Day 22 - Some long days bring out the grump, even when they are beautiful!

miles today: 100 total miles: 1,423
km today: 161 total km: 2,290


Well, today was, we knew, going to be the longest remaining day, and the last 100 mile day (even though we’ve been thinking “kilometers” most of the time). It was also meant to be another day of tailwinds and the entry into our final Canadian province - Nova Scotia! The stars last night were glorious - we both remarked how little we’ve seen the stars on this trip. It’s been cloudy most nights and, even though camping, we’ve often been around light pollution. But, this spot also has serious mosquitos, so we got a pretty early start, moved quickly, and hit the road before we were eaten alive.

We saw a GIANT Acadia flag early on - Chandra wants to say more about these. It’s nutty that the Cajuns in Louisiana are displaced Acadians from this region. The fact that it ties our trips to NOLA and this one together is a little wild. This flag was like a US flag at a Perkins :).

We stopped to stretch at about 30 km and had a lovely conversation with an older guy (very fit and turned out he said he was 71). He sat and ate his lunch while we did our stretching and chatted with him about healthy living with a backdrop of the ocean and an estuary. Kind of crazy, really!

A little later, we dipped into a Tim Horton’s for a snack and some coffee - we wanted to make our lunch at the halfway point of Shediac - apparent lobster capital of the universe :). Somehow, pulling in to the TH, we got a flat - first since Quebec.

Honestly, it you are going to flat, having a nice table to work on is ideal! But … I was pretty frustrated at getting a flat. The roads have been good, but any time I misjudge and hit a rock or something with the rear wheel, we get a pinch flat. It was the beginning of the split day - a pleasant but long day of riding, but me getting frustrated and kinda grumpy as well.

But on to Shediac! We made it after a few hours of a thankful push from the wind and not too many hills. They take the lobster thing seriously and have erected a giant lobster sculpture.

We were determined to stop for a lunch of lobster rolls and did a little research online (only Trip Advisor had anything to say) and identified what looked like a good option. But, a visitor’s center docent at the giant lobster did a great job of navigating a mission to not choose one place over another, and gently suggested we check out Le Moque-Tortue - where they serve lobster rolls as a set of three little ones with chips and a pasta salad. And they have a big terrace. The radler and cider were welcome as well!


The place was kinda nutty - with an Alice in Wonderland theme, board games, and rooms with various themes. So funky. When we were in Maine a few years ago, we paid insanely high prices for lobster rolls and it seemed phoned in. These ones were a culinary singularity - sooooo good! It was great to sit on the terrace as well. Here’s a sample of the decor there.


The server had done bike touring in the Madline Islands and Tasmania, so we had a nice chat. But … halfway on a long day means many km to go. So, we got a move on.

The reason there are two maps is that I couldn’t figure out why ridewithgps was not allowing us to connect on a bridge in a later town past Shediac. As it happens, a guy passed us on a road bike and made sure we knew the bridge was out. That explains the ridewithgps issue, although when looking on google maps, the bridge was plainly visible. Technology doesn’t always win, though. So we followed his advice to just jump on the highway, and I saw our route would put us on there eventually anyway. But, on the way to the highway, I was trying to read the map on the bike computer and missed a massive pothole - flat!

The roads have been so smooth and easy, but occassionally there are these big potholes. My eyesight for reading is not as good as it was, so I often strain to read the computer map (or I look aside to check out the view) and it’s easy to miss an obstacle in the road. We fixed this flat quickly, but it put me in a bit of a funk. We’ve been mansplained to and admonished by lots of people about flat tires on the tandem. Our wheels are too small (these are the biggest we can run with this frame), or we run at too low pressure, or we run at too high pressure. But the bottom line is, on this trip, most flats have been me failing to avoid what is often a pretty obvious obstacle in the road and running over it with the rear wheel. Chandra has not once given me a hard time for my role in these, but I’ve internalized it alot. And today it made me pretty grump and frustrated, and unfortunately I kinda directed that Chandra’s way. I hate that, because we’ve worked so well together this whole time. And we talked and worked through it, but the long day, the flats, a change in the wind, rougher roads, some routefinding issues - it all made me not my best self. At the end of the day, parking the bike, it fell over a bit and I was too tired to articulate correctly what I wanted Chandra to do (it’s important to support the whole “spine” of the bike and trailer to not twist the rear wheel - kinda like rolling an injured person and protecting their spine) but I barked the wrong thing, asking her to pull on the wheel. Frustrating and grumpy. Not my best moments, but thankfully we talked it all through and I’m glad more days aren’t this way.

But I digress - the detour around the bridge wasn’t bad - the main highway has a big smooth shoulder and is loud due to traffic but not bad riding. Chandra got a great shot of a truck passing for perspective.

But after we got off the highway there were some beautiful sections of road.



We ground out the final kms, even seeing this nutty bike sculpture.

We crossed, without fanfare or even a sign (save for a “do not import bees” sign) into Nova Scotia. The roads in Nova Scotia were kind and we finally made it to Amherst Shores and a campground near the beach where we plan to have a little moment for Uncle Noel in the morning.

Uncle Noel was not my uncle by blood, but he was an important influence on my life (he was the uncle of my childhood best friend) and, thankfully, someone Chandra got to know in the past years as part of the the Lake Pepin Three Speed Tour. The painting on the sticker has been on our bike, and we’ve had a small vial of his ashes on board this whole trip - Noel passed away (in his tent, on a bike trip) earlier this year. We plan to have a little moment to commemorate him in the morning and leave his ashes. Noel spent alot of time in Prince Edward Island and, while we won’t visit there, we will be able to see it.

In addition to the Acadia connection, Noel connects our bike trip to New Orleans with this one. He and his partner, years ago, rode to New Orleans together and that planted a seed that flourished a decade ago for us. As for here, for many years, I mistakenly recalled Noel had bicycled to Prince Edward Island - it turns out he rode around PEI a bunch, but drove out here. But no matter, I thought he rode here and that helped shape our vision for a bike trip to the Atlantic Ocean. And here we are.

It was a long day (we even flatted on the gravel pulling into our campsite!) but a little cider, beer, and a heartly meal and our spirits have been raised. I’ve confronted the grumpiness I experienced today - a long day with many kms - and ready to bring my better self to finish the final couple days in good style. This place s gorgeous and I look forward to honoring Noel in the morning at the beach, then heading over the mountains to Truro for our penultimate day!