Day 6 - Bar Harbor, Maine to Moncton, New Brunswick

Day 6 was a good day - and I needed that to be the case after the frustration of Monday.

First of all, due to fatigue from Day 5 and the late night coming out of Acadia National Park, we shortened the day and delayed our "go" time to allow everyone to get some much-needed recovery time. The big change centered around the mutual decision to count our time in Acadia as sufficient. We headed north at the start of the day.

Here's the deal: when we do these rides that are so far from home AND decide to ride the entire distance, coupled with the reality that we all have jobs and therefore limited time we can be away, we have to make some hard choices about what we can and cannot do. We have to make sure the trip is enjoyable. I mean, this is certainly the experience- but most of all, it's about fun and camaraderie. So as disappointing as it might seem to miss some beauty in ANP, the target is Nova Scotia. We headed north, and that was the right call.

We set out in nice weather and meandered along the coast of Maine, somewhat disappointed that we didn't see as much of the coast as we desired. The ride was fun, however, and the conversation was lively. A side note: we decided to start over with the creation of our communications  "Pack" and the Scala Rider devices worked flawlessly all day. We arrived early at our first destination, Eastport Chowder House, and had time to chat with some of the local residents and fishermen. We had fresh lobster for lunch. The food and the experience exceeded our expectation here. We were joined by an all-too-familiar friend during lunch - rain - and rode in the wet stuff for several hours.

We had to continue our push toward Cape Breton Island by getting across the border into Canada. The crossing proved uneventful and we set our sights on the Cape Enrage Lighthouse and the Hopewell Rocks. Time again became a challenging factor for us: we spent more time at lunch then planned for - because the  we were having fun! Then we took a needed break along the way because we were cold. A final challenge was a GPS / routing issue that cost us some valuable time. Once again, we amended the plan, blew past the lighthouse, and went straight to the Hopewell Rocks to insure we were there at low tide.

The Rocks were stunning. Located on the shore of the northern part of the Bay of Fundy, the area experiences some of the largest tidal variations in the world. At low tide, we were able to actually walk on the ocean floor and see and experience the magnificent rock formations. Words can't begin to adequately describe this phenomenon. I hope the pictures give you an idea of the wonder of the Hopewell Rocks.

Late in the day, we opted to ride to Moncton, our stopping place for the night, and ride straight to dinner with no stop at the hotel. After grabbing a bite, we retired to the hotel and called it a day.

In all, we rode 365 miles. Our day, from launch to landing after dinner, was just over 14 hours.

We made some pretty significant adjustments along the way - but we had FUN!

Border crossing

Downtown Moncton