It was cool and gray at the Home Hardware parking lot as Kent and Nat loaded up Kent's van with wheels, tubes, water, food, Honey's cookies, and overnight bags for the 2nd Annual Halifax or Bust ride ( women only!). Sally ran over to hug Donna and me goodbye as we set off for Paradise at 6:01 a.m. to pick up Louise, the third member of the team.
The van was suitably attired with a blinking yellow light on its roof, a yellow and black 'CYCLING EVENT AHEAD' sign on its rear, and 'CYCLE ANNAPOLIS COUNTY' on its side panels, courtesy of Deb Ryan.
The weather was overcast and the roads empty as we pedaled along at 23.5 km. Louise was ready and waiting with her gear so it was back in the saddle and off to points east. Traffic started to pick up around Kingston, but disappeared on lovely Brooklyn street, so we could ride side by side and chat.
We were zooming along until Kentville, where disaster struck. Coming up the Belcher Street hill, Louise's rear derailleur was attacked by her rear wheel, resulting in a fall and a totally twisted derailleur. We pulled over into the Catholic church parking lot where Kent did his best to straighten things out, covering himself in grease in the process, but to no avail. Louise joined Kent in the van as co-pilot and official photographer and we carried on to Just Us Coffee for a shot of iced latte and sandwiches. Doug MacInness, who works there as store manager and is a former bike shop owner, took a look at Louise's bike and concurred with Kent's diagnosis: need a new derailleur.
By 1:30 pm, the sun was out shining brightly and we realized that travelling on the Sunday of Natal Day weekend was perhaps not the brightest idea I had ever had. Donna and I were passed by scores of vintage cars and speeding motorcycles, we think the remains of a parade in Windsor. We managed to ignore them and get to the top of Mt. Uniacke in one piece. When we hit the Arby's in Lower Sackville we knew we were going to make it to Mt. St. Vincent's. Which we did in approximately 14 hours total time. Our riding time was better than last year's ( 8 hours +)as was our average speed (23 km/hr) so we are pretty proud of ourselves. 205 km in one day!!! We have learned our lesson for next year, however: bring an extra bike!
Then it was off to the Prince George Hotel for a night of indulgence. One little glitch was that the van was too tall for the regular parking garage so had to be handed off to valet parking in the 'over-size vehicle area'. No problem as the staff were very accomodating and pleasant. After bubble baths and dinner at Salty's we slept like babies.
Monday morning Donna, Louise and I had a whirlpool, a swim, and a sauna before joining Kent for an enormous breakfast at Cora's. ( See photos). Can't believe we cleaned our plates. Then it was back in the van and head for home.
We took a chance that Valley Stove and Cycle would be open on Natal Day Monday; they were so Louise got her new derailleur and is ready to ride again. Hurray!
Thank you Kent, for once again being the best coach and sag wagon support driver on the planet. Thank you Honey for the cookies that kept us going. Thank you Donna and Louise for being so much fun.
And especially thank you to those who supported this ride to raise funds for Wayne's air fare to Thailand to work with the MY STORY photo project in February 2008.
