Hartland to Fredericton

August 8

Yesterday's route took our riders through to Hartland and then we backtracked in the RV to Florenceville where we stayed the night. So this morning we drove back to Hartland to start our day's ride to Fredericton. I thought yesterday's weather was perfect, today was even more perfect. I guess the rainbow last night was a good omen.

We sent our riders, Mel, Lindsay and Pat, off down the road and then Shawn and I headed back up the road for coffee. We looked over the route and figured our riders were in for some hills early but things would likely level out as they travelled through the broad Saint John River valley. We were right about that, it was sure hilly.

The good news was that the highway was hardly that. Not much of a highway I mean, it was very country, very quiet traffic-wise, a little uneven in surface and very hilly. Oh yeah, and there were dogs. . . big ones. When you're on a bike, dogs running at you are a little worrisome. Three big, loud, aggressive and territorial dogs spread themselves out on the road ahead of the riders. The riders stopped. It was an impasse. There was snarling and gnashing of teeth, the dogs weren't too friendly either. Just then a pickup truck stopped beside us, the driver rolled down the window and said " Don't worry, they're friendly." Yeah, they sure looked friendly. He drove ahead, turned into the driveway and they followed him, yapping and barking. As he got out of his truck the dogs fell all over themselves to get near him. A lucky one even got a belly rub when he rolled over. I know all this because I observed it from the safety of the RV, the riders never saw this heartwarming sight - they had already booked it down the highway to safety.

The only good news about hills is that there is usually a down hill, and down hills afford lots of opportunity for chatting. Sometimes I could hear Mel and Pat coming before I could see them, oh, except for the uphills. Did I mention it was hilly? There was this one hill, Keswick Ridge, it was really, really steep and just when the riders had rounded a curve and thought they were at the top, well, they weren't.
All three riders deserved the great dinner out and a day off tomorrow.

Did I mention New Brunswick is a potato province? The lobby of our hotel featured a large banner welcoming the Potato Growers Association of America - Advancing Potatoes through Science, and a nice table display.