Covered Bridges Biking Excursion near Saint John?

Hello. Three of us will be taking the Covered Bridges Biking excursion near Saint John on Sept 7, 2004. Anyone have any experience with this tour? I'd appreciate any details.

Thanks,

BoxerDawg

Sailing Sept 5, Voyager of the Seas

Hey BoxerDawg -

I'm not on that excursion, but there is a group of us that has met on these boards (all on the Sept. 5 Voyager) and we have a pretty long thread going on the meet & mingle board. Come join us and meet us onboard. All the details are on the thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=16208

I've thought for a month about writing this reply to my own question. I've decided to share my experience. I'm not an avid biker but have completed 10, 12, and 15-mile rides more than once. I'm a 51-year-old female in fairly descent shape. I took this biking excursion on Sept 7 (Voyager of the Seas - Canada) in Saint John. We left the ship at the scheduled time but were told on the bus ride to Sussex that we were running late so the bike route would be changed (in other words, not see as many covered bridges).

The bus took us to the Broadway Cafe in Sussex where our bikes awaited us. An overview was given and away we went. The bikes were Trek. Another fellow and I missed a light before we got out of Sussex (BTW, just your average small town .. they are still working on the quaint part). We were told to obey the traffic lights so we waited for the light to turn green. The guide that was supposed to be brining up the rear to make sure no one got lost passed us and kept on going. By the time we were able to make the turn the group was gone from sight. Luckily I kept a copy of the written directions they gave us (the guy stuck behind with me had not) so we stopped, read, and then followed the directions. About two miles further down the road, we came to a dead end ... we were LOST. We turned around and finally ran into the fellow who was supposed to be trailing our group (there were 10 of us on this tour). He teased us for getting lost but it wasn't the best comedy routine for the moment.

When we finally caught up with the others, they immediately began pedaling again. I was exhausted from trying to catch up so I just gave it up and got in the bus. No need in racing ... as we were told this was not a race at the beginning of the ride. The excursion documentation uses the words "leisurely tour" but it was not that at all for me. I spent the rest of the ride in the bus. The lady on the bus with the tour and the bus driver were very nice. She shared lots of facts about the area. I got over the getting lost part and enjoyed her stories, took pictures at all the stops, and had a good time ... but I still wasn't impressed with the whole trip. There are some major roads on this journey that include large trucks carrying huge forested trees and there are some roads that are truly beautiful country roads. We saw maybe 5 or 6 covered bridges (was expecting more). The 2-hour bike ride was completed in 1 hour ... yes, one hour. You can decide for yourself what the pace was like.

We had all been looking forward to a wonderful lunch at the Broadway Cafe after the ride. We'd read their menu on their web site prior to the trip ... yummmm ... lobster roll. Well, we didn't get to see the real menu. We were given a different menu ... with no lobster roll. I ordered the shrimp sandwich. It arrived just as stated ... a shrimp sandwich. Two pieces of sliced bread, cream cheese on one side, and about 6 very small shrimp ... chopped ... and laying on the cream cheese. Yes, there was lettuce. The dessert was great ... we had a choice of three. Since all the food was so wonderful at all other meals on the cruise ... this meal receives the "worst meal of the trip" award.

Now ... just get me back to Saint John since we are way ahead of schedule. Maybe I can see some of the town. The trip back didn't go that way. Since it was scheduled to be a 6-hour excursion ... that was what we were going to get ... 6 hours. The lady in the bus had the bus driver take the back roads on the return to Saint John (the coast would have been nice to see but instead we wandered along country roads, even ran into some closed roads and the bus had to turn around). She explained many things along the way. She told us about a movie ("Children of a Lesser God" I think) that had been filmed in the area (but you couldn't see the school from the bus), expensive homes of the wealthy in the area (but you couldn't see the houses), many of the flowers and plants of the area, population, average temperatures, and on and on. It got very old and not very interesting after a while. Get me back to Saint John! When we finally arrived, there was time to visit a few of the shops near the pier but that was it. Some other friends rented a car in Saint John, saw covered bridges, Fundy, and many other things including plenty of time to see Saint John ... for much less than the $100 I paid for my excursion.

I'm not saying don't take the trip ... it just wasn't the correct decision for me. To be fair, the two fellows I went with said it was the highlight of their trip except for the feeling of being in a bike race. If you do take it, I hope you enjoy every moment of it. I just thought I'd share my experiences.

Happy cruising,

BoxerDawg

They should have told you that in New Brunswick, you can turn right on a red light after stopping. That might have made it possible for you to keep up with the group. Obviously that doesn't do you any good now. It seems we come up against that old problem of objectivity. Some thought it was really great, you didn't. I'm not sure there's any way to protect yourself from that in advance. I'm sorry you didn't have a good time. Don't let it deter your from coming back again, maybe with a bit more time, and explore our picturesque province.

Just to clarify... it was a left turn we were making at the red light ... so we stopped for all the oncoming traffic. Again, the other two fellows said the bike trip was the highlight of their cruise. I would have enjoyed the bike trip more if the two bikers in charge of the excursion had kept the group together ... at least until we all got out of the city limits and through the city traffic.

BoxerDawg

They turned left on a red light? :eek: I don't care where you come from, that's a no no. You should have reported them to the company if not to the police. People who don't know the rules of the road while on a bicycle are one of my pet peeves. I see people very day breaking various laws, and teaching their children to do the same. From your report you had every right to be upset.