Terry's Spoke Report

Good to Be Home

2011-07-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that just last week I was riding into Nice. Almost two months of cycling sure went by fast. In fairness that is sort of a retrospective on the trip. During those first few days of the Les Dex Alpes tour climbing out of Lake Como and into Visp and the Col Du Grand St Bernard seemed like the tour was never going to end. It may have been the rain and gloom which pervaded those days which leant that perspective to the trip.

It is good to be back home. There are so many things we take for granted that a trip like this makes you miss. Simple stuff like taking a clean dry shirt off the hanger instead of a damp wrinkled thing from the bottom of your clothing stuff sack. Getting a clean glass from the cupboard and filling it with ice cold water from the water dispenser on the fridge is so nice compared to having a big swig of warm water from your bikes water bottle, even though you cleaned your bottle just ten days ago. Sliding between two crisp sheets just beats crawling into a sleeping bag that you have slept in for the last six weeks.

So let me jump into the big question that is on every ones mind. Would you recommend this trip. There is absolutely no doubt that I would totally recommend Bike Dreams. They delivered a very solid product at a very good price. It is totally true we did not stay in 5 star hotels. However we did not pay 5 star prices. We did have 5 star food. Yaap the cook fed us the best meals you could want. I would tell him every day that he made my favourite dishes and he would say that can’t be true as you say that every day. Well when the food is great it isn’t hard to say that it is your favourite. The other thing was there was lots of wine on the table. Where do you see that? Richard the mechanic and lunch maker and everything else that needed doing staffer was the other main highlight of the trip. Got a problem? Richard would pull the solution out of his bag of magic tricks. It didn’t matter if it was your bike which needed repair or if you were just feeling blue Richard fixed everything.

With the big ride of 2011 out of the way I am clear to work on my running for the rest of the year. I still have a half marathon and two full marathons to run this year.

So what about next year? Where to next year? Another cross America? How about a cross Canada with Cycle Canada? They offer a catered tour now which looks pretty appealing. Or maybe the Tour d’Afrique’s Amber route from St Petersburg in Russia to Venice. So many chooses. What are you doing?

Terry

Don't ask about the photos they are just a couple of random shots

Nice! July 1 2011-07-01

2011-07-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

It was pretty warm when we got up this morning and there was no doubt that it was going to be a scorcher. There was a lot of excitement in the air as everyone was excited about finishing the tour, and going home. However there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was still going to be a tough day. There were still two hills to climb and 120 kms to cover.

As I set out I caught Dennis and snapped his picture. Then we rolled down pasted this medieval castle and town which was built in 1536. Jurg and I stopped for a picture but did not go in as we had stopped there last night. It was quite a place and it would have been fun to explore it some more but there was no time.

We rolled down the 12 kms to the first climb and started up. Although it wasn’t the steepest climb on the tour I just had no legs because of yesterdays all out effort. I was sure glad to see the summit some 15 km later. We then rolled down though this amazing canyon. It had to be 400-500 feet deep. Richard stopped the van and crawled out to get a look.

After lunch was the second climb and it was now 37 C. The total climb was 12 kms and I made it up about 6 before I had to stop. I was total done. It took a bout 10 minutes of sitting under a tree before I could continue.

The roll down from the summit to the sea was great. We formed up about 25 kms from the final desitnation for a group ride into Nice as it is a big city. Wilbert the tour leader took us up to this park which over looked the city where we had some champagne and treats before going to the hotel.

It was a great celebration supper in the hotel and lots of speeches and merry making.

Terry

Col Duh Bon EH (Col du Bonette) June 30 2011

2011-07-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Last night Richard grabbed my bike and made a canopy for it. Then at supper dressed in a bra and shorts and came out riding my bike. It was pretty funny. I then had to take it for a spin around the campground.

To day was the last of the Cols and was the longest and hardest day of the Les Dex Alpes. We were to climb the Col du Bonette which has a summit at 2780 meters. Then after a 70 km down hill we were to climb this second pass which summit was at 1680 meters. The total milage for the day was to be 158 kms. A long day without the two climbs.

Jurg and I had figured that it was going to be close to a 10 hour day including stops and lunch. Breakfast was at 6:00 Am and we were on the bikes at 6:35. About 3 kms out of camp we came upon a herd of sheep being driven up the road. It was pretty neat as they just flowed around you.

The weather was perfect for the first climb. It was 28 kms to the summit and we where there by 9:00 Am. It was an exceptional effort and was only possible as we had a cool weather and no wind. The views were absolutely stunning.

Lunch was down at 67 kms. There we found out that the road was closed so the alternatives where we were go over another col or ride down this valley. We choose the valley. It was all downhill but the head wind was brutal. You had to work like heck to keep rolling. At any rate we rolled in exhausted.

Tomorrow we ride to Nice and the end of the tour.

Terry

A Couple More Cols June 29 2011

2011-07-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

It was a great looking day this morning and Jurg and I were off early as the heat of the day builds early. When I got up it was already 20 C in my tent.

Today the ride was 88 kms and 2350 meters of climb. We were to cross the Col D’Izoard and the Col Du Vars. The Col D’Izoard is one of the climbs which is on the Tour Du France route. It was 16 kms all greater that 8% with lost of sections greater than 12%.

It is really cool riding these sections of the Tour Du France. I grind away at 7-9 kms/hr and the tour riders average 25 kms/hr. The first col seemed pretty easy even though it had the most climb associated with it.

We then cruised down though a beautiful canyon and down to lunch after lunch there was a detour which took us over this huge hill were there were some fantastic views of the canyon. It was extremely steep on the detour. It was an old road which was not used any more. I think they were building a new tunnel.

The second Col of the day was Col D’ Vars which was another 17 kms and only reached 2108 meters. However it is now the full heat of the day and I saw a sign showing 37 C. The first 7 kms are in the wide open with out a speck of shade and all 9-12% grade. By the time I get 6 kms I am totally over heated. So we stop and Richard comes along and pours a bucket of cold water over my head. It felt great. Jurg and I ride on and reach the village of Vars where Richard is having coffee. I get my dry clothes out of the van and as it is only 8 kms to the top of the col we ride on. The Col d’Vars is not on the tour and there isn’t much there just a sign post.

