bcityroller
Gear Whore
Trip Report - Boston to Cape Breton, NS, Canada
Last week I took a trip from Boston area through the Cabot Trail. One of my co-riders (Tony) took the time to write a ride report and I added some of my own thoughts so I'm posting up as-is with his words being prime with a link to photos for those interested. I guess it'll be in two pieces to make the post limit.
Boston to Cape Breton Canada Trip Report September 23-27, 2009
This marked my longest motorcycle trips thus far. 1750 miles in 5 days isn’t exactly a relaxed pace but the scenery and great company made it well worth the trip. Our group comprised of 6 solo riders on a Goldwing (Jack), Yamaha FZ6 (Scott), Ducati Multi Strada (Bill), BMW KLT (Doug), Honda Blackbird (Rich), and yours truly on the Triumph Trophy (Tony).
The most important key for a successful group ride with a time constraint is a well-planned trip. All credit must go to our young ride captain Scott (and his GPS).
DAY 1: Wednesday 9/23/09
Our plan was to be challenged right from the get-go. Jack found a screw in his new rear tire the day before so he diverted to Laconia NH for a new tire before meeting up with us in Bar Harbor at the end of the day. Scott was delayed for a few hours waiting for his wife to get home from work to care for their son who got ill. Rich had an oop-sie by dropping his what used-to-look-brand-new Blackbird before even getting underway. Bill decided to hang out be Scott’s wingman (what a guy!) so the plan was modified for Rich and I to meet Doug patiently waiting in Portland then meet-up with Scott and Bill along the way to Bar Harbor, our destination for the night. The weather was exceptionally nice and made-up for the rough start. From Portland, Doug Rich and I took 295 to route 1N along the coast. Unfortunately the good weather drew a bit of traffic and periodic road construction made slow going through the towns (yes Rich, we should have listened to you to take the rt. 90 loop around). We stopped in Camden for lunch and as we were settling our debts, I happened to look outside and wouldn’t you know there were Scott and Bill parading in stop & go traffic right outside, what timing! From Camden we pressed north on rt. 1 and we all got to experience some of the local aromas by getting stuck behind a baitfish truck leaking water and what ever else for about 10 miles! The strangest thing for me along the way 1N was seeing my compass point in every direction but north. We finally rolled in to Bar Harbor around 5pm and were greeted by Jack hanging out in the downtown area sipping his coffee. Rich, Doug, and I decided to use the remaining daylight to go to the top of Cadillac Mountain and do a small loop before checking in to our motel with the remaining crew. Cadillac Mountain was beautifully paved, a great ride with beautiful vistas save for the 50 mph gusts and 45 F temperatures at the top. We checked in to the biker-friendly Colony motel before a harbor side dinner at the Colony Restaurant. I wished I were brave enough to snap a photo of the Amish couple next to us. They looked like actors from the movie “Witness” starring Harrison Ford.
Scott’s Thoughts – Was happy to actually be on this trip after messing up my ribs a few weeks earlier and then having the little guy get sick, but I was ready to go cold and all. Thanks to Bill for waiting and riding the first stretch with me. I didn’t feel like we were making that great of time but we did manage to catch up with Doug, Rich and Tony even if they had a two-hour head start. The “half-a-Zakim” Penobscot Narrows Bridge was cool – those footings for the cables are huge when you’re riding right next to them. In Bar Harbor, Bill’s ability to find a beer store was less then stellar but it worked out. The innkeeper at the Colony was less than motivated – who leaves the office at 6PM? – but Bill, Jack and I sitting on porch having a beverage did seem to generate a line by the time she got back. Somewhere around then, I realized the getting on the ferry would be wet metal ramps – something to look forward to. Dinner was uneventful, except that apparently I was the only one who could read menus and checks - this would be consistent throughout the trip.
DAY 2: Thursday 9/24/09
Early rise to be at the CAT ferry by 7 am gassed with breakfast. The weather looked to be as promising as the day before. Just as we left the motel we saw a cruise ship off at a distance in the harbor maneuvering to drop anchor. Little did we know we know we’d get an up close and personal look at it and a second ship later on the CAT leaving the harbor. According to Scott who is a CAT veteran, we were not to have any good expectations of the ferry ride to Yarmouth. Fortunately the loading/unloading went smoothly, there were no long lines or delays, the ride was fairly smooth and we even got to see a few whales off the port side. The whole experience made the $176 one-way cost a lot less painful. Arrival and customs at Yarmouth was a breeze and after waiting for a “certain member” of our group to gear-up, we were headed northeast on NS 103 to Shelburne where we stumbled on the “best place in NS to eat”, the Charlotte Lane Café. Rt. 103 was ok but pretty desolate and made me think of how harsh and windy their winters must be looking at the stubby evergreens. We bailed off on rt. 14N taking us to the northwest side of NS via scenic rolling hills. It was a shame bad the road surface wasn’t better on rt. 14 but it made me really appreciate my suspension upgrade. At the end of the road our ride captain presented us with a choice of slabbing it to Truro (our destination for the evening) or taking the scenic roads and probably riding in darkness in to Truro. Majority vote was the scenic route (rt. 215) with absolutely no regrets. The road meandered through beautiful farmlands with Cobequid Bay on our left and rolling hills and marsh on the right with some great sunset views thrown in. It was definitely the highlight of the day. We made our way safely to Truro by nightfall with some of us looking very appealing to many fish varieties having many bugs adorning our helmets. After nixing one motel for lack of enough non-smoking rooms we checked into the Tidal Bore motel and had dinner at Frank & Gino’s.
