62km
Well that was more like it … from a cycling perspective anyway. The trail was open all the way which may have been harder on the bodies, but was easier on the minds than the roads.
A crisp and early start out of Kingston took us to even crisper apples we picked from the orchards at Spurr Brothers’ farm about 10km away. We should have picked four each. We strolled through the orchards and flowers with our coffee, loving the thousands of fat bees going about their early morning business. Breakfast was another 10km down the trail at the Perky Loaf. The meal was great, but more impressive were the women who work here loading truckloads of freshly made packed lunches to take to the firefighters at the Long Lake fire a few kilometres away. They have been doing this daily since the fire broke out more than two weeks ago. It’s now over 8,200 hectares and, although no longer growing fast, is still considered out of control. But the air remained clear on the west coast of the province today and we cycled on to our next stop, for a cappuccino in Bridgetown.
“Nope” said the sign in the door at Aroma Mocha. Clever – they move the “n” from “open” to the beginning to show they are closed. It didn’t make us laugh. Nothing else was open en route to Annapolis Royal either.
Cycling on the trail is much more pleasant than the roads, but it still takes a toll. The trail is sandy and rutted from ATVs (quad bikes) and other motorized vehicles. It’s also full of potholes. So there’s no freewheeling, no hands-free riding and a lot of eyes-on concentration. Even that didn’t stop Bron’s pannier bag being bounced off its rack over one particularly spicy bump.
We had a delightful chat with a man named Larry and his gorgeous German Shepherd Lacey on the banks of the Annapolis River – a reminder that while this trail ride is a great way to see the country, it’s an even better way to meet its people.
We were hot (it’s 29 degrees) and dusty when we pedalled into Annapolis Royal, but we still weren’t as grumpy as the man serving at Sissiboo cafe. Must be tough being one of the only open places for miles …
After a welcome shower at the Annapolis Royal Inn (motel with a good-sized room) we walked the kilometre back to town for dinner. The Mad Hatters wine bar on the shore was open – yay! – and served cold local cider. Then the only option for dinner on this holiday Monday was the German cafe Saschen, where the pea soup was out of this world, the wine was cold and the service dourly funny.
Annapolis Royal stews in history, and we were reminded again about the Mi’kmaq nation who sided with the French Acadians against the English for several centuries, but the English eventually got the better of both and shipped the Acadians off to other shores in the “Grand Derangement”. There’s still a lot of Acadian loyalty here in the tricolor flags but all the town names recall the far-away English and Scottish homelands of the victors.
Today: 62km
Climb: only 245m but the sand made it feel like lots more
Total distance: 4,639km
#transcanadatrail
#biketouring
Trans Canada Epic 