Articles from July 2025

In which we ascend 11 hills (2 peaks, 3 hills and 6 undulations in Mongolian terms!)

I hear many of us, like me, had a bad sleep last night worrying about today’s ride. It was girnomous, with several hills, 2 peaks and 6 undulations in Mongolian terminology (actually it would be passes and not peaks in Mongolia).

We were a quiet bunch having breakfast at 8 a.m. when it opened, having already brought down our bags and pumped up tires, greased chains, adjusted seats, etc. We were anxious to get off before the heat hit, though the forecasts ranged from 21-25C for the day with high humidity and cloud cover for most of it. It was 17C when we started but felt warmer, and short sleeves were perfect but the coat was packed for the descents.

at the start of the park

atop French mountain!

early riding

riding along the coast

looking back at the early road and hill # 2

Cape Breton Highlands from the top plateau

entering the park

Henry and Karen early on

at the rest stop atop the first “warmup hill”

There was a pleasant prelude riding to the park, with several undulations then we were into Cape Breton Highlands National Park and the promised three “warmup hills” were before us. First one, not too bad, second one we were warned had a steep gradient – 12-14% – but short so we got up quickly. Henry had changed his chain – he has three gears, and has to stop and manually change them on his Montague bike… the scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the traffic pretty reasonable so we were able to duck over to the viewpoints to see the vistas.

Third warmup hill wasn’t bad either, definitely work but we made short shrift of it then the climb to French Mountain began. 5 km of average grade 8% – we had a water refresher stop at the Pedal and Sea van very early on and bonus date tarts that were great; by then we had gotten into lowest gear and were churning up the slope reasonably well. Definitely hurt, but really pretty so that helped! No shoulders on the road to speak of, but not much traffic in our direction, it seems most cars did the Cabot Trail counter-clockwise.

Once on top we followed a plateau for about 10 km with a bit of up and down; things were shrouded in mist so only glimpses every now and then through the partings. Then the serious descent started, and we donned our jackets. It was pretty steep to begin with; one of the riders with a broken wrist several months ago opted out part way down due to braking difficulties and the van went back to collect her. By halfway down though the way was clearer and the gradients eased a bit so it was a lot of fun flying down – no major corners to deal with and decent runouts. Whee!

Not much to see at the top through the mist…

At the bottom there was a lunch stop at a restaurant called the Rusty Anchor – only a few of us went in, and a bowl of seafood chowder and an iced coffee went down very well before we set out again for the second challenge of the day, North Mountain. There was some up and down for another 10 km or so before the ascent started – it was advertised by the guides to be NOT as bad as the second warmup hill in gradient, and shorter than French Mountain. In actuality, it was an absolute beast. 450 m elev gain in 4 km with some sections up to 16.7%. Unrelentingly up, and in the full sun at this point. I managed most of the way to the 3rd km with my legs complaining bitterly at the start as they’d already done one peak today. At the 14 – 16.7% grade, cursing Coady our guide roundly for false advertising, I got off the bike and walked the bike up a couple of hundred metres, as did several others of our group and another trio also riding it. When it relented to 12% I started again, and ground my way to the top – it was definitely high fives all around from our group members at the top!! There was a false summit and another hill to the actual summit, but that was nothing in comparison…. we had another water replenishment stop at the very top before donning jackets again and riding down – a scary descent at the top with really steep gradients and curves, then again about halfway down it relented and was a lot of fun. I had a tour bus behind me at one point, as I took the road – it was very patient and as soon as it was safe I moved over to the side and it passed me with lots of waves from the occupants. I’m sure the tour commentary went something like “we’re slowing, folks , for one of those crazy cyclists who, can you imagine, actually want to RIDE up the hill and along this road”….

There was another 15 km to the stop for the night at the Markland Resort near Dingwall – the last of the hills on the GPS was done, and some other short punchy hills that didn’t even rate a hill designation. It was lovely to finally see the hotel, and everyone coming in was cheered by those who had already arrived. There is a lovely beach at the bottom which will need to be explored tomorrow.

Jean has a well deserved rest in an Adirondack chair at the resort

Do we get a rest day tomorrow? No, happy hour briefing informed us we have 50+ km and 700+ m elev gain tomorrow, with a hill of 19% …. yikes. I fed my legs well at dinner with halibut and cheesecake and hope they will keep churning tomorrow! There was a live performer in the lounge so we listened and sang along to some, watched some local dancers who spontaneously got up to dance and the concert finished with an audience member singing a Newfoundland song, Salty Joys, with an extremely good voice. It was even de rigeur to clap, stomp, dance AND sing along at this concert. Lots of fun.

Highlight of the day: the coastal scenery with the rolling road below.

