Conference noted::bicycle

    The info from the tourist bureau is probably the best.  They have
    nicely marked routes, on road signs of the differents routes in Nova
    Scotia.  The most beautiful part is Cape Breton, however it is HILLY.
    Strongly recommend at least driving the Cabot trail (road that goes
    circular through Cape Breton)  I suggest that you spend a fair amount
    of cycling time in PEI.  It is cycling paradise.  Light rolling hills
    with potato farms. 
    
    You need to look at maps more closely, the areas you are looking at
    Maine to Nova Scotia is huge.  You can easily spend 2-4 weeks in Nova
    Scotia/PEI alone.
    
    When are you going, how long, do you have a car?
    
    steve

    I'll agree with .1 -- PEI is a nice place for a ride. My wife and I 
    were up there 6 or so years ago. I remember the north coast as being
    very scenic.
    
    I haven't spent much time in Nova Scotia, but I hear that Cape Bretton
    is GREAT. I think it may be quite hilly. 
    
    Acadia NP in Maine is great for bicycles. The "park loop" road is a
    nice ride - a paved road that runs 12 (?) miles past some of the
    "scenic highlights" of the park -- oceanside cliffs, etc. There are
    some hills, but no "killers", unless you want to ride up Cadillac
    Mtn. Also in Acadia is a network of "carriage trails", built in the
    early 1900's for horse/carriage traffic. These are gravel, single-lane
    roads open to foot, bicycle, and horse traffic. These are rideable
    on a road bike; however, they are pretty bumpy in spots and there are
    also spots where the gravel gets too loose/deep for skinny tires...a
    mountain bike may be better. Mtn bikes can be rented in Bar Harbor.
    In addition to Acadia, other parts of Mt. Desert Island make for good
    riding.
    
    Are you driving all the way from MN? I'd guess about 1500 miles.
    
    If you're flying, Halifax, NS would probably be the best bet. From
    there, the PEI ferry is about 1 to 1.5 hrs (+ a 1 hr boat ride), Cape
    Bretton is about 4 (?) hours, and Yarmouth is about 2 hours. From 
    Yarmouth you can take a ferry (6 hrs) to Bar Harbor.
    
    Or, you could fly into Portland, ME. It's about 3 hrs to Bar Harbor,
    unless you stop in Freeport at LL Bean :-)...

    re .1:
    
>    The info from the tourist bureau is probably the best.  They have
>    nicely marked routes, on road signs of the differents routes in Nova
>    Scotia.  The most beautiful part is Cape Breton, however it is HILLY.
>    Strongly recommend at least driving the Cabot trail (road that goes
>    circular through Cape Breton)  
    
    This matches my research to date.  There is also a book of rides
    available by mail that I'll be writing for.  I don't know the content,
    but since it's only $7.00 I'll risk it.
    
    We'll be driving several of the "trails" in Nova Scotia and definitely
    getting to PEI.  I have 30 pages of information from notesfiles and the
    tourist books are rolling in from the provinces.
    
    >I suggest that you spend a fair amount of cycling time in PEI.  It is
    >cycling paradise.  Light rolling hills with potato farms. 
    
    Now are these wimpy Minnesota hills or Godawful places-where-people-
    live-in-mountains hills?
    
>    You need to look at maps more closely, the areas you are looking at
>    Maine to Nova Scotia is huge.  You can easily spend 2-4 weeks in Nova
>    Scotia/PEI alone.
    
    This is the PLAN...  Reality is that we'll get to Nova Scotia.  After
    that we'll play it completely by ear and wind up where we wind up. 
    We'd like to get all the above AND out to Newfoundland but I know that
    isn't going to happen.  We'll know how long it takes to get home and
    just wander until that time.  Then we head back.  I refuse to plan any
    more specifically than that because it never works anyway (too many
    interesting things to see, too many photographs to hike to!)
    
    BTW:  As far as travelling - when I was a child living in Indiana my
    family travelled to Nova Scotia, PEI AND into Maine - IN 1 WEEK!  All
    the way around Nova Scotia, PEI, and Acadie - PULLING A TRAILER NO
    LESS.  Of course, I don't REMEMBER much.  That's why I just get as far
    as I get now - we don't always make it as far, but the areas we do get
    to we see something!
    
>    When are you going, how long, do you have a car?
    
