Lake Ainslie to Dingwall Day 68

The steam coming off Lake Ainslee at about 6:30 am.

The last breakfast that Cook Crew #2 will have to make. Oatmeal and french toast.

Our first little climb after getting on the Cabot Trail North.

Beautiful landscapes with houses dotting the landscape. It is as if they were just placed there randomly.

We had lunch at this Acadian Restaurant in Chetticamp. Terri had meat pie and beans, I had fish chowder and fish cake with fresh peas.

The scenery was breathtaking and we were so fortunate to have the sunshine today. It made it that much more beautiful. This is looking back on where we had come from, but not yet at the top of French Mountain.

Can you believe the color of the water???

This is on the way to French Mountain but not there yet. You see this photo often in postcards and in books.

Our friend Terry taking the picture below.

We thought we had already climbed a lot but we had a lot to go.


Here comes the real thing. 11 % grade

The small cove at the bottom is a fishing area, according to the sign posted here.

Terri at the top.

This is actually 0n the way down North Mountain. It was a 13% grade and not the same scenery as going up French Mountain. We had to put our long sleeve shirts on again as we got cold. The wind was gusty as well. North Mountain was the hardest climb today but the Rockies was so long ago we forgot how hard they were.
The scenery on the way down North Mountain was more spectacular than what we saw going up. There were lookouts that gave us a chance for pictures and to control our speeds going down. The disc brakes were very warm. Going down French we Terri clocked 72 and Holly 71.55. Not much breaking on that one as we had a clean descent with good views of what was ahead.


Today's ride is to be 142k and it is day 68 of the tour. Also, September 2nd. We got away from camp at 0800 as it was Holly's crew doing breakfast and clean-up and I help her and when it is my crew cooking, she helps me. Before camp, we already took one layer of cycling clothing off as the sun was warming up the air rather quickly. However, as we were cycling the first few K's on of the day along route #395, it was a bit cool but then onto route #19, the sun was in our favour the remainder of the day. Our cue sheets indicated that this is the climbing day - three summits. The French, and North are the toughones. The Mac Kenzie is in the Cape Breton Highlands and much easier. There were lots of warm-up climbs up to and after Chiticamp, where we had our 1200 lunch in an Acadian restaurant. Shortly after leaving Chiticamp, we entered the Cape Breton Highlands National Park,and the first climb began. But the picturesque beauty of the shoreline is breathtaking!!! Lots of opportunity for picture taking as there were scenic look-outs along the route. The first climb was French Mountain and, in our granny gears, we managed it just fine. It was an 11% grade, and about 3k. We were on the MacKenzie Mountain and really felt it was easy!! We stopped at Pleasant Bay for a snack, then shortly after that, the North Mountain climb began. It is a 4k climb with 13% grade. Tough, but we both managed it in the lowest granny gear again. Then began the 5k descend at 13% grade with lots of twists and turns so braking was a must. Great to get into camp which was another 20k after our descend. Beautiful, enjoyable ride and day inspite of the challenges of the climbs. As of today, we have cycled 7362k and have 4 days of cycling left. The guys left on Monday to meet up with us at North Sydney on Friday. It will be great to see them!!