In which we reach the coast and magnificent coastal scapes

We gathered for breakfast in the morning and had an interesting spread from oatmeal to French toast made with oatmeal bread coated with oats, scrambled eggs (bacon/sausage for those inclined) and yoghurt to a background accompaniement of Celtic music. An eclectic end to the stay at this interesting inn!

While adjusting kit for today’s ride we compared insect bites from the no-seeums yesterday – they did considerable damage and several people have significant reactions to the bites. Croquet was not without cost!

As usual we left before scheduled time, most of us interested in doing the bulk of the ride before the heat hit. Although it was forecast to be only 23C high on the coast and 27C inland, it feels more like 30C and up, especially toiling up hills. As I had a small area of burn where I’d obviously missed applying sunscreen yesterday, on the back of my arm, I was very generous today and felt quite sticky all day – better than more burns though. The insects weren’t active in the morning as we bid adieu and gave thanks to the lovely staff (especially Jack the nephew who was helping everywhere!).

We retraced our steps to the main road, and followed it for some km. It was a better surface than yesterday, but still no shoulder – fortunately not very busy at that time. Once we got off the road onto a secondary, parallel road, we all relaxed and were more able to enjoy the scenery.

We rode alongside this river, and up and down through a couple of valleys towards the coast.

There was very little traffic at the beginning, becoming a little busier by the time we rejoined the highway about 20 km later. Some ups and downs – it was amusing to see what rates as a “hill” on the mapped route. We were promised 4 officially on the GPS but some of the undulations were not easy, and few of them were configured well enough to make it down and up the other side. But it was lovely, and we encountered only a few dogwalkers out on the shoulders.

Going up some of the exposed undulations began getting warm..

fortunately though prime mosquito breeding territory, they didn’t bother us. Most of the time we had a tail cross wind, which helped (and was appreciated after some of the head winds we’ve been dealing with!)

Taking care to keep fuelled

Eventually we rejoined the main road, and soon got our first glimpses of the coast

just before rejoining the main route- more civilization than we’d seen for some time!

the two riders going uphill in the background are from our group.

coastal road – no shoulders, again surface breaking down (much worse in parts). Again, most drivers were conscientious about passing at the crest of a hill, and courteous, but there are always the jerks who roar past without seeing beyond us

looking south

a rare downhill stretch

we discovered this on a gravel side road that I pulled off onto to get a picture of the harbour at St. Joseph du Moine

Unfortunately the art gallery we were going to stop at was closed; many other things were, as apparently Monday and Tuesday are days when stores and services shut. Odd, during tourist season; there were lots of cars passing us on the road, so plenty around! It also meant, sadly, that the coffee shop we’d marked had to be passed by as it too was shut, and the same was found in Cheticamps when we arrived there (our inn for tonight is “Silver Linings”). Most of us had our rooms already ready, except for Jill and Henry so we went off to find coffee (just across the road in an eclectic shop/coffee bar) – yahoo, good coffee!! Our next stop was lunch (we made it our main meal) with a lovely view. I enjoyed fresh local scallops (another tickbox) and we admired the photos on the wall of Cheticamps many decades ago.

About half of the group chose to go for a hike and the van left at 2 p.m. to take them to the top of the first hill we are climbing tomorrow for the trail. The rest of us elected to do chores (groceries, bank, laundry, washing hair on my part) and chill for the afternoon. We have a fiercesome day tomorrow with two big hills plus several other punchy ones first, so we are hoping to save some energy for that! Fingers crossed that it isn’t as hot tomorrow as we toil up the bigger hills.

Henry holds the profile for tomorrow and tells us “it’s going to be fine”….

Highlights of the day: the coastal road

In which we all show up 45 – 60 mins early for the departure time, eager to begin the Trail!

Had a lousy nights’ sleep, waking at 3:30 a.m. and unable to return to sleep. I headed down to the breakfast spot at 7:05 thinking I’d be the first one there but was suprised to find more than half the group there already! Another lovely day, set to be hotter in the afternoon (26C predicted) so most of us were eager to be cycling more in the morning than afternoon.

So with maps loaded, luggage packed away on the vans and room keys turned in with agreement to have the dinner charges processed whenever the internet comes up again, we headed out. Almost immediately started going uphill – up and over the main highway to a parallel road which then headed out for some lovely country road cycling. It turned to gravel at one point, but apart from the washerboards that was a pretty decent surface.

Definitely lots of ups and downs, but nothing too drastic.

Plenty of goldenrod, yarrow and fireweed to colour the shoulders.

fellow cyclist Doug, from Salmon Arm; his wife is on the only e-bike

the washerboards took some avoiding. It was gently uphill.

It was starting to get warm, and my Karoo was reading 26C already at 11 a.m.

We peered over every bridge we crossed as we’d been told that one of them (the fourth, but we lost count!) inevitably had trout on view. Never saw any, alas.

