The weather concerns for this week of riding in Nova Scotia have always focused on how much rain we would get. In terms of temperature, my weather app has been telling me that it was staying with highs in the mid 70s all week across the region. It looked like we weren’t gonna get any rain, but of course yesterday, we got rained on in the Highlands. Today the temperature dropped by 15° and got no higher than 61°. As I look at my weather app. I see that this is the sort of temperature we can expect for the rest of this week. I don’t really have a problem with riding in 60° weather, but it would’ve been nice to know in advance what we would likely encounter so we would bring the right kind of gear. Luckily, I have a polar tech vest which, under my riding jacket, is warm enough to satisfy me. I don’t think I would’ve brought any different pants or socks or shoes so I think I’m good in all those departments. The thing I might’ve done was made a point of packing some colder weather gloves, and perhaps some heavier duty, long sleeve T-shirts rather than the synthetic wicking type that I brought.
This was not a terribly long riding day, but I did find an on-demand ferry at a place called Little Narrows that I thought would be a fun thing to do with the bikes. When we got there, we were able to drive right onto the ferry and we were surprised how quick the crossing was, but then it was only about 100 yards from one end to the other. It did make me wonder about the economics of running a 24 hour ferry instead of having small bridge. I guess quaint can have economic value as well. This route did give us the chance to see a little more of the inner part of Cape Breton Island, which is filled with large lakes, inlets, and islands. From the ferry, we rode into the thriving city of Sydney and knocked around until we found a place called Governors Pub, which look like a nice place for lunch. It’s strange to say, but I particularly enjoyed being able to sit next to the fire while we ordered our lunch, since it had only been two weeks, since we were experiencing our 100° plus heat wave. The pub was a nice place to hang out and wait for the girls to catch up with us which they did in about 45 minutes. We were in no rush, so we just sat and talked and discussed the ups and downs of Cape Breton Island.
From Governors Pub, we were only 30 miles from our hotel in Louisburg so we found our way there and checked in at what is basically an old-fashioned motel. We are parked right outside of our room and what this place lacks in originality and style it makes up for in convenience.. We’ll see how we feel about that in the morning after we spend the night on these old-fashioned beds. Everything about this place is very basic, which for this sort of trip is probably just fine, but would not be our choice for any extended stay. It seems that the best place to eat in Louisburg is Jake’s, which happens to be right here in our motel. The afternoon riding gang came back with a better “local knowledge” choice, so we went there instead.
Tomorrow we will leave Cape Breton Island by heading to the west to the Caribou ferry. It will take us over to Prince Edward Island. Unlike the Little Narrows ferry, this will be a serious ferry ride of more than an hour and will take us to an entirely new province. Prince Edward Island (PEI) has a landmass that is somewhat less than Cape Breton Island (2,170 sq. miles versus 3,981 sq. miles), and yet it is its own province where Cape Breton Island is a part of Nova Scotia. I’d be interesting to understand what the dynamics were for that situation to have arisen. PEI joined the Canadian Confederation in 1873, having been a standalone British province before that. That strong sense of autonomy almost made the residents turning down the opportunity of joining Canada altogether. Apparently, the island enjoyed a somewhat unique and prosperous economy compared to other more remote areas in the Maritimes. History makes for strange bedfellows.
Speaking of strange bedfellows, Trump and Vance keep stumbling from one faux pas to another with only 44 days until the election. THe Republicans are more or less in a panic, knowing that they will most likely lose the popular vote yet again and therefore focusing on any and all of the tricks they can deploy to win in the electoral college or perhaps in the local state legislatures if need be, where electoral votes get counted. What does it say about our electoral system that such tactics are even possible?
So today is hump day, which is to say, the middle,e of the trip. We will hump to the Caribou ferry and than on into Charlottestown on PEI. We will stay at another George hotel called The Great George and look around our second Maritime Province. I expect it to be cool to cold the whole ride and lets hope we have neither too many chills or thrills along the way. That is, of course unlike our electoral process which I predict will have both thrills and chills right up to and even after the votes are counted.