Stephen and I left at 9:45 am from Kennedy avenue in Sydney and took highway 22 towards Louisbourg. Temperature was cold at minus 8 degrees Celsius. We stopped once for pictures and a rest near Morrison road. From there we went to Marion Bridge where the wind pick up and made riding difficult and a LOT colder. After 18km of riding we rested at Mullin's gas station/general store for a rest. We then kept going towards Louisbourg with strong head winds of about 25km/h and gusts up to 40 km/h. At this point, it was so cold, we felt like popsicles. To make it worse the shoulder of the road was very narrow, in bad condition and crumbly. We had to drink more than usual because the water from the tube of our camel pack was starting to freeze and we needed to keep it flowing. On our way we climbed a few hills, one in particular combined with a gust of wind blew us off or unis as we where approaching the top. We took this in stride and said to ourselves that it was time for an other break. The wind did not die down and it was pretty hard pedaling those last kms to Louisbourg but we made it at around 1 pm. At that point our legs were stiff from the exertion and the cold temperature. Lunch time! It was hard to find anywhere to eat in Louisbourg that day. Tourist season does not begin until June and all the restaurants were closed. After pedaling through town we found a snack bar in the General Store where they served great cheese burgers. We had called our spouses to bring us some extra clothes since what we were wearing was wet and cold. We changed and then headed out to the lighthouse which is one of the oldest in North America. It was built by the French in the 1700's. The road to the lighthouse was very scenic but quickly turned to a muddy dirt road filled with pot holes on which we were plowing more than riding. Needless to say we had a few UPDs. At the lighthouse we tried to muni a bit and took more pictures. By then it was past 3 pm and it was time to head back. Our route back home was blessed with winds that faded to a breeze which made it a lot more barrable. We met at lot of people asking us questions and numerous honks that day.
In all we traveled 64 km at a slow average speed of about 14 km/h factoring in the head winds and the 5 km of soft muddy dirt road.
3/13/2008
150
Waking up we new that we might have problems riding. It had snowed about 10 cm (4 inches) and the wind was blowing hard. The flag in my back yard was horizontal to say the least. The road conditions were bad and a lot of businesses closed until noon. Luckily for us, anticipating this eventuality, we had the permission by the manager to ride in the Mayflower Mall after normal store hours. One whole loop around the mall's main corridor is 920 metres. We started pedalling at 9:30 pm and finished at 5:00 am. The first few laps were slow because we had to go around a few obstacles. We then moved garbage and recycling bins and benches to better the flow of our route. After that we were able to maintain an average speed of 16 km/h. We stopped each six laps for a short rest. Both of us had groin soreness and these short stops helped a lot. Riding in the mall was not very hard and we could stop often at our pit stop to eat, drink or ajust seat or clothing. Though we were tired, the ride was on a smooth surface and we had heat. It was a change from the previous day's freezing conditions. What was the hardest about the mall was that after a few laps it became a boring ride.
A few times we tried to beat our fastest speed to make the ride more exciting. Steve had the fastest lap time maintaining his speed at about 20km/h for five consecutive laps and we both reached a top speed over 30km/h. We are both new at using a 36 inch wheel and kept the 152mm crank arms. We hope to do better in the near future when we change for shorter cranks. In all we pedalled 90 km in just over 8 1/2 hours including our breaks.