Scott’s Thoughts – Yup, wet metal ramps on to the boat but in actuality not an issue. Despite all my bad-mouthing of the ferry earlier, at this time of year it wasn’t too bad – lots of seats, you could of got food if you wanted and the loading/unloading was fast and easy. I think the average age of the folks on board was like 100 though. Aside from leaving too quickly for Rich the riding to lunch was easy if a bit boring and I was glad when we finally got off the highway – the FZ6 was buzzy spinning 7-8k rpm at the speeds we were riding. In Truro, our waiter at dinner cracked me up a bit – he must have said “buddy” 1000 times – Doug, Rich and I all took in an east coast treat of donair.
DAY 3: Friday 9/25/09
I think what was on everyone’s mind was the anticipation of the Cabot Trail (our destination for the day and the trip for that matter) and not-so great weather forecast. What a bummer to come all this way and see nothing but fog and rain which Cape Breton is known for. The forecast called for showers with an unstable air mass over the Maritimes. We got underway early in dry conditions heading east on rt. 104 stopping along the way for breakfast. Bill got the atta-boy of the day with his call to get off the highway before the monsoon hit. Luckily the rain let up to intermittent showers towards St. Ann’s where we stopped at the entrance to the trail for lunch at the Lobster Galley. We got inside just in time before the next wave of rain hit and the view of the trail got socked-in. We encountered a young couple from Ontario riding a 1984 Honda 750K. They had turned around after 20 miles of really rough road and wet weather…not a good omen! They had plans to cross southern Canada in August but got delayed and were starting out in bad weather with no cold/wet weather riding gear. The one thing they had going for them was they were young! After lunch, we geared-up for the worse and were pleasantly surprised to see both the weather and road condition slowly improving as we pressed north on the trail. Personally I was a bit let down not seeing very much of the ocean in the first half of the trail (I had Gaspe as a reference where we rode along the ocean 90% of the way). Fortunately the ride and weather kept improving riding north through Cape Smokey and Ingonish. We were going to ride a loop through Neil’s Harbour but decided to press-on (sorry Rich) through the mountain pass west to Pleasant Bay on the other side of Cape Breton also bypassing a one-way in and out jaunt to Capstick. The roads were still wet and kept or speeds low, which was just as well for me because the scenery got really good and my camera was finally getting a workout. We regrouped at the Rusty Anchor for a break and spectacular views. The west side of the trail was looking very promising indeed. We bumped into a couple from Ohio who we played cat & mouse with as they made many of the same photo stops we did which was great as they took a few of our group shots. It was here Scott noticed his rear tire picked-up a new friend in the form of a drywall screw. Luckily it was sealed with no pressure loss so the decision was to just keep an eye on it. The following 20-30 miles of the trail heading south towards our evening destination of Inverness were interrupted by about a dozen fantastic photo stops. After another 20-30 miles of coastal towns and rolling farms we pulled into the Inverness Lodge and caught a beautiful sunset over the ocean just behind the lodge. Unknown to us, Inverness was a coal-mining town where the coal was mined right at the beach. That evening we dined at the Hoff Pub & Grill (not very well marked) and watched Rich consume a 2-steak dinner, two complete steak dinners!
Scott’s Thoughts – That cloud looks nasty, oh good we’re stopping, this rain gear is a pain in the butt. After we got going, I was glad I had it on though. Then it was seriously windy, I wish I had more fairing and it was still buzzy on the highway. When we finally got into National Park in Ingonish we went past a golf course I played when I was 11 or 12. As expected some of the twisties next to the cliffs were impressive – loads of pretty scenery and the roads were in generally good shape. It disappointing to find the screw sticking out of the rear tire at the stretch break but it was holding air. I was working the electrics hard with the cold, wind and dampness but I was comfortable. At, dinner I tried to convince Bill that it didn’t actually get to absolute zero but he still had to ask. At least we did get poutine and pictures of food fulfilling two more trip requirements.
