DAY ONE

Every great adventure should start off with a great breakfast. Being new to cycling, I’ve had to learn the art of eating for exercise. So everyday, Sarah, my nutrition guru, gets an e-mail or a phone call or a personal visit from yours truly asking “What is protein?” “What are carbs?” or my favourite “Is bacon protein??” - of course when I ask that question, only one answer will satisfy, “Yes” although she’s educated me that it isn’t the best source.

So, our day started at 07:00 at Cora’s Breakfast & Lunch, where I chose the Spinach and Cheddar Eggs Benedict, eggs over medium with fresh fruit on the side. Eggs are protein, spinach is carbs, the English muffin - carbs and the fruit - I forget what fruit is but if I were to guess, I’d say carbs.

After breakfast we parted ways shortly to shower and get ready to go, I arrived at Sarah’s place at 09:15. At 09:40 the phone rang, it was Denise, letting us know that a group from work was waiting on the street corner to see us off.

We kicked it into high gear and at 09:50, we arrived at the corner of Grafton and Prince to our own personal fanfare! What a great start to the journey, it meant so much to have them all there, it was an important moment for me - one that I probably didn’t appreciate enough while it was happening, but did once the journey was all over.

We were late leaving, so as we crossed the bridge into Stratford, I made the point that if we are going to make the 1pm boat, we are going to have to really go hard. And, I didn’t want to go hard, but I said nothing, and went hard.

First break, as scheduled 14.8 km in at Mt. Albion. It’s 10:30.

Thirty-three clicks in at 11:45 in the morning, we realize that we aren’t going to make the 1pm boat. Well we could, but, we’d kill ourselves doing it. We aren’t riding together, we don’t have time to take the breaks we need and most importantly we aren’t enjoying ourselves. So, we decide to take it easy, bike together and take all the breaks we need.

First break, we sat in this little patch of grass, we were trying to wait until we hit the Shell in Belfast, but weren’t sure how much further so we stopped. Had a Cliff bar, finished off a Powerade and relaxed. As we got up to go, I noticed this statue across the street, a stone statue of a naked woman, well this was a photo op not to be missed. We both posed just like her and for added measure, I stood behind her and cupped her droopy boobs - HA! They could have used the lift.

We got back on the road and not 500 yards around the corner was the Shell we were looking for. We stopped and got fresh water and drinks.

Along the road, coasting down a hill past Belfast, we passed by three bikers heading the opposite direction, up the hill. First, a man with a modest amount of gear, second a woman, no gear and third, an old lady, at least 60, with enough gear for an entire army. I thought to myself, if Sarah and I are still biking when we are that old, I’ll be 60, she’ll be 53 and that thoughtless wench will make me carry all the gear.

It’s 15:30 and we’re aboard the boat. We should reach Caribou soon. We both took a little nap but I’m always concerned about two things while napping in public, a) that my wallet will be stolen, so I held on to it for dear life and b) that I’ll start drooling - never something you want to do in public. Sarah has made herself quite comfortable on the booth and in the middle of her nap raised her head to announce her hydropack stinks.

Saturday Night Live keeps running through my head, specifically Jimmy Fallon’s radio show skit when he says “And we’re back!” I keep saying in my own mind everytime we get going “And, we’re off!!”

We are getting close to the mainland and then we have another 22km to go until we reach our first rest stop, Sweet Dreams B&B.

At 16:30 we get back on the road. My legs are stinging with the rash or whatever is afflicting them. It makes the ride mentally tough. We were on the 106 and there is so much traffic, it was our first real highway ride. To put it mildly, I was getting cranky, to put it frankly - I was pissed!

We approached our exit, 1A, taking us to Mount William road. I was so happy to be off the highway. Despite being very close to our B&B, we stop for a break. My legs are hurting and I drained my hydropack on them to try and ease the stinging. On top of that, my chain is dry as a bone, despite the tune-up I JUST HAD! We oiled my chain and within ten minutes we were turning onto Spring Garden Road looking for the B&B.

This is my first experience staying at a B&B. We are staying with Diane, a lovely, kind lady. It is her home that after her children moved out she converted the bedrooms into B&Bs.

The best part of the trip so far - the first shower! Water is a beautiful thing when you are covered with 4 layers of sunscreen and 10 layers of sweat. It was the hottest day of the year so far. First lesson: Never underestimate the power of water.

Now, when I was booking the B&Bs for the trip, I figured we wanted to make as much distance the first day, so I didn’t book in New Glasgow, cause I figured we could make it further than that. Turns out only 3 km further. Here I thought we were at least 12 km further inland....nope!

Feeling adventurous (or stupid) but very hungry none the less, we walked into New Glasgow for dinner at the RancHouse Restaurant in the Highland Square Mall.

Before leaving for our trip, Sarah and I had this vision of what our first dinner would be like - a big plate of pasta and a cold beer. Well, that was not to be. The waitress carded me. Carded me! I’m 29 and of course I don’t have my card on me.

