Title: Day Seven – Back to the Mainland
Date: August 24, 2007 12:31 PM
Category: Bike
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After a two day break, I’m starting to feel stiff. The Daytona is not the roomiest bike available. It’s ergonomics are set up to be ridden fast, not far and it’s beginning to tell in my bones. I’ve done about half the distance I planned to do. The rest however will come spread further apart and in longer sections.

Today, I’m heading back down Cape Breton, back to Antigonish on the mainland. The weather doesn’t look great though. The fog, something well known in these parts envelops the surrounding hills, potentially reducing my visibility. It also looks like it might rain. It did overnight, quite heavily, but at least it seems to be holding for now. As such, I’ll carry the waterproofs.

Setting off is something of a dream start. The roads provide a few gentle sweeps and open kilometers to put some heat in my tires before taking me up and over Cape Smokey. With the fog, it’s aptly named, but it’s also the equal of any of the stretches in the national park. It’s not a high peak by any stretch, but large enough for a decent ski-run to be cut into the hill side, but it is coastal and steep in stretches, which means tight switchbacks up and down with some great vistas. Today, I’ll have to imagine the latter as the fog is getting thicker.

I made an early start for a change and am rewarded with a road that is empty. It is bliss, until I reach a section on the southern side that reminds me I am in Nova Scotia. All of a sudden, the old tarmac is rent into a patchwork of holes and ridges, playing havoc with my suspension. It’s a disappointment, but I’m almost off the mountain now.

The rest of the morning is something of an anti-climax, though this is perhaps very unfair. The roads are great, especially compared to those in the south of the province as they offer the same kind of riding with much better surfaces. I make good time heading south, reaching Baddeck some 30 minutes ahead of the truck for a lunchtime rendezvous and stroll around the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

After perhaps the best Nanaimo bar ever, I hit the road again. The weather has improved, so I leave the waterproofs in the truck. Shortly, I hit the Canso causeway, joining the big line of cars slowly crawling it’s length back to the mainland. Afterwards, I have the option of the sunrise trail back along route 4, which I rode up on or highway 104. I choose the latter, with brief diversions on the 4. I’m feeling somewhat tired and the straighter route will get me there much more quickly. The diversions are antidote to the soporific, straight highway.

Arriving at Antigonish, the destination is not actually in my GPS. It apparently exists on a road that isn’t on the map at all. Worse, after three stops, no-one seems to have heard of it. I should have copied the instructions down I guess, but hindsight is always 20/20. One last stop before I humble myself and call. I’m in luck. This guy lives close and knows where I am, except that it’s not really in Antigonish at all. It’s some 15km North on a back-road. Heading out, I discover it’s also at the end of a 2km gravel drive. Tired, I’m now crawling, eager to end the ride. I can see the water now, so I must be close and round a corner, I’m greeted to two ugly dogs who instantly come running toward me. Luckily, they seem barkers only, but they are resident at my hotel. Quickly, I check in and shut the door. Another 295km done. I’m tired and it’s now hot. Time for an afternoon snooze.

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