Well we did it - 551 miles in 15 days (including 2 rest days - fewer than I had planned!) pushing our pedals across the mountains, hills and valleys of Nova Scotia. On a chilly Saturday morning we slogged out the last 25 miles to cape Sable Island and whooped in an appropriately cheerful manner as we entered Clarke's Harbour, an eerily quiet little town.. so quiet that we had to turn around and ride back to the mainland to find somewhere to eat! But we stopped on the harbour and gazed out at the endless ocean and hugged and smiled and sighed with relief.
Looking back, my fears were well founded- man, it was HARD; but nowhere near as hard as being a kid with a chronic illness or a parent/ relative / carer, so a great big thank you to everyone who donated to Brigadoon, that was the inspiration for the trip and I'm glad we were able to send few dollars their way.
To everyone who said I was mad / crazy / insane: my feet, hands, knees, back, bum and aching, aching legs would wholeheartedly agree with you - but I'm pleased to report that my head and my heart feel pretty damn fine. Simon and Hoss have been absolutely the best support team anyone could ask for; my trusty bike, I can't quite decide if I love or hate, but its gonna have a good old rest for a while, that's for sure. Thanks for reading the blog and to everyone who said I could do it - against considerable odds, it seems you were right :-)
Camping on a patch of bumpy grass by the sea tonight courtesy of a nice old chap who sells delightful carved wooden ducks and loons, which we are thinking of purchasing tomorrow as mementos of our LAST DAY ON THE ROAD - only 20 odd miles to Clark's Harbour and the end of our little adventure!! But for this evening we were very content with chicken noodle soup on the beach and watching the sun go down over the ocean from our tents. Not a bad day's cycling today along another pretty coastline, relaxed enough to actually stop and take some photos as we went along. Hoping tomorrow is going to be another good one - looking forward to breakfast in Shag Harbour (?) before we head off on the final leg. Quite excited :-)
After a lovely night and fabulous dinner with our good buddies at the Croft House B&B in Granville Ferry, we reluctantly set off to tackle 38 miles of horrendous winds, speeding traffic and narrow roads, resulting in some long miles inching my way along the gravel hard shoulder, we made it to Weymouth where, after a momentary yearning on my part to throw my bike in the river and walk the remaining 100+ miles, we gratefully sank our exhausted butts onto lovely soft beds in the charming Goodwins Hotel. We could have been tempted by pizza at the 'Sissiboo Delight' but I guess it wasn't all that delightful as it looked long since closed, so we opted for the Weymouth Diner which served up fantastic seafood platters with much cheer and gusto. Back at the hotel, the landlady tapped on our door and told us to check out the nightly appearance of a racoon on the neighbouring chimney - hilarious!
The storm raged through the night but we awoke to another beautiful day and set off for Meteghan, a nice short hop of just under 30 miles, very pretty coastline and not too many hills. We actually did some proper sightseeing today which was a first - had a quick shufty round the biggest wooden church in North America, quite an odd setting being in a tiny coastal community.
So here we are in beautiful Cape Saint Mary and ready for two more days of slog to reach the end of our journey - I can sense the first giddy waves of accomplishment through the fog of exhaustion.
After a long, LONG day cycling yesterday, I was dead on my feet and would have happily pitched my tent on the highway, but luckily Si is a bit more demanding and pushed us on for another few miles until eventually he rolled into a farmhouse gateway for another stab at negotiating the corner of a field for our tents.
A truly lovely chap called Steve not only happily offered his barn and his field but then appeared with 3 cold beers and the offer of his 'cabin' instead. So we spent a very happy and extremely comfortable night in the most delightful little house in the middle of the woods; the boys went for a swim in the river and drank beer while I curled up in my sleeping bag in the gallery bedroom. Fabulous - a big thank you to Steve and family - may your organic farm grow and prosper.
Today the Big Fat Cry Baby Monster that had been galloping behind me for a couple of days finally caught up with me on yet another horrid hill, so I had a red face and puffy eyes to add to my patches of sunburn, mozzy bites and unwashed hair - photographic evidence of me on my hols will be strictly censored. My lovely husband force-fed me cinnamon roll and gave me a hug and my lovely son insisted on burgers and fries at the next fast food joint and hey presto I was back on some sort of form. Big milestone today as we reached Wolfville so we are almost on (second) home turf and due for a day off; just back from a boozy night at Paddy's and nothing to do tomorrow except sleep, eat and swim in the pool. Glad I packed that bikini after all :-)
