The day started out cloudy but turned sunny, breezy and warm by the afternoon. Even with a chance of showers, the bikes came out of the trailer this morning.
They were no worse for wear, particularly considering the bumpy back roads. However, one of the rear tie-downs on the 1150GS had broken. It had been fine at the beginning of yesterday. The rear tie-downs are spring cam buckle straps, which are easy to adjust. The teeth in one had cut completely through the strap on one side of the bike. There was also wear on the strap on the other side.
Fortunately, the bike is really held in place by the extra-heavy straps on the front forks. The rear straps primary keep the back wheel from moving around. I expect that it was the weight of bike, the load on the rear spring and the movement over the bumps that caused it to cut through. Interestingly, there was no apparent wear on the identical straps used on Ellen's F650GS, a lighter bike.
After attaching her intercom unit to Ellen's new helmet, which has different dimensions than her old one (duct tape was involved), we suited up and headed out on our first loop ride in Nova Scotia. We headed back along the Sunshine Trail to Tatamagouche, to check out their Saturday morning farmer's market. It seems that it may be a bit early in the season as there wasn't much in the way of produce. The high spots were the maple sugar candy from Sugar Mill Farm (Ellen ate the whole thing!) and the meat counter with locally raised meats (unfortunately, we just had grass-fed burgers last night).
From Tatamagouche, we headed inland to the Balmoral Grist Mill. It was built by a Scottish miller in the mid-19th century and it still an active mill. It is now owned by the province as a historic site. We had a private tour of the workings of the mill. It was a pretty complex works with grains such as oats moving through several grinding steps, being sent from step to step through various shuts and bins and moving belt elevators. We also got to talk to the current miller, who has been spending the last two years restoring much of the mill and its workings, which had gotten a bit worn in 120+ years.
Although it is no longer a commercial enterprise,they still dry and grind scotch oatmeal, as well as buckwheat, corn and wheat. You can buy freshly ground grains at the store on site. We decided not to, only because it is sold in four pound bags, a bit too large for us to transport and keep fresh.
From there we continued inland along a nice curvy road back to Pictou, the town nearest the park. We stopped for lunch along the waterfront, at a pleasant cafe with porch seating overlooking the harbor, but rather bland clam chowder. After that it was back to Speedy to relax and watch an outdoor wedding on the park grounds (from a distance of course).
It was a good day we hope to repeat it again tomorrow--on other roads, of course. We've extended our stay in the overflow area for another night. One of the park staff said that the real farmer's market is in New Glascow and runs Saturday and Sunday. We are going to start there and do an eastbound loop, assuming the weather holds.
Today's Ride:
View Northumberland Shore Western Loop Ride in a larger map
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