The Cabot Trail is one of Canada’s most beautiful scenic drives. It is a 300 km paved loop (approximately 200 miles) in Northern Cape Breton Island, which is connected by a causeway to the mainland of northeastern Nova Scotia. The drive is mostly along rugged coastal seascapes, but also passes through Cape Breton Highlands National Park; through forests, bogs, barrens, and arctic tundra, depending on the elevation. Numerous types of wildlife can be seen, including bald eagles, moose, sea otters and whales. Even though there are numerous villages and communities along the route, the entire loop is very un-commercialized. Accommodations include inns or B&B’s, although there are several campgrounds and a small number of “resorts” available as well.

We were drawn to this part of Nova Scotia by its natural beauty, as well as its cultural diversity. In Viking times, the island was a remote fishermen’s outpost, and the first native residents were of the Mi'kmaq Nation, until the arrival of the first European in 1497, explorer John Cabot. From then on, there was a steady stream of settlers from various European countries, including Scotland and France, who came for many reasons, from religious to political and economic.

During the first half of the 19th century, Cape Breton Island experienced an influx of Scotlanders, numbering approximately 50,000, as a result of the “Highland Clearances,” which were forced displacements of the people who lived in the Highlands of Scotland. Today, the descendants of the Highland Scots dominate Cape Breton Island's culture, particularly in rural communities and Gaelic is still the first language of a number of elderly Cape Bretoners.

The French colony on Cape Breton Island and in other regions of Canada’s Maritime Provinces was called “Acadia” by the French, and they settled there until their deportation by the British in the mid 1700’s. While many returned and some escaped the deportations, others relocated to the Mississippi river Delta, where they are known as “Cajuns.” Their descendants, whose language, music and food remain distinct, still make up a large part of the population and culture of the island.

Initially the Acadian and Scottish settlements were not linked by ground, as the coast line was so rugged; linked instead by sea, so the people had little contact with each other. The road that came to be known as the Cabot Trail was not completed until 1932, linking the communities and connecting them with the outside world.

Cycling on the Cabot Trail was quite an adventure! We made the decision to do the trail counter-clockwise because we were told that the climbs were steeper but shorter in this direction, and the descents were not as steep and twisty. We rented bikes from a bike shop in Sydney, Nova Scotia and allowed ourselves four days to complete the trail. The bikes were Sedna touring bikes, by Louis Garneau, and were equipped with 700 x 32c tires, triple chain rings, the equivalent of mountain bike cassettes, rear racks for panniers, tire repair kits, bike computers and pumps. Our loaded panniers were about 10-12 lbs per bag, or 20-24 lbs total. Touring bikes are set up for more of a comfort ride, although these had road handlebars and shifters. They also have a more upright riding position, which is suitable for carrying more weight. This positioning gives them a higher center of gravity and different handling characteristics from the sporty racing bikes we are used to riding.

Day 1: We started out with overcast skies, cool temperatures and low traffic. The terrain was “rolling.” Passed by the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Ann’s and outside the college stood a “piper” – a student in a full Scottish attire (kilt) who was playing the bagpipes. It was so unexpected and absolutely beautiful and was truly “music to our ears!” As we rode on through mostly forested areas (balsam and spruce trees), the music continued to waft through the air. What a great introduction to our 4-day tour!

There are numerous artisan shops along the Cabot Trail, selling such wares as pottery, ironart, photgraphy, pewter, leather, wood working, quilts, glass, and jewelry. Unfortunately I could only “window shop” since I didn’t want to carry any additional weight on my bike! We stopped for lunch at the Clucking Hen Café and Bakery and were advised not to drink the water since they were under a boiling order. We were able to purchase bottled water, however. As the day went on, we ran into a 15-mile stretch of construction. Added to the mix was some light rain which made the road slick in places. We rode right past a cow moose eating leaves off a tree so we stopped to snap a picture.