    We'll be Leaving on the 19th or 20th of September, and going for 3
    weeks in a motorhome.  This way we can stay at parks and campgrounds
    and not have to worry about getting hotels.  
    
    re .2:
        
>    Acadia NP in Maine is great for bicycles. The "park loop" road is a
>    nice ride - a paved road that runs 12 (?) miles past some of the
>    "scenic highlights" of the park -- oceanside cliffs, etc. There are
>    some hills, but no "killers", unless you want to ride up Cadillac Mtn. 
    
    We'll go up Cadillac in the car!  
    
    >Also in Acadia is a network of "carriage trails", built in the
>    early 1900's for horse/carriage traffic. These are gravel, single-lane
>    roads open to foot, bicycle, and horse traffic. These are rideable
>    on a road bike; however, they are pretty bumpy in spots and there are
>    also spots where the gravel gets too loose/deep for skinny tires...a
>    mountain bike may be better. Mtn bikes can be rented in Bar Harbor.
    
    I've read about the carriage roads but didn't know what they were. 
    We'll just pick up mountain bikes for riding on them.  
    
>    Are you driving all the way from MN? I'd guess about 1500 miles.
    
    Yup.  We're trying out a new motorhome.  This will be our longest trip
    in one, and since we'll have a warm place to sleep and stay out of the
    weather it extends our vacation season.  So, we're hoping to hit the
    fall colors up in Canada and follow them down into Maine (or as far as
    we get).
    
>    Bretton is about 4 (?) hours, and Yarmouth is about 2 hours. From 
>    Yarmouth you can take a ferry (6 hrs) to Bar Harbor.
    
    We may be taking the ferry FROM Yarmouth to Bar Harbor.  Depends on
    price.  From the schedule I have, one-way passage would cost almost
    $300 for 2 adults and a small motorhome.
    
>    Or, you could fly into Portland, ME. It's about 3 hrs to Bar Harbor,
>    unless you stop in Freeport at LL Bean :-)...
    
    If I get to Freeport, I"m DEFINITELY stopping at LL Bean...

Acadia NP has a few carriage trails that are listed in the guide "for 
skinny tired bikes", I rode my skinny tires on 'em no problem, but the 
wife's MTB seemed better. If the rest of the carriage paths are not for 
skinnies, I think I'd have wanted the MTB. Be sure to do some hiking in 
Acadia, too. "Beehive" trail is not too long and gives amazing views, if
a bit of exposure to heights (short sections of cliff with iron rung 
ladders) doesn't bother you.

For NS, I'd suggest stopping at Keejimkujik Park; it's a bit 'off route' 
for the standard tourist routes but it's gorgeous. Not sure about 
cycling there as I didn't have a bike on the NS trip, but beautiful, 
place to rent canoes, beautiful lakes, etc.
                                                   ken

    RE. 3 PEI is light rolling hills, just enough to keep the scenery
    interesting.  
    
    In addition, you may wish to evaluate a longer boat ride from
    Portland, it is 10 hours long, and quite a nice cruise ship.
    It goes from Yarmouth to Portland during the day...I believe.
    
    Bring your gortex, it can get wet up there!
    
    steve

    re -.1:
    
    I've looked at ferry crossings but haven't made up my mind yet about 
    what they'd gain us for the expense...
    
    I did just send for the book Cycling in Nova Scotia from the Atlantic 
    Canada Cycling Festival.  Its supposed to have maps and such.  I've
    also called back to both NS and PEI requesting specific cycling
    information.  Hopefully they'll send something interesting...

... or something like that.  There are 3 books.  I got them in '76 so I'm not
sure if they are still in print.  The books cover eastern, central & western 
Canada.  Each page is a detailed map of the suggested ride-du-jour along with
a description of scenic stops, places to camp, etc.

I rode from St John's Nfld to Montr�al in 1976 (when I arrived in Mtl, I got to 
ride with the East German team while they were training for the Olympics...).  
The ride included Nfld (towns like Heart's Content, Heart's Desire, Heart's 
Delight, Dildo - all in a row around Conception Bay), ferry to North Sydney, 
Cape Breton, around the Cabot Trail to Pictou, NS.  Ferry to PEI then another 
ferry to Cape Tormentine, NB, down to Fundy Nat. Park, up the St John River to 
Rivi�re-du-Loup, Qu� and down the St Lawrence to Montr�al.

