Away from the Cabot Trail

1st September: Margaree Harbour to Baddeck

Odometer: 55 km, Start: 11.00am, Finish: 4.00pm, Avg: 19.8 km/h,
Weather: Sunny intervals, humid, Temp: 20-28°C
Road Conditions: Cabot Trail (south), no shoulder, good road surface, light traffic. Gas station and shop at Margaree Forks (14km). Ascent: 320m/320m.

I took the decision this morning not to continue around the Cabot Trail. If I carried on, I was committed to three days on the coastal road around the Cape Breton Highlands. I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t get caught out by strong winds heading down the east side of the trail from the incoming storm. Some locally gusty 40km/h winds were already in the forecast for the Thursday anyway.

Margaree River valley. Very reminiscent of parts of mid-Wales.

Never mind, I can come back and do the Cabot Trail another time. There’s plenty of other parts of the Maritimes I’d like to see too. The region deserves a dedicated trip to do it justice one day…

My decision means I’ve got a couple of short cycling days to get to North Sydney and then a wait for the ferry (which could be affected by the storm). It’s a disappointing end to my cycling in Nova Scotia but I’m pretty jaded at the moment to be honest, so to get some extra, unscheduled, recovery time is no bad thing.

Sunflower field and hills

I rode gently towards Baddeck today along the Cabot Trail south road that ran along a couple of river valleys. The landscape was very reminiscent of certain parts of mid-Wales in the UK that I know well. I had just the one climb, over Hunter’s Mountain. It was taken on a hot and very humid afternoon. 

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Writing this evening, Earl is expected to make landfall, possibly still as a Cat. 1 hurricane, in western Nova Scotia Friday night / Saturday morning. It’s veered slightly away from my area in NE Nova Scotia. That may mean my ferry to Newfoundland won’t be too badly affected. Maybe…