August 11, 2017, Day 82, Holyrood to Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland. 54km

Some days, some moments in our lifetimes, are unforgettable. Often they are turning points, shifts in either our life circumstances or our attitudes. Sometimes they are due to unforeseen, unplanned, serendipitous or catastrophic events but often these memorable pinnacles have been planned, brooded over and then finally put into being by painstaking effort. Such was the case today.

I have wanted to bike across Canada since I was 22, ever since my brother, Kevin, and I cycled from Banff to Vancouver. The circumstances have to be right, of course. Most of my years were spent just working, trying to stay afloat, trying to save a bit of money, going to school, raising my son, (now, that was not work! That was a joy and my total pleasure), going back to school, working, working, working….  A huge turning point for me was when Charlie came into my life 13 years ago. We’re best friends, kindred spirits, as they say, my partner in every plan, my refuge when times get rough, my lover, my confidante. He’s a great support and my biggest cheerleader. He’s also super smart and while he often needs to be asked to please change his shirt, he’s practical, organized and visionary. So, when I meantioned that I wanted to do this, he took it on as his own ambition. We planned, schemed, dreamed about it. For years, we did. Then last fall we started to think very seriously about it, realizing that if you don’t take hold of your dreams and make the effort to make them realities, they will remain as they are, dreams, vapours. Charlie asked for an earlier release from work at the school he teaches at and I am grateful to my employer, Dr Curtis Rytz, for giving me a 3 1/2 month leave of absence from my position as a dental hygienist in his practice.

Nice weather, this final day of cycling across Canada. We were headed into St John’s after camping on the edge of someone’s property on Butter Pot Road, Holyrood. We got back on the TransCanada Highway as soon as we could, off the nonexistent shoulders and dastardly potholed pavement. Smooth riding on the main highways right into St John’s. We went right down to the harbour where there were ships moored.   Lots of hills! This city would  be a challenge to bike! As we had our lunch on a bench, who should walk by but that woman cyclist I’d met the day before. She, her husband, her brother and sister-in-law were exploring St Johns on foot. We were mutually delighted to see each other again as yesterday we had not even shared our names. She is Aline Berube from Rimouski, Quebec, and she did a solo bike ride across this vast country last year at the age of 69, “Seoul, comme une grande fille”.  I will email her and ask her for her blog site; she couldn’t remember it off hand. 

Charlie coached Kayla Kalischuk for soccer for 5 years and she and her parents, Kathi and Rocky, and two friends, Marissia from Calgary and Albane, from France were to meet us at the summit of Signal Hill, our final destination. Rocky, Kayla’s dad, is actually working here for a few years and the family visits back and forth between St John’s and Calgary every month or so.

We were a bit early so we stopped at Tim’s. Rebecca, our sister-in-in-law called. “Have we finished?” Willy, Charlie’s youngest brother called from work, “Were we done yet?” No, but soon. He went onto Googleview so he could see where we were headed.

We left Tims and almost immediately started to climb towards Signal Hill. There were switchback hills leading up to it. I was shaking a bit as I climbed, not only from the effort, but also because of emotional overload. It was very, very steep but there was absolutely no way I was going to put a foot on that pavement. I’d biked throught the Rockies, across the prairies, through never-ending and challenging Ontario, hospitable Quebec  and the mainland Martimes, pretty PEI and now on this final ascent in Newfoundland, I’d be damned if I’d walk my bike up any part of this last formidable hill. Charlie dropped back behind me, so that we could finish together. The shaking continued. Finally we were reaching our goal, completing our ultimate test. The last part inclined sharply but suddenly I had a renewal of energy and I jacked it up, as I reached the top, Charlie beside me! We did it. We crossed Canada, our vast and amazing country by bicycle on our 10th wedding anniversary year and Canada’s 150th!

