Sunday August 5: An easy decision that was hard to take
I was up at 4:30 am, and ready to ride at 5:30 am. There were thunderstorms predicted till 1 pm all over
Cape
Breton, but no signs thereof in Port Hastings. Well, that changed by sunrise at 5:45 am! The heavens opened and there was a tremendous show of light and sound!Since it was still thundering at 8:30 am, and the forecast hadn’t changed, I made the decision that I would not ride up to
North Sydney. The weather, coupled with the less-than-desirable road conditions and the volume of traffic because of the long weekend, I felt it too risky to ride those 150 km, especially if I had to wait to noon to start. I had seen enough evidence of drivers rushing over the last few days and making sometimes stupid decisions, and had no desire to wind up a traffic death statistic. I had to be in
North Sydney that evening to catch the ferry at 7:30 am on Monday. The decision was easy to make analytically, but the emotional effect on me was hard: this was the first time that I was not riding a stretch of the route.
I decided to rent a minivan – many thanks to Cheryl at National Car Rental in Port Hawkesbury — and enjoy the drive up, via sideroads where possible. This gave me a chance to see some of the TransCanada Trail in
Cape
Breton. The quality of trail looked pretty good (mountain bikes recommended) with reasonable signage. Another trail to ride at another time!
While en route, I happened to pick up a CBC radio concert featuring Pierre Schreyer and band playing the song A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly. I pulled off to listen to it, and reflected especially on the war memorials of small towns like Binscarth, MB and Cape Tourmentine, NB.
It was interesting driving on a highway again. After being on a bike for so long, my respect for travelling at highway speeds has greatly increased, which will hopefully translate into increased patience when driving.