58 km, 3.5 hrs
Today we rode the 104 highway from Port Hawksbury to Antigonish – a much more positive experience than the ring road around Sydney. The shoulders were wide when there was one lane and narrow when there was a passing lane. This worked out pretty well, as when there is a passing lane one of us needs to ride out far enough (just past the line) to ensure that cars change lanes rather than just passing us in the right lane.
The ride across the Canso Causeway was pretty, as was the initial few kilometers on Nova Scotia, but after that it turned inland and we saw little but trees. Riding on the highway is relatively fast, in that it helps us get to our destination quickly; however, the ride is really boring. We are looking forward to following more of the coastal roads and seeing more of Nova Scotia than the highway.
We arrived in Antigonish just in time to visit Dairy Queen (Blizzards – just what the doctor ordered – yum!) and go to the Visitor Centre before the big black cloud finally caught up to us. This gave us time to relax indoors during the deluge rather than getting soaked like yesterday, but it was after 4 pm when the weather cleared, and the next accommodation was more than 40km away. With more storms coming, we decided to stay in Antigonish for the night. We stayed at the Antigonish Evergreen Inn – a very nice motel, newly renovated. Recommended! It has been a long time since we stayed at a motel, because B&Bs have been much cheaper.
The hotel was a bit far away from downtown restaurants, so we ordered in Chinese food. Becky was definitely hesitant, but we were both pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food from the Moonlight Chinese Restaurant. Yumm!
Download GPS Track in GPX format