Issue #228 Time On The Rock | Were, Ride, Day, Next, Time

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Issue #228 Time On The Rock

Written by Len Creed
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Where does time go? We’re already into Christmas and then it’s on to January, with major motorcycle shows well on the way by then. A lot of us are picking new bikes or accessories for the new riding season ahead. Or simply planning our rides for the upcoming season and getting our bikes lined up for servicing in the early spring. As for myself, I’m still thinking of the past summer and what a great trip I had across Canada. One of the highlights was riding over to Newfoundland for five days and if I was to do it again I’d take a few more days as there is just so much to see and so many little towns to spend time in. The people are very friendly and the riders are even more so. Everyone there tried to help us even if we weren’t lost and it all started before we ever got there. It took the better part of a day to get there with the six-hour ferry ride from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques on the “Rock” as they like to say. Strange. I live on Vancouver Island and sometimes it’s referred to as the “Rock” as well. Perhaps I should have called my adventure the “Rock to Rock” ride, but then there’s a “Mile Zero” on each, so where do I start? As I said, even before we hit Newfoundland riders who were at the HOG rally were inviting us along to stay with them, or to visit here and there and advising us to watch out for moose! Subscribers also had news of Canadian Biker and friends coming to The Rock so they too were providing us with invitations and lots of information and history of the area we were traveling through. “And, watch out for the moose,” they said. We got to the morning ferry on time, along with 40 or 50 other riders, and were put at the front of the vehicle deck where we lashed down our bikes for the crossing. Here’s a tip: take your own tiedowns for the crossing. We crossed without problems but after six hours we were all ready to ride and it was still two travel hours to Corner Brook where we would spend the night. Our first ride on The Rock and it felt good. The roads were better than I expected, the wind picked up a little and there were plenty of moose warning signs (detailing the number of accidents and deaths). Though we encountered none the whole trip, all these moose warnings had kind of freaked me out; I expected to see one around every corner. Newfoundland, it’s said, has the most moose per square mile in the country (might even be a Guinness book record) but the prospect of meeting one did keep our speed down—for the most part. The next day we woke to a bright day and were on the road early, first riding the scenic coast line then turning east to the province’s heart. A CB subscriber, Judy Ellis, and her friends met us along the way and rode with us as tour guides for a few miles. The more miles we put on, the more the landscape seemed to change, while the weather grew a little colder with rain in the forecast. The good news was that we had only a short ride the next day into St. John’s, where we’d spend the next day shopping and doing the tourist thing. The visit to the historic lookout on St. John’s Signal Hill would prove to be a highlight—and you can just imagine the first settlers and the English fighting off the French and protecting the harbour to the city. The view was priceless. The next day we met with another subscriber, Stephen Lee, who brought us up to speed with some more history of the area and, of course, we toured George Street, St. John’s party central. George Street is said to have more bars per capita than any place in North America. The next day, Stephen was kind enough to ride along with us to Placentia (his home city) and lead the way to a little wine tasting and our B&B. The wine didn’t help shorten the next day’s 14-hour ferry ride back to Sydney, and we still had another couple hours to get over to Marty’s place for the night. But this was proof you need more time to explore The Rock and to enjoy the hospitality of the people. You really do need time on your side to do it right. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.