Day 42 July 31st

We rode from Brantford, Ontario, Canada to Niagara Falls, Ny today. The ride was an easy 74 miles with mostly a tailwind to move us along. Most people got off to an early start. Michel and I were the last ones out of the hotel and other than Colin and Phyliss, who left just before us we did not see any other riders until the sag stop at 37 miles. That wasn't because we were that slow but pretty much everyone was flying to get to Niagara Falls. A lot of people had never seen it and others had family and friends coming to meet them for the day off. Lots of picture taking on the Canadian side of the falls. A bunch of us stopped and had a relaxing lunch and then crossed over the Rainbow Bridge cleared customs and went to the hotel. Being a tourist area my room wasn't ready when we arrived and I had to wait an extra hour. Michel's family is visiting so I have the room to myself. Tomorrow is an off day so no blog. Only seven riding days left.

Day 41 July 30th

Sorry about the one day delay. No Internet access in Brantford without incurring additional roaming charges. I decided to wait until we got back to the U.S. The ride was 68 miles through mostly farmland. The terrain was easy but we had our share of head winds. The farmers' homes in this part of Canada were palatial when compared to the homes of the farmers in Michigan. Not much happened during the ride. Pretty easy day for most people. For those of you that don't know Brantford is the birth place of Wayne Gretzky. His name is on everything in the town. I am sure he is not compensated for his name being used or he would have more money than Bill Gates. We stayed on the outskirts of town and didn't see much of the downtown area. Tomorrow we reenter the states through Niagara Falls.

Day 40 That's right 40. July 29th

Last night we had a major meeting to go over our crossing into Canada and the final 2 days of the ride. That is correct we are getting into single digits on ride days left. For those of you interested in seeing the spectacle, we will be arriving at Wallis Sands Beach in Rye NH on Monday, August 8th at 1130 under police escort. We will dip our front tires into the Atlantic Ocean to complete the journey and the ride will be officially over. This morning they closed the bridge into Canada and we were the only ones on the bridge until we cleared Canadian customs. Not too much to it and then we were on our way for an 84 mile ride to London, Ontario. Farm land and small towns similar to what we saw in Michigan. Photo ops at the welcome to ontario sign. There was a tractor on a pole out in the middle of nowhere that I stopped to take a photo of. Mike came along in the van and took a picture of Michel, Dan and I pretending to lift the tractor over our heads. The pole was hidden by our bodies so it should look pretty good. Nice lunch at bj's deli in the town of Delaware at 63 miles and then on to the finish. Good winds all day until the last few miles when of course we got head winds. We lucked out again with the weather. It poured all night but we didn't get a drop during the ride.

Last day in Michigan

Today is day 39 and we have crossed Michigan. Our ride was 87 miles from Birch Run to Port Huron. Overnight in Birch Run there were massive thunderstorms dumping over 4 inches of rain. We awoke to rain pouring down and load was postponed from 0700 to 0730. By that time the rain had stopped but everyone had their rain gear as the forecast called for us to get wet. Unbelievably we went the entire ride without a drop but it sure looked threatening at times. A very pleasant ride with favorable winds and all of the riders really enjoyed it. We went through small towns and farm country with enough to look at to keep your interest. As we came into town we rode on Lakeshore Drive which had some amazing homes right on Lake Huron. Our hotel is almost right under the bridge to Canada. That's where we will head in the morning for a couple of days in Ontario. My roommate Michel will be in his native land for the first time in 40 days.

Wednesday. July 27th. Day 38

Today we did a 74 mile ride from Mount Pleasant to Birch Run, MI. The ride was through farm country and pretty flat. It turned out to be a little harder than expected due to some head winds. With the wide open spaces there is not much to protect you from the wind. Our only sag stop was at a woman's farm who has come to know the race leaders over the years. She had a dental appointment but some family members were there to greet us with home made chocolate chip cookies. There was a little 3 year old boy who was taking dollar donations from the riders for his "foundation." not much else exciting on this leg. We are quickly working our way across Michigan. The forecast is for rain tomorrow but maybe we'll get lucky.