Last week I took a trip from Boston area through the Cabot Trail. One of my co-riders (Tony) took the time to write a ride report and I added some of my own thoughts so I'm posting up as-is with his words being prime with a link to photos for those interested. I guess it'll be in two pieces to make the post limit.
Boston to Cape Breton Canada Trip Report September 23-27, 2009
This marked my longest motorcycle trips thus far. 1750 miles in 5 days isn’t exactly a relaxed pace but the scenery and great company made it well worth the trip. Our group comprised of 6 solo riders on a Goldwing (Jack), Yamaha FZ6 (Scott), Ducati Multi Strada (Bill), BMW KLT (Doug), Honda Blackbird (Rich), and yours truly on the Triumph Trophy (Tony).
The most important key for a successful group ride with a time constraint is a well-planned trip. All credit must go to our young ride captain Scott (and his GPS).
DAY 1: Wednesday 9/23/09
Our plan was to be challenged right from the get-go. Jack found a screw in his new rear tire the day before so he diverted to Laconia NH for a new tire before meeting up with us in Bar Harbor at the end of the day. Scott was delayed for a few hours waiting for his wife to get home from work to care for their son who got ill. Rich had an oop-sie by dropping his what used-to-look-brand-new Blackbird before even getting underway. Bill decided to hang out be Scott’s wingman (what a guy!) so the plan was modified for Rich and I to meet Doug patiently waiting in Portland then meet-up with Scott and Bill along the way to Bar Harbor, our destination for the night. The weather was exceptionally nice and made-up for the rough start. From Portland, Doug Rich and I took 295 to route 1N along the coast. Unfortunately the good weather drew a bit of traffic and periodic road construction made slow going through the towns (yes Rich, we should have listened to you to take the rt. 90 loop around). We stopped in Camden for lunch and as we were settling our debts, I happened to look outside and wouldn’t you know there were Scott and Bill parading in stop & go traffic right outside, what timing! From Camden we pressed north on rt. 1 and we all got to experience some of the local aromas by getting stuck behind a baitfish truck leaking water and what ever else for about 10 miles! The strangest thing for me along the way 1N was seeing my compass point in every direction but north. We finally rolled in to Bar Harbor around 5pm and were greeted by Jack hanging out in the downtown area sipping his coffee. Rich, Doug, and I decided to use the remaining daylight to go to the top of Cadillac Mountain and do a small loop before checking in to our motel with the remaining crew. Cadillac Mountain was beautifully paved, a great ride with beautiful vistas save for the 50 mph gusts and 45 F temperatures at the top. We checked in to the biker-friendly Colony motel before a harbor side dinner at the Colony Restaurant. I wished I were brave enough to snap a photo of the Amish couple next to us. They looked like actors from the movie “Witness” starring Harrison Ford.
Scott’s Thoughts – Was happy to actually be on this trip after messing up my ribs a few weeks earlier and then having the little guy get sick, but I was ready to go cold and all. Thanks to Bill for waiting and riding the first stretch with me. I didn’t feel like we were making that great of time but we did manage to catch up with Doug, Rich and Tony even if they had a two-hour head start. The “half-a-Zakim” Penobscot Narrows Bridge was cool – those footings for the cables are huge when you’re riding right next to them. In Bar Harbor, Bill’s ability to find a beer store was less then stellar but it worked out. The innkeeper at the Colony was less than motivated – who leaves the office at 6PM? – but Bill, Jack and I sitting on porch having a beverage did seem to generate a line by the time she got back. Somewhere around then, I realized the getting on the ferry would be wet metal ramps – something to look forward to. Dinner was uneventful, except that apparently I was the only one who could read menus and checks - this would be consistent throughout the trip.
DAY 2: Thursday 9/24/09
Early rise to be at the CAT ferry by 7 am gassed with breakfast. The weather looked to be as promising as the day before. Just as we left the motel we saw a cruise ship off at a distance in the harbor maneuvering to drop anchor. Little did we know we know we’d get an up close and personal look at it and a second ship later on the CAT leaving the harbor. According to Scott who is a CAT veteran, we were not to have any good expectations of the ferry ride to Yarmouth. Fortunately the loading/unloading went smoothly, there were no long lines or delays, the ride was fairly smooth and we even got to see a few whales off the port side. The whole experience made the $176 one-way cost a lot less painful. Arrival and customs at Yarmouth was a breeze and after waiting for a “certain member” of our group to gear-up, we were headed northeast on NS 103 to Shelburne where we stumbled on the “best place in NS to eat”, the Charlotte Lane Café. Rt. 103 was ok but pretty desolate and made me think of how harsh and windy their winters must be looking at the stubby evergreens. We bailed off on rt. 14N taking us to the northwest side of NS via scenic rolling hills. It was a shame bad the road surface wasn’t better on rt. 14 but it made me really appreciate my suspension upgrade. At the end of the road our ride captain presented us with a choice of slabbing it to Truro (our destination for the evening) or taking the scenic roads and probably riding in darkness in to Truro. Majority vote was the scenic route (rt. 215) with absolutely no regrets. The road meandered through beautiful farmlands with Cobequid Bay on our left and rolling hills and marsh on the right with some great sunset views thrown in. It was definitely the highlight of the day. We made our way safely to Truro by nightfall with some of us looking very appealing to many fish varieties having many bugs adorning our helmets. After nixing one motel for lack of enough non-smoking rooms we checked into the Tidal Bore motel and had dinner at Frank & Gino’s.
