August 29 2025

#16 Race day dawned blustery and sunny. We gathered all our gear, readied our ‘transition’ area, then rode about 4km over to the pool to start our ‘race’. The clerk at the front desk was our ALS ‘connection’ – a family member died of ALS a few years ago and she was very grateful for what we’re doing.

The folks swimming laps didn’t know what to think of us two newbies, but they quickly adapted to us joining their lanes, stopping at the ends of the lanes to let us pass. After 750m, out we came to change then jump on our bikes to head to the rail trail that runs from waterfront across the southern part of Newfoundland. We headed west, passing through industrial areas, then homes along the ponds (aka small lakes). The trail was nice, pretty smooth with trees along both sides most of the way protecting us from some of the wind. After 20km, we were back at our trailer, locked up our bikes, then set off on our 5km run, along the same rail trail. We’re glad we decided to do this route (rather than the St. John’s Triathlon route) as we were off the highway and with the blustery wind, it was safer to be on the rail trail. We were glad when we finished, feeling a bit of a let down from not having the crowds and enthusiasm that’s at official races. Oh well, at least we got #16 done!

At the pool pre-swim

At the pool after the swim

On the bike

Our next stop was Clarke’s Beach, where our Newfoundland race was supposed to take place but was moved to July due to Canada Summer Games. We stayed at Mountain View RV, another place with mostly seasonal RV’s. Ernie, the owner, knows our ‘hood - he was a Staff Sergent at the DND site in Vernon in the early 1990’s! Small world. We spent time exploring the area, and even got a bike ride in, even though it was pretty bumpy and potholey!

The next day we did some touring.

First stop, Cupids, the first English Settlement in Canada. 12 men landed in 1610, 11 made it through the first winter in 1612 woman joined teh village and it was off and running. John Guy was the founding father of the settlement and managed to make it a success in a couple of years

View From the Cupids Legacy Center

We drove through Port De Graves on our way to the Green Point Lighthouse.

Port De Graves Dock

While we were at the lighthouse there we saw a pod of dolphins feeding. They were too far away for good pictures.

The landscape is beautiful and the water is crystal clear.

Not looking forward to the 4986km!

We completed the West to East Journey by put our bikes in the Atlantic Ocean

We celebrated our stay at Clarke's beach with a plunge in the North Atlantic Ocean! The water is spectacularly clear and not as chilly as we expected. I’m sure the folks driving by were wondering what these crazy people were doing! But this was our last day out east, as we’ll be heading west from now on, so we had to celebrate somehow!

We had several more ‘rest days’ in Newfoundland as a result of our ferry booking and the time to drive the 900 km across the province. We spent the first night of our homeward bound trip at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander. The importance of Gander in the response to 9-11 is well known; its importance in trans-Atlantic flight was new to us: Gander Airport (the most easternly airport in North America) provided the only refueling location to early flights across the Atlantic. One of the benefits of stopping at these small places is learning more about our country and the importance our citizens have had, now and back then.

Sunset at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum

Our home for the next two nights was Rocky Harbour, in Gros Morne National Park.

After our drive from Gander we parked to trailer and blasted north to Western Brook Pond for a boat tour. The rain held off for most of the ride but I had to break out the rubber party pants when we were hit with a squall.......land lubbers ducked for cover and we moved up top to get a better view. Besides being beautiful Gros Morne is an important site for geologists studying and understanding the movement of the tectonic plates. Some of the oldest rock in the world can be found here.

We went to dinner at the Buoy & Arrow restaurant (awesome lobster rolls, by the way!), and after our meal a new waiter came to deliver our bill. She sheepish said that she’d asked our initial server if she could give us our bill as she was curious about our Tri’ing shirts. Her grandpa died of ALS several years ago and she’s been wanting to get more involved with fundraising. She participated in a walk for ALS in Ontario a few years ago, and was very excited about how she could help more. We encouraged her to connect with the ALS Society of NL, which is located a couple hours down the road in Corner Brook.

Today we visited the Gros Morne Discovery Center at Woody Point. It was very informative. After the center we went to the tablelands to do a hike. The ornage rock you see is dark green inside. When the minerals in the rock are exposed to the weather they oxidize, rust, due to the iron content.

During the hike we met a couple that asked about Tri’ing. They’re both avid volunteers (para-skiing instructors) and were curious as to what Tri’ing was all about. We had a long chat with them about our journey, the difficulties in getting more awareness of ALS out there. The woman had worked at the ALS clinic in Halifax a while back as Occupational Therapist, so was well versed in ALS. She mentioned how surprised she was at how exceptionally nice all the people she dealt with who were living with ALS. How true!

We’re packing up tomorrow and leaving Newfoundland tomorrow night on the overnight ferry to Sydney Nova Scotia, then we’ll be on the road to London Ontario, arriving Thursday. As we may not have good connectivity, we may not be back until late next week.