Loving that new bike…

Margaree River

All was good to this point, undulating on quietish and fairly well surfaced back country roads, and then we joined the main road. By this time we were a group of 6 or 7; this helped as there were poor shoulders and then the road surface deteriorated significantly. There were huge potholes, and fissures, and the edges crumbled away steeply at some points – no shoulders, so the traffic passing had a challenge as did we. For the most part they were very courteous, bar the black pickup trucks – we’ve noticed a trend with them. I ducked into the Lake O’Law park hoping for some water (none) but washrooms were available and a lovely lake with a nice breeze coming off it – and a loon on the lake. I had been ahead of the rest and watched from below as Jill and Henry cycled by with the larger group so went up to the road again and starting pedalling on but met them coming back and we had a nice break at the lake before heading out once more.

Lake O’Law

A fairly quick 7 km later we arrived at the lunch stop, the Dancing Goat cafe and bakery, and eventually got an excellent sandwich and really good coffee (after three tries/reminders it finally arrived as people all around were served first – seems they’d forgotten mine). Bread is really good around here – the “oatmeal bread” is particularly good but nearly all are home baked and fairly tasty. They were super busy – clearly a popular stop and full of locals – the area around comprises isolated cottages/houses quite widely spread apart from one another, modest looking houses ?some summer homes as well?

We were happy to turn off the main road at this point and onto a much better surfaced road which delivered us after numerous further undulations to our hotel, the “Normaway Inn”. A lovely driveway with trees on both sides ushered us to a very rustic hotel and a few outlying cottages; most of the others had already arrived and we were quickly checked in.

A strong smell pervades the hotel, which turned out to be something the piano tuner in the lounge was using which smelled of floor wax? The rooms were quite rustic – but quaint. It was very hot by this time (29 and 30C) so many of us headed off on an optional loop to a swimming hole. Jill, Jean and I decided to try the river closer than the popular swimming hole, and found a place near the fish hatchery to dip – it was absolutely lovely to cool down, and very invigorating. We also had it to ourselves and heard that the other swimming spot was very crowded so are feeling quite smug!

A church on the way in Margaree Forks

It was also interesting to see all the different stages of salmon at the fishery. There are no wild Atlantic salmon anymore, as they have been severely overfished and so the only salmon around are farmed.

Back to the inn to do the inevitable laundry, get organized for the next day, and visit the farm’s resident donkey (19 yo) and the two new Highland calves – three have been born this week, and one this morning. Happy hour on the croquet pitch, then a few games of croquet before dinner.

The inn is a family affair, with the older uncle roaming around doing some painting today, and greeting people. The nephew, who has an accounting degree from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, is the computer tech who got the internet up and running after the power failures but seems to appear everywhere and is incredibly cheerful. He booked us in, fixed the internet, sang in Gaelic at a concert in the evening (see below) and processed the bills after dinner along with ?his sister?

And the concert… we had been invited for a concert from a local musician at 8:30, set up by Pedal and Sea, and about half of us showed up. It was fabulous – the musician (Neil McDaniel) played piano, guitar, long tin whistle, and mandolin, and gave us some history of the area and the background of the songs he was playing. The newly tuned piano had an amazing depth of sound – it looked ancient but my could he get music out of it… the uncle came in and taught us a little Gaelic for one of the songs’ choruses, which we had to sing! and a bit of history of Gaelic in Cape Breton (once the native language, now making a comeback after kids were punished for speaking it much like ike indigenous languages). There is a gaelic immersion program in one school now. It was very interesting, quite a hoot with the diversions they made in their talks and it turns out this is quite a famous site for music with a music barn that has been frequented by many famous names; Ashley MacIsaac, Philip Glass, the Rankins, amongst others and New Year’s Day ring ins filmed here on CBC. The unassuming uncle taught Gaelic at school in Sydney at one point, and coordinated a number of concerts here of original Cape Breton music, not to mention one or two Ceilidhs (and yes, there was dancing at those!).

An interesting day finished with an interesting twist.

Ride total; 69.9 km and 652 m original ride; 11.5 km and 105 m to the swimming hole.

Highlights of today: the music concert and the highland cow calves

IIn which we are all itching to go for at least a short bike ride to keep our legs going (us old folk stiffen up quickly!) but are banned from our bikes

We had breakfast at the cafe across the street, High Wheelin’ cafe, which unfortunately had pretty dismal coffee albeit decent food. The bakery stuff was rated pretty highly though, apple strudel and oatcakes covered with chocolate and sandwiched with peanut butter (I gave that a miss, preferring to have my oatcakes as a savoury entry). No internet, nor charges able to be put through as the internet was needed for that, apparently. Likely won’t be fixed until Monday, the day we leave.

Coffee at highwheelers with the hotel, Telegraph House Hotel, in the background (grey building)

Attractive Cape Cod house in Baddeck.

