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Exploring Nova Scotia... |
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09-23-2009, 09:45 AM
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#1
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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Exploring Nova Scotia...
...on a KTM 625 smc.
A few years ago, my friend (DSH) and I decided to visit Nova Scotia, on more or less a whim. We were on sportbikes, packed only a backpack, had no planned route in mind and headed to Bar Harbor, Maine to catch the ferry to Yarmouth. We planned a paultry 4 or 5 days to ride the entire way from NJ to Nova Scotia and back, and fit in whatever riding/touring we could once we got there. You can read more and see pics of our first trip here:
http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136100
Needless to say, we needed to get back there to do a proper ride around Nova Scotia, soak in the culture, see more of the beautiful views we got a glimpse of on the first trip, and dine on as much lobster we could find!
The route. We trailered the bikes fromt NJ to Sackville, New Bruswick and parked the truck/trailer at a highway McDonalds for the 8-9 days we would ride the bikes around NS. We would ride mostly along the shore line starting with the Northumberland Shore, cross over to Cape Breton and head towards the Louisbourg Fortress, head north towards Syndey and then around Bras d'Or Lakes, pass through Baddeck and then up towards the famous Cabot Trail towards Meat Cove and then continue on the Cabot Trail towards the Eastern Shore towards Halifax. We rode only a little bit of the South Shore to see the most photographed Lighthouse in the world and then headed north to Fundy Shore. We planned to ride around the entire coast, but dediced on the road to skip the Yarmouth area since we rode around that area last time and was running short on time. We continued our coastal ride on the Fundy shore and ended the ride back at the starting point of Sackville, New Brunswick.
Hope you enjoy my ride report!
![](http://novascotia.com/site-ns/media/novascotia/mainregions_maplegend.gif)
__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 09:47 AM
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#2
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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So true.
Packed up and ready go.
My ride. 2006 KTM 625 with a fresh set of Avon Distanzia SM tires. Perfect.
DSH's ride - 1997 Ducati Monster 750. He bought this bike a couple days before the trip. It had only a few thousand miles on it and got it for a steal of a deal....from a friend who recently got married.. :-/
We are ready to roll.
The truck's radio is busted so we rig up PC speakers to a car starter battery along with an ipod.
Getting through the tristate areas was murder...
I forget which bridge it was, but on one of them we have a close call where DSH almost rear ends the car in front of us when traffic suddenly stopped. Luckily, there was a break in traffic in the next lane over and he was able to quickly shift lanes and avoid a big mess. I think DSH got the message that this big heavy old truck and trailer does not handle like a normal passenger vehicle. By the way, he has NYC driving tendencies so tailgaiting is a norm..
We drive all night, taking turns through the night. Saw some wicked storms and lightening that would steak horizontally and light up the entire night's sky. That was cool. I was too tired to pull the camera out and try to catch one of these.
First gas stop in Canada! Woohoo!
This had to be the nicest looking diner I've been to that was attached to a gas station. The waitress was friendly, and the food was good too. Unexpectedly she guessed we were Korean; she said she used to teach English in Korea many years ago and was hoping to visit again soon.
MMmmm.....yummy. All gone in about 10 minutes.
We fill up the tank and hit the road towards Sackville, NB. It rained all night long and was gloomy when we crossed the border...but we see clear skies ahead.
![](http://songyi.smugmug.com/photos/605990479_nh5n3-M.jpg)
__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 09:48 AM
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#3
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 09:49 AM
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#4
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 10:11 AM
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#5
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carl_g is offline
Join Date: May 2005
Location: nj
Posts: 1,947
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KTM!!!!!!!!!
Awesome photos thanks for sharing!
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OCCR
RIP AJ600M
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09-23-2009, 11:38 AM
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#6
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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Day 2! Time for a fresh new start. We wash the bikes off, grab a few snacks and head out of New Glasgow and continue along Northumberland Shore's scenic shore route...
It's a bit foggy, but the roads are dry and the pavement smooth.
Very nice. I'd be riding a lot more if these roads were in my backyard...
