It rained all night but there didn't seem to be any violent storms. The temperature was amazingly warm, about 17C (63F). I got up at 8:30, goofed off, and got on the road at 11:15. It was still raining lightly and forecast to rain until about sunset. The temperature was 17C but I decided to wear full rain gear to avoid getting cold. Better to be too warm than too cold when out in the boondocks with no place to take shelter. The first 10 km had a lot of traffic but there was virtually no traffic after I turned off Hwy 4 towards West Bay. Past West Bay I was on a backcountry road that follows the north shore of Bras d'Or Lakes, the 'inland sea' of Cape Breton Island. The road stays 20-50m above the shore with only occasional glimpses of the lake through the trees. The road is carved into a very steep slope kind of resembling a fjord. There are many driveways going down to vacation homes hidden in the trees. I only saw one car every 10 minutes. Clouds were extremely low and the road sometimes got almost into the clouds. Visibility was only 1 km in the rain. I didn't take any pictures but it was obvious that it would be very beautiful in better weather. My computer speed sensor quit working so I estimated my distance from the map.

I stopped for lunch at the Cape Breton Smokehouse at 2PM. The only restaurant I saw all day. It's a large upscale restaurant very far from the nearest town with a fabulous view of the lake. I had a wonderful leisurely lunch of poached salmon. I was the only customer in the restaurant and had a nice conversation with the German proprietor. I asked her why so many German and Swiss people have vacation homes and Bed and Breakfasts in Nova Scotia. Her answer was that Nova Scotia is 'close' to Germany, has low living costs, and is safe. I still wonder why they wouldn't prefer Spain and Portugal which have warmer weather and are much closer to Germany. Maybe because Nova Scotia is much greener? Or they prefer a cooler climate?

After lunch I continued in the rain around the north shore of the inland sea. There was a 4km stretch of gravel. Pavement resumes shortly before Orangedale where I missed the turn to Whycocomagh because I wasn't motivated to stop and pull out my map in the rain. So I ended up on a long hilly gravel road on a peninsula in the lake. My missed turn didn't add any distance but the dirt road in pouring rain made a mess of my bike. Piles of mud on the panniers and the bike frame. And my rear brake got very fouled up. It was terribly gritty and got so much cable/pivot friction that the brake pads wouldn't spring away from the rim. After 11 km of gravel I got back to pavement and took the Little Narrows ferry back to the 'main' shore. From there it was 1km to the Trans-Canada Highway. Then I rode 25 km east on the Trans-Canada Highway in steady rain. The highway has a paved shoulder with very good pavement quality, so the truck traffic didn't bother me very much. Plus the road is well graded and I had a tailwind.

At 6:45 PM I stopped at a motel 9 km west of Baddeck. I spread out all my stuff to dry out. Riding in rain all day caused almost all my stuff to get damp except for my sleeping bag which was still dry inside its HydroSeal stuff sack. I borrowed a fan from the motel office to help stuff dry out in the high humidity. I left the bike to dry out overnight, assuming that it would be easier to clean off all the sand and mud when dry. I pedaled 104 km today with only one long stop for lunch and a short stop for the Little Narrows ferry. No reason to stop when it's pouring rain and there is no shelter. I also didn't take any pictures today. I'm glad the temperature stayed at 17C because it could have been much more miserable if it was colder. But I really wish I hadn't missed the turn that added 11km of dirt and made a mess of my bike.

My cyclocomputer quit working some time in the afternoon (gibberish display, buttons unresponsive). I got the computer working again by putting it on top of a lamp to warm it up and dry it out. Today's elevation gain is an estimate and the distance is determined from the map.

It was still raining when I went to bed.

Distance: 104 km (65 mi) (15 km on gravel)

Average speed: approx. 18.8 km/h (11.8 mph) by estimating distance and riding time

Maximum speed: 65.5 km/h (40.9 mph) when speed sensor was still working

Climbing: approx. 700m. (2310 ft)