Saturday, 1 September 2012

Day 67 - Lower Barney's River to Lake Ainslie - Sunday August 26th, 2012 - 172 km -

It was supposed to be a big day and after 20 km of climbing small hills along the coast, i realized that i can't shift in to my higher gear in front derailleur. We wanted to take our first stop in Antigonish and i thought i will stop there to find a bike shop. We stopped just outside of town and learned that there is no bike shop there. That's a bummer as i had realized that my bottom bracket was loose and my left crank arm wasn't staying in place which prevented the shifters to not shift gears. we stopped at a restaurant and i tightened my crank arm as a temporary fix.  We stopped at a cafe in Antigonish and i had a veggie bagel with hot chocolate and had second coffee. I also called the hotel in St John's to reserve an extra night.

Howard's family in east had arranged a lunch stop and it was at 97 km which was a perfect stop for some good munchies. We rode on the main highway 104 all the way as it had better shoulder and hopefully smoother grades. I didn't want to put much pressure on the crank arm and have it loose. We found Howard's place and it was much more grand reception that anyone anticipated. There was live music, his family, friends and neighbours had put on a wonderful barbeque lunch, with lots of fresh dips, fruits, Chocolate milk and tons of food. We had a good lunch and met up with Ron. From thereon, Ron Keith and I rode fast as they were cooking. There was lots of climbs and downs as promised and some great scenery along the way after the Canso Causeway.We joined Alan, Emily and Patrick who were pulling along at a nice speed. with nice tailwinds we rode about 33km/h all the way to our next stop.

We stopped just outside of camp in Whycogomagh and i had 1/2 L of chocolate milk and some chips. Ron and I rolled in to camp fast as I wanted to take a shower and fix my bike and get it checked by Mike. Once in camp, we learned that the camp owners and their neighbours had put on a potluck for us. We were pampered today with some great food and great scenery.

After dinner i learned that I had a broken crank arm and all the fixes were temporary. Tomorrow we start climbing the Cabot trail and i am little nervous that the bike might not take me all the way.

The first 40 kms

Live Music



Canso Causeway

Banana Stop

Simpsons fan

It was simply amazing the amount of work artist put in to it

MacKinnon's campground in Lake Ainslie was by far the most service oriented campground on the trip. Their washrooms had lightings better than a hotel.


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