LOBSTER FEAST CAPS OFF ANNUAL GRAN FONDO RIDE
Nova Scotia’s scenic Baie Sainte-marie cycling event is the largest in Atlantic Canada
A lobster dinner — that’s what was promised for the après-ride feast at the Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-marie in Nova Scotia. So as a landlocked Albertan, I signed up immediately. Figuring out how I’d complete the Mezzo distance of 88.5 kilometres was lost under the dream of guiltlessly dipping chunks of lobster into a bowl of melted butter.
The Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-marie is an annual ride through the Municipality of Clare in the southwest corner of Nova Scotia. The ride is entering its sixth year, but already it’s the largest cycling event in Atlantic Canada. Could it be the route, the après-ride feast or the volunteers that make this event so spectacular? (Yes to all three). This year, close to 1,000 cyclists signed up for one of the five distances including the 160-km Super Gran, the 118-km Gran, the Mezzo at 88.5 km, the Medio of 67 km and, finally, the Piccolo doing a 35-km loop through the county.
The ride starts at the Clare Veterans Centre in Saulnierville, where volunteers set up staging chutes to keep the riders leaving at the right time. Last-minute checks on brakes, fluids, timing chips and tire pressure are done while a red lobster mascot roams through the bikes. Does he have any idea that he will be boiled after the ride?
As the Super Gran riders roll through the inflatable arch, the next wave of brightly clad riders shuffle into place, followed by the riders in the Mezzo, including me.
A gran fondo is supposed to be a ride … not a race. But when you are riding the longer distances, you don’t dawdle too long at the aid stations or you’ll be pulling in at midnight. With that said, I quickly
released my husband of his duties of riding with me so I could enjoy the views at my more leisurely pace. And the views are breathtaking. St. Mary’s Church, the largest wooden church in North America, looks like a nice place to visit but not while whirling with a pack of mileage-hungry riders.
Rolling north along the shore
with the blue waters of the Bay of Fundy on one side and a hint of autumn sneaking into the trees on the other helped tick away the first 21 kilometres.
Riders dropped their bikes on the lawn or propped them along fences at an old house, the first of three aid stations. While an Acadian band provided toe-tapping tunes from the sun deck, we loaded up on fruit, drinks and ... what? Um … no thanks. A smiling volunteer offered dried fish strips. While the locals dug in with hearty grins, I picked up my bike and quickly slipped away.
The route turns inland and the road begins to roll, and roll and roll. But that’s OK, they were short bursts, no long mountain passes to curse.
As faster riders passed me, I’d hear them say something like, “a ta gauche.” It took a few passes before I realized they were saying, “on your left.” Baie Sainte Marie is in the middle of the Acadian region of the Maritime provinces with much of the local population speaking French.
By the time I rolled towards the shores at Lower Saulnierville, the wind was picking up from the south. Turning north for the last few downhill kilometres with a tailwind was much appreciated.
At the finish line, the lobster mascot met me with open arms. I was relieved to know he was spared from the pot. For his kin brought from the ocean, their fate was sealed. Forget bibs, forks, napkins or manners. The lobster dinner was guiltlessly enjoyed with buttery fingers.