Cross Canada Ride – Destination Salty Fog

I then made my way into New Brunswick where I had booked into Riverside RV Park & Campground off two lane Route 144 near Edmonston NB. I had really taken my time getting there, night was falling and I made a wrong turn because of an ambiguous rural address in my GPS sending me 40 Km out of my way. Duh, I finally figured that out when I saw a bridge ahead ‘Hey there isn’t a river crossing on my route!’ and a sign letting me know that the border crossing to the USA was on the other side! I consulted my detailed paper map via flashlight and quickly realized my error, turned around and set off in the correct direction. By now I had to set up camp in the dark and only then noticed that I was hungry – very hungry! One of my camping neighbours had ridden a lot in his youth stopped by, took pity on me and brought over a couple cobs of corn left over from his family’s meal which I gratefully consumed while we swapped riding stories. However, I was soon back on the bike retracing the highway looking for a place that was still open for more food. Found a wonderful place serving poutine! It was such a massive lump of gravy, curd, fries, and gooey goodness and I was so ravenous that I ate ¾ of it before I stopped for a picture.

Great ride report! Love the pic of poutine! Made my mouth water.

New Brunswick - Day Nine

My Edmonston NB camp this morning after the rain overnight – not my chair – folks who run the place must have brought it to me in the dark.



As had become my normal routine, I quickly split camp, and headed out in search of coffee and a muffin – almost always at a Tim Hortons which is institutional in small town Canada. Success! I quickly spot a Timmies in the tiny hamlet of Saint Leonard, pull off and get a coffee and muffin to go. Returning to where I was parked, I proceeded to sip coffee and do a routine check of the bike.

Yep. That would be a nail.



After looking at the nail considering the options (pull the nail and plug the tire, call the nearest shop with a tire that would fit my bike) I decided to at least see if there was a tire to be had nearby before doing anything at all. I had pre-loaded my iPhone contacts with BMW and other motorcycle shops along my general route and found the nearest to be Atlantic Motoplex in Dieppe NB just outside Moncton. Atlantic is a multi-vendor shop that includes BMW so I put in a call to their service area, was greeted pleasantly. Once I had explained where I was and my need they checked and indeed had a supply of Michelin PR4s which suited me perfectly. They also said that if I could make it there today (a Friday) before closing they would squeeze me in. I checked and it was about four hours away and only 100 Km off my intended route. I told them I was heading there and gave an approximate ETA. Now to decide whether or not to plug the tire or just ride. I checked the pressure (tire warm) with both with my digital meter from my toolkit and riding around the parking lot with the bike TPS; it appeared I was down about 3-4 PSI from normal. I opted not to plug it reasoning with my TPS I could top the tire up now and watch the pressure as I rode and therefore take action if I started suddenly losing air. As it turned out after topping up, I lost only 4 PSI before I reached Dieppe loosing roughly 1 PSI per hour so nothing alarming.

I was warmly welcomed at Atlantic Motoplex and they took my bike immediately to an open lift to begin working on it. I was invited to go up to their customer lounge, have a coffee and watch the work from above through large picture windows overlooking the service bays below.





By mid-afternoon my bike was wearing a shiny new tire and ready to go. As usual they gave the safety warning that new tires are slippery until worn in for a 100 or so Kms depending upon riding conditions.

Prince Edward Island

I crossed into Prince Edward Island over the 14 Km (8 mile) long Confederation Bridge with clear sky and light winds. This bridge is the longest in the world that crosses ice-covered water, was opened in 1997, and cost $1B CAN to build.

After a brief stop I decided to head to the west-most end of the island at the West Point Lighthouse following the coast instead of proceeding directly to my destination. That option doubled the distance but I never saw a road with lines on it until I got to Cabot Beach Provincial Park where I would camp for the night.

After setting up, I went back to a quaint home I saw about 20 Km back that advertised Art for sale and hot food and indeed when I checked it out they were selling fine oil paintings and served meals composed of locally sourced fish and vegetables. I was the only evening customer since it was now off-season and near the end of the tourist run for the year and the home made food and hot gourmet tea hit the spot for sure!







Time for bed and fell asleep being serenaded by a large group of campers singing maritime songs – lovely.

Beautiful maritime day! Got to see the inside of another lighthouse, examined the bright red mud they have here to grow potatoes in, saw a lot of pretty homes with manicured lawns, a lot of rural churches, won an award receiving a blue ribbon and frame-able certificate for my effort, and made what could have been a 270 km ride into over 400 ending in Red Point Provincial Park. I spent the evening as a guest around the fire swapping tales and sharing routes we enjoyed in the past with three Maritimers who happened to also be motorcyclists.

East Point Lighthouse

Onward to Nova Scotia

DAY 11

What a gorgeous morning as I started with a short ride without a breath of wind to Wood Islands and the ferry from PEI over to Caribou Nova Scotia.





The ferry was quite large allowed those on motorcycles to get on, park deep within the hold and get off first so that was great. I was joined by only two other bikes so had and excellent place to park and tie down. It was a perfect morning so I spent the entire crossing on the deck enjoying the sea breeze and taking pictures.

Next - Larrys River

As I traversed south following Bob’s excellent directions on the remaining roads towards Larry's River south of Monastery became narrower with more and more curves and became much more scenic. With very little traffic on the road I fell into a Zen-like rhythm that happens so seldom but which is the nirvana of motorcycling until suddenly I saw one of these:



As I continued, I saw several other similar signs until I came to a short section of gravel and I had arrived!

bogthebasher said:

As I traversed south following Bob’s excellent directions on the remaining roads towards Larry's River south of Monastery became narrower with more and more curves and became much more scenic. With very little traffic on the road I fell into a Zen-like rhythm that happens so seldom but which is the nirvana of motorcycling until suddenly I saw one of these:

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As I continued, I saw several other similar signs until I came to a short section of gravel and I had arrived!

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That sign's a 'Collectors Item' for sure! Enjoying your report and pictures. - Bob and Mary

tourunigo said:

That sign's a 'Collectors Item' for sure! Enjoying your report and pictures. - Bob and Mary

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Well right now it is hanging in my garage where I park my bike along with one of the MOA Banners used at the yearly Calgary Motorcycle Show. An honoured spot indeed. Periodically I touch the sign and take a sip of Glenora (yeah I snagged some), then sigh and look out the door at the snow and think about this ride. Now next year...

bogthebasher said:

Well right now it is hanging in my garage where I park my bike along with one of the MOA Banners used at the yearly Calgary Motorcycle Show. An honoured spot indeed. Periodically I touch the sign and take a sip of Glenora (yeah I snagged some), then sigh and look out the door at the snow and think about this ride. Now next year...

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whoa! from collector's item to shrine is quite a leap eh? "Now next year".... is that a 'teaser line'? See you in NY maybe? Again, enjoying the report.

Hey Ken, just spotted your thread. Great pics and narration. Thanks for posting.

In the next couple of years I'm looking to complete two "bucket list items." One, crossing the US from coast to coast and then returning via Canada - coast to coast. I'd be interested in following your route - in reverse, east to west. Any chance I could bother you for GPS tracks or routes? I would very much appreciate it.

nakwakto00 said:

In the next couple of years I'm looking to complete two "bucket list items." One, crossing the US from coast to coast and then returning via Canada - coast to coast. I'd be interested in following your route - in reverse, east to west. Any chance I could bother you for GPS tracks or routes? I would very much appreciate it.

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Don, I will see what I can dig up and will PM you later.