Day 40. Seashore ride…

Merigomish to Antigonish, Nova Scotia

9/26/23. 36 miles. AIS: 3:24. 10.8mph. Elev. 1093 ft.

Because we had a short ride today we didn’t have to start early. We took our time getting out of camp and it was close to 10am when we left camp. The night in our A Frame was just great…comfortable and not too cold The wind slowed down sometime in the night so the morning was blue and fairly calm.

Our first side trip today was to go toward the Big Island to see the sea coast. We were looking at the seashore of the Gulf of St Lawrence. It opens into the Atlantic Ocean at the tip of Nova Scotia Cape Breton. We were told to dip our feet in the water because this is the warmest water on the Nova Scotia shoreline. Instead of feet it was hands! But I did get my socks full of sand and rocks just walking out to the waters edge!

After this little foray along the beach we were off along the coastline to Malignant Cove…interesting name. The wind was minimal and the road wasn’t very busy. We really enjoyed this ride. We stopped at another Scottish Memorial for the Battle of Culloden. Everything on this coastline is dedicated to the Scottish Heritage. All the signs are English/ Scottish language. The names of properties along the way are filled with Scottish names….Fraser’s, MacDonalds, and such.

We rode this Gulf coastline for 21 miles or so before heading south to Antigonish. Along the coast there were small farms, nice homes and cottages, some simpler modular homes and then there were homes with big fishing boats in the yards. It was just a really pleasant visual day. Behind the homes was the sea. There were country churches.. today mostly Catholic… yesterday they were Presbyterian and community center buildings. We had lunch at a gravel turnoff that was also a big post office box corner. Two cars were there having quite a long chitchat while picking up their mail. We were off to the side down in the trees in the sun and out of the wind having our usual ham and cheese picnic lunch.

Today must have been “firewood” day. We could hear chainsaws instead of lawn mowers. There were people out stacking big loads of firewood and even big trucks delivering firewood. And still there were massive green lawns around the homes.

We had a nice little tailwind to carry us up a few moderate hills before a nice 5 mile descent into town. Nice simple touristy kind of day on the bicycles.

Not knowing anything about Antigonish we were pleasantly surprised by the cute Main Street with lots of shops, restaurants, breweries, bike shop and the Peace by Chocolate shop! Who can resist a stop at that store?

Also we came to learn it’s another University town. No wonder I liked it. University towns have a nice young vibe with interesting culture. It’s the St Francis Xavier University. A public university with about 5000 students

This is our last night tent camping. For the remaining 11 days we are staying in motels or such indoor environments. We have 8 riding days to go with 1 layover day. The remaining 2 days are transportation logistics. More about that to come. Our tent has been great. I call it my little home…I’m so comfortable in my little niche. There’s a spot for everything! It has served us well on this trip… including the skunk episode!