Hampton to Sackville!!!

I made a fairly early-morning departure thanks to a good night’s sleep and was even gifted with some snacks for the road ahead.  It was certainly not blue skies and sunshine in south-eastern New Brunswick, but the fog and rain blew in and out and the winds were not overly uncooperative as I headed toward Moncton.  I stuck to the TransCanada most of the way, pulling over for the occasional snack/water/pee break as desired, and took the old road from Salisbury into downtown Moncton.  

Around 2pm, I was sitting in the foyer of the Moncton Public Library scarfing down some food, willing my legs to re-juice, and evaluating my options:  stop in Dieppe, a few kilometres down the road, and stay with Warmshowers host Claude and his family; or ride the fifty-odd kilometres into Sackville against headwinds that Environment Canada claimed were 30km/h gusting 50km/h, with the exception of the Tantramar Marsh where gusts of 70km/h would be on-going into the evening.  Awesome.  Had it been anywhere else, I would have chosen option (1), but it was Friday and the thought of the Saturday morning Sackville farmers’ market caused me too much excitement.  I gave Claude a call with my regrets, figured that failing to cover 50km in the four hours of daylight left was next to impossible.  A brief chat with my old roommate, Tim, confirmed a spot to sleep for the night, and off I went into the wind.  The ride out of downtown Moncton through Dieppe and Memramcook is certainly familiar, but it was neat to do it in such a context.  As it turns out, Claude pulled up beside me I his car as I rode near his house (note once again that, for whatever reason, it would seem that Nancy and I are rather recognizable laden with panniers and grime).  Though he was sad to hear I would not be at his family’s dinner table that evening, he wished me luck and we made plans to meet up and chat about my trip in the following weeks as he was eager to hear about it. 

                While I might have had a few close calls of unexpected wind gusts with cars alongside, the going was not as slow as expected and I rolled up to Sackville’s one downtown traffic light before suppertime.  The weird familiarity of turning onto Weldon Street, lifting my bike onto the front porch, and taking off my shoes in the doorway of the house that’s been a home on and off for the past couple of years did not escape me, but, well, it was a pretty swell (read: totally awesome) feeling.  I promptly promised my body and Nancy several days of independent living and started thinking about next stops:  the shower, a friend’s house for dinner, a swim in Silver Lake, the stage at Convocation Hall, and whatever might happen to be waiting for me further down the road.

Made it just in time!  Arrived in Sackville, NB on Friday, April 19th after two months and a few days of feeling at home on the road.