Day 37 Tuesday July 26th

Yesterday we entered Michigan by way of the ferry and entered into eastern standard time. Not much biking yesterday just to the ferry and from the ferry to our hotel. It was a four hour boat ride and we lost an hour as well during the crossing so it was fairly late when we got in and we still had to get dinner. It ended up being a quick turn around for this morning and our final scheduled century ride. We biked 113 miles from Ludington to Mount Pleasant, MI. It was a fairly flat ride with cross winds and cooler temperatures and no humidity. When we first got on the bikes at 0630 it felt invigorating. There were times riding today when I could have sworn I was in NH or ME. There were cottages around lakes with pontoon boats out on the water. All in all a beautiful day to ride. The rest of the rides will all be under 100 miles unless of course I take a couple of wrong turns.

Day 35 Sunday, July 24th

Today we biked 57 miles from Fond du Lac to Manitowoc, WI.  We have now worked our way from the west coast of Wisconsin to the east coast.  The ride took us through farm country but we started out at a lighthouse on the shores of Lake Winnebago.  A few people, me included, took the time to climb to the top of the lighthouse and take some pictures and enjoy the view.  Then it was on the road.  Lots of rollers and an occassional head wind as we made our way towards the lake.  Everyone got in pretty early today and tomorrow is our scheduled day off.  It won't be exactly a day off for us.  We will bike seven miles to and from a ferry that will take us across Lake Michigan.  It will be a four hour ferry ride and we will also cross into the Eastern time zone.  The total elapsed time will be five hours when you add the extra hour we lose due to the time change.  We are now 2 weeks from the finish of the ride.  That didn't seem possible when we started but the end is now in sight even if it is still a ways off.  When people go on a 2 week vacation it always sounds like a lot of time at the beginning but when it's over they always say where did the 2 weeks go?  We'll see how these 2 weeks pass.  NO post for day 36 as there will be no service on the ferry.

Day 34 Saturday July 23rd

Today's ride was from Wisconsin Dells to Fond du Lac, Wi. It was an 84 mile ride with gently rolling hills and pretty scenic. The temperature warmed up into the low 90's but the humidity wasn't too bad. I rode a lot of miles today with Lucy. She is 22 and from England and has boundless energy and an uplifting personality. At the last sag Michel and Dan joined us after we had stopped for a smoothies at mcdonald's. I haven't eaten often at mcdonald's since the kids got out of that phase. They got it right with the smoothies and they taste really good after a long day on the road. Anyway the four of us rode the last 23 miles in together. All in all a pretty good day on the bike.

Day 33 July 22nd

Today we rode 91 miles from La Crosse to Wisconsin Dells, WI. The day started out like we were going to get poured on and the forecast was 40 per cent chance of showers. We did get spit on a little bit but the showers never materialized. By the time we got to the first sag most of the riders had gotten rid off their rain gear. The day turned out warm and sunny with temps in the high 80's and lower humidity. We spent 34 miles of the ride on the Sparta rail trail. They bill it as the first rail trail in the USA. It is packed gravel and can get slick when wet and make a mess of your bike. What was really neat was that there were three tunnels built into the trail. These were not your average tunnels. They were built for trains to cut through the hills. The first one was over 3000 feet long and built in 1873. We all needed flashlights to see and had to walk our bikes through each tunnel. The temperature change in the tunnel was amazing with a 20 degree temperature drop water was also running down each side of the tunnel like minnie rivers and running down the walls of the tunnel you could feel the temperature drop as you approached the tinnels so you knew they were ahead Some people coming the opposite way were not walking but riding recumbenent bikes. It was hard to figure out exactly what was coming at you. At first I thought it was little kids walking and it startled me when they got close and I saw that they were actually tiding and even towing a cooler. The tunnels made the day interesting and presented lots of photo ops.

