The final day, the final blog

Today is day 50 and the final day of the Bike Across America ride.  We rode 51 miles from Manchester to Wallis Sands beach in Rye, NH.  It was a pretty easy day to ride and everyone was pretty relaxed and enjoying the accomplishment of riding their bike across the country.  We were due to be at Rye Junior High at 1130 so we had plenty of time to get there.  We rode through Exeter, NH and everyone stopped at a bakery to get something to eat and kill some time.  Then it was on to the junior high to finish the ride.  Lots of pictures were taken.  First it was the riders over 60 years of age and then the ones who were over 70 years of age.  There was also a group picture taken of all of the foreign riders.  A group picture finished the picture taking time and then it was time for our police escort to the beach for the final three miles of our journey.  It was really neat to have the road to ourselves and not worry about traffic or anything else for those final three miles.  We were led into the beach by Terry who inspired everyone during the ride.  The accomplishment finally hit me when I viewed the ocean.  I thought back to our start in Astoria and there was some symmetry in that a light rain was falling similar to the day we rode to the Pacific.  We walked to the beach with  our bikes and dipped our front tires in the Atlantic to complete the symbolism of the rear tires in the Pacific and the front tire in the Atlantic.  An announcement was made over the speaker system at the beach of the accomplishment and the people on the beach gave us a hand.  Lots of family and friends on hand to greet the riders.  Katy, and the kids, Shawn, Brendan, and Bridgette were there to greet me along with my brother Bernie.  Thanks to all of them for showing up and supporting me.  Then it was more picture taking and hugs as we all realized that the journey had ended and we would be going our separate ways.  We would always have the shared experience and the memories of what we had done.  The final thing we did was empty the bottle of water that was taken from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean.  This was done by Terry, our oldest rider, and Sharon, who had overcome the most in completing the ride.  Then it was pretty much over.  Some people rode back to the hotel, some wanted to get another state under their belt and went into Maine and others took a van ride or went with friends or relatives.  It was a real learning experience for me and a privilege to ride with all the other cyclists.  This is the final blog.  Thank you to all of you that bothered to read this and offered their support during the ride.  There were times when I didn't believe that I would be able to finish the ride but I did and as much as I missed being away from home and seeing my family, I am glad I did the ride, met the people, and saw some amazing things that I will never forget.

Day 49 Sunday, August 7th

Next to last day of the ride took us 77 miles from Brattleboro,VT to Manchester, NH. We crossed into NH one mile into the ride. Photo ops at the welcome to New Hampshire. We were told that this would be an easier day than yesterday but it seemed harder with a lot of climbs during the ride. We rode through a lot of back roads and the riders from other parts of the country were amazed at how rural it was and some felt that they were transported back in time. Tonight we had our banquet to mark the end of the ride. There were a couple of skits and then each rider had the opportunity to say something about the ride and what it meant to them. Some of them were pretty articulate but it ended up being a pretty late night with an early wake up tomorrow for our final 50 miles. We lucked out again with the weather and stayed dry. It would be nice if we could keep that luck up for one more day until we complete the beach arrival.

Day 48 yes day 48

The ride today took us out of New York state and into New England as we rode 79 miles from Latham to Brattelboro, VT. Photo op at the state border at around the 32 mile mark. We returned to climbing with almost 6000 feet of total climbing. We began a 10 mile climb coming out of Bennington, Vt and had another 2 mile climb at 60 miles. The last 10 miles into Brattleboro was all downhill which was a nice treat after all the climbing. The weather was threatening for a good part of the day but we managed to stay dry again. Two more days of riding and that's it. Hope some of you will be able to make it to the beach on Monday morning.

Day 47 Friday, August 5th

A 74 mile ride from Little Falls to Latham, NY. The ride started out with a climb that was supposed to provide us with a panoramic view from above. Unfortunately when we got to the top a heavy mist obscured not only the view but the road ahead. It eventually burned off but by that time we were back at the lower levels. We were riding in a group today with Michel, Mary, Blythe, Russell, Barry and Mike. At the 43 mile mark Barry's front tire blew out at about 25 mph and he went down and got a pretty good gash in his head that required 16 stitches. He will sit out tomorrow and then hopefully finish out the last 2 days. He is one tough guy. He wanted someone to fix his tire while he was lying there with blood spurting out of his head. At the 49 mile mark we got on a nice paved bike path that almost took us into our hotel. We are real close to both Mass and Vermont but will be heading to our next to the last state tomorrow morning. Another good day of riding with the exception of barry's accident.

Day 46. Thursday, August 4th

Today's ride was a 78 miler from Liverpool to Little Falls, NY. Everyone got off to an early start and the weather was mostly overcast with a slight head wind. It didn't seem to bother anyone as we can all see the finish line ahead. A little climbing today as compared to the past couple of days but nothing major. We continued to ride along the Erie Canal for extended periods. We also went through the town of Canastota which I thought was the home of the boxing hall of fame but didn't see any signage for it. The rest of our rides will all be less than 80 miles unless we make navigation errors which happens to someone on a daily basis. A couple of riders yesterday did over 100 miles after making a wrong turn instead of the scheduled 94.

2 flats, 2 new tires, rain and I still had a great day

Day 45 was a 94 mile ride from Henrietta to Liverpool, NY. First about yesterday. When we arrived at Henrietta we were lodged at a Days Inn. To call it a dump would be to give it too much credit. Our room had mold growing on the bathroom walls and all over the shower enclosure. We along with a bunch of other riders requested and were given new rooms. Not much better but no mold. Then the tv in the room wouldn't work. When I woke up this morning I had a flat rear tire and needed a new tire. After getting that fixed we started biking and spent most of the morning on a bike path alongside the Erie Canal. The weather was light showers off and on. As the day wore on the rain got heavier. About 5 miles from the end of the ride I got a puncture flat that destroyed the tire. Second new tire of the day and the rain pouring down. I was the last one into the hotel and in spite of everything I had a great day on the bike. The days are quickly dwindling down as we make our way to NH. Thanks to Lucy for hanging with me today.

Day 44 Tuesday, August 2nd

Today's ride was 81 miles from Niagara Falls to Henrietta, NY. Yesterday was our day off and almost everyone played tourist for the day. My roommate Michel had his wife and daughter visiting so I had the room to myself for 2 nights. Yesterday I went on the Maid of the Mist boat ride into the falls and the Cave of the Winds walking tour beneath the American falls. It was a perfect day weatherwise and the crowds were way down from Sunday. Rainbows were everywhere and I think I got some really good pictures. A good day off and a chance to recharge for the final week of the ride. It was an unwelcome back to the northeast as two of our support vans were broken into in the parking lot and their GPS units were stolen. The night before we all went to see the light show on the falls and the fireworks display. Since we missed the fireworks on the fourth of July it was nice to see them. Today's ride had rolling hills and otherwise was pretty flat. We had a nice tailwind and I believe everyone was in the hotel by two o'clock. Not the nicest accommodations we have had and not too much around to see or do.

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.