Jimmy's Excellent Adventure

Wednesday August 6th ... continued
This is a truly amazing video that Jimmy took.
It was north of Cheitcamp in the sunshine and it is looooong.
But the amazing part is he hand held the camera and drove that big Trumpet Triple at the same time.
You don't have to hold your breath waiting for the crash... it never happens.
Thanks Jim for the excellent ride along!

The Long Way Round.. Cape Breton that is!

Wednesday August 6th

Whew... sorry it is taking me so long to finish this.

This was the day. Cape Breton Nova Scotia. People come from all over this part of the world to ride motorbikes on the roads of Cape Breton.


We woke to a mix of wet and sun. The day was really trying to take a turn for the better but it was a struggle.

Some of us... not me, but some of us had not shaved since we left Peters house. I think they were getting a little itchy.

Jeffie has a little different method of shaving.

And then, pack up and we are off. I left a bit early to check the air pressure in my tires at the Canadian Tire Store over in Port Hawkesbury.


Then met the rest of the gang at the visitor center. It was early and the center was closed. We met a guy on a Vee Strom who had slept behind the building on a picnic table. Seems he got in late and everything was closed. Didn't get a picture of him though.

Took Highway 105 to Baddeck. Hit some traffic for road repairs and some rain. Nothing new on this trip.. seems they are always fixing the road and its always raining.

We stopped at a little cafe in Baddeck for breakfast.

I had a bagel with lox which was delicious!

Jimmy enjoyed his breakfast as well.

Baddeck is a charming little town. Next time we come up to NS we have to slow down a bit and sightsee more.

After breakfast we hit the gas station and met some guys from New York.

I couldn't resist busting abit about New Yorkers being allowed into Canada
Joisey guys and New Yawkers always get a bit of a rivalry going.

At least they have good taste in Motorbikes.

Here's to the BMWONY. (BMW Owners of New York)
Hope you guys made it home safe.

The rain seemed to be letting up a bit so we continued counterclockwise around the Cabot Trail.

At the entrance to the park you have to stop and pay admission. This is pretty much on the honor system. There is a small house (pictured below) and a drive through a short distance down the road. We paid at the first stop and just drove by the second one. Your recipt is your admission and no one ever asks to see it. I guess the fees help them keep the road in good shape.

We met a nice couple from Quebec while we stretched our legs and paid the fee. They were on Holiday traveling through NS.

Father Jim checking out the NS real estate. If he buys this church at least he will paint it.

Jeff showing off his... er.... electric vest hookup. Yes it was chilly enough in August to make an electric vest a nice addition to your gear.

Next Stop ....Lunch... more food of course.

Then a most unexpected thing happened! Well.... I kinda expected.. or hoped for it. When we got around to the west side of Cape Breton we found the SUN!

We played around for a while taking pictures and videos and just having fun. We were north of Cheticamp which in my opinion, is the most beautiful part of Cape Breton.

Here are some of the pictures we took.

The day's not over. More to come including some hair raising video adventrue.

Rainy Rest Day

Tuesday August 5th

What to do? ..... what to do? hmmmmmm
Another rainy day in Nova Scotia. Mostly over Cape Breton. Which is exactly where we planned to ride today. So..... We decide to head south down Route 7 where we surmise the rain isn't and then to do Cape Breton on Thursday. But first .... Breakfast. We were advised to go to the Hearthstone Inn... It's where all the locals go.

At a lot of restaurants in Canada they have a really good assortment of Kraft goodies in these little square packages. Orange Marmelade, Straberry Jam, Peanut Butter and Cheez Wiz... yeah I know..... its sounds really cool until you see the cheez wiz.

Breakfast was really good. Guess what I had?

We met some Canadians on Harleys from British Columbia. They take off for a month or so every year and go on a cross country motorbike ride. Here they are headed out to Cape Breton. Rain is in their future.

So we suit up and head out over the causeway and back through Mulgrave intending to ride about halfway to Halifax and then take the highway back to our Cabin.

We didn't make it anywhere near that far. We rode in and out of the rain. You can see why in the picture above. It was only raining half the time... and Peter was only wearing half of the magic rain suit. The road from Mulgrave winds along the coast to Chedabucto Bay. It was not the best of roads and the view was not great either.

We finally stopped at a place with a view of an island Lighthouse. We were tired and not haveing much fun. There was a Port-a-john there with a beautiful view of the ocean if you left the door open. It was the highlight of the days ride.

