Day 42 - Going to see Niagara Falls, Canadian-Style, on a "Smoking" Tail Wind!

What a day to be headed east and south!  We galloped along through Ontario from Brantford to Niagara Falls, New York, with a very brisk wind at our backs, lovely country roads, and again, good weather.  Greg was again one of the first horses out of the gate in the early morning.  Check out the blue sky!

The 76 miles flew by so quickly with our quick pace line and the prevailing winds, that we did not get on the road pics to share with you.  Lots of farmland and small country roads prevailed.

Things got more exciting as we entered along the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.  It was quite a carnival atmosphere (or should I say Honky Tonk?), one tourist attraction after another, stacked one on top of each other, so it seemed.  We opted to cross over to the quieter American side at the Rainbow Bridge.  Entering the US, we did not have a closed bridge or special treatment as when entering Canada en masse.  Our groups had scattered for pictures and lunch, so crossed in smaller groups.  Here are a few shots from the Canadian side of the Falls.  First a small group shot in front of Horseshoe Falls:  (l to r) Don, Ann from Iowa, Phillippe from Israel, Drew, Ann's husband Mike, Holly, and Gardner from Boston.

Some Canadian side Falls shots:  American Falls

 Horseshoe Falls with the Maid of the Mist floating before it.

 Then it was time to act like we were "cars" and get into one of the many lines of cars, waiting to access the US through Customs.  Here's Don patiently waiting on the Rainbow Bridge mid-span.  Nice view.

Here's what the lines ahead looked like as we waited.  Not such a nice view!

One on US soil (show passport, take off sunglasses, declare purpose (bike riding across what????), etc., we soon arrived at the obligatory "Welcome to ________________" shot as we entered New York State.

Soon after that, we reached our motel.  The parking lot today featured rider Rick's wife Cindy and her carload of NY state sparkling wine.   Do we have wonderful friends and family members?  For all of those wonderful folks who have driven hours to meet our group and deliver some home-grown comfort, we thank you again!

It's too late to post our excursion back to Canada today to visit Niagara On the Lake and our walk on the United States side of the Falls.  We will include that with our description of tomorrow's ride from Niagara to Rochester, NY.

Day 41 - London Rain is Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down

The trip from London to Brantford, Ontario today was punctuated with showers, and we were lucky enough to dodge most of them.  Those who left early this morning found themselves in light showers after heavier morning rain, and we all found the wet roads to give us "rooster tails" on our backs and splatter on our glasses as we rode along the way.

Here's Drew in his rain outfit (booties, knees and a vest), and next, Holly & Gardner in full rain coats.

 We found Greg after the showers had abated and the rain had stopped. He looks happy to be cruising along under drier conditions.

 

We stopped for coffee along the way, and found this wonderful store that served us hot coffee, doughnut holes, and a good helping of stories.  We found that the shop also held the postal office which was manned by the postmaster of 35 years, who is also the great-grandmother of 6 boys.  Having encounters such as this is of the best parts of bicycling over all these miles through small towns.

Tomorrow - Back in the USA!  On to Niagara Falls, NY!

 

Day 40 - Into Canada!

The day began with a grand departure from our hotel of our entire bicycling group, accompanied by ABB staff in their vans and trailers as bridge workers closed the entire northbound lanes of the bridge connecting Port Huron to Canada, just for us.  Dressed alike in our America by Bike jerseys, we were a star spangled group as we awaited the call that gave our group the ok for departure to the bridge.

A repeat photo from yesterday, but a reminder of the size bridge that they closed the upper deck for our passing.

Up and over we went.  No photography was allowed on the bridge.  Our job was to get from one border to the other safely, with care taken to dismount and carry our bikes over the large expansion joints that were at each end of the bridge.

Once over to the Canadian side, we presented our passports individually and were now on Canadian soil!  Staff member Pam took this photo for us in the 10-second window that we had to pose.  Nice job Pam!

We soon met Greg along the road, also happy to have made the trip safely to the other side.