Thursday July 21st

Today is day 32 of our ride. It was an 89 miler from Rochester, mn to la crosse, wi. The weather and humidity cooperated today as both were reasonable and made it enjoyable to be on the bike. We left Minnesota behind today which means I also said goodbye to Katy and Bridgette this morning. It was bright and early when we left and hope they both went back to bed for a couple of more hours sleep. It was great to see them and sad to leave them behind but we are starting to close in on the end of the 50 day adventure. In addition to crossing into Wisconsin we also crossed the Mississippi river. La Crosse bills itself as the west coast of Wisconsin. On arriving here we rode right through the downtown section to get to our hotel. Heavy traffic and I'm sure they are not used to seeing cyclists ride through town. Everyone gave us plenty of room and I didn't hear one honking horn.

Wednesday. July 20th

Today it was Mankato to Rochester,MN. The ride was scheduled for 99 miles. Lots of folks in town today. Katy's sisters Patsy and Karen met us in Mankato last night and my niece Meagan and her husband Eric met me at the first sag stop at 30 miles. Eric came ready to ride and to help drag my tired body a few miles by drafting on his wheel. I'm sure my pace was even slower than he expected. We started out with a steep climb right out of Mankato and head winds early on. By the time I got to the first sag I could already feel the affects of yesterday's ride on my body. I didn't mention that the heat index was 111 yesterday. By the 57 mile mark my body had pretty much given out and I called it a day. The weather is forecast to break tomorrow and Katy and Bridgette are heading to the cities.

Day 30 Tuesday July 19th

A 103 mile ride from worthington to Mankato, MN. We got an early start due to the predicted high temperatures and high humidity. The predictions for both came to pass and by 10 am it was plenty hot and humid. Not really anything interesting during today's ride. Just getting through the mileage while dealing with the elements. The heat got to me around mile 75 and I did the last miles on fumes and a Dairy Queen blizzard at the 90 mile mark. My roommate Mike helped me get to that point. It would have been difficult to finish without him today.

Finally out of South Dakota

Today we biked from Sioux Falls to worthington, mn. It was a 70 mile ride with some detours at the start due to the bike path being unavailable. We entered Minnesota about 24 miles into the ride. I was personally very glad to put South Dakota behind me. I did not find it very friendly to bikers and we bad some really tough days riding there. We were in SD for a week and during this week we will enter three different states. The weather continues to be hot and humid. Katy, Bridgette and I visited the pioneer village in town. It is a recreation of a small town In the late 1800's. It was pretty neat to visit but the heat was stifling. Long ride tomorrow with an early wakeup and high temps.

Day 27 July 16th

Today we biked from Mitchell to Sioux falls, SD. It was a 72 mile ride with mostly cross winds and high temps in the 90's. Everyone was looking forward to this day due to the scheduled day off in Sioux falls. SD has been a tough state with winds, weather and not too much to look at for much of the time except road in front as far as the eye could see. Not much happened today. In the town of Canistota they were having a tractor pull competition for kids that we all stopped to watch for a while. It was a good day anyhow as Katy and Bridgette would be arriving in Sioux falls to spend a few days with me. It is really nice that they are here and will help with the mental aspect of getting through the final three weeks of the ride. The weather is hot and humid with heat indexes in the 100's. We will all have to be careful with proper hydration and listening to our bodies.

Day 26. I get to see the Corn Palace

Today we rode from Chamberlain to Mitchell, SD. It was a ride of 71 miles with no headwinds for a welcome change. I had pedal problems again today. At around the 17 mile mark I noticed my left pedal crank coming loose again. I pulled off and called the mechanic's van. Mike came up and took a look at it, got it back on but told me to keep an eye on it because it was stripped. About 6 miles further down the road the crank came off again. Mike took me to the sag stop and managed to take a triplex crank off of Barb's bike and put it on my bike in place of the compact I had. Amazingly he was able to get the bike to shift through all three rings. The course was fairly flat so I kept in the middle ring and made it into Mitchell with no further problems. Mike called ahead to a bike shop in Sioux falls and they will have a replacement part ready when we arrive tomorrow. Just before the hotel we stopped at the Corn Palace. It is an all purpose arena with the outside decorated in corn murals. There are also a number of murals inside the arena. The ones inside remain the same with the corn replaced every ten to twelve years. The ones outside are changed on a yearly basis when the corn crop comes in. It is called the Boston garden of the west. The rats I used to see in the old garden would do some serious damage to the murals. Tomorrow we are on to Sioux falls and a rest day. Katy and Bridgette will be there and I am really looking forward to seeing them.

