Day 23: Truro, NS Canada

Day 22: Truro, NS

July 5, 2016

Miles: 65 miles

Halifax to Truro


It was a long ride to Truro and it is very late as I write this blog entry.  The pictures took a very long to upload as well, plus I dozed off and so did Steve.  To start let me answer Jen's comment question, the ride was indeed hilly, and the wind was blowing out of the SW the whole way; we were traveling NE.  Yeah!  Despite the wind pushing us along, we did not arrived at the hotel until after 8:00p.  We had some unanticipated happenings, and very eventful day to say the least. 

Before we left the hotel we had a very heathy breakfast - starting the day off right.

Breakfast at 7:45a

As we navigated our way out of Halifax this morning, we headed east toward the bridge that we needed to cross taking us into Dartmouth; well, the bridge was closed due to it being under construction; essentially, the bike and pedestrian path was close.  After much wasted time, we figured out that a shuttle service was being provided for cyclists and walkers.  So we took the shuttle across.  When we got to the other side, the drop off point, it was about 10:30a.

Getting a lift

Steve waiting patiently

On the shuttle we were fortunate enough to meet Alain, (pronounced Elaine).   A fellow cyclist, and retired navy guy, who showed us the way to a bike path that was on his way home, and in the same direction that we were headed. I could write so much more about Alain, such a nice guy, but its too late and I'm very tired so all you get for now are pictures.

Steve riding ahead with Alain

The day had dramatically improved given this short cut Alain showed us; after a few miles, Alain headed east as we continued north. It was only about 9 miles into the ride and it was close to 11:00a at this point.  We were not making good time.

Alain and Steve saying goodbye

We stopped off about 3 miles up the road at a Tim Horton's to use the facilities and because Steve wanted to adjust/raise his bike seat.

Relieved

And the unthinkable happened.  The bolt snapped on the clamp as Steve was tightening the seat after the adjustment.  And half the bolt was still stuck inside the clamp thread.  Not good!

Tightening down the clamp

Not good.

Well, we did what we had to do - ride to the closest bike shop.  I googled bike shops closest to us, and we found RPC cycle just 2 miles away, unfortunately in the opposite direction adding 4 miles (round-trip) to our already, very long ride to Truro.  I called the cycle shop to make sure they were open and that they could take us right away.  George, the man on the phone, said that they were very busy today, but for us to head over so he could take a look at Steve's bike.  He then asked what kind of bike it was and I told him a Surly, the Long Haul Trucker.   Oddly, he said he never heard of this brand.  We were a bit concerned, but it was the closest shop so we rode our bikes there anyway.  Steve rode slowly with his seat all the way down, and unsecured.  It was mostly back roads so we were safe enough.  We made it there just about 15 minutes later. To our surprise, and George's too, the bike shop was a motorcycle shop, not a bicycle shop. Oops!  

Luckily, George could still help us out.  George had one of his guys drill out the broken bolt stuck in the thread and to our relief, they had a new bolt that fit perfectly.

George - nice guy!

 George never charged us for the repair, just said good luck to us!

Steve putting seat back on his bike with new bolt and clamp

We were finally off again.  It was about 1:45p at this time.  We had over 50 miles to ride to Truro.  At this point, the ETA was estimated after 8:00p.  The rest of the ride was long, but beautiful.  Again weather spectacular.

We rode along three different lakes.  The sights and roads were great, and so was the wind too!

We stopped for a short break to fuel up on chocolate milk, gatorade and cashews about 18 miles into the ride, about 2:30p.  Because of the time, we decided to skip lunch but to stop along the way to eat snacks - fruit, bars and nuts that we were carrying on the bike.

Steve and his chocolate milk

We rode straight through and hard for about 30 more miles before stopping for dinner at the Whistler's Pub about 17 miles outside Truro.  We were very hungry and needed fuel.  It was about 5:30p.  We forgot to take a picture of our dinner - Steve a turkey sandwich and me chicken breast.

Steve's selfie that he took with my camera without me knowing. 

To our surprise, when we left the restaurant at about 6:45p it was raining.  So our last leg, estimated at 17 miles was both hilly and rainy.  As we rolled into Truro the weather improved. The rain stopped and the sun came out as we pulled into the hotel parking lot.  We arrived safely at the Holiday Inn at about 8:15p!

We are off to Pictou tomorrow - between 40 to 45 miles.