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Easy Riding

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Motorcycling through Maine and Eastern Canada brings the wonder of nature home
By Katharine Mott

Billy is a biker and I like to join him as a backseat rider. We've motorcycled across North America a couple of times. We've enjoyed the lakes, mountains, expanse of the Prairies, and different cultures. There's no question: it's big and it's beautiful. Spectacular as it all is, though, we prefer Canada's East Coast & we have a microcosm of the continent right here and it's all within easy reach.

Want a recipe for a happy bike jaunt? Toss in the camping gear, take a long secondary road, add a ferry ride or two, and perhaps a soupÁon of national park. Our choice of toppings tends to be fish-and-chip shops, hot dog stops, and ice cream stands, or chocolates. Favourites of your own can be added, of course & museums, look-offs, coffee shops, for example.

The biking season, May through October, sees us on the road as often as we can. We've day-tripped along the by-roads of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and we've packed our tenting gear for trips further afield. Weather alone dictates when we book into commercial accommodation or scrounge on friends in the neighbourhood. Air conditioning has its appeal on some hot days; on others our preference is to listen to the rain on the roof of a cabin rather than on the tent.

It's hard to pick preferred parts of our East Coast. We aren't city lovers, so we pick out-of-the-way places as much as possible. The north shore of New Brunswick is special to us for a whole lot of reasons, motorcycling included; that's where we grew up so we know the back roads pretty well. Many of them are paved and they call out an invitation to bike in the habitat of wildlife and greenery. We need to be extra careful on these roads & moose abound.

Traveling along the rim of the beautiful Chaleur Bay, the Acadian Coast of New Brunswick, is a biker's delight. We stick to the secondary roads along the coast. It's like traveling in a kaleidoscope & the people and places are colourful, sparkling, and always changing. The rich cultural mix of French and English is evident everywhere. We see it in the architecture and colour of the houses, the welcoming nature of the people, and the food in the restaurants and canteens.

The sweetest little province of the country is a quick jaunt over the spectacular Confederation Bridge. PEI resembles the Canadian Prairies in that much of it is flat farmland with scattered secret spots of delight. Victoria by the Sea is one; Souris is another. We like to explore when we're there & there are always more secrets to discover. The whole province is a biker's dream. You can ride, ride, ride, taking roads that seem to lead to nowhere, then curve back to a road that takes you somewhere. Finding the nowheres and somewheres is what make this province exciting.

The ferry from PEI's Wood Islands to Pictou, NS, lets you appreciate the Northumberland Strait. A keen eye can even spot a whale once in a while. A toot around the Cape Breton Highlands, then on the ferry to the west coast of Newfoundland will take you through spectacular mountains. Spots along the way are like bait to a fish:the motorcycle comes to a screeching stop when traveling near the Margaree River or the Red Shoe in Mabou. And a fish-and-chip sign can pull the bike into a parking lot very quickly!

Newfoundland and Labrador is the mystery province. Each time you take a bend in the road, or stop to view the scenery, you see something different and appealing. From the back of the bike I often see Billy's shoulders rise, hear him take a deep breath and utter a sound of extreme satisfaction. I know that it's because we are alive and traveling in paradise. We've traveled the west coast of Newfoundland to the northerly tip of St. Anthony. There are places along the way that make you think you can reach out and touch Canada & the beauty of the Gros Morne mountains, the flatness of the road beyond, and the salt water of the Strait of Belle Isle can bring tears to your eyes. The wind in the north can be a challenge, so be careful.

When Billy and I talk of heading west, we think of crossing the border into Maine. A National Park ride on both sides of the Bay of Fundy is one of our favourites. Our route has taken us to the Fundy Park in New Brunswick, on a ferry ride from Saint John, NB, to Digby, NS. We ride to Kejimkujik Park in Nova Scotia, and from Yarmouth over to Acadia National Park in Maine on The CAT (the ferry has tie-downs for bikes). From Acadia Park we've scooted to Portland and back on The CAT to Yarmouth. It's a fairy-ring trip that takes you through fantasylands.

We both want to know Maine a little more intimately and are putting it on our biking agenda for the near future. Our friends in Maine lead us to believe that people are a lot like us in that state. And their scenery and attractions are just as appealing.

Biking back here in the east boils down to our wanting to be with our own back-home, down-home, like-minded people. We like the smells and sights and sounds and accents of our homeland. And since we're so much like each other, we include the east coast of each country in that description.