We found the land in Ontario to be similar to that in the central northern United States, with many farms and fields of corn, soybeans, and lovely flowers.  One shot that caught Don's eye was a silo that had seen better days.  Notice the tree growing from the ground up in its center.

Greg teamed up with his cycling companions and we with a different group, and a great day was had by all.  Our group participated in a little competitive cycling with another group, much to the dismay of my legs, but all in all it was quite fun seeing how far we could push the envelope, so to speak.  At least that's what we tried to do...at this age, there probably is no envelope left to push!  When we arrived at the hotel, Canadian rider Terry had coolers of beer and water for our refreshment, plus donut holes from
Tim Horton's (be very scared, Dunkin Donuts - Tim's will give you a run for your money!). 

This was followed by a photo of our group of riders, post-envelope-pushing, and enjoying a sip out in front of the hotel together.  In this bottom photo, Ann and Mike from Iowa, second and third from the left after Don, rode a tandem bicycle faster than any of we individuals could go.  They were amazing us by traveling at 20-23 mph on a regular basis - both up and down the hills!

Tomorrow - Day 41. The last day in Canada.

Day 39 - To the Shores of Lake Huron

We had quite a lovely day of flat roads again due to being in between the Great Lakes.  We passed a myriad of farmland fields on our early departure this morning, and were amazed once again at the abundance of working farms in the heartland.  As we would pass a farmer on a tractor or other piece of machinery, we would always wave, and would get a follow-up wave 9 times out of 10.  That's pretty amazing when one considers how hard the farmers are working.

We really put the pedal to the metal today, and traveled in our group of 4 or 5 rather quickly;  however, with one setback for a 4-mile route reading error, a flat tire, and an almost hour-long lunch break in the city of Yale, MI (original home of Yale locks), we never caught up with Greg, who left earlier than we did this morning.

That left pictures of our destination, Port Huron, MI, which we found to be absolutely beautiful.  The water of Lake Huron is so bright blue, it looks like the Caribbean Sea.  Need I say more?  Here's a tug going by the shoreline showing the American/Canadian flags this afternoon.

We stopped at the park on the American side and took some pictures by some commemorative statues.

I don't know how this one got in.....

Lastly, here is the bridge that we will climb tomorrow morning to make our way over the Canadian border on our way to London, Ontario.

Looking forward to another day on the road with this great group of people from all over the States and the world.  Can you tell we're getting a little nostalgic now that we are getting closer to the end of the journey?

Day 38 - Michigan Bonus - Flat Roads and Gracious People

Today was a day of about 80 miles if you throw in the extra miles we took for an impassable bridge, but the roads were flat, the winds not too unfriendly, and the folks we met along the way were very friendly.

From Mt. Pleasant we set out toward Birch Run, MI at a late start, 8:30 am, after a farmer's breakfast served at Bob Evan's (thank you, Bob!).  We begin by chronicling fellow rider from Texas, "Mitch", who had the unfortunate experience of having all of his biking clothes except one jersey and one pair of shorts stolen from a laundromat in Wisconsin when his cousins took him out to dinner.  This morning, Mitch wore a brand new jersey and pair of shorts (they are $$$$$) sent by his biking buddies back in Texas.  He looks positively glowing!

We saw a large number of wind turbines today in action, probably the most yet of the trip.  Here's a shot of Greg and fellow rider Katie as they came into the SAG stop this morning.  The propeller is ever so artfully arranged in this shot that it almost looks like an optical illusion, yes?

We written often about the SAG stops, where our crew from America by Bike give us opportunity to freshen our water bottles, get snacks, and get off our bikes for a bit.  Here's first a candid shot of a morning SAG, tables set up with snacks and water.

Here's another shot of a special SAG stop this morning, at the Reeves Farm.  Here I am with Mrs. Reeve, who lent her farm front yard and house for our stop today.  Years ago, Mr. Reeve and an ABB leader met when the leader asked if he could take a picture of his tractor in the front yard.  Mr. Reeve replied not only could he photograph this tractor, but also the dozens of tractors which he had refurbished and kept in his barn for tractor pulls and various functions.  A long friendship ensued.  Though Mr. Reeve is no longer with us, Mrs. Reeve carries on the tradition of wonderful Michigan hospitality.

