I woke this morning at 7:30. More excellent weather!

I had breakfast around 8:15 and was on the road again by 9:00. I decided to take a short cut at River John. It wasn't much of a short cut. The road twisted and turned and dipped and came back up again over and over. I couldn't get any momentum. I pulled into Pictou around 12:00 and stopped downtown for a slice of Pizza and pop. Leaving Pictou for New Glascow, I found the going really difficult, monotonous, and painful. I had to stop several times because my rear end was just too sore to carry on.

I arrived in New Glascow around 1:30 and promptly lost myself in the small downtown area. I was looking in the map in bewilderment when a passing lady offered me directions.

"Take a left at the church and go up Mountain Road", she said.

I found out why they call it Mountain Road! It was just one hill piled on top of another. I would reach the top of a crest just to find another climb ahead of me. Note to self: any hill with TV antennas and satellite dishes on it should be avoided at all cost.

The ride down was much better. Thank you, law of Gravity! 20 minutes of pure coasting. At the end of route 4, I turned left onto the Trans-Canada highway. The next few hills were brutal. Up and down, up and down, up and down. I took several breaks along the way to rest my legs and weary rear end.

Eventually, the road leveled out in a river valley and I was back on route 4 - the "old highway" as the locals refer to it. I foolishly passed a gas station without stopping and soon found myself out of water a few miles down the road. I stopped at one house to ask to fill up my bottle, only to be told by the owner that their well water was contaminated with oil. (?)

I started sprinting out of the saddle to alleviate the pain in my butt. It worked and my pace accelerated. I stopped at a house about 8 km outside of Antigonish to again ask for water. I had some luck this time - water sans oil!

More sprinting on my way to Antigonish, aided by a good tailwind. I made Antigonish by 6:00 and had supper at MacDonalds. I was craving salt like you wouldn't believe.

I passed St. Francis Xavier University as I left town. The university looked bigger than the town itself! I had originally planned to camp just past Antigonish, but there was a hurricane-force tailwind and I was blazing away in top gear, so I decided to keep pedalling.

I found a campsite about 25 km short of the Canso Causeway. I met a recumbant cyclist there from Atlanta, on his way to do the Cabot Trail. He spoke with great enthusiasm on his numerous bike trips and I listened until dusk. I finally turned in around 10:00 pm.

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