We roll down hill and into camp. It was a really tough day. Tomorrow is the last of the cols, Cols De La Bonette, and Col de la Couillole. It is the toughest day of the tour. We start at 6:00 AM. As a side note you should the Auzzies talking about the “Col duh Bon Eh” It is a killer.

Terry

Col du Lautaret June 28 2011

2011-06-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

To day was an easy day as we had ridden the Lès Alpes Heuz yesterday. This turned the 93 kms day into a 65 km day. However before I get in to the ride, Richard had fixed a broken spoke back in Sicily and yesterday it broke on the climb. I found a spare spoke in one of the hundreds of bike shops in town. So I gave Richard the replacement spoke. When I awoke this morning Richard had fixed my bike, so that I could ride. WOW!

Juerg and I rode out together and were joined by Jack which was a welcome addition to the ride, so the three of us cruised along. The ride to the summit from the camp ground was 38 kms at a very low but steady incline. I think there was only one kms of 8 % and the rest was only 1-2%. It was perfect ridding temperature and the sun was not yet shining on us as we rode up through this canyon. There were several tunnels and snow sheds. The sun was shining on the mountains which surrounded us and it was very pretty.

When we got to the summit at 2058 m it was only just after 11:00 Am so we stopped and had a great lunch in one of the restaurants at the summit. Sitting eating on the terrace and enjoying the scenery was fabulous. About 1:00 Pm we rolled for camp which is in Briancon. It was a 30 km down hill which was a very nice easy 2% down. It was perfect.

The first thing Juerg and I did was head down town where we got some beer and drank it in the town square. The local police came by but we saw them first so we put the beer away. There is nothing like having a cold beer in the nice warm sun (36C).

Fun in the Sun

Terry

L’Alpe d’Heuz June 27 2011

2011-06-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today was suppose to be a rest day however tomorrow you were suppose to ride L’Alpe d’Heuz and back then ride on to Col du Lautaret, for a 95 km day. However the climb to L’Alpe d’Heuz was an out and back so if you knocked that off today then tomorrow is an easy day.

The climb up L’Alpe d’Heuz was only 14.4 kms however it was no picnic. The climb is mostly 8-10% grade and there are lots of sections which although not marked are much steeper. The climb has 21 switch back corners which are all marked and count down as you climb the hill. The total climb is some thin like 1500 meters. This climb is one of the best known climbs on the Tour du France. I think the record is something like 36 minutes but it took me something like 2.5 hours, including panting, and wheezing beside the road time. Juerg and I got out around 8:15 so we beat the heat of the day (36 C), which was good. I would have died up there on the bald hillside. It was very picturesque and it was very nice not having a million motorbikes roaring past you.

I am a few hundred meters from the finish line for the tour when there is a bang and the improvised spoke that Richard had made way back in Sicily let go. I was hoping to ride it for the next few days. It was part of this tour. With a broken spoke I had a wobbly wheel and my hopes of setting a down hill record were dashed. The good news it that Bourg d’Oisan is bike shop Meca and I found a couple of new spokes. When I get home I will have to look in to getting a stock of spares as they are quite rare.

This climb really showed me how strong the Tour riders are.

Time for after noon nap.

Terry

Col du Télégraph / Col Du Galibier/Col du Lautaret June 26 2011

2011-06-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

It was off to a great start this morning as we had a 43 kms down hill to the turn off for the first climb. It was really a bunch of fun sailing along on a nice gentle down hill. Juerg and I were down to the turn off in record time so we had time for a coffee and a pastry before we tackled the first climb up to Col du Télégraph.

It was only 12 kms up to the summit, however it didn’t make it any less steep. There are little mileage posts at the start of each kilometre giving the distance to the top and the steepness of the climb. They help to distract you from how hard it is when you can see the kilometres tracking down. Lunch was at the top of the Col du Télégraph. It was a beautiful spot. The French army was on patrol with their armoured vehicles when we were there. They tried to surrender but I wasn’t taking any prisoners.

After lunch came the big climb of the day up to the summit of Col du Galibier. It is at 2646 meters and was a 21 km climb. The first few kms are pretty easy but the hill gets steeper pretty quickly and there are lots of 8% kms of sign posts. This is one of the lesser known Col’s but is definitely one of the most beautiful we have climbed so far. I was struck by the beauty of the mountains surrounding me. You wind though a big open valley and then when you get to the end of the valley you start the switch backs. It took me the best part of 3 hours to get to the top, but it was worth it.

Coming down the back side was a high speed rush. Down the switch backs which I find challenging, though a bunch of tunnels, snow sheds, and though several tiny villages. The wild flowers were really putting on a show and the fragrance from them was very intense. I had stopped to photograph them, when Richard came up unseen in his van, He skidded to a stop in the gravel be side the road, blowing his horn. It scared the heck out of me.

Juerg and I were about 8 kms out of camp when one of the hot bike teams which are here because of the Tour du France came screaming past, in a big pace line. Juuerg said “Lets run them down” Here we are stopped and they are flying and 500m in front of us. I didn’t think there was a hope but I started to roll and jumped hard on the pedals. A km down the road they are much closer. Juerg took over and closed some more. My turn and now we are seriously gaining on them. With a km to go we are riding their wheel, and laughing.

Sunny days on the bike are great

Terry

Col De L’Isran June 25 2011

2011-06-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

It is only 13 C in my tent this morning and without leg warmers it is going to be a cold ride. So I pull on a pair of running tights. I stand up at breakfast and make a request of people that they look though their stuff for my leg warmers. Looking at the faces I might as well have been talking to rocks in Chinese. I doubt that anyone heard me. There is always going to be some wear and tear on equipment so I guess I will just write them off to wear and tear.

