Timb to climb

For once, Barney gets to the top first for a photo-op.
We just did a 6k 10% cimb

We did that!

Still smiling.

Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia, August 17

Today 40km, total 2104 km

We planned a short day to begin the "interesting" part of the Cabot Trail. This was a matter of necessity, as facilities are limited, and the next place we could stop is Cape North, which was reachable but it would have been a hard first day. were not in a hurry, as we don't have to be in N Sydney to meet the rest of the crew until Thursday or Friday.
Might as well relax and enjoy the scenery.

So, a leisurely start to the day. We tried to clean the abrasive dust from our drive-trains that had accumulated on yesterday's rail-bed run, then walked to the restaurant for breakfast with wifi.

Coming out of Cheticamp, the road starts to climb almost immediately into the misty highlands. We stopped to pay $15 for Natioanl park passes, which I thought was like having to buy thr bullets for your firing squad. The man told me I could get a refund if I did it in one day.

The first climbing pitch took us to a pullout at about the 450 foot level. I got into my stride immediately, and was feeling great; felt like I could climb forever. Just cranked 'er in to four-by low range and went at it. This is the first time I used my new 27 tooth cog, and it makes a difference. I could spin up a brick wall.
At the pull-out, we met Jean-Sebastian, a young guy who started his ride in Alaska. Always someone to one-up you. He was going strong, also heading for St John's but was planning a longer day than us, so likely we won't see him again.

In the sea far below, we could see a pod of whales breaching and diving.

Pete was not feeling quite as sprightly as me today, and was happy to make several stops to shoot some pics with his big Nikon. Not often that I get to wait for him at the top of a climb. We were now on a pitch called French Mountain that runs up to 455 metres over 6 km, so nothing to do but keep spinning. The day was hot and humid, and I had to make two or three stops, not to rest, just to get the blinding sweat out of my eyes. At times, I literally couldn't see a thing, and the stinging in my eyes was quite painful. The vistas forward and backward along the road were spectacular, and somewhat intimidating, but once I got going, it was just one pitch at a time.

As we climbed, the scenery unfolded. The soft sandstones and shales of yesterday's coastal plains gave way to the more resistant Precambrian slates and granites that form the Cape Breton massif. The vegetation was mostly a low spruce forest, with deep river-carved valleys.

Quite suddenly, the steep climb ended and flattened into a plateau of boggy moose-pasture. We didn't see a moose, but a motorist a few minutes behind us had seen one crossing the highway. We stopped for a long while at a summit lookout, enjoying the view and eating beef jerky, then descended the roller coaster into Pleasant Bay. Perhaps for my own good, I got stuck behind a carload of sight-seers, so had to keep my speed down to about 50 k. I could have passed them, but I'm much too grown-up to do stuff like that...

In Pleasant Bay, we found an inviting hostel, with wi-fi and reasonable rates, so we will be sleeping in shared dorm accommodation tonight. I hope Pete doesn't embarrass me by snoring. We have been sitting in the common-room for an hour catching up with email and blogging. Now off to hunt for food. If we have any adventures tonight, I'll tell you about them tomorrow.

All for now,

Barney

PS Pete's blog is http://www.transcanada09.blogspot.com/