Bicycle Tours

From: Lewes, DE
To: Ocean City, MD
Mileage: 70

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Great night for camping, we were by ourselves, on a sandy beach site. In the a.m. we headed down the coastal highway with a head wind coming directly at us from the south at 15 - 20 mph. We again averaged about 9 mph in the wind, and about 11 mph the whole day. I'm glad we did the coastal highway, but I wouldn't do it again. We were off season, and it was way too busy for us. We had breakfast in Rehoboth Beach at a Bob Evans. The Rear Admiral had her usual and I had another omelet. Place like Bob Evans are ok, but we like the 'atmosphere' at the mom and pop diners a bit more. There seems to be a lot of construction all over Delaware, and the Coastal Highway was no exception. We made it into Ocean City Maryland, where we shared a road lane with buses. It has grown up so much in the past 10 years. Again, I'm so glad we where riding during the 'off season'. Had lunch at Dumster Ice cream and sandwich shop and filled up with sandwiches and milkshakes. We were still full, about 7 hours later, as I write this! Made it down to our southern most goal, Assateague National Park to see the wild horses. What a great way to see a National Park, on a bicycle. We saw the wild horses up close along with sika deer and tons of shore birds. The road is only about 4 miles long, but we spent the whole afternoon riding and enjoying! They even built a bridge for bikes and pedestrians only over to the island, you don't have to share the bridge with regular traffic! We almost got into a head on collision with a black racer (snake). The snake wanted to go one way, I wanted to go another and the Rear Admiral wanted to go backwards. SeeMore just missed the guard rail, which would have knocked us over, right on top of the snake. Again, it would have made a great Laurel and Hardy movie. The state park was closed to camping, and the National Park was open but there was a 80 percent of server thunderstorms for the night, so we headed (reluctantly) back to Ocean City to stay the night inside at the Bedtime Inn.

From: Ocean City, MD
To: Harrington, DE
Mileage: 67

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Back to Delaware! Started off with another big breakfast, and you know by now what Mary had. We meandered along the back roads of Delaware, the key word here is meandered. Some of the more memorable road names were: Piglet Patch, Hard Scrabble Road and 9 foot Road. We were on one very lonely quiet road (no cars for 4 miles) when we met up again with Paul and Jane on their purple Burley tandem. I think all four of us were truly amazed. We had a very long chat and extended eMail addresses with them this time. We basically met in the middle of the road and talked and talked. Seems we had so much in common, and so much to talk about that we had two conversations going at once! Only two cars interrupted us during the whole time. After saying our goodbyes, Mary and I headed for Georgetown and Lunch (Pizza). We had put in 40 miles so you can tell that the wind had died down a lot today. We picked Killians State Park for the night, but did not reach our goal. 8 miles outside of Harrington the back post of my seat broke and we were forced to make a temporary fix (with 2 spare screws, duct tape and a rag). We limped into Harrington and the Holiday Express Inn . After visiting the local Hardware store, I fixed it using two auto studs. We will see tomorrow how well I did!

From: Harrington, DE
To: Glasglow, DE
Mileage: 75

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Today's four letter word. . . wind! It blew coming out of the northwest, which was exactly the way we were heading. It was a beautiful day outside, with temperatures in the mid 60s. The sky had little white puffy clouds, and tons of sunshine. If we had done the trip in reverse direction, the wind would have been with us for 95 percent of the journey. Mary picked out some excellent roads, again with the aid of the Delaware bicycle maps. The last day is always sad. We had lunch (subs) in Clayton at a little country store (yummy) and also stopped at Bruester Ice Cream stand for a late afternoon sundae (Remember It?s not about the riding, it's about the food!). We had a great tour, and would continue if we could, but Katelyn has a Bio Genius contest in New Jersey which we need to attend. We finished up camping at Lums State park. The repair on my seat worked very well. When we arrived at the state police barracks to retrieve our Subaru, the battery was dead (I had forgotten to close my door all the way). With the help of a state trooper, we were on our way. We camped at Lums State park for the night. To our happy surprise, there was a dog show going on. Life is so much fun! Now to go around and enjoy the dogs!

During the first two weeks of July 2005 Mary (the Rear Admiral), our nephew Georges, and I toured Nova Scotia on bikes. My Mom and Dad, who traveled via motorhome, also joined us. Oh the home cooked dinners we ate (THANKS MOM!) and the great guidance (THANKS DAD!)

Nova Scotia is divided into ten scenic travel-way sections and we were able to ride the Lighthouse Route, Sunrise Trail, Glooscap Trail, and Evangeline Trail. . . yes Dad we did need 4 weeks, but we only had two.

