Leaving the campground this morning, I was only about 10 km from downtown Edmundston. I headed into town, and as I was going down a hill, I hit a some debris that I heard clamour across the pavement, and suddenly I had yet another flat. They skies were grey and it was supposed to rain, so I was really hoping I’d be able to swap out the tube before the rain came. It was my last tube that I used, and I didn’t want to leave the city without any spares, especially as these things seem to come in threes. I was in a tiny city in NB on a Sunday, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find anywhere open. I asked some people walking by if they knew of any bike shops in the area, and they directed me to one not too far away, but it didn’t open until noon, so I had to wait around til then.
Once Sports Experts opened, the guy who greeted me was so helpful and bilingual (Edmundston is a francophone town), and got my psi high enough on the tire I had just replaced and got me a new tube. I also picked up another pump that has a pressure gauge on it and converts into a mini floor pump, so I can check and maintain my psi more regularly and hopefully avoid more of these flats.
I finally got on the road, a couple hours later than I had wanted, and then just outside Edmundston there was a road closure. I went around the barrier to see if I could climb through it like the day before, but this hole was massive, with diggers, and not traversible. Also, it being Sunday, there weren’t any construction workers there to ask for directions, because, of course, there was no detour signage. I checked my phone, and it looked like the only 2 ways to get around this were: a) detour onto the trans-Canada, which is illegal and dangerous; or b) walk along the train tracks that ran parallel to the road, which is also illegal, but probably slightly less dangerous. And as Zac pointed out to me, every great adventure movie has people walking along train tracks. It was pretty straight in both directions, so I could see from fairly far away if anything was coming, but also for all I knew, these tracks could’ve been decommissioned. There was only one set, and a bit of the way up I could see where there had been the second set of rails, but then it abruptly stopped.
So anyways, I lugged my loaded up bike onto the tracks and made it the 600 m to bypass the road closure without being smushed by a train. Yay! I also learned that dragging a fully loaded bike across train tracks and rocks is very difficult. A couple hours later I saw the train go by in the opposite direction, so I guess it wasn’t decommissioned after all.
I kept going along the highway, and I realized that New Brunswick is possibly the most boring place. There’s a bunch of trees, and the views of the St. John river were better than nothing...but the St John is a little underwhelming after biking along the St Lawrence for a week. America is on the other side of the river. That’s about it. That’s all there is to New Brunswick: trees, a dinky river, and a water border with the States.
As I was getting close to Grand Falls, the signage for the NB trail told me to go off the highway and follow an unpaved path. I followed it, but there was so much gravel I couldn’t even get through, and had to hop off and walk down. Once I was down, the path went for a little and then directed me onto a bridge for the bike path that was closed. With no detour signage. So for the third time, NB completely dropped the ball on this and led me astray. I was starving at this point, so I had a sandwich, and then decided to just stay in Grand Falls for the night. It had been spitting rain all day, but I’d been saved from facing a downpour so far, and I figured if I stayed here I would definitely be able to set up camp without rain. Also, since I had been delayed with the flat and with the train tracks, and also my arch nemesis, headwinds, it was already almost 5, and if I carried on, I figured I’d probably be at the mercy of another cantine rather than having time to cook.
So I figured out how to get out of that dead end bike pathway, and then as I was on the road into town, I saw Atlantic Superstore. This is my new favourite place in New Brunswick. It’s like No Frills, but better. I had been living off whatever was available in little epiceries for the past week. I got into Atlantic Superstore, and they had hummus and sweet potatoes and ripe avocado and clif bars, and it was heaven. After I had gotten everything to make a bomb dinner, I headed to the Camping Chutes and Gorge, which was a little municipal campsite with views over the gorge.
The guy who registered me was so friendly and showed me the indoor room where he had a fire going and told me I could add logs to it, and that if it really started coming down and I was cold in my tent, I could just sleep in there during the night. So that was great. Although New Brunswick is super boring, I’ve found all the people to be really nice...
As I was preparing my chilli, I went to one of the RVs to borrow a can opener. It turns out that not having a can opener at a campground is a great way to make friends. The couple I borrowed it from, Anya and Pascal, invited me to join them for a glass of wine around their campfire once I was finished cooking. I took them up on their offer, and it turns out they sold all their stuff in Germany and flew to Halifax and bought a truck and a camper, and are planning to spend the next 2 years in it, going across Canada and then down to Chile. They were super lovely and their adventure sounds so cool!
Also, I made so much chilli and have a whole Tupperware full for tomorrow, which I’m excited for.
Total distance: 75 km
Total elevation: 351 m
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