The RancHouse was a cross between a pub and a middle class family restaurant, Steak and Stein sort of deal, nothing over $12.00, yet it still had “soup du jour” on its menu - so points for style. Food was decent though, nachos, quesadillas and a spinach salad.

Afterwards, like any typical date night, we partook in some local entertainment. While waiting for our cab, we watched a typical Friday night white trash - “Don’t look at me that way” - brawl. One of the young “ladies” obviously did not check out her outfit in the mirror before she left, nor does she have any family or friends who love her, or else she wouldn’t have left the house in that little white skirt. My first thought - and quote for the day - “Why don’t you just ask them to sleep with you?”

The cab was $10 - outrageous. By 21:20 we were asleep. Very bad sleep.

DAY TWO

Great breakfast. Diane had fresh strawberries ready for us, tea biscuits, banana bread, ham, eggs, toast and cereal. Incredible.

Diane’s granddaughter Victoria showed Sarah every last picture of her cousins and then we watched her pile half a pound of butter on half a biscuit.

It is a nice day outside, we are leaving a little late, it is 10:30, 20 degrees outside, the winds are 22km SW. A little high, but I think southwest means that we’ll have a tailwind, some cross wind, as we are heading south as well. Second lesson: SW winds means they are coming out of the south west. So we had a head wind, a nice strong head wind. It is unfortunate because the road isn’t that difficult, for every up hill there is a very generous downhill, but the wind restricts our coasting opportunities.

We are in the middle of the forest, there are no signs of life around us. We break 38km in along the Stewiake River at the Crockett Community Park. I’m out of water, Sarah shares what she has left with me, cause we have a ways to go before we find a store. We took a few moments to cool off in the river, my bottom took a dip as well :-) heh heh. We have approximately 40 km left to go. It is 14:00 and we are hoping to find somewhere to have lunch soon.

We pass a cruel sign - Welcome to the Halifax Regional Municipality! I mean come on!!! Who are they kidding? Cruel.

On our approach to Upper Musquodoboit I spot a little old lady sitting on her deck waving hello to us as we pass. I figure I will stop and ask how close we are to town. No sooner I ask the question and her dog starts charging me. I yell to have her call her dog back and she says - as all dog owners do - “Don’t worry he’s friendly”.My response is “I don’t care, I’m afraid of dogs, I stopped because you are friendly.” She said we’re less than a mile from town.

We finally arrive at JJ’s Country Grill, it is 4pm. It’s been a hard ride for me today. Mentally I had my heart set on being able to have 3 square meals, so to be just sitting down to lunch now, dehydrated and hot, has been hard. Lesson three: When locals say “Oh! So your heading into the forest.” Take that as a sign to ask how far to the next store. When they say 65km, stock up on food.

I ordered a club sandwich, delicious! With a glass of milk and at least a litre of water. We indulge in dessert and I had a piece of lemon meringue pie.

I changed into a new shirt, I’m tempted to just throw the other in the trash. Did I mention it has been the hottest two days of the summer so far. Mid way through the day, I realize what a dummy I am. I put my handle bars on backwards so for the past two days, the screws have been digging into my palms. Just a chick on a bike!

Six o’clock, we reach Middle Musquodoboit.

I can’t imagine doing this ride with a better person than Sarah. She’s amazing and so supportive. She knows now when I’m struggling and spent the last 15 km of the ride giving a countdown of how many more clicks there were to go. My morale is low, my legs are hurting, the sun is relentless, and every turn seems to bring just more trees :-) I get very quiet and withdrawn when the ride is starting to get to me and I’m so thankful to have her with me. She’s a great gal!

We stop at the Pharmasave to get some Powerade and I need some Epsom salts, I think a bath is going to be in order tonight. We arrive at Bruce Fulton’s B&B at 18:16.

The room is nice, antique furniture, yellow shag carpet, makes me smile :-)

Last night, Sarah let me shower first, so tonight the honour is hers. While she showered, I went downstairs to introduce myself officially to Bruce, he told me we could keep our bikes inside for the night, so I went out and moved them in.

The shower wasn’t as nice here, but still refreshing. I swear, I LOVE WATER!!

It is time to eat and tonight I REALLY need a beer. Sarah has cousins in town and would like to invite them along for dinner.

Social Pam, not to mention friendly Pam was lost approximately 42 km ago, but it’s family, what can you say.

Middle Musquodoboit has one restaurant - one unlicensed restaurant - despite its location being shared with the local liquor store. Sarah’s cousins suggest going to their place where they have chicken cooked. We walk up to the liquor store and get some beer and wait for her cousins to arrive.

Of course what better way to enjoy yourselves while waiting for your ride than some more local white trash entertainment???

So here’s the situation (cross between Fresh Prince of Bel Air and SNL style).

“Drunk girl arrives with her two male friends, Drunk and Drunker. Drunk girl goes into Reed’s restaurant. Drunk followed slowly by drunker head into the liquor store - clearly something they don’t need more of.

