growing shadows before climbing up to the stone ridge above us to take in the sunset above the coastal Newfoundland landscape.
Asleep at 11:30 PM trying to get caught up on yesterday’s work. Dreaming of less wind.