The Col De L’Isran is the highest paved pass in all of Europe. It is not the most famous and certainly not the hardest. There is a 18 kms ramp to the pass which is only 1-2% and then there is a section of 8 kms which is pretty steep. After that you come to a ski village where we stopped for a pastry and coffee, which was delicious. Then there is flat section of 4 kms followed by the final climb of 18 kms of 8-10%. I can do about 9-11 km/hr so it is 2 hours to the top. It is brilliant sunny day at the top which is at 2770 meters. I don’t know the times but we were having fun so who cares. I hang out and have lunch but it is windy and Juerg and I roll pretty quickly.

We are in a little village where there isn’t much but we are in early so Juerg and I walk into the grocery store and get some beer and drink it in the town square. We laugh that the last time we did that was on the Orient Express. We talk about getting caught drinking in public in Romania. Juerg thought it was Timmoshara but I am not so sure.

It was a great day and we had a lot of fun.

Terry

La Col Petit St Bernard June 24 2011

2011-06-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

There is a bike shop in the next town which is only 17 kms from the campground. So Juerg and I ride down there and I get a new cycling computer. They have a really good saddle bag which will hold my rain coat, so I buy it as well. Totally re-equipped we are off to attack the next pass.

It is 48 kms down to lunch so we hit the road. About 6 kms out of lunch my rear de-railer cable breaks dropping me into high gear. What was about 20 minutes is now an hour. At lunch I hang around and after everyone is gone Richard fixes my bike and I ride the col. Although the last rider left lunch 45 minutes before me, I pass four riders on the climb and make the summit in 2 hours flat.

Having a sunny day is really great. It sure makes you feel great.

In the end some one steals my leg warmers out of Richard’s van. I am totally convinced that someone goes in to the van to change into their warm cloths for the decent. Then start grabbing up stuff and putting into their sack, and not looking at what they are grabbing. I am totally unimpressed with the young buck Auzzies who have joined this segment of the tour. The other day one of them grabbed John G’s sleeping pad. He couldn’t be bothered looking for his pad. The next day one of them grabs Adian’s tent. Couldn’t be bother looking for his. It is all about me and screw everyone else on the tour. I am really sorry to have to post this but then some times the truth has to be told.

Terry

More Rain June 23 2011

2011-06-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

It poured all night lat night, so I would have thought that I would have gotten it out of it’s system but when I got up I see that the clouds fill the valley. The ride for the day is up the Grand Saint Bernard pass which is one to the biggest on the tour. Juerg and I set out up the valley and the first 75 kms pass quickly as it is a flat ride and we have found a local rider who pulls us almost the entire way.

Just before lunch I stop to help fix a flat and Juerg rides on. When I get to lunch he is not there. What happened to him? I hang around but no Juerg. Finally I have to ride on but it is now pouring rain so I have my rain suit on. It is 40 kms to the top of the pass, and I can do about 10 so it is a 4 hr grind. With 15 kms to go Richard come by with the truck and I decide to get in the truck. I just can’t stand another 1.5 hr in the pouring rain.

The truck gets to the top in 20 minutes but now we sit and wait until the last riders get to the top which is 5:30: PM. I walk around and go for a couple of little hikes on some of the hiking trails. There are some St Bernard dogs that live in the hostel which is at the top so I play with them. They are really friendly.

In the end my cycling computer gets lost in the confusion which is in Richards van and all the bags. We camp in the rain.

I understand there is a place in the Gobi desert where it hasn’t rained in 150 years. I am moving there.

Terry

A Day Off June 22 2011

2011-06-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

It is always nice to have a day off. However in this case I cannot understand why we have a day off. The Les Dix Alpes has 11 stages so why have a rest day after only 2 days? It seems to me that a rest day would be much better after three or four days of riding. If we had that split we would have 3-4-4, instead of the 2-4-5 split. I really would have preferred to put another pass behind me. The only reason I can think of is that the crew wanted to take the truck and drive up to see the Matterhorn. Mean while we are stuck in this little nowhere town with nothing to do. Nice – Real Nice.

There was fresh bread and sweet rolls delivered to the campsite by this local baker. Jurg was quick to spot this so we cleaned up the cinnamon buns for breakfast, before the other riders clued into the fact that there was fresh bread and other bakery items for sale. We then walked the km or so into town and wandered around. There wasn’t much to see so it didn’t take long. We found a bike shop and wandered in there. I was able to get a new water bottle to replace the one with a cracked top. I also found a really nice light set for my bike. There is white LED light for the front and a red LED for the rear. They are of the new mounting style which is with a rubber band, making them very easy to mount on the bike. My bottle of soap got squished in my luggage on the trip in here so I had to buy a new bottle of soap. There wasn’t much left in the bottle but it did make a mess. Fortunately the mess was right on top and was easy to clean up.

Shopping done and after a coffee we wandered back to the campsite, for an afternoon snooze. We will head back down town in a while and get some supper.

Ok here is an idea. Everyone is dog tired, especially the carry over riders from Palermo. So look on the map and see where the train goes. If the train goes down to the next campground then jump on the train. They run every hour and are very inexpensive. You just roll your bike down the ramp and jump on.

Tomorrow is another big climb. One pass down and nine to go.

Terry

A Sunny Day On Simplon Pass June 21 2011

2011-06-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

It looked beautiful when I crawled out of my tent this morning and after a heart breakfast Jurg and I set off together. This is Jurg`s home ground and he knows all the roads and turns. So it was great riding with him. He could point to just about every mountain and say that he had climbed it. He could also tell you and interesting story about the climb. So it was great rolling along listening to the stories.

The first part of the ride was 30 kms up a smaller pass which took us up approximately 800 meters. It was a relatively constant grade so we made great time. We passed lots of great scenery and at one point we were concerned about getting ahead of lunch so we stopped for coffee in this little village. One side of the road was a modern village on the other was an ancient stone village. Everything was made of stone, the buildings, the roofs, the pathways in the village, the stairs, everything. Jurg and I walked through the stone village it was very interesting.

