Heading to Cape Breton

Halifax to Margaree Falls, July 6, 2009
Having secured an engine and having nothing but time until it arrived, I took the opportunity to check out one of Canada’s most famous motorcycle roads: The Cabot Trail. I left Woot’s place a little late but got everything packed and headed out. I stopped at Stewaike and walked around at Mastodon Ridge. They had exhibits talking about the history of Nova Scotia, from the formation of the land to the people and animals that inhabited it over time. It was pretty cool for a side-of-the-road information building.

Woot had told me the approximate range for the bike and that when the fuel light comes on there’s about 30km worth of gas in the tank. In the morning I noticed the trip meter had been reset so I thought he might have taken it out for a quick run to test the new windshield and filled the bike up. Just as I leave Mastodon Ridge the fuel light came on. Not wanting to stop so soon after a break I passed up Truro knowing that there had to be fuel within the next 30km. Well, there was only ONE exit that had gas in the 30km and I passed it. One thing to note is that once you’re outside a major city the freeway exits aren’t very regular. Having passed the exit I needed I had to drive another 10km to the next exit only to drive back that same 10km… That was a big tank to fill.

I made it in to Cape Breton without too much fuss and filled up shortly thereafter. Not more than five miles later the heavens opened up and it started raining hard, just what I didn’t want to have to deal with. The rain kept coming in spurts and so did the road construction. The roads were pretty bad, with gravel and dirt sections that were hard to see ahead of time because of the rain. This is usually a bad thing to deal with but I was really paranoid because of the more powerful bike that I was on. The road construction continued and got worse. I came up to a section where on lane was closed so traffic was stopped, waiting for an escort truck. I sat there in the pouring rain for ten minutes before we were able to get going. The lane that was open looked to be just as bad as the one they had closed and was covered in dirt and gravel that had me hyperfocused.

After several kilometers of crappy roads I finally laid tires on unbroken asphalt and needed a break. I stopped in at the first gas station I came across. Coming inside there was a guy named David messing with a chain saw that I started talking to and telling a little about my trip so far. Once I mentioned that I was going to be camping in this weather he offered up the use of a camper trailer that he had in his yard. I quickly accepted. His house wasn’t too far away so I got set up and out of the rain quickly. David even made a delicious supper with spaghetti sauce that his skipper made.

I went back out to the camper with some reading material that David sent with me and it included a really cool book about the Cabot Trail. The book was a compilation of articles and stories relating to the trail from old newspapers and other sources.

There weren't too many pictures today because of the rain but the ones I did take are HERE