Day 7 CCR: Miserable

Anyone coming to the blog today looking for uplifting stories about interesting people or erudite comments about Canadian culture or colorful photographs of stunning scenery or funny stories about life on the road is out of luck.

Miserable. That pretty much describes today, which started at 5:30 a.m. when the overnight ferry docked early, freeing us from an uncomfortable night of vainly attempting to sleep in a reclining chair surrounded by a snoring symphony in Zzzzz Major. We unstrapped our bikes from the lower vehicle deck, layered into rain and cold weather gear, and exited the ferry at Channel-Port aux Basques into rain, wind and 40° (4° C). By the time we made our first stop 2 1/2 hours later, the temperature had warmed to a blustery 41° and our digits were beginning to go numb. Oh, and I noticed my phone wasn’t fully charged. When I mounted it back on the bike the iPhone notified me that it “detected water in the charging port” and I should let it dry before charging my phone. But since the mizzle (misty drizzle) and light rain continued apace, there was no drying of any one’s port. So we pushed on, dodging enormous potholes barely seen through rain-covered face shields, with a dying phone clamped to my handlebar until we stopped again for fuel–at a pricy $6.78 USD per gallon.

By the time we reached today’s destination in Gander, NL, 355 miles after leaving the ferry, the temperature had risen down to 39°. I think my core temperature was above 90° only because my heated gear and rain suit continued to do their assigned jobs, probably despite having water in their ports. We fumbled through unpacking the bikes with impaired fingers, drug our packs to our rooms, cranked the thermostat to a comfortable 75°, and thawed out in our sauna-like rooms. The phone port must have dried out because once in the room it began to take a charge and now works fine.

I had said early on I wasn’t going to ride on days like today, but that was before I realized that if you don’t book rooms at least a week in advance, there’s a chance you won’t find one when you need it.

Tomorrow it’s only supposed to rain in the morning and the temperature in St. John’s is predicted to get to 47°, but 25 mph winds blowing off the ocean may make it feel a wee bit colder. By the way, a year ago tomorrow the temperature in St. Johns was 75°. Timing is everything.

Miserable.