After lunch we started the Simplon Pass climb. It is the first of the ten Alps. It wasn’t too steep but it was without let up. I got out and just ground away. There was a lot of snow shed on the climb and they were a bit noisy but there were cool in side. The sun was beating down on us and I was just soaked with sweat. The ride profile showed the summit at 90 kms however when I saw a sign post which showed it to be at the 83 km mark my spirits just soared, that was a whole hour of grinding. The summit was beautiful. Nice and sunny and warm.

Jurg and I put on our warm cloths for the decent and I followed Him down. Jurg knew where the camp site was so I just followed him in. It was great not having to navigate.

Tomorrow is a camping rest day. Hopefully the weather will be as warm tomorrow as it was today (32 C).

Terry

Les Dix Alpes Stage 1 June 20 2011

2011-06-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

To day was the first truly sunny day we have had since Rome. God that seems like a long time ago, but that is another story. It was really beautiful today the sky was a magnificent blue with just the odd little puffy white cloud. It was so marvellous to feel the heat of the sun on your back.

However I am wandering from the story which was that we left the hotel for the shore of Lake Como for a group photo, which was followed by a group ride out of Como. The ride has now changed as there were only 16 of the original riders carry on and now there are 50 riders from the 30 so it is a huge group. The average age has also plunged as almost all of the new riders are under 40. So there was a lot of testosterone flowing as the group ride started out of town. I was going to say that I thought that none of these Auzzies have zero bike manners as they were passing on both the left and right sides, stopping slowing with never a hand signal or a word. However I am changing my story and I am now saying that there was a lot of excitement in the air.

After we left Como and head up the lake it was just so beautiful. The lake was a total mirror and the rising sun was shining on our side of the lake. I had dropped to the back as I was stopping to take pictures and enjoy the morning. There I met up with some of the new riders and together we rode past the first turn which would take us over to the next lake. Even though I kind of knew it was wrong I didn’t really care as it was just so pleasant. Ten kms up the road it was time to take bearings and we then rode back the ten kms to the turn. There was a 400 meter climb and Craig left me and I left the other two riders. After the climb I caught up to Craig where he was fixing a flat, so I pumped his tire for him. As we were there an ambulance flashed past us with the sirens whaling. As the other two had not caught us I thought this is bad.

Craig and I rode on as team and we caught a couple of different groups and arrived at lunch towards the end of the ride. There we learned that Rob the big Englishman had fallen and broken his collar bone.

For the rest of the day rode together taking turns pulling and enjoying the day. The road took us in and out of Switzerland. I think we are in Switzerland tonight but I have kind of lot track. There were lots of tunnels, lots of towns to get lost in, and just incredible scenery.

The reason this ride is called Les Dix Alpes is the there are nine passes over 2000 meters and one pass which is just under 2000. It is part of the tour ride.

All in Craig and I covered 148 kms and climbed over 1500 meters. What a great day!

Terry

A Beautiful Day In Como June 19 2011

2011-06-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

I felt very much improved this morning. Yesterday’s stomach flu which swept through the group has pretty much passed. I think that Bruce was the only one who was still suffering. So I completed the remaining chores which included cleaning my bike, re-wrapping the handle bars with new tape, and getting my gear organized.

I was just finished these chores when there was a tap on the door of the room and it was my good friend Jurg. Jurg and I have put many miles on together and it was really great to see him. Being the first truly sunny day since we left Rome we went for a stroll through the streets of Como and walked along the lake shore. It was so nice catching up on what has happened since we last rode together in the Canadian Rockies. We watched an antique car parade and had a wonderful lunch in a side walk café in front of the Como cathedral. It opened at 3:00 PM and then we went in a visited the cathedral. What a marvellous building. The love which has gone into building these monuments is truly unbelievable.

We had to be back for the briefing at 4:00 pm and to get our new jerseys for the Alps ride. They are a very nice aqua blue colour with the route shown on it. It will be a very nice bragging rights piece.

I have scrounged a sleeping mat from one of the riders who was leaving and so my failed air mattress is in the garbage bin. These are very deluxe mats aand it will be great not to have to re-inflate my air mattress at 2:30 AM.

Tomorrow we start the new section.

Terry

Food Poisoning June 18 2011

2011-06-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

To day is the first rest day in Como. On Monday we start the Alps tour. It is much shorter and I believe only 11 stages with two rest days. It is probably just as difficult a trip as the one we have just finished. Well actually I cannot conceive how it could be any more difficult and expect normal riders to complete the ride. This has been a fabulous trip in a lot of ways. I have seen so much and learned so much about Italy. I never really had any appreciation for Italy before. The infrastructure which has been put in place is unbelievable. Everything from the ultra modern auto strada and huge tunnels to the smallest detail in the smallest village. It is real testament to the strength and durability of the Italian people. When people think of Italy they think of the wine and the food. However that is only a tiny part of what is here.

This morning I woke up at 4:30 Am with a tremendous stomach ach. However I lay in bed until 6:45 trying to be quiet as I have two other room mates. I went down to breakfast and although the hotel put out a great spread I couldn’t eat anything. However there are chores to do and number one on the list is laundry. So I packed my clothes into my back pack and headed off with Dennis. We found a great laundry and I had to loan Dennis 4 Euros but mission accomplished. Next laundry is in Calgary. Found a pharmacy and got some anti acid pills and they are helping. It looks like just about everyone got food poisoning last night. Some people have been up all night with it coming out both ends. So I consider my self lucky. I think I am going to take a sleeping pill and try and sleep this one off.

We have two rest days in Como and I am looking forward to seeing my friend Jurg who is joining me on this ride.

There are no photos today as I would have to walk around Como to take some and that is out of the question sorry.

Terry

The Last Day June 17 2011

2011-06-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

Well it isn’t really the last day. It is the last day of the Bella Italia trip, which ran from Palermo to Como. What a long strange trip it has been. But wait the trip isn’t over yet and today turned from what should have been are really fun day into a total gong show.

