Tour #13:
TWELVE HALIFAX-DARTMOUTH BASED DAYTOURS
The city of Halifax was founded in 1749 as a military outpost to counter the might of Fortress Louisbourg. The attraction was the gigantic ice-free harbour, 20 km. long (12 mi.), that opens into the 16 sq. km. (6 sq. mi.) Bedford Basin. Bedford Basin was the staging point for World War II convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic. In the nineteenth century the harbour was protected by a fortress near the mouth (York Redoubt), and the coast was ringed with gun emplacements, many of which are still to be seen along the shore. When military technology rendered this type of defense obsolete, much of the military real-estate was turned into parks. Point Pleasant Park is full of old defence works. The present star shaped bastion fortress on top of Citadel Hill dates from the midnineteenth century. The citadel was garrisoned by units of the British Army until 1905, when Britain began to call her armies home for impending war. The fortress is a National Historic Site and is open all year round. During the summer months, the fortress is manned by uniformed students doing a historical re-enactment of the 1880's. The noon gun, fired from the Citadel each day, is an old tradition, startling visitors while Haligonians check their watches. The Halifax - Dartmouth area is home to about 350,000 people. The cities are on either side of the harbour, which is spanned by two bridges. Neither bridge permits cycling, and the inner (MacKay) bridge does not permit pedestrians. The outer (MacDonald) bridge has a 1.7 km. long (1.1 mi.) sidewalk on which cyclists are permitted to walk their bikes. (Complaints may be addressed to The Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission, P.O. Box 40, Dartmouth, N.S., B2Y 3Y2). On the Halifax side, the MacDonald bridge passes right over the navy dockyard, giving passersby a good view of the east coast half of Canada's naval might. There is also a ferry (buy a token, 85¢, bikes are free), and for cyclists this is by far the most convenient way to cross the harbour (except for Sundays, when there are no ferries in the morning from June through August and no ferries all day from September through May). There are bicycle racks on board, and the top deck, which is open, gives a great view of the harbour and both waterfronts. Both cities are hilly. This "Tour" is a series of shorter routes, mostly loops, each designed to be completed in one day. They have been arranged in order of increasing difficulty. They by no means exhaust the bicycle route potential of the area, but they are a collection of rides that have proven popular with local cyclists. For more information on bicycle touring in the Halifax - Dartmouth area you may want to pick up the annual Tour Schedule of the Velo Halifax Bicycle Club. This is a touring club, and Tour Schedules are available in local bicycle stores and in the Halifax ferry terminal. Velo tours are on Wednesday nights and Sundays; visiting cyclists are warmly welcomed.
Tour #13-1: PENINSULAR HALIFAX Distance: 17 km.
Terrain: Rolling.
City distances are small and the turns are many, hence it is neither practical nor useful to include all the distances in the "Route Details." You can start from anywhere on the
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