We had GREAT weather (it only really rain only once, and that was at the end of our day in Lunenburg), and only one day of bad headwinds. The routes are mostly not busy (the roads on the Glooscap need major repairs!) and the Nova Scotia drivers are THE BEST! They are very very courteous to cyclist.

If you go, bring bug spray, use the information centers, don't worry about the hills, there will always be one more, and cross your fingers for great weather!

From: Yarmouth
To: Barrington Passage
Mileage: 47

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We left Milford at 12:01 a.m. in the morning. Georges, our nephew, just got out of the Air Force and decided he needed more of an adventure so he joined us on this trip. Mary and Georges slept on the 5 1/2 hour ride up to Bar Harbor. We were catching the early ferry ("The Cat") to Yarmouth Nova Scotia.

After having breakfast at the Bay View Inn, next door to the ferry terminal, we got in line for our departure. The whole process took about 30 minutes. Once on board, Georges and I found some comfortable seats and slept most of the 3 (plus) hours on the ferry. Mary watched the in-house movie, which was being interrupted by people near her getting seasick. Naturally, Mary started not feeling too good.

We were the last off the ferry and almost the last through Canadian customs. My Dad and Mom were there and we only visited them for very short time (we were tired of sitting!). We agreed to meet about 10 miles down the road for a snack. It was very overcast and foggy as we rode out of Yarmouth on route 3. Nova Scotia has broken up sections of roads and routes and has named them. Our first section of Nova Scotia is called the Lighthouse Route because of all the lighthouses along the route. It will weave in and out through coastal towns from Yarmouth to Halifax. After getting a little outside Yarmouth we had very little traffic and rode through small towns named Arcadia, Eel Brook, Pabnico and Argyle. After meeting up for a snack, we agreed that it would be a good night to use a hotel because there was chance of showers. Mom and Dad went up to Isle Provincial Park to camp, while we continued to bike the Lighthouse Route. We spent the night at the Old School Motel and Restaurant in Barrington Passage. For dinner, I had the fresh lobster/shrimp/scallop caesar salad and finished up with the cranberry pudding for dessert. People who know us, know it's really about the food and not the riding!

The ride all by itself was beautiful. Even though we were in foggy conditions, the fields of wildflowers (lots of lupines) bays, marshes, birds, etc. made for a great ride. Most of the time we rode side by side because the car traffic was extremely light.

From: Barrington Passage
To: Shelbourne
Mileage: 51

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Got up early and worked on Seemore's speedometer. It was damaged somehow on the ferry ride. I also had to re-arrange were stuff gets stowed. Mary and Georges got up around 8:30 and we all had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. We got on the road about 9:30. It was near perfect riding weather all day with the temperatures in the high 80s with very little wind.

The Lighthouse Route is not very busy, so again we got to ride side by side a lot. Saw lobster boats, deer , pitcher plants, lupine, seagulls, lighthouses, loons, and ducks. There seems to be a lot of houses and land for sale. No gas stations or little stores from Barrington to Shelburne. Had lunch at Nellie Bly's CafÈ on Main Street. We had yet another excellent lunch of chicken salad sandwiches (on homemade bread) and thick milkshakes. Shelburne was the largest town settled by the loyalist when they didn't want to be governed by the new United States. We visited the "old town" section along the waterfront , which is full of museums and gift shops. We then cycled back to Isle Provincial Park to meet up with Mom and Dad. We have a great site overlooking the bay. Tonight we went back into Shelburne and had dinner at the Sea Dog. I had the shrimp and scallop caesar salad made with fresh fish.

From: Shelbourne
To: Port Joli
Mileage: 67

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Well it's the end of the day. Another bright blue clear day with temperatures in the low 80's and a light breeze (at least they seemed light from the back of the bike) we are camping at Thomas Raddall Provincial Park. I'm writing today's journal because Noel hasn't had the time.

Got into camp about 5ish to a swarm of black flies, nasty horse flies, and mosquitoes. The naturapel is very effective but only for a short time. We took a short hike to beach. Noel, Dad and Georges waded in the water. I found a nice sunny rock where the bugs couldn't get me.

We had supper at 7 pm and then cards. I only can play one round, tired I headed for the showers. The ranger is out warning campers to stow food due to bears in the park. We safely stored our granola bars and snuggle in for the night. I can hear the waves hitting the shore if I listen carefully. The breeze is rustling the leaves in the trees, it is very very peaceful.

It was a beautiful day of cycling with lots of ocean views and wild flowers. We had some good hills towards the end of the day. Got Seemore up to 40 mph on a long down hill!