Grumpy-Mcgrumpsters

July 16th - 11th Day Biking

Notice that there is no exclamation point following our biking day count. It was a very hard day. We both woke up very overheated and grumpy and were quickly met with some of the steepest hills we're seen yet. What happened to all the flat terrain from yesterday? And what was that random guy talking about when he said that it would be flat all the way to PEI? We're beginning to realize that people who drive cars don't really notice hills and should not be allowed to give cyclists false hopes.

We stopped after 1.3 miles, ready to throw in the towel. We had a snack, sat in the nonexistent shoulder of the road, and regrouped. Our attitudes improved slightly, but the insane hills continued for 16 miles, coupled by some highway biking and very, very hot sun. It was a pretty miserable day. We didn't even want to take pictures to remember any of it.

We finally made it into the Annapolis River Valley (Annapolis Royal is the oldest European settlement in Canada) and stopped for lunch (definitely at a restaurant because we deserved it) and two types of dessert. It was just too hot to continue so we went to the library until it closed.

Despite the adverse conditions, we got in a fair amount of mileage, and in the evening we got into some flatter agricultural land with lots of oreo cows (black on their heads and rears and white in the middle). We stopped in Bridgetown. To top off our trying day, we opened our dinner bag to discover that a quart of yogurt had slowly oozed onto every single item of food and into every seam and crevice of the bag. (Don't ask why we had opened yogurt in there.) After about an hour of washing everything down with a packet of babywipes, we were satisfied that we had destickied everything. Hopefully the smell of soured yogurt won't be with us for the remainder of the trip.



Mileage: 34.04 miles

A word about water pressure in campgrounds: It is so inconsistent! Last night we had to wash shampoo out of our hair with barely a drip and then tonight the pressure was so hard that it almost made us bald. It was strong enough to be a firehose!