The ride is 140 kms from Grosio to Como. It has a total climb of 1335 meters but is a net down hill of 300 meters. I leave camp with Bruce as my navigator and a few others. It is 70 kms down to lunch mostly along a bike path. However as I was aware these bike baths are narrow, twisting and hard to follow as every kilometre or so you have to stop to find where it goes next. I am out front pulling with Adrian right behind me when I spot some pot holes. I yell “POT HOLES” but too late Adrian touches my wheel and is up set into the ditch. He is ok just a little muddy. Now we are down the road way and the path suddenly ends. Our only choose is to climb this really steep bank and ride down the Auto-Strada. There is a huge fine for this but we were out of options. About a 2 kms of really scary riding we find and exit and shoot across 4 lanes of traffic. Lunch doesn’t come up soon enough but finally we are there. So we gather ourselves up and head down the road to the ferry which will take us across to Como. About 30 Kms from the ferry my rain suit falls off my bike and Koos picks it up. He has a huge bag on his bike and agrees to carry it for me. Then 5 kms later Adrian and I get separated from Koos. Adrian gets a flat so I fix his tire. We are now really late for the ferry and have to make some time but then the sky opens up into a torrential down pour. It is about 20 kms to the ferry and by the time we get down we are riding in 1.5 inches of water on the road.

We get on the ferry for the Lake Como. However the luggage van won’t start so Richard pulls it onto the ferry with his van. On the ferry Koos reaches into his huge bag and pulls out a dry jersey for me. Being dry was great. The ferry arrives and Richard pulls the luggage van off the ferry. With just over 40 kms to go to Como we set off. It is a really nice ride along the coast of Lake Como but everyone is exhausted, and I have to keep working to keep them moving. Finally we are in Como. However there is no luggage they have had to take the fire truck back to the ferry to get the luggage. The luggage arrives at 8:45 Pm.

We head off for a celebration dinner in a local restaurant.

“What a long strange trip it’s been.” -- Jerry Garcia

Terry

Stelvio Pass June 16 2011

2011-06-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

The camp was electric with excitement this morning over the climb up the Stelvio pass. It is one of the most renown climbs in the world so everyone was wired over today’s ride.

We were camped 25 kms from the start of the pass and I was off as early as I could as I wanted to be over the pass by noon. The first 25 kms took me along a bike path which was very well paved and marked. I arrived at the entrance to the pass at 9:10 so I had under three hours to make my goal. It was 25 kms to the top of the Stelvio. We started at 550 meters and the pass is at 2760 meters. There are a total 48 hair pin switch backs on the climb and they are all sign posted and they count down to the top. The first few are a long way apart so it seems like you are not making any progress. Ten kms in to the climb I stopped and ate an energy bar which sure helped as I had been grinding away for close to an hour by then. I ground away past a bunch more switchbacks but the numbers were still only in the thirty’s. We have now entered the clouds and it is very foggy. After about two hours of grinding I still have 8 kms to go. It started to rain so I stopped and put on my rain suit. I am sure glad I found it back in Rome. The numbers are now down to the low teens and you can see the summit. However is really steep and each switch back seems steeper than the last. Fortunately there are lots of photo opportunities so you can stop often. Finally I am at the top.

It is bitter cold and pouring rain. Bike Dreams have taken over a restaurant at the top where we have lunch. They have a huge fire going and I change out of my wet gear into dry stuff. There are a lot of small shops all selling souvenirs and cycle jerseys. So I picked out a jersey. It is great! It has the picture of the Stelvio on it.

It stops raining and I jump on the bike and head off as there is still 43 kms to go and a really steep decent to deal with. It is cold and wet on the road down and in places so foggy you cannot see 50 feet. There are a bunch of tunnels and more switch backs on the decent however they are much easier to deal with on the down hill.

We are in a very nice little hotel to night in Grosio. Tomorrow is last day of the Bella Italia ride and we then have two rest days before the Alps tour starts.

What an exciting day.

Terry

It Looked Easy June 15 2011

2011-06-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

It was only 80 C this morning so it was just a little chilly when I crawled out this morning, headed for a 106 kms ride with only 1250 meters of climb, and most importantly a huge net down hill. When you looked at the profile there was only one real climb of about 7 kms with about 650 meters of climb and a little climb at the end. I had pulled on my tights as there was one huge down hill and I thought it would be good to have them on.

The sky was crystal blue and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. It was great to not be chased by the thunder clouds. I was off down the road enjoying the Dolomite Mountains and the spectacular views. The climb at the 11 kms mark was pretty easy. At the top of the pass I stopped and put my jacket on for the down hill. It was about about 8 kms and then we entered this canyon. The canyon walls were very steep and there was a river along one side. It was very pretty in the canyons and gliding along on the down hill was really fun. Then there was a series of tunnels and snow sheds. The longest tunnel was just over 2.5 kms. It had a bunch of bends so you could not see the end however it was very well lighted so it was fun. There were a lot of motor cycles so it was really loud.

After the canyon I got to the first major town of Balzno. The route thourgh town was not very clear and so I spent a lot of time wandering around asking directions. Finally I emerged the other side but I was on a cycle path and although it was very nice I would up riding about 12 kms back to find lunch. This cost me a total of 25 kms extra. The next town of Meran was also not very clear on how to get out the other side and I would up wandering around asking directions before I met up with some other riders. Getting lost twice in one day was just a bit too much. So it wound up being a much more difficult ride than I thought.

Just two more rides to Como. It is hard to believe that we are nearly there.

Terry

A Sunny Day! June 14 2011

2011-06-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

This morning we awoke to a bright blue sky. There were a few clouds hanging on to the cliffs of the Dolomite mountains. It was the nicest day we have seen in a good long time. So we checked out of the Panda Hotel which was a gorgeous place. The linens on the beds and the down duvets were great. It was definely the nicest hotel on the tour.

There were two options for today’s ride. You could choose a 77 kms ride which had two passes and one smaller climb, or you could choose a 58 kms route which had the two passes without the smaller hill in the middle. Being nobodies fool I choose the shorter route. The first climb right out of Cortina d’Ampezzo took you from 1100 meters to over 2117 meters in 17.5 kms. The second pass took you from 1600 meters to over 2300 meters, over 10 kms. The first climb was though a thick forest so you couldn’t see all the switch backs. I lost count but there were a lot. The second climb of the day was in the wide open as most of it was above the tree line. It was kind of daunting when you looked up and could see eight or nine switch backs in front of you.

