By: Bob Vincent

Our Nova Scotia experience began at 7:30 AM on Wednesday with Gary
and I exchanging hearty waves of acknowledgement. He rode up Route 77
from Guilford, CT. on his 99 Softtail Springer and met me on Route 17
in Middletown, CT. on my rented 98 Ultra. I rented because my 97
Fatboy is not a long distance touring machine: no storage and those
solid wheels get funky in crosswinds. But mostly I just didn't
want to get it dirty or wet.

Anyway, it rained all the way to Portland, ME. I had a face shield,
but Gary had a half-helmet and goggles. OUCH! That's 200 miles in
the rain on Route 91/84 (CT) to 90/495 (MA) to 95 (NH) to 495/95 (ME).

HINT: Be prepared for tolls. Have coins easily available and have
the lead bike pay for all other bikes. Why do we have tolls anyway?

The sun came out and the rain gear and helmets came off for the
next 200 miles on Route 95/3 to Bar Harbor, ME. I had a hard time
getting my rain boots off because my leather boots were soaked.

DOOP: Put rain pants over rain boots. Do not tuck rain pants into
rain boots. It took all night on a heater to dry my leather boots.

Got into Bar Harbor, ME. about 5:30 PM. Long day. A couple hours
later, we met up with Jack and Jan, also from Guilford, CT.
They trailered their 99 Softtail Heritage. This was Jan's first
motorcycle trip. We walked (I squished) around downtown Bar Harbor
sampling local food and drink. We noted an "island attitude" of
the service people...no worries, no rush, everyone on vacation.

Next day, Thursday, caught the Cat-(amaran) ferry for the 3 hour 100
mile crossing to Yarmouth, NS. 3-5 foot rolling Nova Scotia waves
kept people rather quiet and in their seats.

HINT: Don't drink liquids in rough water, so nothing swishes
around in your tummy. If you must eat, eat solids. Use the
pills or patches before you get on a boat.

Met a Harley dealer from Virginia. He and his wife were riding a
purple and white 99 Ultra Side Car. This machine was completely
tricked out: all chrome, 95 CI, wood panels, heated mirrors, rear
facing radar that lights up when someone gets close. He said it
took 1st place in Daytona and was in HOG tales. The group he was
with said he builds and sells a custom bike every year.

HINT: Exchange your US dollars for Canadian dollars as soon as
possible. I gave them 60 us cents they gave me 1 Canadian dollar.
Also, your credit card company is supposed to do the exchange.

Got off the Cat at noon, reset our watches and exchanged some money
before riding out from Yarmouth, NS. to Dartmouth, NS. along Route 103.
Sometimes, the reflective vests we wore were all we could see. YUP!
200 more miles in the rain. Took 6 long, stressful hours. Jan said
she felt good about her first ride. We all slept well that night.

Friday, the sun was out. The Nova Scotia HOG chapters sponsored this
years rally, which rotates among the New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island and Newfoundland HOG chapters. Everything was planned out.
We rode south for an observation run, answering questions about
specific locations. We saw dozens of other bikers and exchanged
dozens of waves. At one of the stops, we asked ourselves why there
were so many bikes going in the opposite direction? We never saw
anyone ahead of or behind us. DUH! We had followed the directions
backwards. So we turned around and did the whole thing right.
Rode thru Peggy's Cove, NS. twice. Looked like Maine.

5 bikes and 8 people from the Hartford, CT. HOG chapter rode up thru
New Brunswick, over the Cabot Trail then down into Dartmouth, NS.
They stayed at the same hotel as us. But, we never did get a chance
to ride with them in Nova Scotia. Gotta give credit to Helen: she's
logged over 10,000 miles on her Sportster since she bought it in
June 98. Somehow she keeps up with the Ultras.

We kept bumping into a mystery rider. A solo rider in a German
style helmet. We were in an out of the way diner and he pulled
in to dry off. Said he came up from Ohio and didn't like the
weather. Next day, we saw him in our hotel, still complaining.
The day after that, we passed him at an Irving gas station and
exchanged waves. What was his name anyway?

Sure was easy to meet people...just pull in to a gas station,
rest area or restaurant and people come over to you:
"Hey, nice bike"..."I used to have one"..."Had to sell it cause
I got married"..."You rode all the way in the rain, ehh?".

NOTE: Gas was about 70 cents Canadian per litre. You do the math.
I come up with about 2.50 US dollars per gallon.

Took a ferry to downtown Halifax. Very cosmopolitan. Waterfront
activities included shops, cafes, bars, music and vendors. More
"island attitudes"...no worries, no rush, everyone on vacation.

On Saturday, we rode north to the beaches and lighthouses. Cloudy
all day. Rocky coasts with big Nova Scotia waves. Looked like Maine.

HINT: Before putting on rain boots, step into plastic bags and put
the rain boots on over the bags. Makes it easy to remove later.

Found a sweet, little place to eat. A family serves food from
their house. Fresh bread, salads and soups. Perfect and much
better tasting than the Poutine or Donair everyone was selling
back in Dartmouth. (Poutine: gravy, French fries and mozzarella;
Donair: gyro meat, boiled, grilled and put on pita bread.)

There were over 750 people and 400 bikes from all over and this
was the last night of the rally. Went to a dinner and dance at an
auditorium. Prizes were awarded for the bike show, poker runs,
farthest traveled, oldest rider and best attended chapter. We
noticed the local chapters took most of these awards. The dealer's
side car did not win anything...and I had seen it at the local
dealer getting all polished up for the bike show.

I saw some folks from the New London and Ellington, CT. chapters.
I met Polar Bear, from the Nova Scotia Central chapter, a 6'+ 250+
pound biker, who wore an old brown cowboy hat that covered his eyes.
His chest-long beard barely covered a very weathered leather vest
smeared with pins and patches. But what really made this guy stand
out in the crowd were his fringed, yellow chaps.

There were several raffles for pins, patches, shirts, meals, etc.
I won a free tarot card reading by guess who...Polar Bear. YIPES!
He said there were females influencing my decisions and within
2 days, 2 weeks or 2 months I will have to make a decision about
a dark haired female. HMMM!

The ride back, Sunday, rained all the way from Dartmouth, NS. to
Yarmouth, NS. That's another 200 mile, 6 hour rain event. Had to
cross a huge puddle in the highway. water up to the footboards.
Good thing someone flashed their lights to warn us. Another
adventure was crossing back to Bar Harbor, ME. at night on 10-12
foot Nova Scotia waves. If you got out of your chair, you had to
hold on to something, anything. Many people lost their cookies.

HINT: When dealing with customs agents, look at them straight
in the eyes and don't blink or look away when answering questions.

Got to our hotel in Bar Harbor, ME. about 11:30 PM. Jack and Jan
decided to go back that night. That would put them into Guilford
late Monday morning. Later, we heard they got a souvenir speeding
ticket in some tiny Maine town at 3 AM.

The next day was sunny and hot all the way. It was great to see
other bikers across the highways wave at you. (Why wave? Ask me!).
As we approached more populated areas, we hit the tolls and
traffic jams and got less replies to our waves from bikers.
Welcome home.