The wind blew all night with gusts occasionally shaking the tent, but nothing too bad. I woke at about 5:30 and didn’t hear any rain. Perfect, I thought, we’ve avoided wet tents. A few minutes later the rain started, just in time for my alarm to go off. I got dressed, packed up the inside of my tent, and got my rain gear on expecting to get soaked when I stepped outside. Instead I found it was barely raining at all. The wind blowing rain into the tent made it sound much worse than it was.

View of Confederation Bridge

Heading for the bridge

Today we would be crossing the Confederation Bridge to PEI. Cycling is not allowed on the bridge so you have to take the shuttle. We had been told that the first shuttle would be 8:30. Elaine had arranged to meet up with a friend later in camp so wanted to catch the first shuttle. We were underway by about 7:15 for the 16 km ride to the bridge.

Arriving at the Information Center at the bridge we discovered a driver was already there. He advised that he had a pickup and that another pickup and the shuttle van were on there way as they had been told to be there for 8:00 to transport 20 cyclists. Obviously there was some miscommunication as there were only 2 of us at that point and the whole group wouldn’t be arriving all at once.

Loading the bikes

While waiting for more riders we went up the observation tower to get some photos of the bridge. When we came back down the other pickup and shuttle van had arrived. “No problem” they said when we mentioned again that riders would be arriving in batches. “We’ll wait.” You got to love laid back Maritimers.

Within a few minutes Yukon Greig arrived. The three of us were loaded onto one of the pickups and we were off. The Confederation Bridge, finished in 1997 and linking PEI to the mainland is a 12.9 km wonder.

Confederation Bridge

Anne

After we unloaded in PEI we checked out one of the shops, rode to the old ferry terminal to take some pictures of the bridge the rode back to Cows for some ice cream.

So this is where ice cream comes from

Dessert special & lattė – perfect combo

After stopping to take photos at the PEI welcome sign we were off on our ride across the island. Our next stop was at a chocolate shop in Victoria-by-the-sea, a beautiful little village. The chocolate shop had a great variety of chocolates made on premises. By the time we arrived Danny, Larry, Gee, and Rob were already there. Most of us ordered the dessert special: fresh fruit, whipping cream and warm chocolate. I ordered a latté to go with mine. It was absolutely delicious.

With Rob & Elaine

Larry, Danny, Gee

So by 10:30 in the morning we had enjoyed breakfast, ice cream, and dessert. Man I love this island!

We continued to follow a coastal route to Cornwall. A couple of kilometres from camp we popped into a Tim Hortons for some lunch. By 3 pm we had arrived in camp after a 113 km trip, including the shuttle ride over the bridge (I didn’t turn off my Garmin for the bridge). Today was just a nice day to ride. I found that rather than checking my Garmin to see how far we had left I was only checking the distance occasionally to determine when the next turn was.

After arriving in camp I phoned friends of my friend Brenda who she had been urging me to call. Doug picked me up and took me back to their home for dinner. Doug and Helen are both sailors and I enjoyed a wonderful visit with them.