East Coast Tour - Day 3

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - Cocagne - 108 km

Woke up after a strange dream involving being chased by a Tyranosaurus Rex and holding it at bay by kicking it in the mouth. I remember thinking that it was a good thing that this was a dream because I would have been eaten in real life. Fixed breackfast in the dark as I packed up camp. It was an utterly silent morning and another clear day as I rode off at first light. There was no trafic except for the occasional schoold bus. Children waiting for the bus waved as I rode on by. After about 20 km I turned onto a side road, planning to just zig zag on random roads in the general direction of south-east. At one point three moose crossed the road. As I reached for my camera however, I had to put it away quickly as the lone car on this stretch of road almost lost control coming head on towards me. Must have been gawking in the rear view mirror at the meese. Fortunately all was well, but the moose were gone before I could get a picture. The road turned to gravel. Well not really gravel, but hard packed mud. This was ok though as it was dry and very smooth. After several km, I came to an intersection with no markings whatsoever other than a stop sign. Lots of mud. I took the east mud road, and shortly after it was paved again. Another turn dumped me onto another gravel road which was rough and potholed. This only lasted for a few km however and then it was paved until I hit a main road which took me to the 134 at Rexton where I crossed a large salt water cove. First sign of the sea! I took a break here at the town fairgrounds and then continued on. Since the 134 parallels the main highway, there was very little traffic. At Ste-Anne-de-Kent I had to make a decision. Keep on the 134 or take a 6 km longer route via Bouctouche to ride along the coast. A sign indicating a winery along this route made up my mind. I rode on and in short order hit the seas of the Northumberland Strait. I could even faintly make out PEI in the distance. Lots of private property prevented access to the beach until I spied a laneway without any "No Tresspassing" signs which I took to the beach. I had my lunch on a piece of driftwood while a skinny looking seagull watched and slowly edged closer. I finally threw it a couple pieces of cheese which it gobbled up. When I left it cleaned the beach of all crumbs left from my bagel sandwiches. I pushed my bike through the sand back to the road and a little further hit the winery. I tried a couple fruit wines and bought a bottle of blueberry wine as a gift for the people we were staying with tonight. As I was leaving this town, Katharina passed in the car and stopped. She was headed to hike along the sand dune so I decided to join her for part of it. Rode back and then we hiked along the boardwalk and a little ways along the beach and stopped for a lunch (my second) on a piece of driftwood. Katja then hiked on while I turned back to my bike at the trailhead. Now the wind was quite strong and in my face so progress was very slow. I got back on the 134 but traffic was now heavier so i took the next coast road to Cocagne which added some extra distance but was quieter. Every house had junk on the lawn which made thing interesting to look at; model lighthouses, buoys, lobster traps, bathtub marys, and the like. The wind was brutal though, and I had to stop for a Clif bar to refuel only a few km from the end of the ride as I had no energy left. This helped and I shortly arrived at the Despres residence to warm welcomes and cold beer. Katharina arrived in the car an hour later as tomorrow we ride together towards Halifax.

Another nice day on the road.