Oh sh*t this is way too heavy!
It was such a whirl wind of tasks, research, decisions and last minute loose ends to tie up that I didn’t exactly get to test my bike out fully loaded. The morning my parents dropped me off at the North Sydney Nova Scotia ferry terminal that was to take me to Port aux Basques Newfoundland I loaded my bike and pushed it a few feet and I completely freaked out in my head.
Oh sh*t, oh sh*t this way too heavy! I am so dead was the only thing going through my head. I could feel my parents standing behind me. Wanting to take a photo and wave good bye — Good luck on your 50,000 km bike ride across Canada and to the bottom of Argentina starting during a Canadian winter.
I pushed my bike the long way around their vehicle as to not face them for a few seconds. During those few seconds I concluded very quickly not to get on my bike in front of anyone to reduce the chances of falling over in front of anyone. I was dying inside.
The ferry ticket agent instructed me to follow the chain link fence until I came to a security booth and then to go into lane 4 and wait for the ferry departure. I pushed my bike the whole way. When it was time embark, I pushed my bike on the ferry and when it was time to disembark, I pushed my bike off the ferry. No one was going see me fall over.
In St John’s Newfoundland on my first official start day, I actually left part of gear and trailer at the hostel. I was planning my first day as a day ride to Cape Spear (<40 km’s round trip). I filled my panniers with my gear for photo purposes at the most eastern point in Canada. November 12, 2019 would be one of my physically toughest days of life.
I will never admit how many breaks I needed to take and how often I had to push my bike as I was physically unable to pedal up most of those hills and mountains. The crazy part was that I ended up finishing my day in the dark but with a smile on my face. And that smile on my face gave me the courage to continue forward.
Fast forward almost 3 weeks later I biked 98 km’s on my last day in Newfoundland back to the ferry. And the day before that I biked 92 km’s.
