After all the rain we've had (nearly 2 weeks straight), we finally had some beautiful weather this weekend!So we took the opportunity for the whole family to go cycling - to see what the local Trans-Canada Trails had to offer. With the Oceanview Trail, we can go all the way to my parents' place while mostly staying off the roads.
We first tried to go along to Easter Passage to start at the beginning of the trail there. Let me tell you, if you ever plan to cycle in Dartmouth, don't take Pleasant St - it is not a pleasant ride! The road has constant traffic, including a lot of large trucks, and it's poorly maintained. There are no bike lanes, so it's either take a risk with traffic, of hopscotch from one side of the road to the other trying to follow the alternating sidewalk.
When we finally made it to the trail, it was smooth sailing, and we made much better time on the trail. Most of the TransCanada Trail is a mix of parkland and multi-use trails following old railroad beds. So the going is rather flat, with little incline... Some parts of the trail are better maintained than others, and where possible they do warn you when you move from maintained trails to rough trails still under construction.
In the end we finally made it to the Salt Marshes, but turned back due to the hot sun, no sunscreen, we pretty much depleted most of our water and liquids, and most of us were getting pretty tired. To alternate our route, we decided to head up Bissett Rd on our way back, and the trip home was significantly more enjoyable, despite being tired and thirsty. We finally made it back to Cole Harbour, and eventually back home, after 6 hours we were tired, thirsty, sunburnt, but over all satisfied that we took the trip. Chip managed to do all the cycling on his own, so it looks like we'll be putting the funds that we were going to put into a 3rd wheel into camping gear instead. We definately found a new family outing experience. Soon as we all have time off, we'll probably head out again - though we won't be making it all the way out to my parent's place till we can devote a day to each trip.