I was first in at lunch and was snoozing on a park bench in the sun waiting for lunch when Richard you does lunch as well as rolled up. He saw me and grabbed me and started to pretend to give me CPR, but was really tickling me. I am laughing and trying to get up but he is on top of me. Everyone who was there thought it was pretty funny.

It was a pretty fun day and having a sunny day was a real treat, even though it was cold at the summits.

Tomorrow is a 106 kms ride with only 1212 meters climb. It is mostly down hill so it should be a fun day.

Terry

A Better Route June 13 2011

2011-06-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

When the route sheets were handed out for today is was obvious that today was going to be a killer day. The route had 3 major climbs totalling 3500 meters and 119 kms. The tour guide then told us that the lunch was at the summit of the second climb which was close to 2000 meters. He also told us the it was going to be freezing rain at this altitude. He went on to tell us how difficult the ride was and last year he crashed and had to ride in to the hotel in the van. He is also an expert rider. So I am thinking why would any one want to do this ride. The map sheet showed a major highway just to the south which would have much gentler grades and not have all of the climbing. So I set out this morning to take the alternative route.

On my route you still had to do the first climb which was about 10 kms long and took you from around 500 meters to 1500 meters. Then you turned onto the highway. There was almost no traffic and it was a much better road surface. At the lower elevation there was no rain. You could see the clouds and rain up in the mountains. It was much drier so I was happy. It was a great choose of routes. The actual elevation climb for the highway was 2700 meters so we save about 800 meters and the distance turned out to be exactly the same. Everyone who did the hills came in complaining about how steep it was, how cold the rain was. I got to ride through a bunch of ski resort towns and it was really a lot of fun.

So here we are in a very nice hotel tonight, with a short 55 kms ride tomorrow.

Terry

The Dolomites Day 1 June 12 2011

2011-06-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Bruce and I set off with the usual suspects in a pace line. I was in the pole position with Bruce right behind doing the steering. Then at the 16 kms mark this guy jumped out into the road from behind a tree waving his arm in a stop motion right in front of me. I yelled stop but had to jam the brakes. I could hear Bruce locking it up behind me and prepared for the inevitable crash. Bruce slammed into my rear wheel sending both of us over the handle bars head over heels into the ditch beside the road. Luckily neither of us was hurt. Not even a scratch. However Bruce’s front wheel was bent and one of my rear spokes was broken. Bruce called Richard as he had just passed us and 15 minutes later he was there. We loaded Bruce’s bike on the van and put Bruce’s rear wheel on my bike. Bruce got in the van and I rode on. By the time I got to lunch Richard and fixed both bikes. The guy is a miracle worker.

As we still had 75 kms to go I had to make some miles so I jumped on the pedals and headed out. The ride took us up to the first part of the Dolomites, so there was a climb at the end of the ride. I managed to get into camp by just after 3:00 PM. Thankfully the afternoon was much less eventful.

Camp is in a beautiful spot between the mountains. There is a mountain stream flowing though it which is ice cold, where they had some beers. It was a great end to the day.

Tomorrow is over top of Mtn.Sella di Sopa at 1760 meters giving us climb of 1500 meters, and then there are two other climbs for a total ascent of 3255 meters. The weather forecast is for sub zero temperatures at the top and freezing rain. I can hardly wait.

Robert the tour leader has been replaced by his partner in the business and has gone to South America to get their South America ride organized. He was a great tour leader and his favourite phrase “Purrfect” (said with a Dutch) accent is being much imitated around the camp.

Terry

St Marks Cathedral June 11 2011 – Special entry

2011-06-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the blog entry for today that I had gone in to see it but I wanted to put up some pictures of the cathedral as it is really amazing. As I mentioned it was started in 1067 and they have been building/renovating it ever since. The interior is completely lined with mosaic tiles. It is really beautiful. The place is a real money make as they charge, 4 Euros to see the museum and visit the terrace, 3 Euros to see the treasury, 2 Euros to see the alter, and 7 Euros to see the bishops mansion. I paid the 4 to see the museum and visit the terrace. At any rate here are the pictures.

Terry

A Day Off In Venice June 11 2011

2011-06-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

I was planning on sleeping in late today as it was our day off. However my air mattress has decided that it is going let me down. So by 6:30 I was laying on the ground. It was time to get rolling anyway so I pulled on my running gear and headed off for a run. It has been quite a while since I went for a run and the first mile was tough. It was perfect running conditions and running along the sea wall was so much fun I soon forgot about how hard it was. Before I knew it, it was time to turn around. So I managed a 10 km run in an hour flat which turned out to be very pleasant.

A quick shower and a breakfast out of the camp store and I was off to see Venice. The ferry ride landed me just a few feet from St Mark’s Square. So it was off to see sites, take pictures and find a gift for my son Kurt. Venice is a maze of tiny streets , alleys and canals. Some streets have bridges and some don’t. Because the streets and lanes are so narrow you cannot see any land marks or even the sun so navigation is a real guessing game.

At about 12:00 the clouds were starting to look pretty menacing and there were a few rolls of thunder. So I needed to find a umbrella fast. Then as I turned a corner there was a shop which had them for 5 Euros the cheapest I had seen. As I was paying for the umbrella the cloud burst happened. The shop keeper was busy putting the price up to 10 as I left. The rain was so heavy the umbrella wasn’t up to the job and I had to take cover for 40 minutes under an awning. My dry running shoes are soaked again.

After the rain let up finding the gift was next on the list. It can’t be paper as it would disintegrate in this climate. Glass, china porcelain would never make it home in one piece. Stone too heavy. I didn’t want a T-shirt as Kurt has lots of them. I looked in hundreds of shops but nothing fit the bill. Then I found the perfect gift. I was very pleased.

