Cape Breton begins

Friday, July 27, 2018
It is a relaxing morning at our "microsuite" which could actually be called a dorm room.  We are in the college town of Antigonish for an unplanned overnight stay while the bikes are being repaired. 

Steph, Matt, Tom, Julia

This morning, Matt should have the part he needs to fix Tom's disc brakes and then we will be on our way to Port Hawkesbury on Cape Breton Island.   I have been fearing those mountains.  There is no turning back now, though.
We eat some muffins and drink coffee and finally get on the road at about noon.

The ride today includes some nice, quiet, country roads and also some highway.  About 20 kilometers from Antigonish we leave Canada and enter the Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation. There are some young entrepreneurs selling ice cream near the community center.  We cannot pass this up!  I ask the girls what they will do with their earnings and they say, "try to stay open for next year."  It's a modest goal but a primary one for a fledgling business.  The double scoop cones are delicious and at $2.50 CAD by far the least expensive we have had.  They may need to check on their profit  margin calculations.
There is one long, slow climb of about three kilometers.  I am dripping sweat by the time we are up and glad there will be a shower at the bike shop where we are spending the night.  Matt owns a second shop in Port Hawkesbury and has offered to let us free camp there.  It is right down by the harbor and the marina.

The Canso causeway links Cape Breton with the Nova Scotia mainland.   A very nice  driver stays behind us and escorts us safely across the very narrow bridge and up the hill until there is a shoulder on the road again.  Boats have the right of way through the waterway and the traffic backs up frequently when the bridge turns for the boats to pass.  There is a small sailboat going through when we arrive.

Tom built an alcohol stove from two aluminum cans since we cannot find the canister fuel we need for our backpacking stove.   It works well for cooking pasta.  That's mainly what we cook, anyway.  

This Dutch ship has been stuck in port in the harbor for five years.  It reportedly still has a skeleton crew onboard.  I guess they have seen a lot of beautiful sunsets.

Camping out on the porch of the bike shop is very comfortable. Except for the trains.  

That is the corner of the bike shop building in the left of the photo.  This train went back and forth to the nearby mining operation a few times.  

This photo give you an idea of how close we were camped to the orange train!  The track was busy all night.  

Saturday, July 28, 2018
We will be riding on the Celtic Shores Coast Trail today.   It runs 56 miles from Port Hastings to Inverness through wilderness and beaches and is a flat railroad bed with a gravel and sandy surface.  Overall, it is a great trail with spectacular views much of the way.

The first 30 miles fly by as we look out at the sea and the distant Nova Scotia mainland.  I hope the photos give you an idea of the beauty.  It is hard to emphasize in words.

The blue sky and the stunningly blue water make it hard to pay attention to the trail riding and frequent view- admiring stops are essential.

It is smooth sailing and we even have a bit of a tailwind.

We find a little bakery when we get off the trail at the tiny town of Harbourview.  Our snack stop turns into a lunch stop when I discover some turkey sandwiches made on their own homemade bread in the refrigerator case.   With the addition of a warm cinnamon roll and some soft ginger cookies we are fueled for the next 30 miles to come.  And, I feel very good supporting Sffandeannie's Bakery- the epitome  of "buy local".

Eventually,  we get to the wooded section of the trail and the deerflies chase us out on to the roadway.  At one point, I think there are 50 following behind Tom.  They never actually land and bite, but they are sooooooo annoying! Even at 15 mph they are keeping up with no trouble. 

The road riding is considerably tougher and it is very hot and hilly.  There are a couple of hard climbs.  At exactly mile 60 by my bike computer we reach Inverness Beach Campground.  The .GPS shows slightly less mileage but I am going with my trusty computer.  We are beat and that cool shower is going to feel great. We book the very last campsite because this is a big festival weekend for Inverness.   

There is a pair of the endangered piping plovers nesting here.  I get a good look at both the adult and the two nearly-fledged chicks.  It is a lifelist addition.

Tomorrow we will tackle some relatively big climbs as we head to Chetticamp and enter the Cape Breton National Park.  Like I told you, I have been fearing these mountains, but I don't think I will ever be in better shape for the rest of my earthly years.  Bring it on!