Day 25. Halfway mark

Today the ride took us from Pierre to Chamberlain, SD, a distance of 84 miles. It was supposed to be an easier day but for the third straight day we ran into head winds. Coupled with the toll that yestrrday's ride took on everyone it was very difficult. More so for me. Somewhere around the 45 mile mark I felt that my left foot was further out than normal. I looked down and saw a slight gap. Not sure if that was normal I continued pedaling and still had the sensation of the foot going out further. I looked down again and the gap had increased. This was about the 48 mile mark and I decided to get off the bike and call for help. I usually unclip my left foot but was unable to I was now almost at a stop and managed to unclip my right foot before falling over. The mechanic Jim managed to get the pedal arm back on but at that time I decided to call it a day as my back was acting up a bit. I took the sag van into the hotel and I iced my back. South Dakota has a real problem with flooding. Every town we come to has sand bags all over the place. The water level of the Missouri river is extremely high. Another thing about riding in South Dakota is the mind numbing sameness of the roads. You come over the rise and all you see in front of you is more of the same. We did pass the halfway point of the ride at the first sag stop.

Day 24 BRUTAL

Today we biked 117 miles from Wall to Pierre, SD. Based in the weather forecast we expected strong head winds but the weather gods gave us an extra bonus with heavy rain. After the second sag everyone was soaked to the bone and some riders were in danger of going into hypothermia. At that point we still had 61 miles to ride to the finish. Two good things happened. First the luggage van was at the second sag and we were able to get clean dry clothes to put on. Secondly. The store at the sag sold hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate we ever had and put some warmth back in our bodies. After the sag the wind died down and the rains eased for about 20 miles. Then we took a turn heading east to Pierre and were met with the strongest wind of the day right in our faces and we had it for the remaining 40 miles of the ride. It was the worst day I have ever had on the bike and it lasted for 9 and 3/4 hours of riding time. Most folks at dinner felt the same. A lot of the days here run together but this is one none of us will ever forget.

Day 23 July 12th

Today we biked from Rapid City to Wall, SD. It was supposed to be a relatively easy ride of 57 miles before our ride of 117 tomorrow. The first 23 miles were just that but then we ran into head winds of 15-20 mph for the next 34 miles. When the wind is blowing here there is absolutely nothing to stop it. It is just wide open spaces. You feel like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. You are peddling as fast as you can and going barely anywhere. In addition to the head winds we had a lot of climbing which only added insult to injury. We are spending the night in Wall which I am sure most of you have never heard of. It is the home of Wall Drugs and we have been seeing signs for this place for hundreds of miles. It is kind of like South of the Border for folks who drive east to west instead of north to south. It is exactly the same once you go inside. A hokey tourist trap that sells all kinds of junk that people don't need but still buy and then try to get rid of at yard sales. It should be a long day tomorrow with head winds in the forecast and we cross into the central time zone so we lose an hour. Don't be surprised if the blog is really late tomorrow.

Day 22 Monday July 11th

Our ride today took us from Hot Springs to Rapid City, SD. The ride was 74 miles with several long climbs one of which took us to Mt Rushmore. It was the first time I had ever been there and it was very impressive and well worth the climb. The place was swarming with tourists and I saw a few red sox and patriots jerseys in the crowds. We did the usual picture taking and then had ice cream cones to help us with the last 22 miles. The prices on everything there was very reasonable. Souvenir hats and T-shirts were only 5 bucks. No room to carry any souvenirs. There was a mishap right before we arrived at Rushmore when Terry our oldest rider at 74 had a crash. His helmet broke in 3 places and he may have some other injuries. He is an excellent rider and a mishap like his could happen to anyone due to the road conditions. Severe thunderstorm warnings until 9 pm but I think everyone has made it in for the day.

