Here is Marion's Journal and her lessons for Tip to Tippers
Thanks to everyone for the great pictures. Not being a camera buff myself, I 've created this log of our adventure for my funders - mostly family members who hail from Kinkora. Hence, some of the names and details may not be familiar or relevant. For clarity, John and Monica are 2 of my 4 kids, Doug is my husband, Grammy is the matriarch who lives by the trail in Kinkora and Greg is my brother who has a cottage in Anglo.
Thought I'd share it with you so you can do some reminiscing. Thanks Cynthia for taking my picture so I could send it along as well.
Warmest Regards,
MarionMarion’s Log: May 19-22, 2006 Tip to Tip for Africa
Technorati Tags: Marion Clorey, Tip to Tip
Thanks for all the support on the "tip to tip" ride which helps raise funds for small loans projects in Africa. My purchase of a new bike this year made the trip a lot easier. (I’ve since retired John’s old CCM mountain bike and helmet to Grammy’s shed so feel free to use it if you’re out.) I also got out on a few 50k runs with Doug and Monica and one 100k run from Charlottetown to Emerald and back prior to the weekend so felt reasonably well prepared.
Friday - We arrived in North Cape around noon having been bussed from Charlottetown. We left shortly thereafter cycling through Anglo to the trailhead at Tignish. Was able to do a bit of advertising for Mossers’ Lane Cottage (Greg and Debbie’s place) enroute to Tignish from North Cape. I arrived at the Mill River Resort around 4:30 so had lots of time for a swim as dinner and entertainment by Parkdale Doris and Erskine Smith was at 7. Valerie Pringle, chair of the TransCanada Trail, joined us Friday night and biked with us on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday
- We had breakfast at the resort and got on our way about 8. We ran into rain enroute to Wellington so I was pretty wet by the time I got there. However the sun came out around 11 so I was able to hang some clothes on the tennis court fence and dry off in the sun.
Had fricot (Acadian stew) for lunch made by Jeannita Bernard and clan. After resting for an hour or so, we headed for Summerside.
Biking through Summerside is a fast ride as the trail is covered in asphalt. I recalled a conversation I had with our 90+ year old Uncle O’Leary who enjoyed walking the trail in Kinkora last summer. He was thrilled to be able to walk without his legs giving out and attributed it to the fine gravel surface. Let’s just hope Charlottetown doesn’t try to keep pace with Summerside by paving the branch trail running through the city.
I didn’t stay too long in Summerside as I wanted to get into Emerald (our stop for the day) reasonably early. A lot of people stopped over in Kensington for ice cream but I really couldn’t eat another bite after all the muffin breaks. The section of trail between Kensington and Emerald is always a bit of a challenge especially at the end of the day. The huge potato fields though Kelvin Grove, Freetown and Newton don’t allow for much shelter and then there is also all the hot air blowing through from Kinkora to contend with:) Fortunately, last year I learnt how to draft ( ride behind someone - in this case, the ever steady-paced Erskine Smith - so that they are the one’s breaking the wind) so was able to make it to Emerald in good time. I was looking forward to refreshments at the Boxcar Lounge but unfortunately they didn’t open. Too bad as they would have done well with 40 very thirsty cyclists. Unfortunately, after biking 102k, an extra 6 k to O’Shea’s pub in Kinkora was a bit too much although we considered it.
We were bussed back to Summerside from Emerald. Had time for a quick swim (we stayed at the Loyalist) before having supper at the Harbor Quay followed by an auction of crafts from Africa. What a great job they’ve done on that end of town! Who’d have thought you’d ever be able to enjoy the sunset over the West End beach without having to plug your nose!
At supper, I sat with Dagny Dryer (Grammy’s’s oncologist who was my former neighbor) and her husband John Rossignol who runs a winery in Little Sands. Smart move I discovered as he had brought some pretty good wine with him for dinner and very generously shared it with us. Definitely going to make a trip out there this summer to do some wine tasting. I don’t think it will be too hard to convince Doug to come with me.
Sunday Breakfast was a choice of Tim’s or McDonald’s on Granville St. Really enjoyed listening to Valerie Pringle talk about cycling in Europe over breakfast - about where to go and how to bring your own bike. ( I have become very attached to my new Rocky Mountain model!) Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day - it was such a change from last year. Even though we only left Emerald at 9am, we made it to Brackley Community Centre by noon for our lunch stop. Last year on this day, I was struggling though the hills beyond Hunter River facing heavy winds and rain bolstered by Stuart MacLean’s Vinyl Café coming through one ear of my headset. ( I have since upgraded to an MP3 player, thanks to John, but still use only one ear bud in the interests of safety.) This year, I was at the lunch stop before the Vinyl Café came on. Sorry to miss Stuart but what a great feeling to have that stretch behind me. How sweet it was to get into St. Peters early enough to relax for a bit at Rick’s Beer & Chips (Oops, I meant Rick’s Fish & Chips!). My billet was at Cable Head B&B and fortunately, they provided transportation - I was very grateful not to have to bike up that sucker of a hill from St. Peters to Cablehead after a 110k day. We had a lobster dinner at the Greenwich Interpretive Centre followed by music by Chas Guay, Christina Forgeron and a very good band whose name escapes me. At the banquet, I was surprised to receive an award for raising the most funds in 2005. Thanks again to my sponsors.
Monday This turned out to be a leisurely day as we had about 55k to do and only had to be in Elmira for 2:30. We had breakfast at a little café located in the visitor’s centre in St. Peter’s which was excellent. Lunch was at the Souris Cross Country Ski Lodge provided by Souris IGA. After stopping at Elmira (TrailEnd) for some photos, the whole group biked together from there to East Point which was our destination. Another wonderful trip with lots of great memories!
Marion’s top ten tips for tip to tip:
• Bike with someone who is a better cyclist - they keep you at a good pace. It’s the same principle I discovered at 18 when learning to speak French.
• Don’t listen to Boomer’s PEI forecast when travelling in the extremities of the Island. For West Prince, listen to the Moncton forecast; for Eastern Kings, tune in to the Cape Breton forecast.
• Biking makes you very thirsty and one can only drink so much water. Therefore, order draft by the pitcher not the glass. You get to have a refill and some to share with new friends.
• Apply vaseline where delicate body parts intersect with bike parts - it’s an essential to pack along with lipbalm and skinblock. (Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘fanny pack’)
• Try to meet all your fellow bikers ( a tip from Maxine Mallet) It’s amazing the things you can learn! There is a great mix of people from many different areas and walks of life.
• Don’t expect to lose weight. Biking makes you want to eat like a horse and drink like a fish.
• The best way to get ready for a cycling trip is to cycle. (a tip from Shepherd Bruce MacPherson)
• Swim after cycling even if it has to be in a bathtub.
• Listen to the experienced cyclists. They give you great tips on how to improve your ride. (Thanks to Agnes Murphy, I now know how to bike uphill more efficiently.)
• Stretch before, during and after. Get off and walk once in awhile ( a tip from Cynthia Dunsford)