After breakfast most of us headed over to the Alexander Graham Bell museum, which had free entry this summer. It was well laid out and I learned a lot – I had no idea he started as a teacher of the deaf, influential in Helen Keller’s treatment, and invented many more things including the hydrofoil on top of the telephone (which patent he apparently had to defend in court for many years). They had a lovely house and grounds in Beddeck and his wife, a former student, was very influential in her own right. It was a good thing we got there early, as it got quite busy with tour buses as the morning progressed. Nice grounds as well; the original house and extensive acreage is still occupied by descendants so not open to the public.

Next stop was the Co-op grocery store, which had limited hours today being Sunday, to get lunch (salad) and then Jill, Henry, Jean and I caught the Lions ferry over to Kidston Island, across the harbour. It advertised a beach for swimming but it turned out to be a very tiny sandy area – we have been very spoiled in PEI! We walked out to the lighthouse there and then went for a hike around the island after a picnic lunch at a lovely spot on higher ground on the point.

ferry dock – it seemed like the kid driving the boat must have been in high school but he was very fastidious and we donned flotation devices for the short trip across the harbour.

harbour on Kidston Island from lighthouse point

I’ve never seen such enormouse rose hips!

Baddeck from lighthouse point

It was a lovely day, not too hot out of the direct sun and few insects on Kidston Island because of the breeze. We did a loop walk around the island and saw snakes, inchworms, and chipmunks. We queued for the ferry back as there are only 6 allowed on the ferry at a time so included the ferry operator leaving only 5 spaces! There was still a queue to come over; lots of tourists in town.

Beer on the upper of the Yacht club (cash only, still no internet services) in the early evening with Coady, Dale (the tour guides) and fellow traveller Kit and then headed back to the other side of town with the intent to have a cheap dinner of a couple slices of pizza from the pizza shop across from the hotel. Alas it was closed on Sunday so had a repeat performance of haddock in the hotel, with a group from the tour I espied sitting in the dining room as I was queing for admission. Popular place! Good food again, and the bill was signed to the room with a promise to sort it out tomorrow morning as we left. Packing and organizing occupied the rest of the evening.

Today’s highlight: Alexander Graham Bell museum

In which we ride the Confederation Trail, and feel the heat.

A little croquet on the lawn while waiting for the departure was pleasant…

We left again on island time, 9:30 with the heat already starting to be felt. It was mildly windy compared to other days here, but forecast to be mostly a cross/tailwind.

very pleasant cycling with some long pulls uphill, and stops for photos and to admire the osprey chicks. There are a number of artifical platforms set up for nest building and so far every one has been used.

After about 20 km we hit the Confederation Trail and were off road from then, apart from a few isolated road crossings. It was well packed small gravel and a joy to ride on, through trees, marshes and open fields.

hardly a soul encountered, but no wildlife apart from chipmunks, rabbits and insects when stopped.

every now and then there was an info stop and often these were accompanied by shelters and picnic tables.

bulrushes galore

happily the shelters provided shade as it was starting to get warm.

this one reminded me of the ladyslippers that are famous on the island, but alas we never saw any (too late in the season I believe)

we rode through all kinds of terrain

most of the road crossings were very quiet

gentle rolling trails unlike the 40 km hills in BC!

we hopped over each other in small groups

I got some good videos riding, practicing picture and video taking while moving but unfortunately the site doesn’t support them

this stop after a hot patch alongside a marsh was particularly appreciated. The ice cream flavour was “wolf pass” which was intriguing and was delicious – peanut butter swirled through with chocolate chunks. Never did find out why it was named “wolf pass”!

some very serene spots. It was quite warm, up to 29C in parts, and fairly humid.

We ended our PEI ride at St. Peter on the Bay, had lunch there (excellent seafood chowder, another tick on the list!) and then were driven to Charlottetown to our lovely downtown hotel. It comprises several historic buildings across from the main church, and only a short walk to the harbour and downtown historical sites. There were actors in period wardrobe wandering around the square when we first arrived. With everything stashed away and a shower to wash off the trail dust, we broke into small groups and wandered around town. We wandered around the downtown area admiring the old buildings and attractive tourist areas (wharf, below)

downtown houses

downtown church

downtown

Our boutique hotel – the whole block of restored houses belongs to the Great George Hotel.

Quite a lovely harbour area, a little like Granville Island. Found a classic beavertail place – another tick off the list! I used to love those from the shacks on the side of the Rideau Canal, but about fainted when I saw the posted calorie count.

lovely street of restored houses behind the hotel

town hall

Main basilica, across from the hotel.

I eventually found a sushi restaurant for some takeout dinner. Later, most of us went to a musical at the nearby Confederation Arts Centre called “Tell tale Harbour” which outlined a small town’s attempt to recruit a doctor so they could be allocated a new factory to sustain the town. Well done, and quite funny, with good voices. The audience was equally as entertaining – they were very supportive/receptive and many carried in cans of beer which were replenished at the break.

