I Broke The Bed!

 

Let me just say that today was a great day for biking.  Kelli may feel a little differently, but overall I think everyone really enjoyed our ride to Liverpool.  For the first 26 miles we followed the Erie Canal which was just amazing.  There were so many cute communities and spectacular views that before I knew it we were leaving the bike path for the busy roads of New York.  Kelli didn’t appreciate the dirt trail and the sandy points that cause you to lose control of your bike, but she agreed that the views were worth it. 

 

 

While riding into our second stop I noticed an aircraft flying low to the ground and realized that it was a crop duster and he was dusting near the road.  I hoped to get a couple of pictures of the duster in action so I stopped to watch for a little while.  The pilot must have noticed that I stopped on the road because he flew right over my head and returned and gave me a little show.  He even dusted the same position three times so that I could get a good shot of him.  Unfortunately I didn’t get him in focus but you will see that he was close and that if I had a better camera I would have captured quite a shot. 

 

 

Some of the riders were a little worried about the ride since the staff had to add 10 miles to the route because of the location of our hotel.  Once you tell yourself that there are no more rides over 90 miles and then have a 95 mile day it kind of demotivates you.  Even though we had 95 miles to cover before calling it a day, Kelli was feeling strong and pushing me to go faster.  We were climbing rolling hills at 18 miles an hour and cruising on the down hills at about 25.  Kelli’s knee was giving her problems but at higher speeds the pain went away.  Regardless, Kelli and I were in the front of the group for most of the day.  We decided to stop in a small town to have lunch and boy was I happy we did that.  Kelli and I split a hamburger and buffalo chicken and ended our lunch with two desserts!  Now we did share the desserts with Diane (another rider) but I made sure not to let anything go to waste.  Now you know why I haven’t lost any weight. 

 

 

After arriving at our hotel Kelli and I quickly got all of our luggage to the room so that we could relax before attending our nightly meeting.  As I was laying on the bed Kelli asked me to move over.  Well, I guess the two desserts were too much for the bed to handle and it collapsed.  It was broken to the point that the hotel staff just gave us another room instead of trying to fix it.  Nothing says “go on a diet” like breaking a bed.  Good thing I’m not a quitter and will continue my splurge until the end of the trip. 

Semper Fidelis.

The Countdown Begins!

 

We had our first ride in the state of New York and I must say that it looks very similar to Michigan and other states in the Midwest.  We saw lots of corn and soybeans, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

Our ride was 85 miles but I must say that it seemed far less.  We both really enjoyed today and found it easy to keep a fast pace for most of the day.  The rest day in Niagara Falls was much needed and we can tell our bodies were much stronger today because of it.  Tomorrow we have 93 miles (we thought we were done with 90 mile days) with a good chance of getting stuck in thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Below is a picture I took today to show that New York is not that different from the Midwest.  I have about 20 pictures just like this one taken over the last section of our trip through the Midwest.

 

 

Everyone in our group is starting to realize that our trip is nearing the end.  Just tonight we got instructions on how our last day will play out and it was difficult knowing that our last day was just around the corner.  Kelli and I have had such a great time on this trip but we are happy to be heading home and starting our new life in Minnesota.  Until tomorrow.

Semper Fidelis

Niagara Falls!

Yesterday we biked 71 miles from Brantford, Ontario to Niagara Falls, New York. The day was great – a nice tailwind, flat terrain, and good company. We biked the whole day with Maio and Kyle since it was Kyle’s last day riding with us. The miles just flew by all day. Here’s a picture of us with Maio and Kyle at Niagara Falls.

 

 

The falls are amazing. Even though they were far away from us we could still feel the mist. Here’s a picture of the horseshoe falls at Niagara.

 

 

 

After looking at the falls for a bit we crossed back into the United States and settled into the hotel. Later on that night we went to the fireworks over the falls which were great. Just after the grand finale we saw another flash of light. For a second we thought the fireworks were continuing, but then we heard the rumbling thunder which told us the fireworks were definitely over and we should be getting back to the hotel. We didn’t even take two steps before a thunderstorm broke out and we were caught in another downpour. We ran the 1/2 mile back to the hotel but after too much food at dinner we weren’t very light on our feet.

