From Old Scotland to Nova Scotia

My best friend emigrated to Nova Scotia, eastern Canada over a decade ago. I just visited him on my own for a short visit as it is few years since I last saw him. He convinced me to enter his local annual Ironman event, however as neither of us really do much swimming we thought it would be sensible to enter the Duathlon category which amounted to a 112 mile cycle and a marathon, with the marathon split so the you did one lap (6.5 miles) before the ride and then 20 miles to finish.
With almost everyone opting for the triathlon version there were only three entries in the Duathlon. I managed to finish first in just over 10 1/2 hours in 30 degree heat. I've never cycled that far in a oner and everything thing went numb in the last quarter as I was borrowing my friends bike and didn't adjust the saddle properly!
All in all it was a brilliantly organised event and exceedingly enthusiastic supporters cheering you on when you were getting tired.
To cap it off I even saw a brown bear run out no more than 50 metres on a remote back road on the bike leg!! Only in Canada!
Event website: http://epicdartmouth.com/