Length:1300 Kms
Dates: 2007-08-31 (Friday) to 2007-09-03 (Monday)
Photos: Full Photo Set
Map Summary:

• Day 1: Halifax to Sherbrooke ~200 kms
• Day 2: Sherbrooke to ~Englishtown ~340 kms
• Day 3: ~Englishtown to Sydney ~330 kms
• Day 4: Sydney to Halifax ~440 kms

The Plan
This was only my second overnight trip on my Motorcycle, and also the second to the Cabot Trail (what better place to go!). During my only previous trip (with Danny) I did not have my hard bags. On this trip I had my large (45L) Givi bags and rack installed on the bike, so I was essentially travelling with a large set of luggage.

After posting the initial plan on OuterSurf.com Scott, Danny and Brandon all showed interest. A few weeks before the trip we all met up at Scott’s place to look at maps of Nova Scotia, plan our route and start to get in the right mindset. During this time we discussed the options of staying at hotels versus camping and also how far we thought we could get Friday night and general plans for the rest of the long weekend.

Day 1 – The Rain
Our plan was to leave Friday afternoon, with everyone trying to get off work as early as possible. Brandon was ready the earliest (as in on-time), Scott and I were ready at around 5:00pm and Danny was ready at around 6:30. We had been e-mailing back and forth all day trying to decide on if we were going to leave Friday night or Saturday morning as there was rain and thunderstorms forecasted for the evening. Despite the rain we did decide to leave for Sherbrooke where Brandon has a family home. By the time we got to Sherbrooke it was dark out and everyone was mentally drained from driving along the coastal number 7 in the dark and in heavy rain.

Once everyone marked out places to hang wet clothes, gloves and boots we all had a few tasty beverages and settled in for the night.

Day 2 – Heading to Ingonish

Our second day started out slow. We were slow to get going both because of the beverages from the night before and because Brandon wanted to go to a laundromat to dry his clothes (you should always back your gear in waterproof bags, especially when they are calling for record levels of rainfall). We would experience the after effects of the rain for the entire trip. It had rained so hard that many roads were flooded and others had washout across them or were fully washed out.

As Brandon’s clothes were drying we stopped in the historical town of Sherbrooke for lunch (the stopped serving breakfast which tells you how late it was). Once all our gear was packed and our bellies were full, we finally hit the road. After the previous night of rain and darkness, everyone was eager to hit the roads. It was our second turn taken at speed when the worst event of the weekend happened, Brandon went into the ditch.

At the time I’m not sure that everyone knew how new of a rider Brandon was (i.e. weeks).