November 10, 2019
Last night I dodged a bit of bullet. The first time in the last six months of pulling this whole trip together did something go sideways. My ferry crossing to Newfoundland for last night was cancelled due to bad weather. So I was anticipating a sleepless night in the ferry terminal last night. Instead I got to sleep in a warm bed in Englishtown, Nova Scotia. How lucky am I that we have family friends that live there! Thanks John and Bea Pike!
Cancellation Email
Wood Island Lighthouse, Prince Edward Island
Warm bed or not, sleep did not come easy. Lot of people have been asking in recent days. Are you excited, nervous or both. Honestly I really haven’t thought about and I don’t really want to think about it. There are moments reality creeps in and as quickly as possible I dismiss my reality. There is a part of me that knows I am dead meat and there is a part of me that knows everything about this trip is doable. It is simply all about perseverance and determination.
I feel that the success of this adventure is all about perseverance and determination. And that is on me and no one else. And if I can’t do this then this is my failure of not being strong enough. As a long haul truck driver when I got myself into trouble there was no one there to solve my problems. You simply figure it; no other choice.
Eight years I have been dreaming, planning and sacrificing for this moment; eight long years.
I sort of wish that I had or have something profound to say about the beginning of an adventure. But truthfully I don’t. I have very little balance in my life. I go balls to the walls for months or years with the goal, plan or dream as the priority. And then one night I find myself all alone the night before a flight wandering the halls of an airport all alone trying to find a comfortable place to lay down for an uncomfortable sleepless night.
At the same time confused as to how the hell I got here (the beginning of another adventure), how I got here in life, how these adventure are always alone. It is generally a very lonely moment in time. I find myself watching other people assuming that their lives are probably normal (whatever that means) and wondering what it’s like to be normal. The waiting for the adventure to begin never seems to be any fun for me. I feel that there is some pretty famous advise out there to remind you to enjoy the journey. But I am pretty thankful for not spending the night in the ferry terminal last night.
Anyways, Friday night I packed all my gear for the last time. Saturday late morning loaded everything into a Uhaul trailer for the ride to the Nova Scotia – Newfoundland ferry. We took the Wood Islands Prince Edward Island ferry to Caribou/Pictou harbor ferry Nova Scotia and then stopped by for a quick coffee visit at friends in Englishtown NS that turned into a sleep over. Sunday morning I was dropped off at the Sydney ferry terminal for my 11:45am ferry crossing.
Bike & Gear loaded into a Uhaul trailer
Parked in my lane at Sydney Nova Scotia ferry terminal
Secured for the journey east to Newfoundland
I feel like I loaded my bike for the first time unloading all my gear out of the Uhaul trailer. And when I was loaded and pushed my bike forward for the first time I instantly went OH CRAP! inside my head. I swear there is an extra 50lbs of gear strapped to this bike. I spent Friday night trying to fit everything and eliminate anything I felt I didn’t need but somewhere I miscalculated badly. I pushed my bike the whole way through the ferry check-in process and getting myself into my waiting lane.
I am literally scared shitless about pedaling this bike. How is that for the start of a 3 year, 55,000 km bike ride that starts with me crossing Canada during winter?
