We projected this as a two-day journey each way from my house: I pick up John from north of Baltimore and we drive to Bangor, ME the first day, and then adding Henry and Scott we drive just shy of Port Hawkesbury the second.
The idea was to take six days to ride around the whole Cabot Trail and back down on Port Hawkesbury. I was out of shape but on my trusty Co-Motion, John had been inexplicably training for the trip and brought the 520, while Henry and Scott just gave up all sense of dignity and rode electric mountain bikes: Henry a Trek Rail and Scott a Trek Power Fly. Scott at least put road tires on; Henry rode knobbies the whole way.
Since we had the car, the idea was for one person to drive each day of the ride, relieving any of us from having to carry our gear. John and I whined about not having many tours left etc., so John drove day 1, I drove day 6, and Henry/Scott split the other four.
We drove from the Comfort Inn in Bangor up to The Cove Motel and Restaurant just south of the causeway to Cape Breton. We had three small cottages at the motel, Henry and Scott in one and John and I each one to ourselves. The cottages were cute and the restaurant decent (w/ a good lounge singer!), so we were well prepared to properly start the trip.
(58 miles / 1603 ft climb)
The motel is more than 60 miles from the Cabot Trail proper. However, the ride up the eastern side of Cape Breton was almost entirely on a lovely coastal trail. We stopped for lunch at The Red Shoe pub in Mabou, where John joined us after parking the car and riding back. Our stay the first night was at Maple Meadows Campground. A bit primitive, but the tenting area was pretty and showers available. Sadly, we did not get there in time to check out the nearby distillery, and had to make do w/ outdoor seating and a view of the sunset at Route 19 Brewing.
(48 miles / 2669 ft climb)
Our route from Inverness up to the Cabot Trail had us on several muddy off-road trails. After the first, I insisted on riding the road, which was fine, if more than a bit hilly. Hitting the Cabot Trail we headed east towards Cheticamp, taking a detour on the Cheticamp Back Road, which was newly paved, mostly car-free, but also hilly.... We stayed at the Cheticamp Campground, part of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.
For dinner we drove in to the L'abri Cafe in Cheticamp and had a quite decent dinner. Note the "panic line", which the waitress said was for both waitress and customer so that the customer didn't have to worry about being beer-free for any meaningful length of time.
(23 miles / 1438 ft climb)
This ride had the two hardest rides on the trip. I ended up riding in the car before joining Scott in a great, if nerve-wracking, downhill towards Dingwall. John rode or walked the whole thing.
I booked a Markland Cottage months in advance because there was nothing else up here. We were blown away by how beautiful the location was. The cottages were tinker-toy log cabins, but clean and functional. We only had two bedrooms, so I took the couch while Henry and Scott shared a room. Scott and I went for a swim in the ocean (missed you, Bill!)
The attached restaurant was outstanding. I had both the best seafood chowder and poutine I've ever eaten. The seafood was tender, tasty, and plentiful, while the broth was thin, but incredibly good. Note the use of cheese curds in the poutine, no shredded cheese. Granted, I haven't eaten much poutine, but this I'd eat any time. Poutine experts Henry and Scott agreed.
This overnight was easily the find of the trip.
(33.4 miles / 2440 ft climb)
We knew this could be a very pretty ride today, and had been told that going off the Cabot Trail towards White Point was spectacular, ending w/ an even more spectacular path to the a cliff overlook at the end.
The warning signs started early: the clouds were ominous and sag driver Scott soon texted that the route was 'quite hilly'. That was an understatement.
After one 12%+ hill the rain started coming down in torrents. Scott texted again that we should definitely not take the White Point turn. I did one more hill before calling Scott to pick me up. He arrived quickly, but when he showed up the clouds parted and the sun reappeared. WTF!? I biked on.
The rest of the day was rolling hills w/ a tailwind, allowing us to get to the Island Inn and further to a lunch stop at Ingonish Beach. After lunch we got back to the inn just before the rain came back in earnest: waves and waves of it.
(61.9 miles / 3803 ft climb)
From Ingonish beach we headed south again, up and over the spectacularly steep Old Smokey.
Sadly, though this 900-ft climb was steep, it was less than a quarter of the total climbing for the day. This day was hard, and hot. I had two large water bottles, ran out, and there were no stores of any kind to let us refill. Just as I started eyeing the infrequent houses to find one with the best probability of someone being home, and the least elevation change to and from the front door, I had to stop at another single-lane construction stretch. Remembering that Henry had gotten water from road construction workers in Alaska, I inquired and was given three cold bottles of water: huzzah! Another few miles and I reached the lobster restaurant where Scott was waiting. We had wonderful bagels w/ cream cheese and lox, easily enough fuel for the rest of the ride.
During the last portion of this ride the Cabot Trail was also TransCanada 105, i.e. a big highway. Not a lot of fun, but the shoulders were decent and we were able to get off the highway to ride through Baddeck, a cute little seaside town.
Our overnight was in a couple of basic cabins at Bras d'Or Lake campground. There was a pool, great showers, and food nearby. The only other thing of note was that John gave me the "light sleeper's seal of approval", as evidently I no longer snore...
We initially planned the last day to bike 60 miles back to the Cove motel where we had started, but this was looking like a boring 60-mile highway ride w/ no scenery. Scott instead proposed biking the 23 miles of the Cabot trail back to where we had joined it five days ago (completing the loop) and then hopping into the car and driving to the motel.
However, given how short this day was going to be, we decided to skip the motel and to just keep driving after the day's ride was finished. While the ebikers headed east on the Cabot Trail, John and I hopped in the car and got provisions at a nearby Tim Hortons, dropping some of it off to the hungry cyclists. Of course, they weren't really working all that hard...
Were were all back in the car and heading south by 10am. We kept getting more ambitious about our goals, to the extent that once we dropped Henry/Scott off in Bangor at 5pm or so, John and I just kept going. I've been known to do long drives, and John is even crazier, so I dropped John off north of Baltimore at about 4am, and I got home by 5am. 1150 miles, give or take.
