PEI 17 - Road Closed!

Day 11
Friday, July 29, 2016

The day started with flat, easy, and (for us) fast riding, For a while we rode close together which is fun because then we can have profound conversations. 

Rob: "13?" He likes to guess our speed. I have a computer on my bike; he doesn't.
Me: "15."

Later.
Rob: "16?"
I look down. It's at 15.8. I pedal harder. "16."

Rob: "I figured something out."
Me: "What?"
Rob: "The salt in Margaritaville is salt for the margarita."
Me: "That's deep."

Here are a couple pictures from the day's riding.

Have you seen enough pictures of potato fields yet? I never tired of riding by them, especially those in full bloom. After last night's rain it remained cloudy for part of the day, which kept the heat down. 

The Bideford Parsonage Museum

You'll notice that the sign says it's the historical residence of L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels. She's the darling of PEI, maybe all of Canada. Every place she ever lived seems be a historic site. There's her birth home in Kensington, her home in Cavendish, and also a place she lived in Ontario. She lived here while teaching school in the community for one year.

The museum only cost $5, but we didn't feel like stopping long enough to get our money's worth. They did let us use the restroom though.

We were in a groove, enjoying the riding on quiet country roads. Occasionally we'd hear the sound of a lawnmower before coming upon someone out on their riding mower. Friday afternoon seemed to be a popular time for folks to cut their lawns.

We found ourselves on a major highway for a couple miles, which wasn't great, but it was only a couple miles. Then, as we approached our chance to get back on the quiet scenic route, we saw a sign saying the road was closed. Shoot!

Just because a road is closed, or a bridge is out, doesn't mean a bicycle can't get through. But we had no way of knowing - there was no local business where we could pop in and get more information -  and getting turned back at the closure could have meant miles of backtracking.

So we had no choice but to stay on the highway, cars speeding by, rattling our serenity. We stopped at Mill River Provincial Park to regroup. This is another park that has resort features - a golf course and adjacent restaurant and lounge. We skipped the restaurant and lounge and drank sodas, sitting on the picnic tables by the registration booth, working up enthusiasm for more highway riding. 

We did eventually join the hundreds of other people camping - on a Friday night - at Jacques Cartier Provincial Park, yet another gorgeous campground set right on the water. 

Dinner was stir-fried vegetables and spaghetti.
Notice our fine dinnerware.

Couldn't beat the atmosphere at this fine dining establishment. That's our tiny tent just behind Rob and the ocean is in the background. The only thing missing was beer. But we had Oreos for dessert. 

This was our longest day of riding, 71.8 miles at 11.31 mph,
in the saddle for 6 hours, 19 minutes.