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| Day 59 - August 25 - Rest Day in St. Louis de Kent 42km |
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| I don't sleep well at all. I shiver all night as my whole body aches. I may have bruised my ribs on my right side because it hurts to breathe deeply. I can't imagine getting up and biking any long distance today. I'll just do the part I missed and that's it. I'm so lucky that it's a rest day. |
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| My parents and my brother Dave are on their way up, so I call them to say that Jim, Luc, Glenn and I will be at Le Petit Cafe for breakfast. They meet up with us there and after a nice meal, we head back to camp. |
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| My cousins Bill and Maxine are there to greet us when we pull in. Then Dave and I get dropped off at the exact point where I fell so we can do the 42km that I missed. I don't feel like biking today, but I can't just skip it. I decided from the start that I would do every inch of the road from Vancouver to St. John's. It is of tremendous importance to me. I can't start my rest day until yesterday's ride is complete. |
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| We have a great tailwind the whole way and Dave has fun riding my old Schwinn Passage. Road riding is altogether new for him because he's more of a mountain biker. Maybe he's been converted to a roadie...we'll see. What few hills we encounter are very gradual and the pavement is smooth most of the way. I try not to use my left hand much because it hurts to hold the handlebars. But then my right elbow has the same effect, so I go hands free over cracks in the road and rely on my knees to be my only shock absorbers. |
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| Later on that afternoon a few more of my biking friends come into camp. Dorothy, Glenn, Carol and Daniel bring me a new wheel from Alternatives, the bike shop that sold me the Trek. What service! I bend the rim yesterday and get a new one today. Had they not brought it I would have had to use the front wheel from the Schwinn to get me to Newfoundland. I must thank Simon, the manager at Alternatives, for sending that up on such short notice. |
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| Jan, our star mechanic, straightens my wheel by banging it on a picnic table. Yeah, that's right. That's what he's good at. Had I been really stuck for a wheel, Jan would have straightened it enough to ride on. He knows everything there is to know about bicycle maintenance. And he doesn't mind teaching me as he goes. |
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| Around 3:30 I walk to the German Restaurant down the road with Glenn, Carol and Daniel. Lasagna makes a nice meal; I get it a lot. And I get carrot cake for dessert. Why? I don't know. It looked good. |
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| While we're there I get even more visitors from home. Norah and Shaun are passing through on their way to Kouchibouguac. They give us a lift back to the campsite and we hang out there for awhile. School is one of the topics of conversation. I haven't thought about it much this summer. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back just yet. |
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| A few hours later Jim and Dorothy cook up a fantastic meal of steak, chicken, salmon and scallops. They even brought a bottle of wine. I'm impressed that all this comes off a portable stove. It's delicious. Then a bit later we make s'mores around the campfire. I'm feeling a lot better than last night. It helps to have my friends here. It's great to see them. |
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