And that is the end of PEI as we roll out tomorrow to Nova Scotia by ferry.

highlight of the day: Confederation Trail cycling

In which Karen dips into the Atlantic ocean and we demonstrate a firm grasp of island time.

We gathered for a good breakfast at 7:30 – 8:00 and were ready to mount bikes and ride by 9:30. We are firmly on island time now…

Our route today took us back on the bike route through PEI National Park, battling headwinds gusting up to 40 km/hr. It was bliss to get a row of trees blocking the wind on the exposed parts, even if they were dead trees from Hurricane Fiona.

Dead or not, they were an effective and appreciated windbreak!

A quick stop early on at an old lighthouse yielded a free facial, as the beach side wind gusts spat up a good amount of sand which stuck to the sunscreen liberally applied to the face.

Glad I was wearing runners today as it made the sand walking much easier. Bless those two-sided pedals…

Dalvay Inn from across Dalvay Lake on the way out – originally a home for one extremely wealthy family with the habit of lots of entertaining.

We wound our way around the point and caught another bike trail which passed by some lovely and well kept houses; the debate was on whether these were part time summer cottages or full time residences. One typical Cape Cod style house was particularly attractive:

The bike trail followed the water around the point

Lovely cycling, but still fairly windy with a cross head wind at this point.

We passed the craft shop with the lovely garden but didn’t go in – most of the others had ridden by it yesterday so went in for a visit. We had a brief rest at the top of hill, as we had lots of thyme….

We were looking forward to the next section, which had a very brisk tailwind! It was indeed fun, and the wind helped to speed us up the undulations so we made excellent time.

Lunch stop was at Fin’s Folk, a place down by the beach in a lovely location. I got my lobster roll – another tick!

It had lovely views from up top and a spectacular beach, with a few people out enjoying the views.

you can certainly see the weather coming here

some of our group enjoying lunch

more beautiful red sand beaches running for miles

We rolled back to the hotel at 2 p.m. and had time to do the inevitable laundry, clean ourselves up and then Jill, Henry and I trotted across the road on foot to see Dalvay Beach. It was absolutely lovely – a very unusual texture to the sand made it feel like a foot massage walking on it in bare feet and again invigorating albeit a tad cold.

Miles of spectacular sand, and nary a soul to be seen unlike Stanhope Beach yesterday.

I had a swim and Jill took many pictures, practising with her new camera – Henry incongrously took out his cellular phone, only recently acquired, and called a Scottish friend, prompted by our visit today to the first Scottish settlement in PEI. We were driven in by a few sprinkles of rain starting.

Dinner was leftovers from lunch, plus crackers and Brie, washed down by Raasay whiskey, in the conservatory adjacent to my room. An elegant finish to a lovely and relaxed day.

Highlights: Beaches!

In which the conditions are perfect – little wind, sunshine and spectacular vistas!

We packed up and left Kindred Spirits inn at 9 a.m. for the next stop, promised an easy day and lots to see.  We were not let down… there was little wind, sunshine but not too hot, and fabulous countryside!

We were almost immediately into Brackley Beach Provincial Park, which features red sandy beaches and outcrops. 

looking north

coast looking south

Stunning.  Better yet, there was a dedicated cycling trail and yes, it was almost flat!  There was another bike group, from FreeWheeling Adventures, that we hopscotched with during the day, though it looked like they were doing an out and back day trip.

a few of our group; we were widely spread out today

Yup, what’s not to smile about here?

note all the dead trees to the right; hurricane kill

wild thyme is prevalent on lawns and verges on PEI and en masse makes a lovely picture

After cycling out of Brackley Beach Park we connected with North Rustico provincial park, more lovely beaches, and a wooden boardwalk along the water and rejoined the route on the highway. 

It was actually quite smooth and looked very new.

The main highway was busy, with some  ups and downs, so we were quite happy to deviate off after about 10 km onto a side road which wound us around a point and past more fishing farms.  We think these were likely mussels, with different looking setups than the oysters we’d been seeing.

They looked older than the oyster systems as well.

there were dingys out working on the systems.

waiting for Karen to take yet another picture!

another nice quiet road

We rejoined the main highway again and then another fairly busy road but at least all had decent shoulders.  We stopped at a craft shop recommended for lunch but vetoed the coffee machine (Bun-o-matic) and instead had crackers and cheese on the edge of the fabulous garden that we discovered behind it.  It was a beautiful building as well, with lots of natural light and different levels for different artists to display their works.  One such was a card designer from North Vancouver, ironically.   The garden was well designed and filled with crafty and unusual furniture made from different materials – it was being enjoyed by a large number of people.  The lawn rolled down in the distance to the sea – gorgeous.

there were buddhas everywhere – the owner apparently from Bali

all beautifully landscaped and maintained

my favourite part!

