Day 47. Day 3 Cabot Trail….woop, woop, high five!

Ingonish to Pleasant Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

10/3/23. 45 mi. AIS: 4:45. 9.4 mph. Elev. 4104 ft!

We got today under our belt… it was a whopper. High fives all around. We conquered today and it was a beast. Feeling happy we’re done, fed and comfortable. Here’s how today played out..

Woke up and had our usual breakfast of champions… including a little cinnamon roll. Yummy. Our pod camp had a building with washroom and a kitchen area. Nice table to sit at and everything there to make our breakfast. We were making ourselves comfortable when a young mom (who’s name I’ve forgotten) and her adorable 6 yr old son Seamus came bopping in. They live in the Halifax area and we’re on their way around the trail to ride the Gondola, go hiking and see Moose and have a few days together! They were an early morning treat.

We noticed immediately how warm it was in the early morning. It started out as a beautiful calm morning. Extra clothes were shed pretty quickly. After just a few kilometers we were in the National Park. That means roads with shoulders. There were several beautiful pullout points along the coast. So we stopped a lot early in the day.

We chose to take a side tour and get off the Cabot highway and go into Neil’s Harbour on a backroad. It was a quiet little harbour and fishing community. Coming out of there we had a climb out that was kind of like a staircase… it just kept rolling upward. But the view from behind looking back toward the ocean was great. As we crested that climb we had more amazing views into the next bay called Asby Bay. Our jaws dropped at every turn we made. Our progress slowed down because I kept stopping for pictures!

It was on the descent into Dingwall Andre met up with us. We had seen him as he was on his way to get our gear and then he found us again on his way back. It was a pretty quick stop. He gave us some tips on the upcoming climb of North Mountain. Gave us a banana and Hershey bar.. asked if we were going to be okay??… and we never saw him again. It was about 11:00! We’re we going to be okay?? How the hell would we know?? I guess he had judged our abilities and he was OUT!

Just before we saw Andre we were getting buffeted by the winds that were predicted out of the North today. The gusts were pretty nasty too. Winds were 15mph and the gusts were 25-30.. right in our face. I guess this is better than sideways. There were no free downhill rides. This wind continued for over an hour to the base of our climb up North Mountain. There was a period of time we were on a fairly flat stretch in our granny of all granny gears and having to pedal hard! It was awful actually. I reminded myself of other nasty rides I’ve done in hellacious winds and kept going. But really… what was our other option? So very glad I only had just one light pannier on board. Just that stretch might have killed me totally loaded. I don’t think I would have even moved.

At the base of the big climb was a park campground. We pulled in there to eat our lunch (same old same old) but fortified with banana and Hershey’s chocolate bar. Before we started this climb we could see the road going up the side of the mountain ahead across the River from us. We didn’t know this but it turns out the mountains are divided by this huge fault called the Asby Fault. It goes for 40km through the mountain range. We were going riding up this fault for the first part of the climb. It was our good fortune that this was on the leeward side of the wind today! Saved again!

The climb was in the lowest of gears pretty much from the start. It didn’t take long before the lowest of gears became a full fledged steady push on the pedals. We took a break in a pullout and learned about the Asby Fault. After the pullout the road took a turn out of the fault and switchbacked up the other side of the mountain. We got hit by a bit of wind but fortunately not the gusty stuff. We climbed 3.4 miles at 9%. Jim did not stop again until the summit. I took a 30 sec break but was able to get started again on the steep slope. I credit my mountain biking skills for that. My glutes were sore this morning from yesterday. Can’t wait to feel them tomorrow morning!

It was a hard climb to the top. No joke! I thought about other steep climbs I’ve made (Teton and Targhee Pass, MacKenzie River old hwy). Long slow grinds on them all. At the top the forest was sub-alpine. Short stocky trees, grasses and barren trees. Severe environment for sure. (The pod owner told me they get at least 15’ snow depths in the highlands in the winter.) There was an emergency shelter at the top. So naturally we took a moment to rest and check it out before the downhill into Pleasant Bay. Our AirBnB tonight in Pleasant Bay.

We put on our hats and puffy jackets for the ride down. It was chilly up there. The first 2km were a steep descent. The traffic was very, very light today so we took to the middle of the road all the way down. There were places the trees had really begun to change colors. These mountains are so full of trees and the views were dramatic. Again our jaws just dropped.

What a special place this is! No wonder it’s one of the top places in the World for a scenic drive. We have one-half more day in the Highlands National Park. One more monster climb like today.. or similar. This one starts almost immediately after we get started.

We walked a short way down the road to the Rusty Anchor for dinner tonight. We got plenty of food and it tasted great. We will be ready to climb again tomorrow. We are not staying in Cheticamp but it sounds like a very interesting community. It’s famous for hooked rug artisans and being an Acadian enclave. I’m hoping we have some time to checkout the town before we head to Margaree Harbour. Tomorrow we booked a “tiny house”!

What else did I see today…

End of the ride…

We can’t believe we only have 2 more riding days! It’s bittersweet right now.