Episode #14: 250 Miles Of Nova Scotia By Bicycle

 My cycling trip in September 2007 consisted of a week of beautiful farm land and awesome ocean side scenery in a rural and unhurried lifestyle that was the quiet and peaceful area in far north east of Nova Scotia that lies only about 60 miles southwest of Newfoundland.

I absolutely get it that working in Dallas/Ft Worth area in a competitive industry that lives and dies on a trucking schedule that is managed most days minute by minute and is almost always running behind is fast paced and very hectic. Most of our plants were up and running with trucks delivering concrete by 2am and often still running until 6pm or later almost daily. It was not uncommon for my cell phone to ring in these early morning hours with equipment or people problems. However, this is the result of working in a growing market that requires 12-15 million cubic yards of concrete each year and we worked hard to get our share. I decided it was time for a break from this madness.

I flew into Halifax a day prior to the start of my trip which included meeting up with my group and planning for the 4 hour van ride northeast crossing the causeway over the Strait of Canso to Cape Breton Island. Halifax is a quaint sea side port city. As most cities outside the United States, it was very clean and pretty. As always when I go on these adventure trips I take time to learn as much as I can about the area I am in, especially it's history. One thing I notice immediately here was the population of many very old churches and cathedrals. St. Paul's Anglican Church here in Halifax is one of the oldest wooden churches in North America and was built in 1750. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering the age as well as being right there on ocean coast. The pictures below are of the church and the massive pipe organ.

The trip I signed up was a bicycle tour around the famous Cabot Trail. By the end of the trip including the optional side riding trips the I covered almost 250 miles that week. After the van drive from Halifax, we get to the bike shop in Baddeck to pick out the bikes for our trip over the next six days. Fortunately they were well maintained hybrid 12 speed bikes in very good condition and no problems other than a flat tire or two for the entire group. The first couple of days we only rode about 35 miles, just to get everyone acclimated to our bikes. 

Fortunately the weather was very cooperative and as a matter of fact it was quite warm for a couple of days. One day riding along an old semi paved hilly farm road with some of the most gorgeous views yet, we come across an old gal putting mail in her mailbox at the end of her long dirt and gravel driveway. We stop for a chat and she is interested in what we are doing and where we are all from. After a few minutes she says that she just pulled a bunch of home made cookies out of the oven and should be cooled enough now to eat and invites us all to her house. Fresh baked cookies? You better know we all for that!  We get to the house and meet her husband and we snack and visit for a bit, the old farmer says he has to get busy feeding his animals. All of the folks on the trip were city folk and some were absolutely enamored with the farm animals at his barn as they had horses, cows, chickens and sheep. I think it was the first time for some of the group to see farm animals up close. Since this was old news for me because I was raised in the country as a teenager and now have a few cows of  my own to feed, I just had fun watching my new friends being so amazed at this part of the adventure. They never realized you could hand feed a cow and this simply thrilled and amazed a few of them. As we were about to leave, the wife brought us some more of her freshly made cookies for our trip, and we off.

The next couple of pictures are just a few of the beautiful coast line pictures in the background of the Atlantic Ocean.

I was amazed at the level of fitness of the folks in the group. The ‘least fit’ of this group was the youngest of the group. He was about 35 years old and a professor at MIT Boston. He tells us this was his second bike trip here in Nova Scotia. The oldest member of the group was a 66 year old retired architect and his 65 year old wife. He told me one day that he put on over 2000 miles on his bike last year. Very impressive! 

The local wildlife we came across were an amazing site for this Texas boy. These moose are massive animals and would not want them after me! When I took this picture, I was very quiet so this bull moose could eat in peace.

I remember day 4 was one of one of the longer rides which was about 55 miles and we were to ride up a solitary 2 lane mountain highway that included 2 difficult mountain climbs. Although day 4 was featured in the itinerary of the ride as a challenging day of cycling with a 17% grade. I think in general when most folks read that part of the itinerary they do not grasp what that means. I don't think people really understand how steep a 17% grade is on a bicycle. When I read it in the trip description I knew it would be near impossible to ride a bike up. The conveyors on a concrete plant are set at an 18 degree incline and they are difficult to walk up. 

The only one that made it all the way without stopping and pushing the bike was a guy named Bruce who was a 45 year old who was also a marathon runner. However he did say he almost did not make it. I gave it my best shot but had to get off and push the last half mile or so. Bruce and I rode together a lot on this trip and really enjoyed his company and developed a real friendship over the course of the week. I felt bad as he would take off with me and leave his wife behind, but she was fine with the slower pace as she was in the pack visiting with some of the others along the ride. All of these folks were in absolutely magnificent fitness condition. I was truly amazed particularly at the fitness and the cycling ability of the two sisters who were 61 and 63 years old. The picture below is the long descent after the second climb and the 17% grade incline. Just beyond this shot we are riding along the edge of coastline. It was awesome.

The route we were on required us to cross a large lake so we had the opportunity to take a short ferry ride across.

While most of the time we were on bikes, on this day we stopped for a short hike. Since the trail was so well used and the Park Service couldn't maintain a decent trail due to probable erosion so they created this boardwalk trail down to the coast.

 

The rugged and rocky coastline cliffs we came across were both ominous and beautiful. Many of theme were typical of the picture below.

When the week was over and we were heading back to Halifax we were remarking at the good fortune of perfect weather the entire time. Not only was the weather great but the country side and the views were beautiful every day. However as we were driving we stayed just barely ahead of a huge rain storm coming from the north. The storm was so severe that we heard that roads behind us were being closed. 

During this four hour trip back to Halifax, Helen (Bruce’s wife) made the comment “you know Tony and Bruce did so well this whole week on this ride,  I bet they could win big on The Amazing Race. I agreed and said “you know, you are probably right about that”. We laughed and made some tentative plans to follow up after we all got home. When I got back to the hotel and had a late supper that evening I forgot all about that conversation as I as busy getting ready for an early morning flight to New York then on to Dallas. After I was home for about a week I get an email from Helen saying that she had contacted The Amazing Race staff to get us signed up. I told Carol after being at home and getting back to the real life, I am not so sure that this whole The Amazing Race thing was such a good idea, especially with them trying to sign us up. 

After a few more days, I got another email, stating in order to qualify all participants have to be American citizens or at least reside in the US. Since Bruce and Helen live in Calgary, I was off the hook. But still, sometimes I sit and ponder…. What if this could have happened? Talk about a blog entry!

I suffered with back problems for several months after the trip and I am sure it was as a result of all the miles and hours on that little bike seat, fortunately I seem to have recovered well. This week was definitely a lot of fun and truly an adventure I will not forget. Nor will I forget the people I met and friends that I made along the way. I hope them all good health and happiness. At least they have all become a part of my memory and now of my New Beginnings blog.

For some reason this is the only group picture I could find-

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