Ride Reports and Other Drivel: October 2023

I really wanted to get out and go camping, and for the past couple of years, even though the heart was willing, the bike or circumstances didn't permit, and I'd only just gotten a night of camping in a couple of weeks ago, and I'd made a total shambles of that, being so out of practice that I could barely boil water for tea.

My friend WobblyCat from Onterrible was still knocking about, enamoured as he was with the East Coast and all the lovely adventuring one could do, and he was desperate to ride the Cabot Trail, and I thought the idea of a fall colours ride was enticing and I was really looking forward to seeing what Cape Breton Island had in store for us this end of September and beginning of October. What follows is three days of motorcycle riding, and motorcycle stopping, with lots of motorcycle loitering for want of a better expression. Remember the philosophy:

"Smiles per gallon,
not
Miles per gallon."

Now that I have set the stage, shall we continue?

The Google MyMaps route

Day 1 - Charlottetown PE to Linwood NS - Drive 406 km, 5 hours, 21 minutes

Charlottetown PE to Linwood NS

WobblyCat was bunking with a mutual friend over in that cesspool of a metropolis Moncton New Brunswick and wanted out of there in a bad way, so we arranged to meet up in Port Elgin the following morning for 1030ish, which I was going to try to make, but I still had some packing to do, which is why I put the "ISH" on that one, and I felt bad leaving as I had to fess up and tell him that I was running a bit behind and would try to make up time on the road. The elevator in my apartment building is undergoing a retrofit, so hauling all my gear up and down the stairs really was the lack lustre moment of the morning, but I managed and I was finally away!

I rode like I was on a mission, with about a half tank of gas too, so when it hit a bar left on the confederation bridge, it was easy to think of the only two stations en route that I could stop at, one at Hardy Road, Allen's gas & Grocery, the Petro Can, or the newer Shell station at the Port Elgin roundabout up ahead.

Mainland Ho!

I skipped all my fun routes, and as the traffic was comparatively light for a change, I stuck it out on the main highway, just playing dodge 'em and weave until I was at the head of the pack seeing clearly the road ahead, right up until I caught up with everyone in Port Elgin and pulled in for gas, about an hour's worth of riding, and just under a hundred K from home. Now to see if I could spot WobblyCat's new to him distinctive 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XRT, but all I found was a couple of Islanders on their way Home with a new toy, a used 2011 KLR that had about 28K on the clock IIRC.

WobblyCat had really slept in and was going to arrive at 11:45! I had plenty of time to chat and grab a tea, so I went over and chatted them up.

2011 Kawasaki KLR 650 going to a new home on PEI

I talked so long about bikes that I found myself wondering if I was meeting him at the Bistro Le Chat Bleu or at the Shell! Darn it, he didn't say, so I jumped on my bike and lit out towards Baie Verte, just a hop, jump and a skip down the road, and we passed each other.