Cabot Trail Cycle Tour - July 2024
Reposted, as appeared on Strava, July 23rd and 24th, 2024, with an additional Post Script.
Preface
In April, I booked for this week and next off work, with intent of joining some mates for some alpine climbing in the Bugaboos, and then road tripping back with them. 6 weeks pre trip dates, I injured my right foot (you already know this if you follow along with my melodramatic Strava posts). I held some optimism for a while, but it became clear 3 weeks out that my injury was more severe (all signs point to a torn plantar plate). I canceled my flight, and deliberated about the 2 weeks off. Been feeling sluggish at work, so decided to keep them and do some kind of spontaneous tourism, hopefully sporty but less foot abusive. Settled on the idea of road tripping to NS, and bike touring the Cabot Trail. Seemed like a worthy consolation to the Bugs, given a) I’d never been to Atlantic Canada, or anything east of Quebec City; b) bike touring is hopefully tolerable for my foot yet sporty, and less committal in nature; c) the road trip presented a few other little side incentives; and d) I thought I might find a leprechaun out here to fix my ailments.
Had the van packed, and hit the road immediately after work on Friday evening, and beelined to the first Walmart bivy after the sun set (Renfrew). Quickly to MTL in the morning for a day visiting my cousins. Cruised the streets for cafes, thrift shops, and bike shops. Eastbound again Sunday morning, to another Walmart bivy (Fredericton). Again through to Antigonish on Monday, where I got a campsite in order to prep the bike, make a real meal, and get some better rest. To Baddeck this morning (Tuesday), car drop, and bikebound!
Day 1 - July 23rd, 2024: Baddeck-Ingonish
First order of business was Bean There Cafe for a Java and egg-sammy. Local cyclist (Daniel) saw my bike and sparked up a convo - nice bloke! Got some beta too.
Onward after that. 50 ish road kms, of mostly forested views. Smooth and tranquil, but somewhat unnoteworthy. Another banger audiobook in progress! Bike riding real nice after a few recent repairs and a couple accessory adds. Loaded bikes ride better than naked - just so smooth and dampened.
Most of the (few) stores were closed. Got a bit desperate tbh, as I hadn’t packed any food. Scored some local boar and bison sticks at a general store, and a hot choco at a chocolatier. Was getting a bit desperate for something more substantial late afternoon (almost bonk-ish), and the grades ramped up. The climb up Cape Smokey was heinous. Felt wrecked at the top - had to lay down on the asphalt and regroup. But! then a 10km decent without a single pedal stroke.
Dinner at the ski hill chalet (fish burg!), and booked a cheap room (Island Inn, cheaper than campground). Pooped!
Shower, then walked to Main St Restaurant for din #2 (mussels!). Hotel and double sit-down dinners feels a touch out of my class. But hey, atleast I brought a button-up shirt.
Impromptu full social with a bunch of the hotel guests and hosts. Some good travel stories, and the host was a real character - he was handing out beers and spinning a good yarn - classic!
Kinda got my ass kicked today. Might need to rethink my plans for tomorrow/next few days. Turns out the grades are steep out here, and (almost exclusively) training for rock climbing this spring/summer is pretty bad for cycling fitness.
Day 2 - July 23rd, 2024: DNF
Island Inn has an included breaky, which was blueberry pancakes and sausages—score! Tried not to lollygag too much, and got on the bike. Immediately after the park office (not 1km in), I noticed something weird with the crank. Damn. Hardware store nearby let me borrow some tools, and I got on FaceTime with Sneaky Pete and his local bike shop. In short, I’m hosed, bottom bracket is toast. The frustrating part is that I took it in to my local Sudbury bike shop last week, with suspicion of BB issues, and I got blown off suggesting it was fine (with a bit of sass, I might add). In fact, I’ve had poor experiences at all three of Sudbury’s bike shops at one time or another.
A nice chap named Merrill overheard me on the phone suggesting that I’d thumb it back to get my van in Baddeck, and offered to give me a lift. Locked up the bike, which I’ll have to come get this afternoon. I guess the rest of my journey will be on 4 wheels. While I was somewhat suspicious that I might have to bail based on body (foot) failure, I didn’t expect such a mechanical snafu.
Merrill McInnis, a Scotsman born and raised in Breton Cove, took the scenic route to show me his home, the farm he grew up on, and his commercial fishing outfit. His family had a mink farm for a few generations, but he told of the decline of that industry, and his transition to local council. He then had a commercial lobster and crab operation, that he has since passed down to his daughter. A oneofakind intimate tour of the culture and place. Perhaps a silver lining to the bike tour DNF—can’t find this kind of tour in a brochure. In light of my bike dilemma, Merrill offered the following wisdom: “There’s always something to keep the rabbit tail short”. There sure is, Merrill, there sure is.
Post Script - July 23rd, 2024
Well, I’d like to keep the complaining to a minimum, but I’ve got a few woes to air out. At the moment, I’m probably still more bummed about missing the Bugs trip than about the bike mechanical snafu (and my pals are making an attempt on the Becky-Chouinard route as I type this… photo included of this behemoth for the non-familiar). The bike tour DNF is however also a bummer, mainly because I tried to do my due-diligence before departure (had the BB inspected). Logistical faff that ensued was a bit long, although included an interesting local encounter and tour. I’m fairly content with rolling the rest of the Cabot in my van, although it seems like after driving the Cabot, it’ll be hard to motivate to come back for another bike attempt (not because it isn’t spectacular, just because there are SO many other places to see).
While I probably appear to be (and no doubt am) chasing a tick-list of farflung summits, national treasure loops, and esoteric crown jewels, ultimately right now I just want my body to cooperate better for the daily romps. Consistent running weeks, decent climbing volume, even the supplemental training, it’s all been a bit ephemeral lately—one blunder after the other since about November. Strange to be lusting for the local things while vacationing but, sunrise solo bethel sessions and weekend LLCA red laps, those are the salad days, those are the blocks, those are the means to the end, and they themselves in turn the end.
Ok, that’s enough violin. Pretty sure it’s just suppose to be fiddles and step-dancing ‘round here.