Day 68 – Why Not !!! (Dingwall, NS – Englishtown, NS)

Cape Breton

Today was another sunny day with a relatively short (only 66 miles) route, so we decided to do some extra sightseeing at the beginning. It seems that everyone is getting up earlier with each day, and today was no exception. I still get up at 6:15 A.M., but by that time at least half of the 40 riders had already departed on the route.

White Point

We left camp shortly after 7:30 and within the first 10 miles Marc, Trevor and I opted for a descent off the main route to see the village of White Point, a place Marc had visited last year but the views were shrouded in fog. Our rationale was that it wasn’t even 8:30 so we could afford to see things. The views were much better than last year.

Why Not !!!

Before leaving the port, I saw a boat with a name that seemed to fit the mood for the day. You can see behind us, the climb we had to make to get back up to the main route.

North Shore of Cape Breton on a nice sunny day!

We continued along the Cabot Trail, with spectacular views of both Cape Breton and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

The road seemed to fall off the face of the earth.

The climbs today were a lot easier than yesterday, b ut the descents were wicked steep. I think I will need new brake pads when I return to New Jersey.

Temperatures were in the high 90s, low 100s but the riding was great. After a ride into some very strong headwinds, we arrived in camp shortly after 2 PM, set up camp and showered. Everyone is pretty excited tonight because we are having a meal with meat – hamburgers.

We have a short 24-mile ride to the ferry tomorrow, and our big truck which has carried our gear for the last 9 ½ weeks will not be making the voyage, so we are madly repacking our stuff so that it will fit into a small minivan. A bit of a hassle, but we will manage, as we have for the last 68 days.

It is hard to believe that after a year of planing and preparations, we have only 3 days left in our adventure.