Day 21 we enter South Dakota

Today we rode 93 miles from Lusk, WY to Hot Springs, SD. Not much in the way of scenery or any major events on the road today. For the last part of the ride we had a tailwind which helped with 2 climbs at the 70 and 90 mile marks. Last night in Lusk they had a parade to celebrate Frontier Days. It was a little bizarre. It started out as expected with horses, covered wagons, etc. But then they ended the parade with a procession of muscle cars. Later that night they had the reenactment of the first scalping of a white man by a native American. A bunch of the riders went over to see the show and they said it was pretty entertaining. Tonight we had a first as we dined in a bowling alley. It was pretty strange seeing everyone sitting around the scorer's table eating their dinners. Tomorrow we are on to Mt. Rushmore. Everyone is hoping for good weather.

Back in the saddle the sequel

Today we rode from Casper to Lusk, WY. It was 106 mile ride under perfect conditions. Blue skies, sunshine, temps in the 80's and best of all a strong tailwind moving us along. My back behaved and I had a pretty good ride. There are apt of wildlife out here that think nothing if running into the road. Riders have seen bears, buffalo, coyotes, deer and antelope come out of nowhere and run right near them. There was another incident today where a deer ran right in front of a rider and was smashed by a semi on the other side of the road. When I got to it the only recognizable part left was the head. The remainder looked like it had swallowed a hand grenade. We all have to wTch our sides and the road as well. Today is our last full day in Wyoming and the town of Lusk is having a parade and a frontier days tonight. We'll be checking it out

Day off in Casper

 A minor setback yesterday for me.  I wrote the day before yesterday about the incident with my jacket getting caught in the rear tire.  What I didn't mention was that in keeping the bike upright I wrenched my lower back.  I was able to ride the additional 60 miles to finish that ride but my back started tightening up as we got closer to the end.  I went to the store and got some icy hot patches and put one on in the morning and hoped that the back would loosen up as I rode,  Not exactly what happened.  I started having lower back muscle spasms which got worse as I rode along.  I had to stop at the 23 mile mark and finished the ride in the van.  When we got to Casper I went to the ER.  I was examined and it was determined that it was a muscular problem and not a skeletal issue. I was given pain killers and anti-inflamatory medicine and told to rest in bed with ice on my back. I was given 2 shots and some oral medication.  Everyone is telling me that I was pretty funny last night at dinner although I don't really recall being very funny.  The doctor told me that if I do what I was told to do I should be okay to ride tommorow.  So I am just taking it easy today.From the looks of Casper driving through I don't think that I will be missing too much by lying in bed.  

Day 17 July 6th

We biked 97 miles today from Dubois to Riverton, WY. This was supposed to be a relatively easy 79 mile ride but due to flooding and road closures we got the extra mileage and a couple of really good climbs which I don't think anyone really wanted after the prior two climbing days. The first 30 miles or so had some incredible rock formations with the sun reflecting off them. I had a scary moment about 30 miles into the ride. I usually don't wear or carry a jacket but it was a little cool this morning so I put one on. About 15 miles into the ride of course I didn't need it anymore and I put it in one of my jersey pouches. I was riding along a flat section at about 22 mph when all of a sudden I came to a skidding stop. The bike was going every which way and I had to fight to keep the bike upright and me on it. Somehow I managed to do both. What happened was that my jacket came out of my jersey pocket and got stuck in the rear wheel of my bike in the brake area. The rear tire was badly shredded in one spot but not flat. I managed to ride it into the sag stop and had the tire changed and finished the ride. We are moving quickly through Wyoming with almost 100 mile rides for 3 straight days. We have a 120 mile ride tomorrow into Casper and then a day off that everyone is looking forward to.