The sun was now out and as I entered St. Marks Sq. I noted the line to get into the cathederal was very short so I jumped in the line. What a place! It was started in 1067 and they have been building on it ever since. The interior is lined with all these mosaics. The bronze from the four bronze horses on top dates back to the 2nd century BC.

I had purchased a bag of these special Venician sugar coated jellies. They were so sweet and tangy. I enjoyed them on the ferry where the sun was warm on my face. My shoes are dry. What a great day.

Tomorrow we head for the Dolomites.

Terry

Snoring, Rain & Venice June 10 2011

2011-06-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

At 1:30 Am the chain saw snoring started. I don’t know who was doing or what tent it was but I have never heard anything like it in my life. Then at 3:30 Am I am woken up again as there is a very bright light in my tent. It is followed immediately by one of the loudest crashes of thunder I have ever heard. The within seconds my tent is lashed with pounding rain. By 6:00 Am I had to get up and get ready to go but the rain was still just pounding down. Everything was totally sodden. I feel good that I brought a canoeing water proof bag. I don’t think I have ever seen such a heavy down pour, and certainly never a down pour which lasted this long.

I set off on the first 5 kms leg of the trip into Venice in the driving rain wearing a full oil skin rain suit. About 50 meters out of the camp ground a truck passed me and as it when by it hit a huge puddle. It was like being hit with a huge wave. It nearly knocked me over. Fortunately it was only 5 kms up to the first ferry. I was there plenty early, and luckily I was able to wait inside. By the time the ferry left the rain was starting to let up a little.

The second leg of the trip was about 14 kms up the second island. The rain has let up and is down to a drizzle. You can see a little blue sky. We rolled straight on to the second ferry and now the sun is starting to break through. The third leg is only about 10 kms and we got on the ferry and were down to our camp ground in the sunshine. The campground is on a small island across the estuary from downtown Venice.

The cooks were busy in camp and had a tremendous feast ready for us. The camp ground is very nice with great grass to set tents up on. It is a little crowed but is not too bad. It was so great having the sun up. I was able to dry my cloths and tent. I even managed to get my running shoes dried out. They have been soggy for over a week and were starting to smell pretty bad (actually really bad). After a wash and dry they are as sweet as ever.

After lunch I took the ferry into Venice and wandered around looking at the famous sites. It is a really neat place to explore. There are hundreds of tiny lanes and canals. The gondola rides are pretty expensive so maybe I will leave that to the young romantically inclined. It was just great. As tomorrow is a rest day I will head back into to Venice and do some more wandering around.

Terry.

A Very Nice Ride June 9 2011

2011-06-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

We were really spoiled last night as were in a very nice hotel. It was kind of a family run hotel and although we were not the only guests it was close. So at breakfast we took it over and gobbled down all of the croissants and had them working double time to make coffees.

The ride was from Castel San Pietro Terme up to Chioggia. It was 149 kms and had a total elevation of only 397 meters. So it was basicly flat as can be. The only hills were bridges over the river Po which we crossed several times along with its tributaries and assorted canals which provide irrigation water to the surrounding farm land. The land looks very fertile and we saw everything from fruit orchards to fields of rice. There was corn and wheat and lots of vegetable farms. Naturally we also lots of vine yards as there are every where in Italy, speaking of which it would appear that tonights wine looks like a very nice 2009 Merlot.

As I was leaving Bruce was there and so I teamed up with him. I do the pulling and Bruce who has a Garmin with maps does the navigating. It is a great team. I pull him along and he keeps us on track. Soon there were half a dozen riders with us. I set a steady pace of right around 27 kms/hr. So we were down to lunch which was at the 81 km mark in no time flat. After lunch we set off and the kms just flew by. Bruce’s navigation was perfect we only stopped once to look at a map and that was only to explain to me how we were going to cross this very busy road which had a hundred ramps.

The weather was perfect riding temperature and the high cloud cover kept the sun from baking us. It was a twisty route so at times we had a head wind and a times a tail wind. However the wind was never a factor.

It was a great riding day and a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is only 25 km into Venice. Wow!

Terry

Hypothermia June 8 2011

2011-06-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

I crawled out of a wet and muddy tent this morning. During the nightly cloud burst the trench around my tent over flowed and a wave of mud washed under the tent. It is a real testament to the Mountain Equipment Coop tent that the inside was still dry. So I hauled it down to the motor home station and used the hose to wash the mud off the bottom of the tent and ground sheet.

Bruce said lets ride together and I said sure knowing that he had a Gramin with maps. I waited at the gate to the campground but Bruce never showed up (he jumped in one of the vans). So I rode on by myself. About 3 kms later I was lost in the maze of Florence. We are to follow the signs to this one town but they are every where all pointing down different roads. So I start asking directions. I get about a dozen conflicting directions. Finally I meet an English lady who doesn’t know but I get the idea of asking how to get to the river. At the river I can find my way back to the river. As it turns I am 4 blocks from the river. Back on course I have ridden 15 kms in crazy traffic and spent 1.5 hours going 4 blocks from the campsite.

There are two major climbs in today’s ride the first is about 500 meters which is now in the rain. Fortunately the grade isn’t too steep. Then I hit the second climb it is about 12 kms long and about 750 meters of elevation. The best I can do is around 9 kms in the steeper parts and 13-14 on the less steep part. By the time I get about 6 kms into the climb I am in the cloud bank and it is freezing cold. Just as I come over the top there is a huge lighting strike and the sky opens up. I now have 750 meters of descent over 12 kms to lunch. The wind is just howling and the rain is lashing me form what seems like all sides. With no place to take refuge the only place to go is forward.

By the time I get to lunch my teeth are rattling together and I am shaking uncontrollable. Richard the tour mechanic and lunch guru, pulls off my wet jacket and jersey and dries me off with a towel from the van. He warps me in a blanket and puts me in the van with the heater going. Richard grabs his coffee pot and camp stove and fixes me a hot coffee and fixes me a nice sandwich. About thirty minutes later I was feeling a lot better. Richard saved me. I missed a great looking after noon ride but was happy to be receiving such great care.

Tonight we are in a nice hotel so I can get dried out a bit.