Scott’s Thoughts – Yup, wet metal ramps on to the boat but in actuality not an issue. Despite all my bad-mouthing of the ferry earlier, at this time of year it wasn’t too bad – lots of seats, you could of got food if you wanted and the loading/unloading was fast and easy. I think the average age of the folks on board was like 100 though. Aside from leaving too quickly for Rich the riding to lunch was easy if a bit boring and I was glad when we finally got off the highway – the FZ6 was buzzy spinning 7-8k rpm at the speeds we were riding. In Truro, our waiter at dinner cracked me up a bit – he must have said “buddy” 1000 times – Doug, Rich and I all took in an east coast treat of donair.
DAY 3: Friday 9/25/09
I think what was on everyone’s mind was the anticipation of the Cabot Trail (our destination for the day and the trip for that matter) and not-so great weather forecast. What a bummer to come all this way and see nothing but fog and rain which Cape Breton is known for. The forecast called for showers with an unstable air mass over the Maritimes. We got underway early in dry conditions heading east on rt. 104 stopping along the way for breakfast. Bill got the atta-boy of the day with his call to get off the highway before the monsoon hit. Luckily the rain let up to intermittent showers towards St. Ann’s where we stopped at the entrance to the trail for lunch at the Lobster Galley. We got inside just in time before the next wave of rain hit and the view of the trail got socked-in. We encountered a young couple from Ontario riding a 1984 Honda 750K. They had turned around after 20 miles of really rough road and wet weather…not a good omen! They had plans to cross southern Canada in August but got delayed and were starting out in bad weather with no cold/wet weather riding gear. The one thing they had going for them was they were young! After lunch, we geared-up for the worse and were pleasantly surprised to see both the weather and road condition slowly improving as we pressed north on the trail. Personally I was a bit let down not seeing very much of the ocean in the first half of the trail (I had Gaspe as a reference where we rode along the ocean 90% of the way). Fortunately the ride and weather kept improving riding north through Cape Smokey and Ingonish. We were going to ride a loop through Neil’s Harbour but decided to press-on (sorry Rich) through the mountain pass west to Pleasant Bay on the other side of Cape Breton also bypassing a one-way in and out jaunt to Capstick. The roads were still wet and kept or speeds low, which was just as well for me because the scenery got really good and my camera was finally getting a workout. We regrouped at the Rusty Anchor for a break and spectacular views. The west side of the trail was looking very promising indeed. We bumped into a couple from Ohio who we played cat & mouse with as they made many of the same photo stops we did which was great as they took a few of our group shots. It was here Scott noticed his rear tire picked-up a new friend in the form of a drywall screw. Luckily it was sealed with no pressure loss so the decision was to just keep an eye on it. The following 20-30 miles of the trail heading south towards our evening destination of Inverness were interrupted by about a dozen fantastic photo stops. After another 20-30 miles of coastal towns and rolling farms we pulled into the Inverness Lodge and caught a beautiful sunset over the ocean just behind the lodge. Unknown to us, Inverness was a coal-mining town where the coal was mined right at the beach. That evening we dined at the Hoff Pub & Grill (not very well marked) and watched Rich consume a 2-steak dinner, two complete steak dinners!
Scott’s Thoughts – That cloud looks nasty, oh good we’re stopping, this rain gear is a pain in the butt. After we got going, I was glad I had it on though. Then it was seriously windy, I wish I had more fairing and it was still buzzy on the highway. When we finally got into National Park in Ingonish we went past a golf course I played when I was 11 or 12. As expected some of the twisties next to the cliffs were impressive – loads of pretty scenery and the roads were in generally good shape. It disappointing to find the screw sticking out of the rear tire at the stretch break but it was holding air. I was working the electrics hard with the cold, wind and dampness but I was comfortable. At, dinner I tried to convince Bill that it didn’t actually get to absolute zero but he still had to ask. At least we did get poutine and pictures of food fulfilling two more trip requirements.
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