The next stop was the start of PEI National Park – sand dunes and beaches featured, and they were popular with masses of people around, however still parking spots in the lot were noted as we cycled out…. It was heavenly to dip the feet in the waves.  Sea temperature was fairly cool but it was really refreshing. 

After marvelling at the masses at Stanhope Beach we pedalled away, again on a dedicated bike path which was rimmed on either side with a yellow vetch and patches of purple thyme.  We have been seeing this all the way along, and on lawns in a mass effect is very pretty, but the combination was lovely.

There were several other beaches along the way, and at the entrance to each a line of cars parked on the shoulder and a traffic marshal turning people away from the parking lots.  The long view showed clusters of people, then nothing, then another group, corresponding to the parking lots… amazing sand though.  We learned later that Hurricane Fiona in 2022, with sustained winds of 200 km/hr, washed much of the sand dunes away and many places took a couple of years to rebuild the dunes.  There were a noticeable number of dead trees on the inland side from the hurricane as well. It was a very pleasant ride, again pedalling along a dedicated cycle path, past a conclave of herons and finally back to civilization. 

Our route directed us onto a wharf road for a possible stop at a well-known lobster roll place; the lineup was stretched down the ramp so we rolled by and back to the path which took us directly to our inn on Dalvay Beach.  We are still in the park, staying in a period hotel originally owned by an American tycoon, now Parks Canada owned and run.  Interesting place, and everything is faithfully in period but close look shows work is badly needed on the exterior. 

It’s a huge rambling place, with spacious rooms and a dining room added recently; the only thing lost in the hurricane was a chimney but we all remarked we wouldn’t have wanted to be here during the storm

Definitely a feeling of a different era

A sitting area on the top floor

corridor

gigantic beds

We are across the road from the beach and much of the sand dunes ended up on the grounds, and water up to porch level. The downside of a historical building is that there’s no fridge or coffee making facilities in the room so my brie is on ice with some cream I cadged from the kitchen in a takeaway cup and I’m now ready for my early a.m. coffee (instant).

Dinner was in the dining room and was excellent; I can tick off crab and scallops from my list of seafood to consume in Atlantic Canada as I had starters of both. Everyone was impressed with their dinner selections and the seafood chowders seem to be universally good. Potatoes and fish – how can you go wrong in PEI?

Another shorter cycle tomorrow, but headwinds gusting to 50 km/hr in the forecast so could be interesting.

Highlights: sand of various hues

In which undulations reign supreme, but a dry day prevails.

8 a.m. continental breakfast with an 8:45 a.m. start at the vans. We drove a fair ways out of Cavendish to a John Deere store where the bikes were unloaded and washrooms were visited courtesy of the dealership. The idea was to avoid some of the busy highway out of town, which was all good with us.

Our route today took us around the coastline in a loop, ending back at the hotel; from driving it it was obvious it was going to be up and down but we started out with quite a gentle uphill. The wind was predicted to be a tail/crosswind today with one part with headwind, and another with tailwind but have to say the crosswind was the most prominent, and the part with the headwind was pretty hard work as it was gusting up to 35 kph. Very pretty country though; there was a group photo scheduled at a lovely ironworks store early on but some evidently missed the turnoff as we were short a few for the picture!

cycling alongside a shoulder with the famous red earth of PEI – it is all like that

Very pleasant cycling, albeit more head than tail crosswind I’d say.

We had a stop at Malpeque with a lovely little museum and a well kept church. The museum caretaker was a hoot, and the front desk manned by a summer student. Well laid out.

snack stop before the museum

We eventually got down to the coast, and it was gorgeous.

The bay was again filled with oyster farms.

We’d had some long pulls uphill to this point, but it was about here the serious undulations began. Some were able to be traversed by letting ‘er rip on the downside and pedalling in a big gear on the way up, but most weren’t configured well enough so it was a good workout getting up some. The wind was a bit disconcerting going down, as it shifted my light bike sideways so that limited the speed we could get up to safely. With no shoulder and fissured pavement we were at the mercy of drivers giving us space but great courtesy was extended and there were no mishaps. Fair amount of traffic on the roads being the peak of holiday season….

a more gentle uphill

French river Bay – more oyster farms!

looking back at French River

So much grass to mow! It’s a matter of civic pride that everyone keeps their grass well cut – shorter than is healthy for it, tbh, from the master gardener standpoint – but if someone’s grass is unkempt they’re apparently likely to get a knock on the door from someone suggesting it’s time to address it…

the road goes ever on and on

We stopped for lunch at the Sou’west Restaurant at the beginning of an estuary; busy place and excellent food – hard to choose with a plethora of lovely seafood options. The sightline of the slope we were going up after the Sou’west kept our intake modest :-). There was an outside deck as well, with a sign at the entrance: “unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy”. We also came across this one on the road:

It was getting warm after lunch toiling up the hills, but thankfully it was only a short distance and we rolled back through the cheesy adventureland/Niagra Falls lookalike and lots of traffic to home, for a well deserved shower and the inevitable clothes washing.

