Newport Corner to Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
9/21/23. 44 miles. AIS: 4:37. 9.5 mph. Elev. 2795 ft!!!
Had some download issues with this post. This one has photos!!
I almost couldn’t find the post ride energy for this post today! It was a test of physical energy and attitude today. Not my favorite day by any means.
It was a middle of the night tent exit (to pee) and the sky was full of stars. Really beautiful sky. We haven’t had a cloudless moment since ??? Anyway, the sun was out for our start this morning. That lasted just a few kilometers!
Jim had to reroute his original plan for today when Apple Maps had part of our route closed. Remember I said that they had a massive rain event and bridges and roads were wiped out? Well it seems this area was heavily impacted. It was pretty obvious when we were riding with huge places near culverts all gouged out. Our new route was a continuation of back roads to keep us off the busy Hwy 14. Due to this we were on a constant uphill, downhill. Too many to count! Quite a few of these were low gear grinds. We did have to walk a couple of hills including a steep gravel surprise detour.
When shopping yesterday, I guess I forgot to buy oatmeal. So breakfast this morning was coffee, trail mix and an orange. Luckily for us we came upon a corner store that was pretty well stocked. We needed some food… donuts, bananas, chocolate milk and beef jerky for the win! And… they had oatmeal for the next several days. Good thing too because there was not another grocery store all day!
In all the miles we road today there was not a single town or community until just short of our camp! There were houses and farms all along the way… just no towns. We were in the woods all morning then it opened to a little more farmland in the afternoon. At one point we had quite a bit of elevation and could see the landscape for miles and miles. Our biggest view in days. We were looking north toward Prince Edward Island but too far away to see water yet. We took a standing lunch stop off the side of the road… kind of out of the wind and back away from the road.
On the map it looks like there are towns but I think it’s just for the Canada Post or something. It’s literally a name of an area. We rode through South Rawdon, Center Rawdon. West Gore, Gore and East Gore. Our finish town is called Shubie for short. There’s a drug store, bank, salon, thrift store, ball field, playground and a one takeout restaurant shithole place that had pizza and Donairs.
“A Halifax donair has only five ingredients: Donair meat (always beef), Lebanese pita, onions, tomatoes, donair sauce — what Albertans call sweet sauce …Sep 25, 2020.
So we tried the Donair. It was okay but I’m not a fan of the sweet sauce. I prefer the Greek tzatziki… but they are very popular in NS. We’ve seen them advertised on many shop windows. So without any other options we gave it a try.
We are tenting in yet another Canadian RV campground. This one still has people… really loud people too! It seems to me they are not seasonal… but permanent. As I write…I’ve got some country tunes from a nearby camp-house to enjoy and some really bad singing along from a couple of drunk young guys.
I forgot to tell you that we had some strong winds coming out of the north today. It was kind of a jacket on, jacket off today. Every once in a while the road would turn in a favorable wind direction and push us along making it much easier. By the time we got to town the wind was really chilly (4pm). It’s going to be a chilly night in the tent. All the long underwear is coming out.
Hope I like tomorrow better. Much shorter ride into Truro!!
cinnicrew 