20080727 Going North

80 km, 4 h 10 min ride time

We got off to a very late start today, but made good use of the time. We got most of our photo backlog uploaded and tagged, and had a chance to chat more with Rosie and Colby, and get to know them a bit better. We got a better appreciation for some of the difficulties you run into as a fisherman, two principal ones right now being higher fuel costs, and low lobster prices this year due to low demand from the U.S. With the tail-off in consumer spending, much less lobster is being bought (it is a bit of a luxury item for most people). Fortunately, Colby and his partners have licenses for several fisheries, so they’re able to fish Cod, Lobster and several others. In the off season, they also guide hunters who come to Newfoundland to hunt moose.

Their son Keenan was quite fascinated by our bikes, so we got some pictures with him and the bikes, and he took some pictures of us too.

The weather was great for cycling today, with a strong tailwind out of the southwest, which pushed us along quite well. The sun made an appearance after about an hour riding, so it also got quite hot out.

Everyone we’ve talked to so far have warned us about the road to Cartwright, so we may end up hitching a ride from Red Bay to Cartwright rather than riding the 400 km of gravel. That said, people have also been warning us about the Newfoundland roads and drivers, and so far both have been excellent! We have some more time to gather information and explore options, and we want to do some riding in Labrador, so we may just ride to Red Bay and see for ourselves.

First signs of civilization after 60 km.

Our original plan had been to get to L’anse aux Meadow today, but with a 1:30 start we decided to stop at the Triple Falls RV park instead. We have a lovely spot right beside a stream, which mostly drowns out the highway noise. It’s nice to be camping in the dry again – hopefully it lasts for a day or two as the forecast predicts.