Spain and Beyond

Biking Day 2:
58.15 miles, 1265 ft ascent, 8 hrs. 9 min.
Daily Drena: Sore Bums

[Technical Note: You can now click on the photos and more easily view them in the galleries]

An early start to the day gets us up at 7:30am for a continental breakfast at the Northport Pier Inn. We run into the Freewheelers customers (a bike touring company) again, which consist of 3 older ladies doing a very similar route to our own, however, they are doing all Confederation Trail today down to Summerside, while we are taking a longer, but hopefully more scenic route along Route 12 (part of the North Cape Coastal Drive). The day looks sketchy, with grey clouds stretching to the horizon, so we toss on some long sleeves and get started.

Unfortunately, about 10 minutes after we start the clouds start sending mist down from the skies. Stopped, this is perfectly fine as it is just a light mist that isn’t bothersome. But, when you’re riding along at 10-15mph it quickly becomes an all-enveloping globe of water that hits you from every which direction. Not looking like it is going to clear up, we toss on some rain jackets and continue along the way simply resigning ourselves to getting wet today. After about 30 minutes the mist stops and we begin the long process of drying out. The grey skies continue, but it’s the perfect temperature for a long bike ride. Along the way, we run into a group of 8-10 Aussies tooling along on road bikes along the same route as ourselves. We pass them, stop for a photo, then they pass us, etc. for the next 5-10 miles as we enjoy the pastoral landscapes and barns along the way. As we hit the main highway, we split off in directions as they continue down the highway while we take a “shortcut” to the Confederation Trail for a few miles to avoid the busy highway. As I look up from my GPS and to the road we are supposed to go on to get the trail, I shrug and dive headlong onto Percival Road which is about 1/2 mile long before connecting to the trail. Now, this *may* have been a road at some point, but it seems to me like it ceased qualifying for that terminology ages ago. The road starts as dirt but after 50 yards turns into grass, which then turns into two ruts of puddles and thigh-high weeds and wildflowers. Determined to see this through, I plow onward, checking back to ensure Lorena is still following and promptly send the bike into a rut puddle, barely maintaining control. I do not recommend this “road” for hybrid bikes with skinny tires after a lengthy amount of rain. We make it through though, take the brief stint along the Confederation Trail, then head back onto Route 12 to Tyne Valley where we stop at a quaint little tea shop for lunch.

30 miles down, 30 miles to go … more pastoral landscapes, churches, and rolling fields of hay, corn, and potatoes on either side. We started to wonder after the miles rolled along though as to what the hay was actually for as we hadn’t seen a single sighting of any livestock to speak of. But finally after many miles we started transitioning from hay fields to farms with dairy and beef cattle.

A quick stop in Miscouche to play around in the bike park – hey, you gotta if you’re on a bike! – then back on the Confederation Trail to the town of Summerside.

Arriving in Summerside, I let Lorena know that we need to go through town to get to our B&B for the night. With an expression of horror she asks about dinner and I let her know we will have to bike or walk back into town about a mile. Considering how sore our bums are by this point, this does not sound like a reasonable suggestion to her, so with a smirk on her face she says “What about pizza?”. Sounds good to me, so we stop in for some pizza and, kazaam, I am now a pizza deliveryman.

We find a nice little place to take a break along the waterfront in town and enjoy part of our meal because hey, why not!

While it was a pleasant time eating along the waterfront, after hanging out for about 15 minutes we get back on the bikes to head back into town. And we decide stopping to eat was a horrible idea as our butts and legs have locked up on us and we struggle to go 5mph for the next mile or two to our B&B for the night, but we make it at last! It’s only 5:30 or so, but after cleaning up, Lorena passes out on the bed and I shortly follow.