The Cabot Trail is a must.  You can start in Englishtown and ride counter 
clockwise to Port Hawksbury.  A few MAJOR hills including Mt Smokey (1200 ft
in 1.2 miles), Cape North (1450 ft in 4.5 miles) and a third that the names 
escapes me.  Mt Smokey was a b*tch to climb but Cape North should be renamed to
Cape Fear.  The climb never ends and for me when I was doing well I had to make
a quick u-turn to avoid colliding into a bear!!.  The descent was glorious.  4.5 
miles of hairpin turns in 5 mins alongside a mtn with some dangerous edges.  
It was nice to pass many cars pulling trailers (caravans for the Brits...) that 
passed you on the way up.

PEI is exactly as described - heaven!!  Rolling country with rust color earth.
Anne of Green Gables and Cavendish Beach - need I say more...

Eric

    I've been  to  NS many times, my Mom & Dad were from there.  If you get 
    to New Germany,  Upper  Northfield,  or Barss Corner, just stand in the 
    middle of the road  &  yell  "Penneys!"  I have somewhere over 30 first 
    cousins around there.  :-)
    
    What follows will be purely random.
    
    Fundy National Park in New  Brunswick is fantastic.  I only hope thy've 
    bought a few more washer/dryer combinations.    When  we  were there c.  
    1976, there was one each for the  entire  Park,  of about 1K campsites.  
    Clean, with excellent sites.  [Don't forget, I'm  talking 1976 here...] 
    Plenty of area for bikes, mountain type preferred.
    
    Peggy's  Cove  is  neat,  altho  they've definitely discovered tourism 
    American  style  there.    Watch  out for busses!  It's  not  far  from 
    Halifax.   There's several routes the NS Dept.  of Tourism  has  mapped 
    out, complete with highway markers,etc.  Select a segment you'd like to 
    do, & do it.
    
    Mahone Bay  was  beautiful,  when I was a kid [wayyyyyy back...].  It's 
    now pretty yuppy, but the scenery is still great.
    
    Lunenburg, home of  the  Bluenose,  is  a  fishing  port.    There's  a 
    Fisheries Musuem there, not  half  bad.    Plenty  of restaurants, some 
    good, some bad.  Generally,  I  think  you'll  find  high prices in the 
    Maritimes, particularly sin items like booze & cigarettes.  Stop off in 
    NH for those [we need your money].    There's  about  a  17% sales tax, 
    between provincial & national.
    
    Bridgewater has a big [yuk] mall, complete with  Radio  Shack.    Don't 
    know who shops there, the prices were ludicrous.  None of my relatives!  
    The ride from Bridgewater to New Germany is pleasant, but watch out for 
    first cousins in pickup trucks.  They'll run you off the  road.   Don't 
    know  when  it  is,  but  there's  an  exhibition  &  water carnival in 
    Bridgewater.  Or,  maybe  that's  long  gone.    Anyhow,  I'm  sure the 
    Farmer's Expo is still done.
    
    Keji  [sorry,  easier to  use  its  nickname  than  spell  it  out]  is 
    supposedly great.  Not far  from Bridgewater.  You may want to take the 
    St.  John/Digby ferry, as an  alternative.    Not  too  expensive,  and 
    eliminates some driving.  Get there early,  call  ahead 1st, and make a 
    reservation if possible.
    
    Never been to Cape Breton.  Had a cousin who lived in Merrigomish, near 
    ANtigonish.    One  of the most beautiful places I've  ever  been.    5 
    minutes from beach to mountains.  Pristine.  Until I  happened upon the 
    pile of beer cans & glass next to a stream that was cold, clear, & full 
    of beaver.  You could go up in the mountains there, and  watch  the sun 
    set over PEI & a little fishing village.  Then, go & dig clams.
    
    PEI.  Farmer's  paradise.    Beatiful  land & animals.  The Gulf Stream 
    comes off the north  side,  I  beleive,  and  the  water's  very  warm.  
    There's an Anne of Green Gables golf course that's beautiful.
    
    If you want some good  NS  hospitality,  send  me mail, & I'll give you 
    some directions to my relatives around  Bridgewater.  They'll certainly 
    feed you.  With any luck, you  can  probaly  get  them to give you some 
    homemade brew!
    
    

PS,

If you do go to Cape Breton, cruise into Cheticamp and grab a bucket at...


...Lick-a-Chick!!

Those Cape Bretoner have a flair for restaurant names...

