Day 43.. Hit the road today… travel day

Mabou to Baddeck, Nova Scotia

9/29/23. 40 miles. AIS: 3:25. 11.6 mph. Elev. 1358 ft.

We made it to Baddeck (BAH-deck) pretty quickly today. It was about 2pm and we even had our church step picnic lunch in Wagmatcook. We needed to stop in Wagmatcook to make certain the Maritime Bus stops here and has bicycle bags. It’s our ride to Halifax after we finish the Cabot Trail loop next Friday.

We are working out all our final logistics to get back home. Bus next Friday to Halifax. Bus arrives Halifax at 3:30 pm. Quick ride to Halifax Cycles to get our bikes boxed that afternoon before they close at 6pm! The mechanic does not work weekends we’ve been told. Our plan on Friday is to stay as WarmShower guests overnight. Saturday we will pick up our boxed bicycles and figure out a way to get them from the shop to the Airport Hotel. Overnight Saturday at the hotel to catch our 5am flight…Halifax to Toronto to Denver to Billings at 1:15pm.

Our early start this morning took us up out of Mabou Harbor and into the fog zone. We decided to stop at a little country store for awhile to let the fog burn off. Maybe about 10 mjnutes later and we were off again. It was a nice back road, the weather was perfect. Cool but minimal wind, if any. After 28 miles we intersected with a main highway all the way to Baddeck. The shoulder on that main highway was decent, smooth and clean of debris. It was easy riding. I don’t do this very often but I put in my earbuds and listened to a podcast or two… This American Life by Ira Glass. Just paid attention to my shoulder lane and pedaled away…

We were riding along water most of the way. If you look at Nova Scotia map there are all these long fingers of land. Today we were along a big lake…Bras d Or Lake. It was really pretty but because of the highway and traffic I wasn’t gawking at the scenery as much as I was yesterday. Consequently, far less photos! Hah! Reprieve for you… or disappointment maybe. But trust me… once we start this Cabot Trail, I hope to have photo rewards!! The weather outlook for our 5 days on the loop are looking fantastic! We are so excited to be rewarded by scenery and humbled by terrain.

We came out of the fog and the sunshine on the grasses was reflecting the most amazing spider webs. Dozens of spider webs actually. We kept seeing them and finally stopped for a photo. Worthy of a couple of photos!

I didn’t realize I booked a motel about 2-3 miles out of the heart of Baddeck. Oops! Too late to change. It turned out to be an easy ride into town but we had to put our laundry into one big pannier each anc ride into town to do the laundromat. Some motels have laundry… but no such luck with this one. We did the wash… wandered to the Yacht Club for a beer while our clothes were drying. Then a woman who ran the local outdoor store told me about the Farm to Table Restaurant across the street. Naturally we headed right over there after laundry was done. We had another delicious Digby Scsllops meal. Happy and satisfied we had to hightail it back down the highway 3 miles as the sun had set and we were losing daylight fast. We made it quickly with not alot of time to spare! All our headlights and taillights were blazing.

We are laying over in Baddeck tomorrow. On the agenda is a good cup of espresso coffee in town. Grocery store for lunch food and snack foods for the following 5 days of riding. We’ve been told to go to the Alexander Graham Bell museum… it’s good they say. Looking at a potential lobster dinner spot tomorrow. That’s about it. Maybe a few photos of Baddeck.