“I came so far for beauty” -Leonard Cohen
Month: August 2016
Just Four Days Left
I spent last night at Clark’s Harbour on Cape Sable Island off the very southwest corner of Nova Scotia.
If you look along the bottom of the map the town is about 1/3 of the way over from the left. That dot and the island it is on is just about as far south in Canada as you can go outside of the Province of Ontario.
I don’t know why other than that I have always loved maps but the name “Cape Sable” is one of those I recall from my childhood that made the world seem like such a mysterious and inviting place. The reality, going on 60 years later, is a little more mundane- a place of small weatherbeaten saltbox cottages along quiet lanes and the curve of deserted beaches with the open Atlantic just beyond.
But it’s all wonderful nonetheless. I’m glad I’m here.
As I noted at the start of the post I’ll be leaving Nova Scotia in four days, catching the ferry across the Bay of Fundy- another childhood name- for St. John, New Brunswick at Digby. Then in a couple more days I’ll be back in the United States in Maine. It will be sad to leave the Maritimes behind, but I’m excited by what lies ahead.
Yesterday’s Ride
Just so you don’t think I’m hanging around hotel rooms eating donuts…
I had the best ride of the trip yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, the wind was reasonable friendly, and the hills… well, two out of three aren’t too bad. I hope to be doing 50 mile/80 km days by the end of the week.
I’m going to start checking my tires every other day. They should run at 90 psi, but each was down to around 65 or so after the last six days. Full tires really… Duh!… make a difference.
I continue to take many photos, of which this is a teaser.
We’ll sit around a campfire soon and I’ll do a slide show.
Weigh-in #9 – Back Up to 333
Well, it looks like the hot streak has ended.
My weight’s back up to 333 pounds/just over 150 kg, which is where it was two weeks ago. I’m not freaking out, mind you. It’s likely that there’s enough variation between scales where neither this week’s result nor last week’s was on the money. I’m pretty much religiously counting caloric intake on MyFitnessPal [linkie] and, to the extent my expenditure of calories when I am riding as calculated by RidewithGPS [linkie] is even remotely accurate, I am still well below the net intake that would be required to maintain my weight at a particular point. So I can deal with that, and I’m guessing that there’ll be a return next Monday to the glide path downward I’ve been on the past couple of months. Or not.
We’ll see.
Oh, and of far more immediate concern… it’s pouring rain.
Another Old Buoy
I took a great loop ride into Lockeport on an unloaded bike today on my day “off.” Took lots of really nice photos of the interesting things I saw.
Some are even in color! I just couldn’t pass this up, though. I’m going to grill a piece of meat I bought at the store today and heat some beans, but I’ll be back later with scenery as opposed to art. Sigh…
Lockeport, NS
What a beautiful spot for Saturday breakfast!
Behind me appears to be- and smells like, but that’s not a bad thing- a still operating fish cannery. I hope so, because I’ve been through one community after another here where the working boats are all gone, replaced by quarter-million dollar sailboats and such. Still pretty, but you know those boats aren’t owned by many local folks.
Times do change; I get that. I don’t necessarily like it, but that’s the way it is. I’ll have been privileged to to have visited Nova Scotia twice in my life. Once 40 years ago, and again right now. Few places I’ve been leave memories as deep and lasting.
I love it here, change and all.
Two Things I Should Have Left Home
As I gain experience using the gear I have brought with me, I am figuring out the things I will be sending home at the first opportunity- in other words when I’m back in the ‘States. These two items will go for sure.
The bottom item is a solar panel. All I can say is, “What was I thinking?” A cool item to have, but not all that useful given that I have two high capacity batteries I have figured out how to charge most every night. At between 1-2 pounds/~.5-1 kg, it’s not the biggest deal, but it does take up space in a pannier.
The top item is a nifty little tripod. It would be nice to use along the way, but I am not going to unpack a pannier each time to get at it. Once I get to where I’m headed in the evening, playing at being Ansel Adams is the last thing on my mind. So you get handheld, I’m afraid. A great item to throw in the car on a trip, though. I’ll save 2-3 pounds/~1-1.5 kg and significant space in a pannier.
I’ll know next time.
