Was a full rest day in St Louis du Kent. breakfast was a 3 km bike ride to a breakfast smorg. got everything done. laundry, blog, bikes tuned up (mine needed a rear cassette...lucky one of the other riders -janice- got a hold of a bike shop in moncton and they came out..took parts orders...grabbed a couple of bikes, and then returned later with the goods....sweet! Trip to the groc store via bikes to grab a roast chicken and some salad stuff and some good bread. Then In the evening a 32km round trip to Kelly's Beach. Not sure why they did not call me 1st to see if it was OK to use my name on their beach...oh well.
Highlights the next days ride were Irving interpretive center at La dune de Bouctouche, and then a stop at a farmers market in Bouctouche. Amazing food, entertainment, friendly people coming up to us to converse, great atmosphere. To top it off one of our playing singing riders - John- got up and did a set of songs, was great to see him up there.
The land of seafood, we had to stop at 'the big lobster' which is actually quite well done. then a stop for the real thing. (friend jodi and carol had lobster, but i had to try the fried clams.)
We are getting some lessons in Patriotism. The Acadians here show off their flags and decorate their yards with their colors and stars and painted lobster traps at the end of their driveways. they are very friendly.
Some times bikes are the way to travel...saved a 40 km detour by being able to cross a foot bridge on a back road. Fairly rugged crossing though, had to carry our bikes.
Our camp at Murray beach provincial park was on the water and beautiful. red soil and the textbook cliffs at waters edge.
Next morning we were off to our 16 km to shuttle over to P.E.I, You are not allowed to ride bikes across the confederation bridge. So you have to wait for a special van with a trailer to come and get you, 7 bikes at a time. We did not get 'our' turn until 1130. good thing there was an interpretive center there and some neat things to see. great view of the 'longest continuous bridge over marine water that freezes' 13 kms. 30 Kilometers after our shuttle dropped us off, our route took us to a small town called Victoria by the sea. Famous chocolate shop there and some great restaurants among other things. I had a Scallop burger (see pic). All along there have been little red and white light houses. Most of them not in use thanks to technology, but looks like they are being kept in nice shape.
From Cornwall we traveled through Charlottetown. most things closed of course at 8am. It did look like an interesting city. then a race to catch the 11:15 ferry from P.E.I to Nova Scotia (72km ride). Judy was fortunate enough to see porpoises from the boat, says she never gets tired of seeing these amazing mammals. Once across the 1st stop was Pictou which is famous for a couple things. one is the replica ship Hector which brought over the 1st batch of Scotsmen 200 of em!! and I though we were cramped in our campgrounds. The other is the place where Grohmann knives are made. I had one of their knifes 30 years ago and it was one of my favorites. got burnt up in a tent fire in 1987. Was fun to replace at factory discount price. 4 of us did a tour of the shop, they pump out hundreds of knifves a day and supply the Canadian military with their field knives. Lunch stop there of fish and chips. Stayed at a campground that was very open and had a great view of the water. everyone stood there in awe at the sunset cameras snapping pictures. mosquitoes drove us into our tents afterwards.
Lower Barnys river to Lake Ainslie...Stopped at New Glasgow at an old fashioned barber shop for a hair cut and MUCH needed beard trim. What a social center, fun talking to the locals and the 2 barbers. We crossed over a causeway onto Cape Breton Island, wow some hills.This was one of our longer tougher days in a while...4000 feet elevations and 170kms and temperatures near 30 again. A well placed Market-ice cream shop-restaurant in Whycocomagh was at our last turn off 17 km before camp. All the riders stopped here and cooled off with milkshakes and ice cream and filled up on other treats. This is just a warmer for tomorrow...the Cabot trail. Burritos for supper!!
2nd Breakfast was at the gate way to the Cabot trail...an Acadien restaurant, the grannys were dressed in traditional clothing. One of our riders (Mark Aucoin) was excited to peddle through this town as all his ancestors were from this place. (every other mail box bore his last name) Although it was so many generations ago that that his 'line' left, he did not know if he had any relatives left. Fun going across this country and having our riders embrace their history.
OK Yesterday was easy...now the toughest day, the Cabot trail. very famous in biking circles. tends to be some cyclists 'end goal' to be able to peddle this trail. Yikes! 3 passes today and the hardest stretch of the last one was 13% for 4 kms. But the scenery was spectacular. I would say that it was probably the highlight of the trip as far as the view was concerned. It was hard to put the camera down. Oysters to supplement supper tonight, and i bought a lobster and some crab legs from the campsite store, how convenient is that! Jude is not too happy with the evening meal not being a big fan of seafood.
