It Was a Dark and Rainy Morning

My night hiding behind the “Road Closed” sign passed without incident. Other than rain. I’m not sure if it rained all night but it started around 11:00 and was raining whenever I wfoke up during the night and this morning. I was hoping to get an early start but decided I’d give it some time and try to wait out the rain. Unfortunately, by 7:30 nature of another sort was calling. Fortunately, it would seem on this morning that nature could only do one thing at a time and by the time I set foot outside of my tent the rain had stopped. It was cloudy. It was foggy. It was surprising warm and muggy. And it wasn’t raining.

With nature taken care of, I returned to my “campsite” to pack up. Since waiting for my tent to dry out wasn’t an option this time, I proceeded to pack up my VERY soaked tent. Never fun. My original plan for the morning was to head over to the Atlantic Superstore to get some fruit for the road. That plan fell apart when I remembered that today was Labour Day and such stores were likely to be closed. And they were.

Without my side trip for groceries, I was on the road by 9:10. I didn’t really have a fixed goal for the day other than to get about halfway to Yarmouth. With that criteria, I was aiming for Shelburne – about 120 km away. I mean, 120 leisurely kilometres away.

Once again I was also planning to be much more aware of stopping for food, water, and rest on a regular basis. To that end, I’d say I had a successful day. I think I stopped three times in the first two hours – including once at a local fruit market where I picked up a couple of bananas and some local pears. I have to say, I wish bananas were more travel-friendly. But given their somewhat fragile nature I always limit myself to two – one of which I eat right away. The pears were much more travel-ready.

My first major stop was in Liverpool for lunch. Other than eating and taking a break, I didn’t really do much while there. And in an effort to keep myself out of race mode, I just hung out at the Subway, eating lunch and reading the local newspaper for about an hour.

By 1:00 I was back on the road. I stopped to take a few photos of the scenery alone the way – something I didn’t do much of yesterday. And based on my godmother’s Guestbook posting, I should’ve done the detour to Peggy’s Cove. I think I knew it at the time I was just too focused on the part about it being a four hour detour on a bicycle.

The clouds that greeted me when I opened my tent this morning had followed me to Liverpool, but they were starting to show signs of weakness. The sun was peaking through more and more and it was turning into a surprisingly nice day. And the wind wasn’t the burden the forecast made it out to be.

My arrival in Shelburne did not bring about the end to my 120 km cycling day. The seeking out of a suitable place to camp ended up taking significantly more effort than anticipated. The gas station next to the highway didn’t really have an ideal (ie. covert) camping area so I decided to explore the area. It turns out there’s a provincial park in Shelburne. I knew it would be futile to go there but I went anyway. As expected, the price for a provincial site was ridiculous for one person. Just for fun, I asked about setting up my tent in the massive (and empty) green space next to the office but, as per usual, everyone is afraid of what their boss will say and and, as such, that idea was shot down.

I cycled on down the road out of town for a few kilometres to see if any other camping possibilities were to be found. There weren’t. This was proving more challenging than expected. I returned to Shelburne and carried on into the heart of the town. I didn’t find camping but I did find a very picturesque waterfront setting – and the timing was pretty good as the sun was beginning to set. It didn’t help my camping dilemma but I did get some nice photos out of it.

With the photos taken, and the sun quickly disappearing I knew I had to find a camping location sooner rather than later. In my initial search of the area around the highway there was a small area which I thought would do if necessary. With darkness starting to take over, I deemed it was now necessary. I unloaded my bike and unpacked my still soaked tent. I had really hoped to get set up earlier so I could air out the tent. As the song says, you can’t always get what you want. Then, at the very moment I was rolling out my tent, an unmarked police car appeared and did a u-turn right into my “campsite”. The timing was so perfect I couldn’t believe it. He completed his u-turn and parked on the shoulder. I kept waiting for the door to open and the ensuing chat that was about to happen. Except it never happened. It would seem he had more pressing things to deal with and a few minutes later he sped off onto the highway, with lights and sirens on.

I finished setting up my tent and have been hiding in it ever since. It’s a warm, muggy night and the mosquitos are on patrol outside my tent. And they seem hungry (or thirsty). I can’t be sure but I think they might know I’m running low on water. Right now, it’s just a big waiting game. I may be low on water, but I still have deet. I expect casualties on both sides of this battle.

Today’s Totals:
Distance travelled: 137.66 km
Time on bike: 7:08:22
Maximum speed: 59.01 km/h
Average speed: 19.26 km/h