Wow! Now what? Charlie and I laughed and embraced, our bikes motionless beside us.
A few people stopped and asked us where we’d come from. The guys that we’d met on the ferry were there and they came over and congratulated us.  But it was strangely quiet…..we were done….          Suddenly there was a loud congratulatory call and Kathi Kalischuk appeared with Rocky, Kayla and Kayla’s two friends. They gave us big hugs and started to take some pictures of us and of all of us together. Charlie wrote the number of kilometre we’d ridden on our (now former) cutting board and our motto, EFI, adopted from a CBC broadcast I’d heard about an 80 year old man who’d cycled from the most western point in Canada to the most eastern and also from the most northern part of Canada to the most southern. His motto was EFI. ” E” stood for “every” and “I” stood for “inch”. Insert your own favourite F word in the middle. While we were standing there, I saw two women approaching, flowers and champagne in hand. Janet March and Karen Hood, two friends of Jol’s, were there to meet and congratulate us! What a lovely way to finish!! We shared the bubbly, hugged and just enjoyed the moment. Thank you Karen and Janet and thank you Kathi, Rocky, Kayla, Marissia and Albane for being there for us! 

Sue, Charlie’s sister-in-law from his first marriage and Ken, his brother-in-law live  in St John’s and offered to host us while we are here. We rode to a famous restaurant in these parts, a place called Chess’s, which is famous for, you guessed it, fish and chips. Sue and Ken live within a few minutes walking distance. They joined us just after we’d eaten an appetizer of deep fried cod’s tongues. Yes, usually a principle I follow is not to put anything in my mouth that’s been in someone else’s, but well, since this is another Newfoundland thing, I tried them.  They were fine. I’d never have known they were tongues. When Sue and Ken arrived we all had fish and chips, my last meal of this sort for the rest of this holiday. I’m craving vegetables and fresh fruit, healthy foods. After dinner we walked up to the Templeton’s spacious, comfortable home. We talked for hours. Ken reminded me, that even though Charlie and I were together, I’d done every pedal stroke and had gotten across the country under my own steam.

Yes, “comme une grande fille” I did it by myself.  ………Really?……….  ?????

Of course not! I had tremendous help and support every step of the way!!!! There’s no way I did this all on my own! There are so many people, friends, family and total strangers who went out of their way to help us on this trip. I am grateful for everything they did and for every blessing and good wish sent our way.

God had his hand on us throughout the trip; of this I am sure. We were never sick, injured or in need of anything. Thank you Lord.

We are grateful that we were able to take time off from work. Thank you Dr Curtis Rytz. Thank you that I have a great job to go back to, as does Charlie.

Thank you Willy and Rebecca for your support during the coldest, soggiest part of the trip between Kenora and Thunder Bay. It was such a comfort to stay with you in your RV and eat everything Rebecca put in front of us.

Thank you home group for your encouragement and support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Thank you to all our “Warm Showers” hosts. You took us in to your homes and treated us like welcome family members. You made our trip far more enjoyable and helped us so much. We appreciate all that you did to help us on this journey. Thanks to the host’s we never even had the opportunity to meet who still gave us shelter for the night in their homes.

Thanks to the friends we got to visit along the way: Traci and Rob, Sandra and John, Geri and Les. It was fun and we hope to see you again soon. Sorry  Carolynn and Ed that we changed our route and didn’t get to see you two.

Thank you to the family members who checked in with us regularly and who came out along the way to support us, feed us or shelter us: Jol, Maura, Rebecca, Willy, Pauline, Mark, Ian,  Kevin, Fraser and Christie, Chantal, Robyn, Dad and Jeannette. Thank you to Sue and Ken Templeton for giving us a great place to stay in St John’s, NFL and for giving us the grand tour. Thanks also to friends who kept in touch.

Thanks to the random people who did what they could when they could to help us out. Thanks for your words of encouragement. Thanks to Don who reminded me that I didn’t have to tackle the whole mountain at a time, only the few metres in front of me.

Thanks to the hotel managers and bike repair guys we met on our way.

Thanks to the truckers! You guys rock! Every trucker gave us as much room as he or she possibly could. Truely professional drivers.

And I am especially grateful for the constant companionship, unwavering support and love from Charlie. He did all the work finding us “Warm Showers” hosts and figuring out the best way to get from point to point. His enthusiasm, even when things were tough never waned. He was and is the best man ever!

I know there are many others to thank too. I have a heart of gratitude!

So, did I did I do this on my own? Ha! No way! I did it with you!