Day 92: Musquodoboit Harbour to Porters Lake (Transitions)

We woke up to a foggy Nova Scotia shore morning in our cozy island cabin. A quick breakfast, goodbye to our hosts and we were off on a short ride to Porters Lake to visit Steve, Sarah-Marie and Reubin. In many ways this was the first day of the end of our journey, for our journey and theirs has been connected through the blog and some common realities over the past three months. It was amazing to have Sarah-Marie and Reubin waiting to welcome us out on the road and soon we got to see Steve as well.

They have been on very, very different journeys, living and struggling with Steve's cancer and building an amazing row boat, a "Cosine Wherry" made of cedar strips. There was a bet as to whether we would complete the trip or they would complete the boat first and it seems we have won, but just by a week. Steve argues though that it could float at present, though it still needs seats and oarlocks. A cedar strip rowboat is fascinating, extremely light and stunning when varnished and shining with the multcoloured strips. The name is drawn from its mathematical design which maximizes its efficiency in moving through the water under row power. Steve's reality, and Sarah Marie who shares it with him, is very present oriented. When beset by illness, one cannot plan for the future, rather it is a day at a time with attention to eating, sleeping and being. They work on the boat when they can, Sarah Marie doing most of it of late, and they try to stay in the moment outside of other realities. In that sense it is very much like us on the bikes. We start each day with a hope of where we would like to get to by the evening but wind, rain, bike issues or things we stumble into can quickly change that agenda. we get to where we get and never think more than a few days out. By now we are relatively unaware of the outside world beyond our immediate experience (unlike us, Steve is tuned into the social and political realities of world events). Our bike conversation focus on things along the road, our next treat or meal or the weather. The last couple of days have started to be challenging with the realities of having to think about what happens after the trip, topics we have tried to avoid, and now it is getting more difficult. Folks are e mailing us saying when can we get together, and the first reaction is "I don't know, we can't know where we will be— quite different relative to our normal working lives. It has been wonderful to talk and share our respective journeys over the past three months with Steve, Sarah Marie and Reubin. Now we must struggle with transitions as we move forward.

Distance: 23.08 km
Time on bikes: 1:09:10
Average speed: 20.0 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 7350 km
Start: 10:30 am
End: 12:40 pm
Wind: northwest (light head)
Conditions: Foggy

Location:Porters Lake, Nova Scotia