Today we have our final rest day of the trip. We’ll probably organize our things and maybe even make a trip out on the Maid of the Mist later. At this point we only have one week to go. It’s weird to think we’ve already biked over 3000 miles and the trip will be ending soon. The last leg of the trip will be tough as we’ll be doing a lot of climbing again. Nothing can stop us now!!

Semper Fidelis

Caught in the Thunderstorms!!

 

OK, so it’s been a couple of days since we’ve done the blog but we have our final rest day today in Niagara so I thought we’d get everyone caught up. On Saturday we biked 64 miles from London to Brantford, Ontario and we ended up dodging thunderstorms the entire day. At about mile 20 we noticed the weather starting to darken around us, then the route directed us to turn right where the sky was completely black. The route leader stopped us to tell us that people were starting to look for barns to take cover in. So, before we took the turn we found a farmer and a large barn to camp out in and within less than 2 minutes of being in the barn the downpour started. There were about 15 of us there to wait out the first thunderstorm.

 

 

After the first storm subsided we hopped on the bikes again and hoped for the best. At about mile 54 another storm started rolling in so we found a gas station to take cover in. Again, we got in just in time before the next storm hit. We sat at a picnic table underneath an awning and watched. This one was right on top of us with lightning striking all around us. Just when we thought everything was over Nathan stood up, looked up at the sky, turned to the other riders and said ‘Well, it looks like the storm has passed’ and not a millisecond after saying that a loud crack snapped right above us and lightning struck the store. I was inside the store at the time and saw a bright flash inside and watched the store computer blow out. Nathan said he could feel the static electricity and had to check himself to make sure that he hadn’t been electrocuted. 

 

 

We ended up having to wait at that gas station for about two hours. Storms kept rolling in and just when we thought it was clearing up another one would roll in. Nathan was getting antsy with all the waiting so he left with George during a small clearing despite Mike the tour leader’s recommendation to wait another 15 minutes. It ended up being a good choice though since he missed the terrential downpour that I encountered for the last quarter of the mile coming into the hotel. But we both made it!

Semper Fidelis! 

O Canada!

 

We crossed into Canada which meant completing another state and adding a country to the list of boundaries crossed along our tour.  If you can believe it they actually closed the bridge to Canada so that we could ride across.  Everything went really smooth until we got into Canada.  Some riders started to question the directions and some other riders (Kelli and I) followed the questioning riders.  This meant standing in a parking lot for a couple of minutes before getting back on the road only to ride in a big U causing us to end up where we started.  We got through the trouble spots and ended up riding through some amazing landscapes.  The land actually looked similar to Michigan but there was a flare of European influence.  I stopped for lunch in a cute little town and had an amazing lunch with a small group of riders.  We sat there for about 2 hours just enjoying the food and conversation.  When we got back on the road we realized that we sat for far too long as our legs had already given up for the day. 

 

 

We made it into London Ontario just after 1500 to find the streets really busy.  After making it to the hotel someone mentioned that there was a bike shop just down the street and I immediately thought it would be neat for Kelli and I to get matching Canada jerseys.  I got back on my bike and ended up finding two jerseys that I thought would make great mementos for our journey into Canada.  After leaving the bike shop I met up with a couple of riders to ride back to the hotel.  Unfortunately, while crossing the street one of the riders turned in front of me causing my tire to hit their back tire.  I soon found myself lying on the pavement with a bunch of cars coming right at me going 60 mph!  I was still clipped into my pedals and couldn’t get out when the traffic caught up to where we were.  Luckily the pick-up closest to me stopped and nobody hit him from behind because if they would have I would be posting this from the hospital.  I made it up and across with only a scrape on my elbow.  I’m just happy to make it out without serious injury.  Just another adventure on this fantastic journey.

 

 

Semper Fidelis.