Day 84

8/15/09: Segment 85 and then off segment to Rt 19 north on Breton Island.

http://www.4thehealthofit.net/segment_htmls/Segment85.html Antigonish, Nova Scotia to Port Hood, Nova Scotia. 67 miles.

 

Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/

 

Very interesting day as I’m sitting here blogging in the men’s room at the local campground. Got a chair next to the sink and in front of the showers, and people are coming in asking about showers and such like I’m the locker room attendant. Lightening crashed their wifi, so I’m hoping that I can use my air card to post this and to check my emails. Haven’t tried yet. But no Rec room to work in like we’re accustomed to having. Just back to the good old days that Ryan and I had where we worked in the men’s room of the local campground. Happy Days are here again!.

         So, back in Antigonish last night – a total blow. Not only were the two pubs deader than a 4-day old road kill, but no music to boot. Nothing in town. It’s like they rolled up the carpet at 8pm and end of story. We went into a pub, and there were like 4 people in the 200-person pub. We got a beer each and decided to wander around town for a better spot. Yea, right. Nothing around in this college town. The other pub had zero, 0, that’s none, no cars in the lot. No pub chow, no pub atmosphere, no pub nothing. Zero! And we asked several college gals about the pub status. And they just kind of laughed and told us of a couple of places that were dead. Ok, so to eat dinner? Closed, closed, closed, and more closedl. So we walked up to where the Subway was at that we ate at in the early afternoon. And next to it was an A & W. Now Barney’s not used to doing Subway like 2-3 times in a day, and suggested the A and dub. I was good with that, though I could have had another seafood and crab for sure.

         I gave Barney quite a show at the A and dub, eating 4 mama burgers and an order of fries. Actually, when I placed the order the gal though the four burgers were for both of us. So the order comes, and I take it back to a booth and Barney is standing there looking at the clerk……..like, ok I’m ready to order. And she was taken aback by me just going back to the booth and chowing right from the get-go, with Barney standing there twiddling his thumbs. So he gets an uncle burger and rings. And we’re ok, but not stuffed, so we stopped at a convience store and I got a big thick cookie and some sugar tarts. Ok, sugar fix complete. We went back and I just turned on my radio and went off to bliss.

         Woke this morning feeling very good and rejuvenated. Barney gave me the wake-up call and I was ready to rock by 8am. We hit a local breakfast café in the downtown of Antigonish and had the Grand Slam plus a side order of three pancakes. Each of us! The college age waitress looked at us like we were mad. But when we were about done with everything, she said that she’s never seen people eat like that other than her little brothers who are of about 12 and 13 years of age and skinny as a rail as she said. Nice to know a 50 and 60 year old can compete with the youngsters. Finished and it was time to slather the sunscreen on and get the ball rolling. Another totally sizzling day, with me going shirtless from the start. Blue sky and about 75-degrees to start with, with a mild cross tail wind. And we got it rolling on freeway Rt 104 for about 10-12 miles. Then we switched to Rt 4, a secondary to get out into the country and away from all of the traffic. Good choice as we could just cruise down the middle of the road and enjoy the scenery rather than keep it pegged on a 2-foot wide strip of berm on the freeway.

         So we rolled on this the rest of the way to the causeway. It was longer, and probably a bit harder with respect to the climbing, but it was a hell of a lot nicer than cruising down the freeway with semis and RV’s. The temps gradually creeped up into the high 80’s, and I was wiping the face and head down like windshield wipers every 3-5 minutes. It was a neverending shower of sweat down my face. We thought we had hit the causeway about a half hour too soon, when we came to an arm of the ocean, but once around, figured out that we had to do this climb up and over a big peninsula. And it was the climb of the day, probably about 15 min long, and had me out of the saddle in the middle ring just pushing it. Barney did an excellent job of staying with this climb, and finished just about 100 meters in back of me. Then we enjoyed a long descent down to the Canso Causeway. Once down to the causeway it was a cluster F of people and tourist trap places on the south side. I just kept it motoring all the way across, while Barney stopped and checked out the swinging bridge and the lock system.

         We hooked back up at the info center and then got an ice cold coke and ice cream before leaving on Rt 19 north up to Cape Breton. The riding here was considerably easier than in the Antigonish section as there were few climbs and mostly a nice rolling road along the ocean. And for once we were happy to have a headwind, as it really helped to keep us cool on this stifling hot day. Eventually we found out that there was a gravel bike and hike trail alongside the Rt 19, and I stopped to check it out. Barney pulled in and we decided to give it a try as we only had about 10 miles to go to get to our destination – Port Hood. The first few miles were great, but then it turned into this really gnarly, big gravel section of road where we had to dodge cobbles and potholes. So we bagged that and then found this tertiary road that Barney suggested, and took this puppy almost all the way to Port Hood. Again, it was off the beaten track and just a joy to ride on as the ocean was just over our left shoulder, and we literally had the whole road to ourselves, save for maybe a car or two every 10 min or so.

