Day’s distance / Total distance – 305 miles / 4,526 miles
Passing showers dominated the day’s weather. Temperatures started in the mid 50s and reached the mid 60s. It was ‘breezy’ on the island, and the clouds moved quickly across the terrain. Fog was a brief, minor issue over Cobequid Pass approaching Moncton.
Through all of it, my gear kept me dry with the exception of my gloves, which are not waterproof but are well protected from the wind and most of the rain behind the fairing. Eventually they get wet but that’s when I turn on the heated grips.
The first couple of stops I planned were still on the island. Since the motel only supplied coffee and no breakfast, the Boulangerie Bakery, just down the street was first. I grabbed a cinnamon roll, and bacon / cheddar scone for second breakfast, and a coffee.
Next was an attraction just south of Inverness, the Glenora Distillery.
I missed the 10am tour by minutes and didn’t want to wait for the next one, so I picked up a mini-bottle of 10-year old whiskey and continued on my way.
The island has many small villages. I struggle with capturing the sense of these towns as they are typically pretty spread out.
The Celtic roots of the island are celebrated in their music scene and, where in Montreal you’d find signs in French, here you see Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic.
For example, at the post office in the town of Mabou (shown above), Tigh Litrichean is translated as “house of letters.”
Below is the south western coastline of the island just before crossing the causeway back to mainland Nova Scotia.
The rest of the ride to Moncton, which took about three hours, was punctuated by heavy showers and fast moving traffic.
I decided to stay in Moncton and extra day. I will use the time to plan out the next week or so of my trip and wait out tomorrow’s predicted rain. I could use a day off the bike, too.
For tomorrow’s blog post, I’ll post the plans I come up with.