Salty Fog Riders Rally: The Trip

A heavy laden BMW GS rolls south on route 316 through the village of Larry’s River, Nova Scotia. The rider is on the wrong side of the river but he doesn’t know it yet. Stopping for directions at Murphy’s General Store, he finds a small circle of local men ‘holding court’ on old wooden chairs wedged between the alcohol and bread racks. They meet most days around five. “Anyone know where the motorcycle rally is?” Breaking the ensuing silence, the biggest fella, Leo, turns and says, “I know something about it. You want that dirt road on the other side of the river. That red house.” As the court whispers and the exit door bell chimes, the rider follows his new directions to the site of the Salty Fog Riders Rally. Welcome to Larry’s River, Nova Scotia and the beginning of the Salty Fog Riders Rally 2009!

It's all calm on the other side as the GS makes its way up the groomed gravel of East Side Road.
photo: Tom McGee
photo: Tom McGee

Charlie is the first to arrive.



He read the ad in the BMWON provided by the Veteran BMW Riders #329 (thank you all very much!!) and he decided to travel alone from Indiana for this rally.

Using Larry's River, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada as a 'home base', this rolling rally was conceived as a way to introduce motorcyclists to beautiful Guysborough County and onward to the thrills and views of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This journey includes lots of twisties, swing bridges, cable ferries, historic tours, live theater, mountain vistas overlooking the sea, 'edge of the earth' camping, moose and some dirt. Did I mention twisties?

Larry’s River, an Acadian fishing village since the 1770’s, provides an excellent starting point for a ride that takes participants on a 460mi/730km journey through some of Nova Scotia’s most beautiful geography and, ultimately, on to one of the most scenic rides in North America: the Cabot Trail.

The tour is geographically situated east of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island...



... the route begins in Larry's River, Nova Scotia. After a nights rest and plenty of food (pictures below), ten riders rolled toward Cape Breton Island. They came from Indiana, Illinois, Mass., Virginia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. This is the route that they followed.




So, what follows is somewhat of a pictoral essay of the three day tour from Larry's River to Louisbourg to Meat Cove and back to the Mainland. Blessed by excellent weather and a safe journey, a grand time was had by all.

The Beginning:

First things first. The municipality was somewhat slack in providing a clean, gravel free surface so Bob is out at 6 am cleaning the road



and riders start arriving...

Ron arrives from Prince Edward Island for his second Salty Fog ride

photo: Tom McGee

and Buddy arrives from Virginia








Standing on a dirt road telling tales and drinking some brew.... now ain't that country?!
(Charlie, Ron, Bob and Buddy)



Greg, Charlie and Chas







Mary doesn't mind being the only woman on the ride

photo: Tom McGee

...and Mike, this is.......






con't

con't

Food and Conversation

Tom (another Salty Fog Alumni) and Ron secure preferred seating





A couple of door prizes (to be presented in Meat Cove)



Time for the

some pre supper pizza...


...and on to the main course (food prep was so busy I can't find a shot of any of it) but here's the menu for the evening and breakfast





Dessert is



It was an early night for most with the promise of a major breakfast in the morning.

Breakfast











Paul dives into the mountain of scrambled egg. Noone went hungry!



Enough food; time to ride (Wednesday,Sept. 2nd)

con't

... day two, the first tour day, tomorrow morning

Day 2:

The Plan:

A five hour ride which includes a ride back through the town of Guysborough to the TransCanada and ride east across the Causeway and swing bridge to Cape Breton Island. Northeast to Little Narrows and ride the cable ferry across Patrick's Channel on the north shore of massive Bras d'Or Lake. Landing on the other side we follow the old railway line across Grand Narrows and onward to Sydney and, finally, the fortress town of Louisbourg.



A pre trip chat



Day two begins with a short ride across the river to the painted rocks on the west side of the river at the Parc de nos Ancetres . We park at historic L'Eglise St. Pierre/St. Peter's church; if the bikes couldn't be blessed then this was the next best thing. This location provides the formal beginning of the ride.

photo: Tom McGee



We cross the road to the park. These rocks depict the story of the Acadian Expulsion of 1775 and the subsequent resettlement in Larry’s River and surrounding area.



photo: Tom McGee



photo: Paul F. Ruffell

The story of the expulsion with the musical backdrop of The Band singing Robbie Robertson's song Acadian Driftwood

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and just because this is so creative and so much fun to watch, a highschool musical play about the expulsion.

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And, of course, the group shot as we get ready to roll
(Tom, Charlie, Ron, Buddy, Paul, Chas, Mary, Chris and Greg.... Bob taking picture)

Voni said:

More!

More, please

Voni
sMiling

Click to expand...

... more this evening Voni. Just found some of my lost pics for the next installment. Thanks for the encouraging words! -Bob

After meandering through Guysborough County and shooting along the Trans Canada Highway, we reach the Canso Causeway; The gateway to Cape Breton Island. Now, this causeway has a swing bridge over the locks of a canal which allows ships and boats to navigate along the Canso Strait. This strait links St. Georges Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. So as we round the causeway the open bridge and passing ship brings us to a halt. Time to take some pictures.

photo:Mary Delorey-Weber

photo:Mary Delorey-Weber


With the bridge back in place we can move forward into the highlands



photo:Mary Delorey-Weber


We move quickly up the north shore of the Bras d'Or Lake and into historic First Nations territory and catch the cable ferry that takes us across to Little Narrows.

photo: Tom McGee

photo: Tom McGee

photo: Tom McGee

Mary discusses the value of buying a book of 25 tickets for $25 rather than each bike paying $5 each. Good point; plus, since we plan to take the Englishtown Ferry on the next day we are able to save ourselves a total of $75. This trip gets more economical by the minute!

photo: Tom McGee

Unloading on the other side we ride through an area referred to as the little Cabot Trail. Overstatement but still beautiful. We follow what was once a major regional railway line that stretched through this area, crossing the bridge at Grand Narrows and continued on to Sydney.

photo:Mary Delorey-Weber


Next stop: the town of Louisbourg

Great photos!

