The Last Cycling Day

Today we are back to cycling and it will be our last day on the bikes.  We drive back close to where we departed the ferry from PEI and last cycled.  From Stellarton we take highway 374 towards Steel Harbour.  The road is for the most part relatively new pavement.  There is only a 14 km section toward the end that is in need of resurfacing and it certainly isn’t as bad as some roads we have been on.  The road is virtually empty in fact at most a couple of dozen vehicles pass us in both directions.  Other than a couple of significant hills the road is low rolling hills sweeping from left to right and back again for the entire day. 

From Steel Harbour we cycle along highway 7 which hugs the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia through small communities that dot the shore.  Each community is at the end of a bay where the road dips down to meet the ocean and then meanders up and out of town around the end of the bay.  Finally we arrive at Murphy’s on the Ocean where we’ll camp tonight.

A relatively uneventful conclusion to the cross Canada trek.  As I have mentioned I didn’t end up cycling every inch.  There were large sections on this year’s adventure that I cut out for a variety of reasons.  Overall, I’m happy with what I cycled and feel that I had an opportunity to experience Canada from coast to coast. 

We have a beautiful country and cycling allowed me to get to see many parts of the country that I would never have seen.  Cycling get you off the four lane divided highways and into the small towns and villages. We are really blessed to live in Canada.  Over the course of the two years that Deb, Maggie  and I spent on this adventure we talked to a lot of different people across the country.  We know that we have far more in common, far more which unites us than divides us.   

I’d like to thank Paul, Curtis and Terry who joined us for part of year one and my cousin David who flew in this year from England to spend three weeks cycling with me from Montreal to the East Coast.  I’d also like to thank the many donors and other supporters that helped me along the road for supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton.

Most of all I’d like to thank my wife Deb for supporting me every day of this two years adventure crossing Canada. I couldn’t have done this trip without her and I wouldn’t have want to. I’m the luckiest guy.

The ride today ended with me dipping the front wheel of my bike, actually it is Dave Hill’s bike, (thanks Dave) into the Atlantic Ocean.  Well to be perfectly honest I actually dipped it into Murphy’s Cove but that does eventually flow into the Atlantic, so close enough.  Thanks for following along.

THE END

“Life humbles you. As you grow old, you stop chasing the big things and start valuing the little things.
Alone time, enough sleep, a good diet, long walks (cycles), and quality time with loved ones. 
Simplicity becomes the ultimate goal.”

Author Unknown