Someone had enquired about cycling over to Cavendish Beach, a provincial park near here but apparently it’s so crowded this time of year you can’t get near it. Likely going early in the a.m. would allow a visit, but we are off tomorrow for another site. Some of the group went to visit Anne of Green Gables interpretive site in the afternoon – have to say it leaves me completely cold but it’s apparently quite popular with the Japanese tourists. I did hear there were nice trails and a pretty garden at the back so I eventually went and was blessed by arriving after closing – able to walk the grounds and trails without crowds and avoided the interpretive centre.

Green Gables as described by Lucy Maud Montgomery, of course it was a fictional house…

the gardens behind the house were quite lovely. This lily is all over, and likely started as a domestic but was seen on the first day in several places apparently growing wild; likely dumped or tracked in to start.

There were a number of trails in behind the house as well, which I trekked through – very quiet and cool in the afternoon sun.

Dinner was at a local bistro and offered more amazing seafood; lobster pot pie was on order for me and didn’t disappoint. The presentation was fun (this is just an empty lobster shell….)

Our bike mechanic/driver got into the spirit of Anne of Green Gables:

Today’s highlight: Ocean ride along the coast. Total 55 km, 546 m elev.

In which the 26% chance of showers predicted morphs into torrential downpours and some intermittent steady rain.

After our epic group dinner yesterday, with huge portions of food, we appeared for breakfast a little green but I was amazed to see what people put away again. I only wanted an egg and toast, and received one with the white still moving, ugh. The chefs could use some upgrading in this kitchen. One of our cyclists is an ex-chef, who had to change careers as he developed an anaphylactic seafood reaction, and he wasn’t impressed with his food either. The lavender creme brulee yesterday sounded great, but was inedible; far too dense with a mere whiff of lavendar. Oh well…we are moving on.

We set out at 9 a.m. under grey skies, but with hope in our hearts as the forecast had changed to tailwinds, with only 26% chance of rain. Some blue was peeking through… we are heading south today towards Summerside, about 80 km but not a ton of elevation gain, only ~300 m. The first notable event was riding by a skunk that had become roadkill but in the middle of the lane…. that stuck with us for awhile. We made good time to start, with lots of photo ops – we hit the coast and kept coming across oyster farms, had no idea they had so many here. It was like the north coast of France, every bay was full.

The dots in the horizon are buoys attached to a line and anchor, and the oysters are seeded onto the line.

some of the crew; the only Ebike rider is the woman in red in the middle.

Leger (my bike) is happy for a rest too!

the roads were well surfaced for the most part, and the majority very quiet. Reminded me of riding around Nanaimo on the back roads a long time ago.

After 45 km or so we came to a tea house and stopped for coffee; it was like another world. The pace was soooo slow doing the coffee/tea/hot chocolate orders we were there for a looong time…. kind of like the sloth in Zootopia, everything moved in very slow motion. It was a bit like frozen time there outside as well as we had a long chat with someone cleaning up the street – there had been a soapbox derby down the hill yesterday and apparently it’s quite a serious one as the winner is sent to Akron, Ohio for a big championship…When we eventually were able to leave, most of the rest of the group had departed (Jill and Henry put in the last order) and the heavens opened. There was a deluge, and water ran down the street in a river – we ducked back inside, shaking off water from 15 seconds out in it, and waited until the onslaught had slowed a little. Under steady heavy rain we departed, thinking un-enviously of those who had left shortly before and were caught out in the worst of it. Our raincoats kept us dry, but everything else was soon wet.

Happily it didn’t last too long, and about 20″ later we were merely dodging puddles on the road and mentally thanking the considerate drivers who avoided splashing us.

Henry at the top of a hill

starting to lighten up

lovely countryside to ride in, very bucolic

We had a period of dry, and the roads dried up as well as our coats. There were more hills after lunch than in the morning, most being long pulls up rather than steep so Jill and I elected to remove our raincoats after a few of them as it was getting warm inside. The kiss of death, as 100′ later it started spitting again and we were in light rain showers on and off for the rest of the ride, increasing near the end to steady. But at least we missed another torrential deluge that the rest were caught in ahead, right at the end after they’d more or less dried out from the first one! 78 km total.

We were collected in Summerside and went to a grocery store to get some provisions for the next couple of days and dinner tonight. Then a 45 min drive to our lodgings, where we are staying for the next two nights; next to the Ann of Green Gables interpretive centre. There is a collection of fun fare type “attractions” on the highway before this, reminscent of the cheesiness of Niagra Falls downtown. However the hotel has lovely spacious rooms and is in a similar style to Avonlea; best of all has a bath!! which quickly was put to use. The rain and wind is still around tonight and showers have been coming and going.