         We stopped at a bridge where some kids were jumping off of the ironworks into the channel below. I ALMOST joined then as we got talking, but then decided to not ride with “crap pants” for several miles down the road. So we kept it rolling. Finally arrived in Port Hood, and were told by a lady at the NCLC beer store that there was no tent camping allowed at the town’s only campground. It was for RV’s only. Wonderful! We decided to go for it anyway and plead ignorance. Got there and no problem, other than the fact that it was 30 bucks to pitch your tent in the middle of this treeless gravel area with no wifi and no electrical plugs to fit our computers. Total rip off. So we just sat for a bit and sipped on some cold ones in the blistering sun in the middle of this freaking dessert. By this time a gal who’s also cycling around the Cape, arrived and we invited her to camp on our site for free. They charged her 5 bucks or something anyway! So this gal is from France, and we warned her not to put her tent close to ours because of our snoring issues.

I got my tent put up and was ready to relax, when the lady comes out and tells me, and once I had my tent pitched, and the pegs nailed down with a heavy rock as a hammer, that I was on another freaking site. Again, the trespassing issue comes up. So I’m not happy now, as sweat is literally dripping down my face, back, ass crack and arms in the middle of this gravel RV damned dessert as I was unpitching my tent to repitch. So Barney helped me drag my tent ahead a few meters so I was “legal.”  Went through the whole process again, grumbling to myself as I usually do, with Barney just enjoying the show. The French chick – who knows what she thought? Get done and take a shower and wash all my disgusting cycling garb that is sweat and salt encrusted. Come out and the French chick is working on a flat, and she already blew up a tire for what reason I don’t know, and was working on putting another tube in.

         Now I can tell you, that despite her experience in cross country cycling – Australia and Scotland – this gal had no clue what she was doing. She was not seating the bead, not holding her hand in back of the pump and valve when inflating. You name it, she was doing it wrong. So I offered to help. And I seat the bead, inflate the tube a bit to check the seating, and then inflate more. But she has this cheap pump, a mini pump, and it’s a pisser to work with. So I wanted to use my big pump and unlocked the pump switch and popped it off………..and it pulled the half of the presta valve off. Now she’s F’ed up one tube, and Mr. Fix It F’ed up the other. And she kind of scolded me on punching the pump off like that. Said that you cannot do that with pumps? And I’m thinking: “Lady EVERYONE does that with pumps.” And I’m like: “I’m really sorry, I’d better just let you do this and I’ll stay away!” So now she has to patch the old tube, having blown one up herself, and my having broken one.

I wash off and I’m pissed that I even tried to help. And I tell Barney the story. So she comes back and had nothing but problems with the patched tube. Valve is leaking and she cannot get the quick release on. This bike she has is a real mess. I’m frankly amazed that she’s gotten this far on that setup. Cheap tires, and she has this lighting devise in the front hub that creates a ton of friction on the axel. It’s a French made disaster. So we watch her, as we’re waiting for her to join us for dinner. And it’s taking forever. Nothing going right, and she asks me again for help. And I’m scared to touch anything of hers at this point. So Barney and I both help a bit, and Barney gives her one of his presta tubes. Finally, an hour has gone by, and she’s cussing in French, and dripping sweat everywhere, and Barney and I are BITCH hungry. So we tell her to meet us up the street at the first restaurant.

         We get up there and the place just closed. By this point I’m freaking livid, having spent 1.5 hours with this chick and her flat. So Barney goes in and begs us a spot after closing. They sat yes, but that we can only order certain things that don’t take much time. GREAT! We’re there. Two BITCH hungry dudes ready to kill. We order, eat, have a couple beers, have desert, and then the French chick comes in. And I’m thinking: “Great, I skrewed up her tube and now we’ve invited her to eat with us, but we eat without her and the place is closed. So the staff tells her that they’re closed and she kind of has a mini fit about it, saying that it’s not a restaurant if it closes at 7pm, it’s a café. That they should put a sign up saying that they’re a café. And I’m like hiding my head at this point. When it rains it pours doody down upon your head!

She leaves in a bit of a huff. And all Barney and I can do is just look at one another. We come back here to camp desolation dessert station alpha on the south side of the planet Mercury, and I have to come in the pooper to do my work. I’ve had a guy ask me for a loony for the shower, and another fairly drunk dude tell my about the giant lobster he nearly poached, and then listened to I don’t know how many people have their evening constitutional! Fun place for sure. So I want to get the hell out of here. NOW.

Tomorrow off to the town of Cheticamp, and the beginning of the Cape Breton Highlands Park. Got to be a better day tomorrow than today. Out………Pete