Wed August 26 Cape Breton Highlands National Park (just north of Cheticamp NS)

(Photo: Winds picking up)

Got going at a reasonable hour with dry gear and a strong wind at my back. Lots of riding along the water and some white caps building up. However after 60 days or whatever I finally had my first mechanical breakdown. After the PEI dirt and the remains of Hurricane Bill my rear shifter started acting up. It didn't want to do the smallest and largest cogs in the rear. I was blaming it on dirt, 7000+km etc but no the problem was the cable at the shifter (handlebar) end. It snapped leaving me in the smallest cog. My choices: ride for days in 3 gears (maybe) or get to town about 10 km away - Cheticamp - and see what they could do. Luckily the town is the largest I've seen for a few days but of course not big enough for a bike store. I went to the dollar store they had no cable but I did get a few mini screwdrivers etc. The owner said "Yvon can fix it" she got on the phone but couldn't reach him so she sent me to the C0-op hardware store and if no luck there then she said go to the car wash where he works. I went to the hardware store, they had no cable but spent at least 15 minutes tracking Yvon down. They said he was at work, call him after 4:00and he will set you up. Of course I also got a flat tire in the midst of all this, so I fixed the flat, picked up beer, groceries, InfoCentre and decided I would get a campsite and get the bike repaired. Spent some time on it including learning time as I have never repaired that type of shifter/ brake lever. Yvon came, set me up with the cable and extra housing. We had a couple beers and chatted for a while. I gave him some money and he gave me some extra cable just in case for the front cable. After he left I put it all together and I got all 27 gears again, smooth shifting too. May need to make a few adjustments tomorrow but it should be a day and a half to the ferry and I got two days. Met some interesting people today (the Scarecrow guy, Patrick for Trois Riveries and a guy from Minnesota who is solo car camping) Once again, not a very busy National Park campground especially at $30+ per night. Maybe the other side with the RV's, wardens, evening programs etc is busier than this side.

OD 7503.2 km, 2:44:50, 57.74 km, 20.9 ave, 56.0 max