Steep!

Got an early start to our longest ride with the most difficult terrain we expect to encounter. A relatively easy ten kilometres brought us to the Highlands National Park office. Had a great chat with the two men who were painting the building. They were intrigued by our bikes (and maybe thought we were nuts). They gave us an inkling of what to expect. They also told us about their involvement with the Cabot Trail relay. It was the usual island hospitality we’ve become used to.

As we continue past the gate we experience very quickly some spectacular landscape:

Our first climb is a steep 100m. No problem, we can do this! We continue now along the coast on gently rolling roads; beautiful vistas:

French Mountain (455m)

Our first break up French brings us to this lookout where once again we meet up with the cyclist from Montreal. She’s decided to walk her bike.

French was a long climb and we stopped pretty much at each lookout. It’s only in hindsight that we know it wasn’t that bad at all. We’re now cycling along the plateau very comfortably before beginning the descent. One more lookout:

Ran into construction on the way down and had a pleasant conversation with the flag man. He said they wouldn’t allow opposing traffic until we were through the zone. The first part was scarry as the cars had gone and now the construction vehicles were on both sides. Got through that and were relieved to see the guide vehicle had returned to take us the rest of the way. Now we’re clear all the way into Pleasant Bay for lunch. One climb completed:

We arrive at the Rusty Anchor and the outdoor patio is empty. Sit down, order drinks and within about twenty minutes the place is packed and the servers are going crazy. Good solid lunch and were on the road again. Quick coffee stop and we start the climb up North Mountain. Very quickly we see a sign reading 13% over 4km. We continue and at our first break decide we need to break every 25 to 30 metres of elevation:

We were never happier to reach the summit of a climb. An equally steep descent takes us much more quickly toward our destination in Cape North where we met our hosts Alfred and Kathleen. More about them and our stay in Cape North in a bit.