When do you start taking reservations for 2010?

PAULBACH said:

Great photos!

When do you start taking reservations for 2010?

Click to expand...

You're already on the list with reserved bunk pal!

As we island hop, in a somewhat limited fashion, across Bras d'Or Lake, we move quickly past Sydney and sharp south to Louisbourg. On the way we cross the Mira River at Albert Bridge. The beauty and history of this river is expessed in a song written by Allister MacGillivary: Song For The Mira. Most Nova Scotians and all 'Capers' know this tune. Here's a clip sung by Matt Minglewood...

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Louisbourg is the site of the very historic and spectacular Fortress Louisbourg but more about that in the next installment. Today we camp in the town itself; on the waterfront at the Louisbourg Motorhome RV Park and Camping facility. They offered us full camping privilages for $10 per person. They have been extremely hospitable and helpful during our stay.

Too late to go to the Fortress so we set up camp and prepare to go to supper and the theater. That's right.... the theater; as in live theater in the round!







Upon recommendations at the campground, we walk to the restaurant on the waterfront. (ya, more food )







Some cute them little feet eh?



Now, as mentioned, time for some brew and get ready for the theater (of course some of us take beer for the show!). The Louisbourg Playhouse is presenting Spirit of the Island and we all going. This is a musical and story tribute to the people and culture of Cape Breton Island. Some of the pictures are lacking clarity but you'll get the idea.

photo: Paul F. Ruffell







"Aye!.... I know yer lookin' at me big lobster" he says





yes she was moving fast! Step dancing and playing.



That was our wonderful night at the theater. Thursday morning, the 3rd, we tour Fortress Louisbourg and then leave for the spectacular ride up the east side of the Cabot Trail to camp at Meat Cove; the Edge of the Earth Gathering. 'Night John Boy'...



See you at the Fortress ...

.... Thursday, Sept 3rd it's morning at



but only after.... you guessed it!..... more food

The fiddle player was Jennifer Roland and I hope the rest of you on this trip bought at least one of her CD's. Wings is just delightful -- a true taste of Cape Breton music. I'm going back for more. http://www.jenniferroland.com/

tommcgee said:

The fiddle player was Jennifer Roland and I hope the rest of you on this trip bought at least one of her CD's. Wings is just delightful -- a true taste of Cape Breton music. I'm going back for more. http://www.jenniferroland.com/

Click to expand...

thanks Tom. For those interested in a bit of this fiddlin' around... here is a snip of her playing last year . Typical of some of what we heard that night in Louisbourg. Note: a bit of nervous chatter in the beginning but stick around for her playing.

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(still working on the breakfast and Fortress stuff so back at this in a short while - Bob)

Because we were a bit later arriving in Louisbourg than we expected, we agreed it reasonable to get an early start on Thursday, Sept 3rd, have breakfast and then visit Fortress Louisbourg for half the day. Arrival in Meat Cove would then be very late afternoon but that was fine because they had a prime spot roped off for us.

Packing Up

dang! another blurry one ....



another mission accomplished!



Now to the Fortress...



......

To the Fortress

for?Àtress (f??rtrs) n. A fortified place, especially a large, permanent military stronghold that often includes a town.
[Middle English forteress, from Old French, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis, strong; see bhergh-2 in Indo-European roots.]





Park first and take a bus to the fortress









First a little welcome



and then up to the Main Gate of the fortress















.... con't

.....
Chas and Mary were briefly detained by the local authorities...





...and susequently mocked by foreign visitors



While touring the mid 1700s, Buddy, Chas, Ron, Mike and Paul were able to sniff out some fresh baked bread. Pretty heavy stuff they discovered.



Great story telling at the Gaming House



and the poorer folks and soldiers (I believe), frequented another sort of gaming house









Mary was so keen on the gardening that she almost stayed




Many more shots but time to move on; back to the bikes and onward to Meat Cove.

The Plan: Louisbourg to Meat Cove

It's about a four hour ride to Meat Cove. Distance in Nova Scotia can be deceiving; with all the twists, turns, villages, road conditions, etc it will take longer. So the route today takes us from Louisbourg and back-tracking to Sydney, meander over to the Englishtown Ferry and cross at the inlet to St. Ann's Harbour. This quickly leads us onto the Cabot Trail just south of Indian Harbour.

Over All



Louisbourg to Englishtown Ferry



and then on to Meat Cove and the Edge of the Earth Gathering



con't...

More! More!

This is a really enjoyable journey. Thanks for putting it together. Sure does make me want to return to NS.

Onward to Meat Cove!

over the Bras d' Or inlet heading for the cable ferry


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

Charlie, from Indiana, at one of the scenic pull-offs

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

Ron checking for cell power


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

Chas (Chicago) and Paul (Ontario)


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

Mike (Ontario)


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

The Englishtown Ferry comes in sight

photo: Tom McGee


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

a bit of construction

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber



That was the good news; the bad news was that we were stuck behind a tour bus all the way up!

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

photo: Mary Delorey-Weber

And to the edge of the earth we go.......


photo: Mary Delorey-Weber