Nova Scotia Bicycle Tour - Day 12 Annapolis Royal to Sandy Cove

Nova Scotia Tour

Day 12 Annapolis Royal to Sandy Cove

During the entire trip, I had been eating oatmeal mixed with brown sugar and granola for breakfast. By this time I was damn sick of oatmeal. This morning, I tried making Pop 'n Fresh cinnamon rolls in my stove top backpacking oven.

A bridge near Digby
Bridge on Highway 101 near Digby

Unfortunately, I was operating in bonehead mode this morning. I forgot to put the dispersion plate between the burner and the pan. I burnt the rolls and wound up eating oatmeal again!

After my little breakfast fiasco, I tackled the problem with my trailer. I got trailer's dropouts mounted onto the bobbins OK. Because the right side drop out was bent, the holes for the cotter pin on the right side dropout were out of alignment. This made inserting the cotter pin very difficult.

I finally managed to drive the pin in with a rock mangling the pin badly in the process. I didn't have very much confidence in my make shift repair. However, I felt that under the circumstances, I had little choice.

I set off for Digby around 8 AM. The ride along Route 1 to Digby was very hilly. I had to ride on Highway 101 for a short distance. I found a bike shop in Digby where I explained my dilemma. The owner straightened the dropout using a large crescent wrench after advising me that he could not be responsible if the drop out broke. I re-attached the trailer using my only spare cotter pin. I saved the mangled pin just in case. As you will read later, It was a damn good thing that I did.

After the bike shop, I stopped for lunch. I also stopped at the Digby visitor's center to inquire about whale watching at Brier Island (my goal for the day). The rain started as I left Digby along Digby Neck

Geologically speaking Digby Neck is an extension of North Mountain. As a result, it is extremely hilly.

It didn't take very long riding in that heavy rain to become cold, wet and miserable. Climbing the hills in the cold rain was bad. Descending was torture. I stopped at a convince store near Rossway for some coffee. I had to get out of the rain for a few minutes. The clerk must have felt bad for me because he didn't charge me for the coffee. I pushed on. By the time I got to Sandy Cove I had enough. I stopped at a B&B. Unfortunately, nobody was home. I had two choices, stand around in the rain like an idiot or push on. I decided to push on.

I stopped at a small store 5 miles later in the town of Little River. The only B&B's in the area were located in Sandy Cove. A woman in the store made several phone calls. Finally, she located a place and handed me the phone. A woman at the B&B gave me directions to a place called Wingberry. I backtracked 5 miles in the pouring rain.

My room at the B & B
When the going gets tough ...
... the "tough" find a B&B.

When I got to Wingberry, the owners Shirley and Rob Nelson had me warmed up in a jiffy. The cost for a room was $35 Canadian. At the time it was equivalent to about $25 US. It was so cheap, I almost felt guilty. Almost.

After a nice hot bath I walked to a restaurant where I had fish and chips for supper. I ate a lot of seafood on this trip. It's a wonder that I didn't grow gills. After supper, I sat and talked with Rob and Shirley for a while.

Shirley decided to turn in early. I went out to the shed to lube my chain. When I stepped outside, the sky was clearing. I saw a magnificent sunset. The whole sky was lit up in red and orange. The picture on the right simply does not do it justice.

I came back in side and talked with Rob some more. After a while, I turned in for the night.

Sunset over St. Mary's Bay