Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Day 80: Bathurst to Miramichi (98 km)

Oh my what a day we've had. After a short ride to the Bathurst Regional hospital we had a wonderful visit with a rehab class and the incredibly welcoming staff. Thank you again to Nancy for organizing our visit to Bathurst and thank you to the class for giving us your time and attention.

After arriving at the hospital we noticed a marked up map of Canada and thought for a moment someone had traced our route. In fact the map showed the cumulative distance the participants of the centre had walked. From the looks of the map they're giving us a run for our money on total distance!

After our talk we rushed out the door to start our cycle to Miramichi. Today is the first time on the trip we've attempted to visit two centres in one day and we were a bit apprehensive about making it to our 7:00pm presentation over 90 km away. On top of the distance, we also had to slush through our standard dose of Maritime rain. Although wet, the ride turned out to be fairly enjoyable. We mostly traveled on a well-paved secondary road and finished the day on yet another well kept New Brunswick highway. In the end, we actually managed to arrive two hours before our presentation time at the Miramichi Hospital. After entering the lobby of the hospital we were greeted by a fantastic board with our trip info posted in english and translated to french. Thank you to Chantal for making us accessible in two languages! The harsh weather kept the crowd small, but a few brave souls ventured out in the rain to make us feel at home. Thanks to the staff and participants of the Miramichi rehab for the great visit and making us feel so welcome.

On top of arranging our talk, Chantal also connected us with the Rodd Miramichi River Hotel. They were kind enough to donate a ground floor room (always a plus for the bikes). After a quick dip in the pool, Vanessa and I have settled in on our remarkably comfy bed to watch an episode of Seinfeld while enjoying our view of the river (we could literally walk out our back door and into it).

The last photo above is of the bridge over the Miramichi River. I am so glad that both our hotel and the hospital are on the same side of the river. Beautiful view, but it would take some convincing to get me to bike over a bridge that high and gusty again!

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