Day 31 - New Glasgow to Antigonish

70.70 km - Total so far 2,023.50 km

RWGPS https://ridewithgps.com/trips/15452650
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/g12396395821

After a good night sleep and a hearty breakfast, we headed off to Antigonish to go meet a guy about a tire. It was overcast and very humid this morning. It would have been brutal had it been sunny. It took a while getting out of New Glasgow because we had difficulty following the signs for Highway 4. Misinformation by one of the locals did not help either. We took Highway 4 instead of Highway 104 as we felt it would be much quieter. We were not disappointed. As you can see in RWGPS or Relive, Highway 4 is a winding road with lots of uphills and downhills and we had a ball. Today, the strong wind was to our advantage most of the time. It was not strictly speaking a tail wind but pretty darn close. At times, it was a strong cross wind and we had to remain alert so as not to get blown sideways. The road itself was in great shape, no shoulder but with little traffic it did not matter.

Highway 104 on the left and Highway 4 on the right. 

Instead of using an old freezer to keep the garbage by the road
for pick up, this person uses recycled and decorated oil tanks

We also ran into another cyclist, Serge, from Longueuil, Quebec who is on his first major bike trip. Just like us, he is heading to St-John's, Newfoundland but he is not heading home just yet from there. He is flying to Vancouver and cycling home to Longueuil. We did not ask him, but we do hope that he will cycle the route North of Lake Superior. Although more challenging than the Southern route through the United States, the vistas are incredible. It is hard to beat the descent towards Old Woman's Bay on Lake Superior. 

This we believe is where all of the "Germaine" are trained and
dispatched around the world to grip things and make
things right in accordance with the Germaine code 

They just love their roundabouts in Nova Scotia

Once we got to Antigonish, we headed straight for the bike shop to pick up the tire. We had been to Antigonish before on our second trip to Cape Breton, so we did a little bit of reminiscing. We did a little bit of a walkabout in the downtown to have a look at the murals and some of the colourful older homes.

I was in the bike shop when Hélène took this picture

Looking over a bloody expensive tire. So glad I ride a bicycle
and not a tricycle

That mural takes away from the touring bicycle

Hélène had to encourage the paramedics that were parked to leave, in order to get the picture. Apparently this is one of a few places they can park without having to pay

While waiting for Hélène at the grocery store, I got to listen to this talented performer. When Hélène got back, we asked him to sing "Hello darkness my old friend". Such a great song. Look for this fellow in our summary of the week video!

After the grocery and beer store, we once again headed down Highway 4 to our campsite for the night. I could not wait to get the new tire on. After the tire, I changed the front brakes on my bicycle and did some needed bicycle chain maintenance on the two bikes.

Trying to fix our radio (Eton FRX4). We have fallen asleep listening to it since
our first bicycle trip in 2015. Watch for a soon to be made request to
find us another one.

A commercial campground. Note how close everything is for cyclists. Shelter next to tent and the showers/washroom building. What more can one ask for other than perhaps a working portable radio

It is cool and windy tonight with a bit of rain. We should be able to managed another good night sleep in our merino wool. A tad warm for the tuque however.


43.93 miles - Total so far 1,257.34 miles