Day 16 Jackson to Dubois, WY

Today was an 88 mile ride with spectacular views everywhere you looked. Photo op after photo op was available. Last night my roommate Mike and I went to downtown Jackson. They had a reenactment of a gunfight in the town square and lots of other activities were going on so we decided to stay there and have dinner. It was nice to get out of the usual routine. The big climb today was to the continental divide. this is where the determination of where water will flow. Water west of the divide goes to the pacific and east of it goes to the Atlantic. It was a long climb of 20 miles and we reached an altitude of 9658 feet. There was snow on the side of the road and one of our riders from the Netherlands made snow angels. Our ride tomorrow wAs scheduled for 79 miles but has been changed tom 96 mile route due to flooding on one of the roads everywhere we have been out here the water levels have been incredibly high. Now that we are coming out of the mountains this may become more of a problem. Maybe it will result in shorter routes.

Day 15. Into Wyoming

Happy 4th of July. We made our way from Idaho Falls, ID to Jackson, WY a distance of 89 miles. There were 2 significant climbs during the ride. The first was at Pine Creek summit at the 58 mile point of the ride. The elevation was 6764 feet. The next one came at the 78 mile mark and was the Teton Pass Summit with an elevation of 8431 feet. It is true that it gets much harder to breathe at high elevations especially when riding. A bunch of us stopped in the town of Victor for lunch. The town only has a population of 740 but there must have been thousands of people there for their 4th of July festivities. We got in line for a pulled pork sandwich and just sat and enjoyed the music for a while. Then back on the bikes for the last 24 miles including the last climb. We were rewarded with a big downhill. I cracked the 40 mph barrier during the descent. I am sure a lot of the other bikers got well into the 40's and maybe even the 50 mph range.

July 3rd. Day 14

Today is our last full day in Idaho. We had a short ride of 66 miles from Pocatello to Idaho Falls. Shows just how far gone we are when we think
that 66 miles is a short ride. It was a fairly flat ride with not too much to look at. The roads were pretty rough st times and a lot of people had sore buns at the end of the day. We were told that our rooms would probably not be ready when we arrived. A bunch of us went lunch at a Mexican restaurant up the street from the hotel. Even after that some of us didn't get into our rooms until after four. Early wakeup tomorrow as we head up to Teton pass and into Wyoming.

Saturday July 2nd the heat is on

Our luck ran out today. Instead of the tailwinds we have been enjoying for the past few days we rode into a head wind for all 86 miles of the ride. For most of the ride it helped to keep us cool. I think everyone would have preferred the tailwinds. The temps are starting to rise as we head east. It is in the 90's in Pocatello. Not much in the way of scenery today as we pretty much paralleled the interstate on frontage roads. We did pass through one town called American Falls where one of our sags was located. The town was very depressed with the downtown pretty much deserted. We had one road closure where we had to walk our bikes over the closed road. Tomorrow we hit our last town in Idaho and we will be in Wyoming on Monday.

July already

Today was a relatively short ride from Twin Falls to Burley, ID. It was supposed to be only 38 miles but I think most of the riders did something in the low to mid 40's. Not too bad with the tail wind at our backs. The reasons for the extra miles were a couple of waterfalls that were off the main route and a lot of riders returned to the bridge over the snake river to watch base jumpers. These guys were absolutely crazy. We saw three jump while we were there. They free fall with a parachute and then land in a designated area. The second guy we saw jump stood on the railing, did 2 flips while going down and then opened his chute. From where we were watching it looked like he would definitely end up in the river or in one of the trees lining the river but instead he wound up exactly where he was supposed to. From high above we all gave him a standing ovation and he responded with a bow. We also had a scavenger hunt going on today during the ride and the teams competed after dinner. All the teams did a great job and were very imaginative and we had a few good laughs. Tomorrow on to Pocatello