We continued to ride slowly and cautiously and upon completing that stretch, our first climb of the day appeared before our eyes. The 5 km (3-mile) climb to Cape Smokey was incredibly difficult with an average 10% grade, and sections steeper than that! But unlike the climbs we’re used to in the North Georgia Mountains, which are more undulating, the grade on this climb did not go below 10%. So it actually felt more like a steady 14 - 15%. Needless to say, our being on heavier bikes with panniers added to the difficulty of the climb. The views of the rugged coastline were outstanding and helped to detract from the difficulty of the climb.

After a long 4.2 mile descent, we rode into the area known as Ingonish. This area is actually a cluster of five small communities, situated between the National Park, the Highlands and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of Ingonish Ferry in the South followed by Ingonish Harbour, Ingonish Beach, Ingonish Centre, and ends with Ingonish in the North, which is where we spent our first night. Interestingly to us, our host spoke Gaelic to her children! The view from our 2nd floor “apartment” was outstanding; notably Cape Smokey!

Day 2: Sun shining, clear skies, temperature cool and comfortable. This day turned out to be the hardest day. It included 100 km, with 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) of climbing, mostly within the national park. [Mark insists he can only think in terms of kilometers now so he thinks everyone else should too!] The views of the Atlantic Ocean along the stretch leading up to the first real climb of the day (at approximate 28 miles) were absolutely spectacular. We stopped numerous times.

We rode easily up what appeared to be a 6-8% grade for approximately 3 miles leading to the village of Cape North, the most northerly community on the Cabot Trail. The village was settled by pioneers from Scotland in the early 1800's. Gaelic was the spoken tongue. We stopped briefly at the North Highlands Community Museum and Culture Centre to refuel and met a very polite and friendly young man approximately 13 years old dressed in traditional Scottish attire. After chatting for a few minutes he said he was “off to work” and trudged down the hill from the museum with his loaded “backpack.” A few minutes later, we heard bagpipes and saw the young man playing beside the road in front of the museum. We were told that the museum employed him to play the pipes for 2 hours in the afternoons. So once again, we rode on with bagpipe music wafting in the air. Very moving! My Scottish roots were beginning to stir!

The climb up North Mountain was an average 13% grade for 7 km (4.4 miles), with a few turns and pull-offs, but mostly straight up! We made a valiant effort, but ¾ of the way up both of us gave up, and walked our bikes to the top. Once we realized that we would have to walk the steepest parts of the major climbs on the Cabot Trail, we seemed to settle into the rhythm that cyclists do, and we just did it. (i.e., just take your time and enjoy the ride!)

There were two more climbs on this 2nd day as our route began to turn southwesterly, which included MacKenzie Mountain and French Mountain, but neither was as steep as North Mountain. Amazingly, the views along the Gulf of St. Lawrence side of the park as we approached Cheticamp, our destination, were even more spectacular than the views along the Atlantic side.

Chéticamp is a busy fishing port with whale-watching, deep-sea fishing, windsurfing, and a mostly French-speaking population of 3,000 descendants of the Acadians who re-settled here at the time of the French Revolution. Language scholars believe the French spoken on this shore is a unique throwback to the 18th century, or even earlier. This area of the island has a rich, vibrant culture, including a fiddling style all its own. Chéticamp is also known as "the hooked rug capital of the world." The people we met on this part of the island are close-knit, but at the same time, are very open and friendly to outsiders. We enjoyed their company very much. Our accommodations for the next two nights were at the Chéticamp Outfitters Inn, with Acadian hosts Veronique and Gilles!

Day 3: We spent this day as a recovery day, still riding in the area of Chéticamp, and went back along the magnificent coastline for more picture-taking and exploring of the Bay of St. Lawrence, but at a leisurely pace. We took time to visit a few shops, a family-owned bakery, the national park’s visitor center, St. Peter’s Church, and a museum about Acadian history and culture.

