East Coast Tour - Day 4

Wenesday, September 14, 2011 - North Port, NS - 111 km

Had a great sleep in a comfortable bed. Got on the road around 07:30 to another beautiful day. Today I had company. Rode out the 134 which had a fair ammount of commuter traffic, but it died off as the day went on. In Shediac we passed a giant lobster statue. Was a quiet ride along the shore until we go on Hwy 15 which was moderately busy, very fast, but had a good shoulder. We turned off on Collins Lake Road which we hoped would bypass a good section of the highway. There was absolutely no traffic on this road and after a lunch on a culvert by a stream we would find out why. Another 4 km down the road it turned into an ATV track with mudholes, sand, and whatnot. We decided to turn back. Both Google and MapArt showed the road going through, but we really did not feel like slogging the bikes through the unknown. After the 8 km of wasted effort we were back on highway 15 for about an hour of traffic riding. The shoulder even disappeared, but at least everyone was quite courteous in passing. Finally we got to Port Elgin, where there was a big traffic circle putting us on secondary roads again. We stopped in a park along the river and took a break. A big billboard proclaimed that the area had 70 km of biking and walking trails, along with a map... of the local roads. An interesting fellow biked over to us and began telling his life story of living in a trailler, being flooded by the last storm, and listing all the broken bones he had sustained in his lifetime. Some kids were playing on the other side of the road and honking the horn of some fancy truck, which drew the ire of a lady who started yelling, which caused dude to start yelling too, which caused her to start yelling at dude. We decided to pack up and move on. After a short, no traffic while, we reached the Nova Scotia border. We were welcomed with a sign for the town rather than the province. We rode on into the afternoon and started looking for a place to stay. Camping in the woods was not going to happen as it was just an endless string of houses, cottages, and private property along the coast. There was not even a place to access the beach anywhere. We passed an Inn and a B&B, but kept going until we reached a provincial park, which for a small fortune we get the privelage of sleeping on gravel, and eat at a picnic table made of pressure treated wood. I can feel the copper arsenate soaking into my skin now. At least it is quiet here as there are few other campers in the park.

Leaving Cocagne.

A giant lobster in Shediac.

Stumps with warts.

Highway 15. We tried to break the speed limit, but did not succeed.

Welcome to Nova Scotia!

Camping on gravel.

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