Friday, July 9, 2010

Day 14 (July 3) to Day 16 (July5)

Today I rate as one of the best cycling days I've ever had. Got on the road around 9 and followed some cycling trails that Al suggested out of the city. These led to a rail trail that headed right across a salt marsh. Followed rail trails for about 25 miles before continuing on the main roadway. The day was probably around 75, but breezes off the ocean kept it cool. The route followed a pattern of up around the points and down through the bays. Traffic wasn't bad.

Stores were far apart, sometimes as far as 25 miles, so snacks had to be found in my stash.

Ended up in the town of Sheet Harbour where I took a side route, St. Andrews Loop, that brought me to a bay side grove of trees with grass beneath them. It was very windy, so I had to stake down the tent to keep it from blowing off. Large pulp loading facility was located across the bay. Also saw many buoys that were different than lobster buoys. I found out they marked locations where mussels were suspended in the water in a mesh and allowed to grow.
Days mileage - 86

Day 14 - July 4
Tailwind continued and I pushed to Sherbrooke. Ate 175 g of bologna (package size) and three tortillas along with my chocolate milk. Followed a river valley for a while before making a large climb. Dropped down along a beautiful narrow lake, Lochaber Lake. Climbed again before descending to the town of Antigonish. It was a pretty college town, and I was hoping to find a bike shop to replace my broken water bottle. Entering the center of town, I ran into two other cyclists Emily and Emma, who had cycled from Montreal. They had scoped a place to camp for the night, but were going to treat themselves to a $9 steak first. I joined them for the meal and then we went shopping for breakfast food. We camped to the side of the large sports park.
Mileage 89

Day 16 Mon July 5
With two stoves going, we made bacon and eggs. Emily and Emma had English muffins, so our first eggs were Egg McMuffins! Between the three of us, we almost finished the bacon, but some was packed to eat with lunch. There was a deli right next to us, so coffee was enjoyed with the breakfast as well.

It turned out the bike shop was no longer open, so I found a usable water bottle cage at Canadian Tire and was able to attach it with hose clamps. For a bottle I am using the pint nalgene bottle that I had been carrying loose.

We didn't get off until 10:30 and we had a leisurely ride to the causeway to Cape Breton. When we stopped for lunch along the way, the storekeeper at the store where we bought cold cuts let us use the deck on his house to sit and eat on.

We got to the causeway around 4:30. We spent time getting information at the tourist office and washing up (me). Whenever I find hot water, I shave! We then split up, me heading for the Cabot trail and the ladies heading towards Bras d Or lake. I cycled until around 8:30 to the town of Port Hood where I found a place to camp behind a church.

Spent time looking at my schedule and discovered I had dropped the Newfoundland days out of the schedule. Now I will have to go to N. Sydney directly to get the ferry and try to make up for the additional days. Mileage for the day - 66 miles.

Friday the 9th. Library in Gros Morne is closing. Did my first century yesterday 110 miles to Deer Lake. ! Got to run. Will continue the blog when I can. Harvie

1 comment:

  1. Too bad you had to miss the Cabot Trail! I'll go back up there with you sometime so you can do this missing link to your trip

    David

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