Eric Morneau (my team mate) and I left Kennedy Ave in Sydney a little before 10 AM on a very cold trip to Louisbourg and back. Minus 8 Celsius and 20 to 40 KM/hr head winds hindered us the whole day. Our first stop, and picture opportunity was near Morrison road, 8 kms into our trip. Our second stop was for a quick snack and warm up break at Mullins gas station and general store about 18 kms out. After lots of looks, laughs and questions by inquisitive folks, we continued on our path with lots of local encouragement. The riding was rough, with broken pavement and loose gravel on the shoulder of the road, but we continued to push on through the cold. Even our packs were affected by the cold, as the hose quickly froze up if you let them stand too long. A few tough hills, gusty winds and much needed breaks later, we finally reached the town of Louisbourg a little past noon. Louisbourg is a small, tourist town, with not much open now, but we did find a general store that served incredible cheese burgers and home fries. Our spouses joined us there with a dry change of clothes and motivating words and off we were again. Our path then took us to one of the oldest light houses in North America and a beautiful bay side view of the Fortress of Louisbourg. We got some cool pictures as we tried to ride down the steep hills surrounding the light house. The ride to the light house was a little slower and more challenging as it was slick with mud and riddled with pot holes that were near impossible to avoid. Quite the bumpy, dirty ride. Mid afternoon was upon us and it was time to head back. The wind slightly lessened, but it was cooling off more so you still felt it. A few more stops, photos and what seemed like forever, we made it back. 64KM traveled through the cold and wind as well as the 5 km or so through the mud and day one was done.
3/13/2008
150
After sitting in the saddle of a 36: unicycle for only the 3rd time, the day before was quite the challenge and boy could I feel it. But, it was a good sore. An 'I accomplished something new' sore, and was quite excited about this feeling... with the exception of my seat of course! Day 2 promised us a new challenge. It snowed over night and the north winds were blowing a gale. However, not to worry, we had a back up plan. Over the winter months we were riding a few KMS here and there in the Mayflower Mall and planned to use the facility throughout the night while it was closed. Each loop was just shy of a KM so 100 or so laps and 7.5hrs later we were done! We took some fun pics in here too during our short pauses every 6 laps or so. The monotony of each lap was felt and it seemed to drag the night along but we kept challenging ourselves with our time each lap, or our max. speed not to mention a little window shopping. I could probably tell you all the great promotions each store had on that night, not to mention the nightmares I will probably have of going shopping next! Doing a few laps with a camcorder in my hand helped distract me and made me forget for a while how boring, and late, it was. We each averaged over 16 km/h, which is pretty good considering how much you had to slow down when making the turns at each end of the mall, and maxed out over 30 km/h. At around my 60th lap I decided to push myself and sprinted for the next 2 sets of 6 laps. I must have got a second wind since during these laps my average went up dramatically, over 20 km/h, although my max speed stayed just shy of 34km/h. What a long, tiring night. At least it was warm and flat! With more saddle time over the next few months, I am sure things will only improve.