We turned tail and headed back to the Cabin and decided to take the rest of the day off from riding. We spent most of the afternoon kicking back and then headed out to dinner. We headed off to the Cove Motel & Restaurant, which we heard had excellent Lubster.

Fuel the bikes first.

Outside the Cove Motel we discoverd a big bird growing out of Peters head. We wondered why we never noticed it before.

Chowdah!

Our waitress was Linda and she tied bibs on the Lobster eaters.

After a great dinner it was back to Cape Breton and the Paul Bunyon Cabins.

Sunset and Sleep.

Oops.. almost forgot the Map!

Movin' On!

Tuesday August 4th

We woke to a grey day. This was our view from our hotel room door. Today was our first full day of riding in Nova Scotia and we were exited to get moving.

But!, before we could get on the road we had to take care of a few things. First a stop at the visitor center for some more maps.

Peter and Jimmy are confused about the route, and Jeff is content to look at the pretty pictures in the brochure.

Second and third order of business was to fuel the bikes and the riders. The gas station people recomended that we go to the Cinders for breakfast.

So we did.

At the Cinders we had the best waitress of the trip so far. Her name was Kristie with a K. She kept the coffee mugs full and the food was delicious.

Steak and Eggs for the start of the day.

We met a gentleman named Wayne who gave us a bit of local knowledge regarding the route to the Canso Causeway. Wayne is from Cape Breton and had started motorcycle riding about a year ago. You do meet the nicest people in Nova Scotia and Wayne proved the rule.

Wayne and Kristie introduced us to Jerry Hallee and his lovely lady Brenda. Jerry is the mayor of Amherst. They presented us with the key to the city... well not really.. but they gave us wonderfull pins of the town of Amherst to wear on our leathers. Brenda searched through her purse until she was sure that there were four pins so that each of us would have one.

We had some great conversation and posed for a picture. I kept the camera handy in case the Amherst police stopped us on the way out of town. I figured that showing them the picture would be better then trying to talk our way out of a ticket.

Here is a better shot of the mural that is painted on the side of a building just down the street from the Cinders.

And here is a shot of the Cinders restaurant. They painted it red so you will be able to find it easy when you are in town. Make sure you stop and say Hi to Kristie for us.

We took the Sunrise Highway headed East twoard Cape Breton.

This is the sign advising that we were entering Pugwash. Just our luck that we left all our dirty pugs at home.

More Road Shots.

We stopped for a bit at this place and I am not quite sure of where it is.. but it is somewhere between Pugwash and Cape George. We had ice cream and rested a bit. The coast was beautiful.

This was not really a lighthouse, but a replica of the lighthouse that once was. Inside was the ice cream store.

Shortly after stopping we heard thunder in the distance and saw the rain clouds coming up fast. Rather than put our rain gear on, we decided to run for it. We were headed up to the Cape George Light house and enjoyed a nice run with no rain at all.

This is Cape George Light House and some other pictures we took there.




Jeff grew a moustace made from tree fungus. None of us got too close to Jeff for a few days.

We heard the thunder and saw the clouds a headin our way again and this time wisely decided to suit up. At this point I realized that Peter had shed his lucky rain suit some time ago, and even though he was putting it back on now, its magic seemed to have worn off.

We left Cape George and headed South twoard Antigonish and Route 104. Shortly after getting our wheels spinning the heavans opened up a wet can of whoop ass on us. I don't think I ever rode in worse rain. We took it slow and safe but it wasn't a lot of fun.

We stopped at the Irving gas station just before the Causeway to fill up and had some hot chocolate and a snack while the rain finished up its business.

After that we made a quick stop in Mulgrave to pick up some essentials. Beer because we were in Canada and you can't get beer that good in the states and Crown Royal because that is what our cousin in law Quincy likes to drink and we figured it would conjure up some of his mojo to give us clear skies in the morning.

We arrived at the Paul Bunyon Cabins in Troy just over the causeway on Cape Breton. Stockings were hung by the chimney with care... no wait.. that's Christmas. We hung the wet cloths on the porch to dry. At least some of us did. It seems that your humble corespondent was the only one that stayed dry under his rain gear. Imagine that?

After we got settled inside I didn't stay dry for long.

This was our route on Day 4.

And then we all went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning when.........