A quick trip to rewax the chain, the nightly laundry and it was time for happy hour (briefing and snacks) in the hotel lobby with the group. I had discovered I’d left my swimsuit in the changerooom at the last hotel (no biggie as it was an old one with the elastic already deteriorating) and it was amusing when I related this to hear what other people had left behind as well; both in the Mill River Resort as well as in Halifax. There is a trail of detritus behind us of forgotten belongings. All of us will have lighter bags by the end at this rate…

Dinner was (somewhat stale) sushi from the supermarket, salad, crackers, cheese and pineapple in the hotel with Jill and Henry, washed down with a new single malt I discovered in Nova Scotia; Raasay, from an island in the Hebrides. Lovely smooth whiskey with light peat taste. None of us were very hungry so didn’t feel like braving the rain to walk to the nearby restaurants (about a km away). As I write this the rain is heavy again with wind but we are assured tomorrow will be sunny again, no rain in the forcast again until Friday.

Highlights; It was a lovely cycling route with some lovely views and pastoral scenery.

In which the rain and wind on our first ride are interesting!

We all assembled in front of the Westin at 8:45 a.m. and were greeted by the tour operators, Pedal to Sea Adventures. They very efficiently loaded up the luggage, whisked away the bike boxes (courtesy of the parents of the bike mechanic!) then added our three assembled bikes to the back of a very long trailer. Custom made, very sleek carrier but glad I’m not driving the vehicle, it’s going to be tricky to backup… another sunny day in Halifax but we’re told we’re heading to rain.

The bike trailer at a later stop

Audrey, our co-leader, models the bike trailer with its custom cabinetry.

Off we set for a four hour drive to PEI – took us a little longer with bathroom break in the middle and a huge queue at the Irving gas station (us geriatrics will never pass a bathroom when it’s on offer, even if only one person needed to stop!). The potato fields started in the lowlands of New Brunswick and they were impressive, miles upon miles of flowering plants. They seem to be about two weeks behind us in terms of plant development. Confederation Bridge was impressive – it’s free to go over to PEI, and $50 to leave either by the bridge, or the ferry at the top of the island which is how we’ll get back. Lots of traffic heading back out of PEI, folk there for the weekend returning to work.

The red earth of PEI is really evident in the foregound of Confederation Bridge – this is looking back towards the mainland.

After a lunchstop where we all foraged for food in different places, and some of us picnicked with what we’d brought, we headed out in light rain to the other side of Summerside. Potato fields reigned supreme, as did beautifully cut lawns even around the most humble of abodes. The rain got more and more enthusiastic until it was a downpour just about the time we arrived. Checkin complete, we dumped our things in our rooms and changed into cycle clothes. Those with rental bikes were then adding pedals and accoutrements, saddles etc while Jill, Henry and I were able to cycle away, still in the rain.

Not visible in this picture is the waterfall coming off the roof from the rain…

There was a little tailwind when we started, and after about 1/2 hour the rain stopped and we were able to put away our raincoats – it was very warm despite the rain and heavy clouds. While we were given randonneur type plastic pouches with written instructions for the route, we found they didn’t tally with the GPS map I’d downloaded so eventually gave up on them. My pouch was pretty annoying where it had been fastened, constantly flipping down in the wind and covering the Karoo so it got folded up and put away first opportunity.

Pretty countryside! Some roads were quite busy and others not bad but we all remarked at dinner how consistently rude black pickup trucks were passing us… Most drivers, though, were courteous and you could see some even trying to avoid hitting the puddles so they didn’t splash us!

It’s trying to clear…

The sun came out and it got warm for a few minutes, and although the clouds became increasingly ominous towards the end we outpaced the rain.

potato fields and fissured roads

Jill is enjoying her brand new bike, picked up and packed the week before they left. Incidentally, none of the rental bikes have fenders…

By this time we were heading back on our loop and battling some fairly hefty headwinds, with gusts that blew my light bike sideways (fortunately towards the shoulder, not the centre of the road). It was pretty hard work, esp. going up the undulations!

beehives!

We were back home in the nick of time as the heavens opened again and those behind us arrived bedraggled. An easy ride today, only 30 ish km to work out kinks in the bikes, and relatively uneventful with one flat about a mile from home. It’s interesting in such an experienced group of cyclists how many admitted at dinner they couldn’t change a flat.

Missing my Japanese onsen at the finish, I went in search of the hot tub and pool, and had the former to myself. Lovely!

The nightly laundry complete, we had a group dinner, food okay but not great, and retired to pack for the next day. The forecast is for more rain, but likely a tailwind for at least part of the 80 km.

Highlights: red earth and potato fields!