Why Nova Scotia?

For everyone I haven’t already bored to death with my good fortune….. we fell in love with the place a few years ago and are now the proud owners of a little corner of heaven in the Annapolis Valley, so we’d like to give something back to our adopted countrymen and future neighbours. Why north to south for this particular jaunt? No idea – a loop from Halifax airport would be much more practical, but it doesn’t feel right somehow; my brain equates south to north as uphill, which it probably would be anyway as north is where the big mountains and hence my biggest challenge lie.

So I had a look at a map of Cape Breton, poked it with a pin and set about some serious research – a spot of googling found all sorts of useful tips from like minded souls who are kind enough to share their experiences on http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ From this I cobbled together a rough outline and some approximate mileages: I have no idea how we’re going to get to the start point, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. Impressed with my planning so far…? Worry not, all this will be scrutinised by my wise and worldly husband, whose attention to detail is inversely proportional to my eternal optimism.

It all kicks off in my mind at Cape North in (that sounds so wildly adventurous..)

Pretty, isn’t it? But there are hills… I wasn’t designed for them, being brought up in Suffolk where a molehill in the garden is the biggest deviation from flat you will ever see. But now I live in Wales, so there’s no excuse, I just have to get off my butt, climb out on my bike and work those legs.

My next bit of research is overnight stops. I briefly considered camping but that means loading up the bike and nowhere to dry rain soaked clothes overnight, so I think bed and breakfast is a worthy investment, and might tempt committed anti-campers to sign up: watch this space!