Up at 7:00 this morning. It rained last night, but I am toasty dry in my tent and Gortex bivy-bag!

On the road at 8:00. I had the causeway in view when the sky fell on me. I donned my rain jacket and kept going. I stopped at the Tim Horton's just before the causeway for breakfast and to get out of the pouring rain.

Crossing the causeway, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Too far along the road to turn back now! I stopped in Port Hawksbury long enough to phone home and decide upon which route to take through Cape Breton. I'm going straight up the middle!

After climbing a bit, the road leveled out and I had a good tailwind at my back. I made good time, passing through the Wycocomah Reservation and reaching Baadeck at 3:30. I stopped for supper and checked out the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. The sun emerged and there was an excellent view of the lake and the clifts opposite.

I was back on the road at 5:30. Originally, I had planned to camp just past Baadeck, but I kept saying to myself, "Just a bit further, just a bit more". I flew along with a good tailwind at my back. A sign appeared up ahead. "Kelly's Mountain. You will climb 240 meters in the next 7 miles". What a brutal hill. I have never climbed that much all at once in my entire life. The view at the top was great and I managed to beg some water from a tourist at the lookout. The descent on the other side was blazzingly fast, then it levelled out and I was pedalling again. Crossed a bridge and continued on towards North Sydney. I found some campsites and stopped to call the ferry terminal just in case there were any crossings not on the printed schedule. There was - at 12:30 that night! "Just a bit further"...

I made it to the ferry terminal by 8:00 and had an ice-cold shower. This ferry run is going to Port-aux-Basques. The Argentia run isn't until Friday. So much for visiting St. John's! I looked at some brochures at the tourist info booth and settled on Gros Morne as my final destination. It looks like an amazing place, although at 339 km to go, it is going to take 2 or 3 days to get there.

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