Our first lighthouse stop of the trip - Cape George Point Lighthouse. From this lighthouse, we were supposed to be able to see PEI if the fog weren't so thick.
It's just so peaceful out here. Everything is so quiet. Seems a bit unreal.
The road that goes in/out of this lighthouse has light gravel. It was a pleasure on my supermoto tires. DSH certainly learned to ride on gravel on this trip.
Lunch time!
Yes, we have finally arrived!
DSH works on his shifter some more. Luckily nothing was broken.
Time to eat!
In case you want to check out the menu before you go.
Gravy seems to be popular with fries so I give it a try. Their homemade gravy is awesome...
Later we check out one of the beaches.
![](http://songyi.smugmug.com/photos/605948467_mJkyS-M.jpg)
__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:40 AM
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#7
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:41 AM
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#8
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:43 AM
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#9
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Late Apex
xstortion is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Edison, NJ
Posts: 700
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Damn this looks like some good shit.
Nice pics ![Smile](images/smilies/smilenew.gif)
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Chris
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09-23-2009, 11:46 AM
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#10
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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Next stop, the Cape Breton Miners' Museum! This is located in Glace Bay, a little north of Sydney.
Our tour guide. He was a miner for 30+ years.
They had horses that lived their entire lives in the mines...what a sad life.
A 'crowded' beach we found along the way.
Time to start looking for somewhere to camp...
....and after an hour or so of wandering around some farm field areas, we were hoping to ask a farmer if we could set up camp for the night, but no such luck....until, we came across a kid on a home made bike riding around. he came up to us, and we asked him if he knew anywhere we could camp for the night. he invited to his house where we spoke to his parents, and they graciously offered their backyard. Woohoo! The father worked overseas and this month he happened to be in NS. He works a few months in Russia, and comes back home for a month or two; he's an oil driller. This was very typical of NS life. The economy is weak and so many of it's workers are going abroad to find work. I read in my travel guide that for the first time in NS history, they had more NS citizens leaving the province than babies born. With the population getting older and much of the work force leaving to find wealth outside of NS...NS's economy has sufferred. But despite this, the people are truly some of the nicest people I've met.
They had a nice firepit in the backyard too. Perfect!
We got a great nights sleep and work up early in the morning to get started. We packed up quietly, and rolled out bikes to the street before starting up the bikes. We couldn't have asked for better hosts.
![](http://songyi.smugmug.com/photos/605993440_kDKVW-M.jpg)
__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:49 AM
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#11
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:55 AM
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#12
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:57 AM
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#13
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: south jersey
Posts: 1,105
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__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 11:59 AM
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#14
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Throttle Lock
ronin_01r1 is offline
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Location: south jersey
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Time for dinner. We for Neils Harbour's Chowder House. Supposedly serves the most authentic home-cooked clam or seafood chowder for under $4.
A simple operation where the focus is on the food. My kind of place.
Even with the horribly foul weather, this place was packed! It was probably in the mid 60s, windy, raining steadily. The food must be really great...or there's just no where else to eat around here!
Clam chowder was great.
We both ordered crab legs since they sold out of lobster. Towards the middle of the meal, I remember why I don't order crab...it is such a pain in the @ss to eat. So much work for so little food. I should've ordered their lobster burger or the fisherman's platter to get sample of everything. Otherwise, the crab legs were great. Very fresh and tender.
By this time, it was starting to get dark and raining steadily. Our final stop for today would be Meat Cove campgrounds.
__________________
SONG
2007 Kymco Grand Vista 250
2006 KTM 950 Supermoto
2001 Yamaha R1
1976 Honda CB360t
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09-23-2009, 01:51 PM
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#15
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Throttle Lock
SPRHK is offline
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Belvidere NJ
Posts: 1,458
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Awesome recap Song. I cant wait to see the rest. It reminds me of Ewan McGregors trips "Long Way Round" and "Long Way Down". It makes my trip up through the Adirondacks , Canada, and back down through Vermont and Mass. see like a sunday ride in comparison.
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