The destination:

I could probably only talk here about the lack of preparation for this trip. The general idea of Judd and I was that we would head to Nova Scotia, and that’s about it. There wasn’t much more to the plan than that. I did search ADVRider just a little and found that the Cabot Trail on the north side of Nova Scotia was a must hit. I figured that this would make a good starting point and depending on where we were in the week after visiting this, we could see where else to go. Worst case we can ask the locals where to visit.

We had, however, talked about Newfoundland and Labrador. Newfoundland had some great looking rural areas that would make for some good camping. Labrador would be an adventure in itself since there are ferries that connect all the seaside towns in that province. I can only assume this means the roads in this province would be tough. Our maps do not even show any roads of decent size in the area. Again, with no plan, we would probably rely on the locals recommendations for these areas, if they were even possible at all for us.

The Cabot Trail, located on the north side of Nova Scotia on Cape Breton:

Here is some information on the Cabot Trail from Wikipedia:

The Cabot Trail is a Canadian highway located in the province of Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island. It is also the name of a provincial government-designated "Scenic Route" for tourism-marketing purposes.

The route is 298 km long and completes a loop around the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, passing along and through the scenic Cape Breton Highlands. It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, although most historians agree his landfall was likely Newfoundland, not Cape Breton. Construction of the initial route was completed in 1932.

The northern section of the Cabot Trail passes through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The western and eastern sections follow the rugged coastline, providing spectacular views of the ocean. The southwestern section passes through the Margaree River valley before passing along Bras d'Or Lake.

The Cabot Trail is the only trunk secondary highway in Nova Scotia which does not have a signed route designation. Road signs along the route instead have a unique mountain logo.

The road is internally referred to by the Department of Transportation and Public Works as Trunk 30. It is open year-round.

The Cabot Trail

Cabot Trail beach

View of the commerical and residential establishments that exist at Pleasant Bay, along the Cabot Trail's northern-most segment

One detour we would take would be to hit the easternmost point in the United States: Lubec, Maine. This is the last of the four Judd needs, and my second. If we could ride quick enough, a lobster lunch in Maine before getting to the easternmost point is not too far out of the question. We should easily be able to get this on our second day of the trip, putting us into Canada by Sunday night.

I ran into some other setbacks related to the planning since Tiffany and I were moving the two weeks before hand, and to make matters worse, I had a 5-day business trip that was a week before my trip. Somehow I would have to manage finishing the move along with preparing my bike for the trip in just a few days.

My GSXR is just short of 25k miles so the work would be involved. New air filter, spark plugs, coolant, oil/filter, and tires. Some other items related to the trip include frame sliders, new tank bag, brackets to reinforce my soft side luggage, and mounting a new top case. Packing would also be involved with the camping gear I would be taking, which would be new to my packing regime.

Here's a shot during the luggage rack mock up:

I ended up taking the day before off from work to make sure I had a chance to get everything done, and I’m glad I did. I ended up going to bed at around 12:30am, to wake up at 3:30am. I didn’t even have everything done since I still had to pack my clothes, reinstall the side fairings, and double check tire pressures. I’ll worry about that in the morning.

I always end up saying that… and end up regretting it once I get back in the garage in the morning.