Day 4

Base of North Mountain to Margaree 100km 4:10:24

While getting the bikes ready for the days ride we saw a moose on the side of the road. We passed a few cyclists during our days on the trail but while we were getting ready a fellow from Germany stopped and I put air in his tires for him. We talked about our ride and his and he was doing the trail for the second time in two days but in the opposite direction. He had already done the trail on Tues. and was doing it in reverse on Thurs., all in one day! We started the day with the climb up another mountain but with the day of rest we were well prepared. It started out overcast and the higher we went the foggier it got. North Mountain was the longest climb but not as steep as Cape Smokey, 7km up and 6km down. On the decent down North Mountain it became clearer and clearer and the sun came out. We reached a top speed of 78.9km down North Mountain, what took 30 min. to climb took less than 5 min. to decend.

During summer vacations as a child I would travel the Cabot Trail with my father and step brother. When we passed the Lone Sheiling my father would comment on it being "Hunters Mud Hut", so we had to stop for a photo op.

Mackenzie Mountain wasn't much of a climb, more like a few hills, then there was French Mountain. This was the nicest decent of the whole trip, it seemed to go on for a long time. We never exceeded our previous speed though I tried really hard too.

We were on the last leg of our journey with all the BIG hills out of the way we only had to get through Cheticamp and finish back in Margaree. You enter and exit the Cabot Trail a number of times around the park and the roads are a lot better while in the park. From Cheticamp to Margaree we had a head wind, come to think about it we had a head wind the entire trip. This was no ordinary head wind, it was like driving on flat tires. We made it to the Margaree Harbour bridge and stopped for a break. Mike asked me how much further and I said 6km, that was the longest 6km I had ever ridden.

Total time in the saddle under 12 hrs. and with 300km under our belts it was time to lay off cycling fo a while. We made it!

FIN

Thank you to Daniel, Carmelle and Arlene for being our support crew and thank you to Mike for sharing this adventure with me.

We are planning a bicycle trip through the Canadian Rockies for next September. The rockies are supposed to be easier than the Cabot Trail, we shall see.