Back on the Internet

We have had a few days of no internet. The park we were at in Baddek, NS said it had internet but you had to be in the office with your computer on the counter to get it. I was tempted this morning pulling out to put duct tape over the WIFI on the sign at the entrance.

We are in Halifax tonight in a nice park WITH internet so will start to catch you up.

We went through Tropical Storm Denny last night a week today after Hurrican Bill. Think we got more rain with Denny. Anyway that was interesting! Will blog about it more later.

Will attach last two blogs on the Confederation Trail and then more tomorrow.

Leg Three Summerside to Milton 62 km 37 miles

I had to take two days off for the hurricane, first day off was for the torrential rains on Sunday and Monday was a move the RV and dry everything out a bit day. My bike is covered in red dust and mud. No sense cleaning it as I still have a 100km to go after today’s ride. Maybe finish it off tomorrow. Then take the ferry across the Bay of Fundy to Nova Scotia on Thursday. The third leg was a bit more uphill then the previous two legs, but I can’t complain as uphill on an old railroad bed is never steep. Trains don’t do steep. I must have been a bit tired at the end today as I got to where I was to meet Suzy outside Charlottetown and there was no sign of her at the rendezvous. So I walked around for a minute or two until Suzy honked the horn, she was sitting in the truck about 20 feet from where I was standing.

New smells today included a creosote plant and a hog rendering factory. Only bad thing about old railroad beds is they always go by industry and some industry is smellier then other. Lots of bicyclists out riding today. I was beginning to wonder in the first two days if the trail was quarantined. Saw the first downed tree from the remnants of Hurricane Bill. PEI really got off light as did Nova Scotia. There have been a few puddles but no trail closings.

I have discovered the perfect food for rebuilding tired bike legs; fresh PEI mussels. They are going for less then two bucks a pound and are amazingly fresh. Boil in the kitchen without any residual smells. Some are orange on the inside and some white. The orange ones are a little sweeter. But they are all great. The harbor where we bought the mussels is full of lobster boats and the shore is piled high with lobster pots. Got some great pictures.

Leg Four Milton to Elmira 100km 62 miles

I knew it when I started out in the morning, this was going to be toooooo long a ride today. On a road bike 60 miles is fine, on a mountain bike 60 miles is like a 100 on a road bike. The wind when I awoke was rocking the 5th wheel so I was hoping Suzy’s sore throat would be too bad for me to leave her. But of course, she woke up feeling much better and I had my work cut out for me. Why had I blogged that I was doing the trail? If not I might have chucked it. On the way to the drop off point in Charlottetown I noticed the wind was coming from the SE and I would be biking NW so all of sudden things were looking up. Sure enough, a bit of wind help was there and better yet, I wasn’t bucking it.

Caught my first leaf of the early early fall season, this first leaf was actually caught by my handle bars. Each year I try to catch as many falling fall leaves (in the air or they don’t count) as I can while hiking, running, or biking. So I got a real jump on fall this year.

The first 50 km flew by and I was feeling good. Maybe too good, as I went out a bit fast and now at 60km I was not feeling so strong. Stopped and had horrible hot dog bun with old beef in it, couldn’t eat it, so had a Hershey’s and a banana and hit the trail. A burst of energy came my way and the next thing I knew I was at 75 km and rolling. Pulled into Elmira, an old railroad station, after 4 hours, 59 minutes and 45 seconds, just under my target 5 hours. Whooeee. But where was Suzy. I laid down on the grass and using my helmet for a pillow dozed off for an hour and the rattler woke me. Suzy had got stuck in a backup from an accident and road construction. She was a bit frayed, and I was worried and tired, we didn’t make the best of partners on the road home. She had bought this nice beaded bracelet that was supposed to be good for communication and we decided it was having the opposite impact on our communications. But we have recovered and are on our way to catch a ferry tomorrow from PEI to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Then three days on up on Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail. Then the plan is to hit Halifax and begin winding up our Canadian adventure.