Drunk girl reappears with a glass in hand and pours herself a beer and announces “I own this joint” and with that declares the restaurant suddenly licensed! She then kindly lets drunker know that she has ordered him his dinner. Unfortunately, I cannot share with you what delicable dish she had in mind as Sarah has told me that she will be editing the content for our audience (ie. Mom Tyrrell)

John Matthew and Michelle (cousins) finally arrive - and none to soon - and we head to their place.

There are two things I am really scared of in this life, one is “going fast in non-enclosed moving objects” - hence why I have the tendency to ride my bike break going down steeps hills. The second and most crippling fear is of dogs.

John Matthew has four dogs. Four dogs . Four. FOUR. 4. One, two, three, FOUR!!!

Everything seemed to happen very quickly, yet painfully slowly at the same time. Suddenly there I was standing outside their home, frozen, my hands holding my face, dogs swarming around me - BIG dogs swarming around me.

Seeing how the owners may read this web site, I will say that they were doing the best to hold them back - (not really)

All I can hear is barking, running, more barking, everyone laughing and hearing their dear mother say the dreaded “they’re friendly dear, they’re friendly” Tears are filling my eyes and I am doing everything I can to try to not start sobbing in front of these new people. Finally they get me inside the house and the dogs outside.

I just wanted to hide and cry.

Lesson for all dog owners: For people who have a fear of dogs, friendly dogs are our worst fear come true. We welcome only despondent dogs, the kind of dogs who are afraid of people. Not friendly dogs. Hearing you have a friendly dog means the following to those of us afraid of dogs...they are going to come over to me, they may jump on me and they likely will stick their wet nose on me and even more likely will open their mouth and stick out their tongue and try to touch me with it. Dog owners call it a kiss. Those of us afraid of dogs see it as a taste test.

We had a couple of beers and enjoyed a delicious meal. Many discussions were had about how unfortunate it was that my incident with the dogs was not caught on film (who are these sick people????) After the beer settles in I agree to climb on top of the pick up truck and let one dog come out and take a picture of us as a momento. Hmmmmm....let’s move on, shall we?

I can’t believe it, I’m so energized, we are entering the home stretch.

It’s 08:15. We head down to breakfast, I had cereal, at least 5 little yellow plums, which I admit I had no idea what they were, a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. Very little chit chat around the dining table except for a few too many long, drawn out words with a lady in town for a family reunion. She kept laughing as she told her story without ever reaching a punch line.

It’s 09:30. We get on the road early today. Overcast morning, which is a welcome break from the hot, hot sun.

So for whatever reason, I’ve always wanted to take my picture on top of one of those big round bails of hay. So we come across the ideal location when suddenly Sarah chickens out because she spots a farmer 5,000 yards away. Though I respect her decision, I’m thinking to myself - we’re on bikes, it’s not like we can steal a bail of hay.

At 10:35 after too long climbs, we stop at the peak of the second hill for a break. 17km into the day.

What a beautiful day, it is overcast but warm, the sun is just starting to break through. We’re really enjoying the ride today and staying together the whole way. The road isn’t very busy and the drive along the Musquodoboit River is beautiful. We’re making great speed, for a stretch we were keeping a 30km/h pace. We stop to take a picture at the 200 km mark.

By 12:00, we reach Musquodoboit Harbour and we stop to have lunch at the Original. I have a cold cut sandwich and Sarah has the biggest sub in the world. She thought she ordered a small - guess not.

We make a few joyous phone calls to let everyone know how close we are.

Last night Sarah warned me about a hill we would face, a very steep hill. Of course, in doing so, my dreams last night made this hill a mountain of greatest proportions in my mind.

It was big. An exhausting climb. We skip the next pit stop because it is at the bottom of that big climb and I can’t stand the thought of losing the momentum you gain during a decent hill.

We’re approaching Porter’s Lake, approximately 3km from Lake Echo. It is uphill climb and Sarah’s yells to me that just over the hill will be Porter’s Lake. As I reach the top, the Superstore comes into view and tears come to my eyes. We are as good as home. We did it! I did it! I knew Sarah could do it, I knew I “would” do it and if nothing else got me to the finish line, my determination would. Physically and emotionally though - I feel great. I feel incredible. I’m so proud of myself.

We stop for a quick break and then take the final stretch of road into Lake Echo.

It isn’t an easy finish, lots of little climbs along the way, and although I can’t speak for Sarah, the only thing on my mind is what is certain to be our toughest moment yet - her street. Martin Lake Drive should definitely have one of those road markers indicating its incline grade. The night before we left on the trip, my eyes popped wide open in the middle of the night, realizing we had to go up that street!

We make a right hand turn onto Martin Lake drive and this is no gradual hill, I get out of the saddle and start the incline, trying to put off gearing down. Finally, I need to gear down, the bike can’t handle the shift and the chain comes off. The first thing to go wrong with the bikes happens 500 feet from the finish :) So in the middle of the hill, we stop and put the chain back on.

What a climb, we pull into her driveway together. A congratulations sign with balloons welcomes us home. We ring our bells in victory and Sarah’s mom and Denise come running out to greet us. Of course, I cannot contain myself - tears flow and I feel like I am on top of the world!