| Ted's
House - Motorcycle Trip Reports Canada, 1996 |
|
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes this morning was that there was sunlight streaming through the tent flaps. The gamble had paid off and I was finally going to see the fabled west side of Cape Breton Highlands park (and this time actually get to see more than 10 feet beyond the bike!)
At pleasant cove I again stopped at the Rusty Anchor and ate breakfast & flirted
with the waitresses while using their electricity to power and charge the notebook, and
their Now for the fun, the ride back out of the highlands to Cheticamp. The ride surprisingly
took about half the time, and would have taken less had I not stopped to talk to Ken and
Alice on matching R100GSs (no inseam problems there, they were both 6'+!) It is really a
magnificent road, well kept and banked to the curves...If Deal's Gap had an older and more
mature brother this would be it. After I blasted out on to the flatter lands I rolled down
the west coast to the Canso causeway and Since I gave up a day of the trip waiting for the weather to clear on Cape Breton I had to cut some time somewhere so I decided to skip PEI and go straight across the peninsula to Edmunston. Well after about Colin left me back on the Sunrise Trail my hands started to ache a little, and the Corbin torture device started kicking in. hhmmmm, I am only 30 minutes from the PEI ferry... A quick look at the map and I was off.
I rode off the ferry and directly into the parking lot of the information center. It seems that PEI is extremely popular with the rest of Canada and even the best efforts of the two young women at the desk to find me a motel for under $45 were unrewarded. One of the two recommended the Cabot Beach Provincial Park at the far northwest point of the "North Shore" region, so we highlighted a map and off I went. I have had great luck with the Provincial Parks so I was not too worried. After a good laugh with the two older women at the park entrance gate ("I didn't know BMW made bikes...) I headed through the woods to my campsite which "overlooked the cliffs over the beach." Well, after the trees ended the campsite kept going and I soon found myself at a secluded site with a picnic table, a dwarfed tree and nothing else for a good 50 feet but thick green grass (up to the edge of the cliff, which dropped off quite alarmingly.) Using the bike's headlight I quickly set up the tent, hauled everything inside (One of the women had mentioned, "There may be some rain tonight") and quickly fell asleep. Until 3am, when someone woke me up by shining a light on my tent. Hmmm, no-one else is around. KA-BOOM Thunder generally rumbles off in the distance at first...not this brand, it was strictly up close and personal as was the lightening. It then occurred to me that the highest points for about a 50' circular area were my tent and my bike. After about 30 anxious minutes and about 2" of rain the storm moved on and I was able to get back to dreaming about testing the Funduro on the Meat Cove road in the rain. About 500 miles, a big rain and a few anxious moments. Next
Day... |
All Photos and Text Copyright©1996-9, Ted
Verrill |
I quickly packed
up and was off before 7:00 am I ran up the coast slowly on the way up to Pleasant Cove so
as to see the incredible sheer rocky cliffs, and take in a few Pilot whales on one of the
many wide switchbacks. In this mode one really doesn't ride the road as sort of follow the
bike's lead, much as riding a roller-coaster. I made many stops for obligatory photos,
especially popular were shots where the road snaked up around a cliff face, only to
disappear and reappear further up rounding another cliff face. 
phone line
to connect to AOL (there is a 1-800 connect number for all of Canada, can you believe
it?!?) This place is extremely biker friendly whether they know it or not. They offered to
take my helmet while I ate, and it was returned to me cleaned spotless, the shield inside
and out. 
then onto the Sunrise trail to New Glasgow. I gave President
Colin Sutton a call and he surprised me at the MacDonalds on his immaculate R100T and we
had my trip's first impromptu President's meeting complete with pictures and tire-kicking
(he got to see my melted airbox first-hand.) 
As I write this
I am looking out this enormous ferry's windows at the incredible engineering feat the
crazy Canadians are actually pulling off...A FIFTEEN mile bridge over open ocean to PEI.
This thing is so immense it seems right out of star wars. Only the support "T"'s
are now built, but here in the late evening they are lit up at top like a big electric
ribbon stretching off over the horizon. 