Trans-Labrador Highway!

Flashback:
When I camped at the KOA at Gros Morne N.P., I met a man named Paul from Montreal. He is a rider who also loves adventure, and we talked for quite a while. He wasn’t on his bike this trip because his girlfriend insisted on taking a car trip instead.
As I got in line at the ferry terminal 2 days later in St. Barbe, I see a Miata approaching the front of the line where I was the only rider waiting.

The driver says “High, Rick!”

Paul and his girlfriend

I still don’t know how he found me, but we spoke a bit and he drove away.
He wasn't even riding the ferry.
He says we should ride to Tierra del Fuego someday.  :-)

After the port boss moved me to the front of the ferry loading line, he came up to me and told me that they always load motorcycles last. After the cars and trucks were loaded, he would tell me when to go. LOL.

===

Aug 9:
I got off the Ferry at the very tip of Quebec, and in a few minutes I crossed the border into Labrador.

I rode up the coast about 40km to Pinware River Provincial Park and made camp here.
I’m sitting in my tent typing this while listening to the surf and gulls across the park road.
There is a beach here, but the people sitting over there are wearing hooded jackets and head nets to fend off the black flies. The guy at the park entrance said the black flies aren’t as bad this year.
OK.
I’m glad I didn’t arrive here during the bad years!  I sprayed myself with DEET, and it’s been keeping them from biting.
Surprisingly, there is WiFi (no cell service) available at this little park, but it is only reachable outside the admin building. Which means I would have to sit on the picnic table at the park entrance in a cloud of black flies and transmit this.
Sorry. You’re reading this on a 1-day delay.

Aug 10:
I’m in Goose Bay at the Hotel North, after talking with someone yesterday about staying here. He didn’t make reservations, and when he arrived there were no rooms anywhere. He had to pitch his tent behind an abandoned building in town.    =:-o
That’s when I decided to call ahead. I knew I would be a whipped puppy after the longest and roughest part of the Trans-Lab, and I was right.

I crawled into my sleeping bag back at Pinware by 9:00pm so I could get up early and get on the road. It was another chilly night - down to 40 degrees/5C and took a bit of riding before it made it up to 50 and stuck there for a few hours.
I rode through some thick fog again after having breakfast in Port Hope Simpson, the last opportunity for fuel before Goose Bay. Once the fog finally cleared, the day warmed up and stayed overcast all day. Not bad weather for a long ride without the glare of direct sunlight.

The Trans-Lab highway. Wow.
The entire road from Red Bay to Goose Bay is gravel except the last 20km. As gravel roads go, this is one of the nicest. It’s wide, smooth in some places (and they are grading the places that aren’t) and well-maintained. In most places, the road bed is built up 8-10 feet above the level of the surrounding land, similar to the Dalton Highway.

But it’s still gravel, and that’s what motorcyclist don’t enjoy. The surface of the road is hard-packed like concrete, but that 1/4-inch layer of rounded gravel spread across the top of it makes it like riding on ball bearings. The bike wanders where it wishes and I just provide recommendations. But the worst part is when the 1/4 inch of gravel suddenly turns into 1 inch of gravel. That changes everything, and I became a VERY busy rider, trying to keep the bike upright.

Those little ridges of gravel below grab your front tire and start the hated "Gravel Dance".

With the overcast weather and dry, dusty surface, there were no shadows, which means that the potholes become invisible until you hit them. The bike and I took quite a beating on the rough sections.I almost expected to see parts coming off and rolling down the road.
Mirror? Side Case? Spleen?

On one stretch, I was approaching a small bridge, and just as I got to it, a bear jumped up onto the roadside from the level below where I wasn’t able to see him approaching.
I had to decide quickly between hitting the brakes, and turning on the helmet-cam.

And that’s why I don’t have video of him up close. :-(

He spun around just as I got the bike slowed down nearly along side him, and ran back down the bank where he came from. When I got stopped, I made a U-turn to see if I could find him and get some video. Just as I was making the turn, he ran up and crossed the road like he planned to before I interrupted him.

Click for video - Running bear


I took a selfie of me and my riding comrades: the infamous Labrador black flies. When you stop the bike, there aren’t any around. 10 seconds later you can’t breathe for the swarm.
KEEP THE HELMET VISOR DOWN!

Bored of the flies

OK, Calvin….  You asked for it: From the Mariner's Galley in Goose Bay........

Fried Cod Tongues!

Before:

And After:

Yes, they were good. :-)
I would order them again if I came back to Newfoundland.


Tomorrow - on to Labrador City.
A guy in the convenience store today told me that the rest of the Trans-Lab is paved except for about 50km.
After that, I think I'll get the bike washed.

It's amusing how the local people can pick out a tourist.
We can ride right up and think we're blending in, but somehow they can tell.
When I ride up to a gas station, the people stare at me like I'm wearing a bright yellow costume with some kind of movie camera sticking out the side of my head!

Oh, wait....