After closer inspection, we noted that the articles and blogs we had read about cycling the trail were actually done as supported rides. In fact, on the previous day, we had met a group of two couples from Quebec City, who were doing the ride for the second time, but they were doing it the smart way; they had a vehicle with bike racks and they took turns driving, so no one had to carry their own gear. There was only one other couple that we passed on our 4 days of the Cabot Trail and they were doing portions of the trail by doing “out and backs” from various locations. We also met a man who had ridden self-supported from Vancouver and was on his way to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where he would complete his journey of approximately 5,000 miles in 9 weeks!

Day 4: After a lovely breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, we proceeded south on our bikes with overcast skies and extremely windy conditions. First, a note about the weather: we had read that this region is noted for Les Suête, (an Acadian phrase) which are highly localized winds. The previous day we remarked that the wind seemed to be picking up, and became concerned, but were told by the locals that “this is just a breeze.” It is only considered a little “windy” if the wind picks up to about 40 mph (64 km per Mark.) We learned that, because the landscape in northwestern Cape Breton Island is marked by a steep and nearly linear drop-off northwestward from the Cape Breton Highland to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it causes the wind to “drop off” the Highland, almost like water pouring over a low dam. This causes the wind flow to greatly accelerate in the area directly in the lee of the slope. Gusts have been reported to exceed 94 mph! So with all of this in mind, we proceeded cautiously, as our bikes were being blown about along this first stretch of approximately 15 miles.

This portion of the Cabot Trail hugs the coast as it winds through several Acadian fishing communities. We noted numerous red, white and blue Acadian flags flying in the wind, in addition to the Canadian flag. It was not uncommon to see the American flag hanging at some establishments as well. Our views were of the crashing surf and gorgeous drop-offs. I couldn’t get enough! We stopped numerous times.

As we approached Margaree Harbour, our route turned easterly and we enjoyed fairly easy cycling, comparatively speaking, through the Margaree River valley. The communities along the Margaree River were established early in the nineteenth century by pioneers from England and later by settlers from Ireland and Scotland. We took several minutes to stop at the Margaree Salmon Museum, which presented the history of the Margaree River, one of the world’s most famous salmon-fishing rivers. There was one last steep climb left to do on this last day, Hunter’s Mountain, which we purposely avoided by taking a slightly longer detour along the flat, very scenic and quiet Yankee Line road! The road runs right along the river and at one point goes through a narrow gap in the hills.

Once off this road, we continued north on the Trans Canada Highway, along the beautiful Bras d’Or Lake for approximately 10 miles back to our starting location, Baddeck.

Still feeling a rush of adrenaline from having completed our trip, we quickly showered, changed and headed to the Alexander Graham Bell museum, which was next door to the B&B at which we were staying. It may be little known that Baddeck was Bell’s summer home and is where much of his scientific work was pursued! After vewing a few exhibits and watching only one short film, although interesting and informative, we both suddenly felt exceedingly hungry and tired! We realized all we had eaten for the day was our breakfast before leaving Cheticamp (60 miles ago), and later a Cliff bar. We cut the visit short and headed to a well-deserved dinner of lobster, mussels, and salmon! We ended our day by attending a céilidh, which is a Scottish music and dance festival, very popular on the island.

Overall, cycling on Cape Breton Island was much more challenging than we expected, but the scenery certainly more than made up for it. The climbs are very different from the rolling hills of North Florida and South Georgia. What is considered rolling terrain in this part of the province of Nova Scotia are for us roller-coaster steep climbs and descents! Riding the Cabot Trail has now made 6-Gap look easy! (We’ll see about that…) In any case, we’ve decided that if we do it again we will use our road bikes and plan out and back trips or loops from two or three different starting locations. We think the climbs as well as the descents would be much more doable and enjoyable on road bikes. Although we included time to drive and visit some other parts of Nova Scotia before and after our bike tour, there was much that we did not have time to do, including some fantastic hiking. So it is very likely we will return in the near future! We highly recommend this cycling trip to anyone who is adventuresome and loves challenges!