2nd day of Cabot trail...some good elevation, and made the mistake of a 'suggested' side trip to White Point (thanks Mark A!!) which ended up being the hardest climb of the day, but it was pretty. We had one of the best descents today...even though some of the switch backs were a little harry with some gusty cross winds. Jude was got blown across the center line in one instance, and onto the gravel shoulder on one other. Scenery was unbelievable. Wished sometimes that I was a better photographer. Jude spotted some Sea Lions from one of the viewpoints (or 'restpoints' to me), and yesterday she spotted a black bear on one of the slopes from another viewpoint (she had to point the bear out to the other tourists). Breakfast for me was local fare: fish cakes (fish potatoes and onions) and baked beans!
Tonight (and for the rest of the trip) suppers and some breakfasts are prepared for us by the staff. Hamburgers tonight!
Up and over Kelly's Mountain today....and there is a Kelly's beach, and a Kelly's view (see picture) in this area too....maybe I could get some discounts??? Only 60 kms including side trips today. Killing time in North Sydney and at the ferry terminal. Lots of time to load the bikes onto the Van and Trailer. We scaled down from our 5 ton truck)
6pm and a band rolls ups (husband and wife team) and play some old time music both guitar and fiddle. then open mike time, and 2 of ours (john and mark) go up and take a turn. Quite an atmosphere on the beach, harbor lights all around, folks dancing....we hear they do this every night!!
Too foggy to see anything
More like cruise than a ferry ride leaving at 130 am and arriving at 430pm...15 hours! Good news was that there was a lounge with live entertainment, and a full on cafeteria on board. The package we signed up for came with an easy chair to try to sleep in...so for some extra money we had booked some bunks so that we get some quality sleep...worth it for sure. We danced with the weather and got lucky, calm seas all the way, just enough swells to make this large vessel gently rock side to side.
At the ferry dock its unload the bikes and 3km to our campsite. It was a relatively new campsite and very open...not good news for the pending high winds predicted for the night. And did they come! in the middle of the night gusting to 80 km with no protection. most of the tents were laid flat from the wind, many ended up with broken poles, lots of folks slept on the washroom floors, some moved their tents to grassy areas that held tent pegs better as the gravel pads we were on did not hold pegs very well. We moved our tent downwind of a patch of trees off the campsite. One camper just laid on the ground downwind of our group trailer. It made for a long unsettled night. As this was the last night in our tents, and after 60 some night in tents, many of the tents made their way into the campground garbage!
The wind can be bad, but it can be good too! It was at our backs to the 142 km ride into St Johns was a breeze (scuse the punn). We were cruising at speeds of 50-60 kms, a couple of the gentle hills we crested at 45 km/hr so it was easy to hit max speed on a slight downhill of 68 km/hr! (max of the whole trip down the steepest of grades down a mountain side was only 75 kms/hr)
The front wheel dip into the Atlantic, and the final climb up signal hill! We met as a group, about 1/2 of us at a Tim Hortons, then proceeded to do the final pedal together. Me and Jude got to lead the pack up the hill which was a great honor! (other individual riders had already gone up ahead so we were not the 1st though) The view from signal hill is magnificent. Very emotional cheering all the other riders up the final steep steep hill. Some of the locals and a local radio station was there to cheer us on too. Most of us by this point had eaten hundred of peanut butter and jam sandwiches...not this day...we did a ceremonial toss...I suspect most on this trip will not eat them again for a while. Then back down the hill to our close by hotel, time to put our 'horsies' to rest, dis-assembled and back in their bike boxes. Banquet time supper of Salmon, with a cake for desert, and Issuing of Certificates and a chance for folks express their feelings on the mike. What an amazing trip and an amazing crew of Pedalers that we got to share the country with. Many lessons on this trip for me about the capabilities of folks....male/female, old/young and all shapes and sizes. Overcoming this marathon pedal, the longest organized bike tour in the world, over 8000 kms if you count all the side trips. Afterwards some Karaoke and off to the famous 'George street'. Dozens of bars in a few blocks, very festive atmosphere. We of course had to get Screeched in...a local tradition where you kiss a cod, repeat some newphie sayings, and swig a shot of screech. Another Certificate presented to us for this too.