Eric

    re .7:
    
    >The Cabot Trail is a must.  You can start in Englishtown and ride
    >counter  clockwise to Port Hawksbury.  A few MAJOR hills including Mt
    >Smokey (1200 ft in 1.2 miles), Cape North (1450 ft in 4.5 miles) and a
    >third that the names  escapes me.  Mt Smokey was a b*tch to climb but
    >Cape North should be renamed to Cape Fear.  
    
    You were doing GREAT until my wife saw "1200 ft in 1.2 miles"...  her
    comment contained phrases pertaining to possible insanity in the family
    of anyone who would do this...  I'll probably do some riding through
    the area but I suspect we'll mostly drive...
    
    re .8:
    
    >Bridgewater has a big [yuk] mall, complete with  Radio  Shack.    Don't 
    >know who shops there, the prices were ludicrous.  None of my relatives!  
    >The ride from Bridgewater to New Germany is pleasant, but watch out for 
    >first cousins in pickup trucks.  They'll run you off the  road.   
    
    So I should stop in New Germany first and yell for the "Penney's"
    BEFORE I start riding so they know to look out?
    
>    Keji  [sorry,  easier to  use  its  nickname  than  spell  it  out]  is 
>    supposedly great.  Not far  from Bridgewater.  You may want to take the 
>    St.  John/Digby ferry, as an  alternative.    Not  too  expensive,  and 
>    eliminates some driving.  Get there early,  call  ahead 1st, and make a 
>    reservation if possible.
      
    This is one of the questions I've had (which I asked in the
    HOLIDAY_TRAVEL conference but haven't gotten answer yet)...  I'm torn
    between the idea of: going southeast in New Brunswick and crossing into
    NS through Moncton, traveling south around the Bay of Fundy, through
    Yarmouth, up through Halifax, counter-clockwise around Cape Breton,
    then onto P.E.I, and back to Moncton.  Then south in New Brunswick,
    stopping at Grand Manan and on down to Acadia - OR going south in New
    Brunswick to Grand Manan then taking the ferry from St. John to Digby,
    crossing to Halifax, going north up the east coast to Cape Breton,
    counterclockwise around Cape Breton, onto P.E.I., then down the west
    coast of NS (through the Bay of Fundy) to Yarmouth where we catch the
    ferry to Bar Harbor.  With the second choice we miss the east coast of
    NS from Halifax to Yarmouth.  Is this significant?

    Approximately how much time would the route using the two ferries save
    me?  Considering the length of the ferry rides versus driving it LOOKS
    like only a couple hours overall.  Would we save enough time to enable
    us to spend adequate time at Acadia before heading home (presuming all
    this isn't academic because the answer above is that we won't make it
    off NS before heading back!)?  Am I going to save enough time by taking
    the ferries to make the expense worthwhile (we're looking at around
    $300 for the ferry rides)?  
    
    >If you want some good  NS  hospitality,  send  me mail, & I'll give you 
    >some directions to my relatives around  Bridgewater.  They'll certainly 
    >feed you.  With any luck, you  can  probaly  get  them to give you some 
    >homemade brew!
    
    Hm... I don't think I could do that unless I could bring along one of
    the famous Minnesota "hot dishes"!  These, of course, all start with a
    base of canned cream of mushroom soup!  AND, some lime jello with small
    marshmallows!  Otherwise, t' woudln't be Minnesotan!
    
    >If you do go to Cape Breton, cruise into Cheticamp and grab a bucket
    >at...

    >...Lick-a-Chick!!
    
    OK, I have added this culinary MUST to my restaurant list!

    >>Mt
    >>Smokey (1200 ft in 1.2 miles),
    
    400 m in less that 2km - an average grade of 20% - this I gotta do !!

Has anyone else climbed Mt Smokey (car, bike, foot)??  It's been 16 years...
Although I don't think so, I want to make sure that I got my numbers screwed up.

All I remember was that the cars that were pulling anything were not going much
faster than the cyclists.  That climb was the only one that I considered getting
off to walk in the 1800 miles (but then I would have lost the "Mountain Eater" 
status).

The Cabot Trail is reknowned for short but steep hills.  Don't be discouraged by
the 3-4 big ones.  The rest is beautiful rolling country.  To enjoy it all, I
would suggest to do it in about 7 days although you can half that if you are
in a rush and don't mind daily C's

Eric

PS Mt Smokey is south of Ingonish on the easter side of the Isle.

    > PS Mt Smokey is south of Ingonish on the easter side of the Isle
    
    Is this were the Easter bunny lives???
    
    Alan