Lastly, another gracious group along the road are our group leaders and bicycle mechanics.  When Don got a flat tire early this morning, he changed it and pumped it up with his small bicycle mounted pump.  When we passed "Silver", the silver van that held mechanic Mike today, we stopped for Mike to take out his industrial strength pump to make sure the tire pressure was enough for a long, smooth ride the rest of the day.

Also, ride leaders from ABB were the first to inform us that a bridge was out up ahead, that a detour was imminent, and then placed chalk ABB's with directional arrows along the roads that we should take to get to our final destination.  They were too busy out and about on the road to get a picture, but hopefully we will have a chance to give them kudos in a later blog.

Tomorrow - 87 miles from Birch Run to Port Huron, MI

Day 37 - Thanks for the Memories: Last (Planned) Century Ride of the Trip, Riding 113 miles

Michigan from Ludington to Mt. Pleasant proved to be very pleasant, indeed.  Our 113 miles were finished by early afternoon due to a strong wind from the NNW, and our route took us pretty directly to the east.   Though we had 2,400 feet of climbing interspersed throughout the day, it was mostly through rolling hills rather than one or two big climbs. 

Here's how the Michigan countryside looked as the sun was coming up this morning.

One of the other sights of the early morning was the sight of the wind turbines moving in the more than ample breeze.  Looks light Michigan will have power in this neck of the woods today!

One of the highlights of the day, other than cranking out many miles, was stopping at the ice cream store in te Village of Lake Isabella.  They delighted our group with both soft-serve swirls of caramel or chocolate on vanilla pointed pillows, or with hand scooped cones and milkshakes of wonderful flavors such as mega-chocolate chip mint, very cherry fudge swirl, and for our Ohio friends, peanut butter Buckeye chocolate swirl.  Sorry there is no picture - we were too busy devouring the ice cream before it melted!

Three SAG stops for renewed water/banana, trail mix supplies, including one at a senior citizen center, we finally rolled into Mt. Pleasant.  We were greeted by a freight train crossing our path without aid of crossing guard rails, only a signal.

Settling in to our motel room after a buffet dinner at the Ponderosa, we bid you a fond evening.  Thanks for following yet another day of our travels.

Tomorrow - Day 38 - Mt. Pleasant to Birch Run, MI. 

Day 36 - An Unusual Rest Day

Rest days have been few and far between on this ride.  Day 36 was to be our fourth rest day.  However, we had to load our gear at 10:00 am in the morning and be at a ferry dock by 12:30 pm for a 2:00 pm departure across Lake Michigan.  With a bit of time on our hands, what were we to do?.....Look for ice cream of course!  The first store with the giant cow shown below (see Holly?) was closed but we managed to find an open store in downtown where Greg, Gardner, Holly and I enjoyed the cold treats offered at this shop.  The shop was beautiful, with Tiffany lampshades and booths that offered sculptured wood trim on the mirrors that adorned the walls by each booth.

Then it was on to the ferry.  Built in 1952 to ferry train cars across Lake Michigan, the coal-fired SS Badger is now used for transporting people, bicycles, cars and wind turbine parts.

See the black smoke coming from the stack?  The smoke is byproduct of the coal-fueled steam engines that powered the ship.  By the end of our four hour cruise across the lake in this non- air conditioned vessel, we all needed extra showers to deal with the aftermath.  Following a 7:00 pm landing in Ludington Michigan (now in the eastern time zone), we looked for a place to celebrate beginning our ride in yet another new state.

Don, Drew, Holly and Greg at the Michigan entry.  Notice we are NOT in bicycle clothes for once, having only a 7 mile ride for this day.

After the photos, we hopped on our bikes in search for a place to have dinner in downtown.  We arrived at our hotel about 9:00 pm, just as the sun was going down.  Some rest day!  Breakfast the next morning would be at 5:30 a.m. to ready ourselves for our last century of the trip - 113 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing.  G'Nite!