Terry

Floren Bonus Picture Post June 7

2011-06-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am trapped in this bar because of the rain which is coming down in sheets. So here are a few pictures from around Florence.

Terry

A Day in Florence June 7 2011

2011-06-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

I was awake early this morning for a rest day however I was looking forward to Skpye-ing my son. Kurt gets up very early for work and so our schedules are totally opposite. I could stay up quite late and trust he comes straight home or get up very early. I opted for the get up early option. It worked and I was able to get a good connection as there was no one else on the local server. It was really good to see him and chat about stuff.

It was still early so I got my running gear all on and was all set to go then as I was filling my water battle it started to rain. No let me correct that it started to pour. Ok Plan B – go back to bed and catch an additional 3 hours of sleep. By 9:30 I was tired of the bed and got up and pulled on my rain pants and jacket.

It is a 15 minute walk to downtown from where we are camped and some where along the way it stopped raining. Off came the rain pants. The jacket I have with me is really a cycling jacket and it is not really water proof. As I am waking though the downtown there is a little hunting outfitter/hardware store which has rain suits hanging in the door way. They only had three suits however one was just my size and at 14 Euros it was a deal. This is one of those really water proof rubber set ups with matching pants. I am hoping that this will chase the rain away for good.

I wandered around the city looking in shops and marvelling at the beautiful cathedrals. There are marble statues in every plaza and in every niche. There were hundreds tour groups being lead though the downtown so it was very crowded. By 1:30 I was tired of walking around so I picked up a sandwich and an orange juice from a market. My meal was completed with a basket of strawberries from a local farmers market. They were really sweet.

As it was now close to 2:00 pm the shops were closing up for the afternoon. So I headed back to the campground. The sun was peaking though the heavy over cast and I thought I might be able to dry things out a bit.

So it was a great day in Florence. I saw the city. I found a bullet proof rain suit which will end the rain on this trip. I got some additional Euros from a ATM as I was almost out of money. And most importantly I found a very pretty earring and pendant set for Agnes.

Well the rain suit didn’t work after a brief sunny break the sky opened up and it just poured. The rain caused a huge flood of mud which washed under the front flap of my tent. I even had dug a drainage trench around my tent. What a mess.

Terry

67 Kms To Florence June 6 2011

2011-06-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

The lightning storm which started at around 3:00 pm lasted until close to midnight. By then the party in the camp restaurant was well under way. The camp ground was at the base of 6 meter high retaining wall and on top of the wall was a main road. So every time a vehicle went by it echoed into the campground.

When I crawled out of the tent this morning it was close to 100% humidity. Everything was soaked. My tent was wet but my gear was dry. A lot of the other campers were not so luck as they had set their tent up in a place where the water had run into their tent.

Yaap had made omelettes for breakfast. They were full of sausage and very yummy. Today’s ride was only 67 kms and 897 meters of climbing making it one of the shortest rides of the tour. The sky looked very bad as a result of yesterday’s storm. You could see rain in different valleys along the route. So not wanting to get caught I kept moving.

The scenery was spectacular however a lot of it was obscured by the mist in the valleys. I took a few pictures but not many. We were down to Florence before the luggage truck or any of the tour staff. The camp ground is very crowded and we have hardly any space to camp. I set up out of bounds then got kicked out of there but the campground owner gave me a really premium spot.

After supper we walked down town which is only 10 minutes away. I was totally blown away.

Tomorrrow is a rest day so I will go to town and tour.

Terry

A Great Ride Through Tuscany June 5

2011-06-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today the ride was 91 kms through the country side of Tuscany. We were camped in a small campsite just out side of Castel del Piano. The campsite was nice enough however it was very heavily over grown with trees and bushes. I guess if it had of been hot and sunny we would have been glad of the shade. However as it was rainy it seemed just mossy.

The morning sky however was a brilliant blue and I wanted to get rolling as soon as I could. These afternoon thunder showers have been killers. So I gobbled down my breakfast and was on the road at 7:20. It was just great cruising along in the cool of the morning. Not a car in sight and a beautifully paved road. The quality of the roads has improved remarkably in the last few days. This area is obviously much better off than the south of Italy.

I have heard a lot of stories about the beauty of Tusacny and I do believe them. It is more than rolling hills. In fact a lot of them are quite steep, especially on the country roads where we are riding. Having said all that I have found that riding down a country lane on a sunny day without a breath of wind has a lot of beauty to it. You sure don’t have to be in Tuscany to enjoy the beauty.

I roll along take a picture and then roll some more. Lunch comes up way too fast and then before you know it I am in Sienna, and camp. What a great ride!

I dry my tent, have a shower, grab a bowl of soup and am looking at the sky. It looks bad. It is 3:00 PM when the first bang of thunder hits. I dive for my tent, just in time. Crashing lightning and thunder for then next several hours. I don’t think I feel like standing in the rain to take the bus into town, even though Siena is suppose to be one of the prettiest towns in Tuscany.

Huddled in my tent.

Terry

A Short Day June 4 2011

2011-06-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today’s ride was only 78 kms and the tour crew had advised us not to leave before 8:00 AM as they were concerned that we may get ahead of the lunch truck. But I wanted to get rolling early as I didn’t want to have a repeat of yesterday and the thunder storm. So I told Richard who does the lunch that I was leaving early and if he was there at lunch great if not then I would find something along the way.

I was a very pleasant morning to ride along peaceful tree lined country roads. There was very little traffic and it was just perfect. There are so many wild flowers out in the ditches and in the fields that you can almost hear Julie Andrews singing. At 35 km mark there was a very unique castle which belonged to one of the brigands. They were kind of early Mafia types which ran the country side prior to the unification of Italy and the organization of the country. I stopped for a few minutes to take a picture.

Just before lunch was this huge climb up to this mountain town. I spotted a fountain just before the climb so I had two full bottles of cold water. The climb was all out in the sun and I was soaked in sweat up time I made it up to the top. I was a good thing that I had stopped at the fountain. Both bottles were empty at the top.

Lunch was already set up so in I rolled. After lunch it was only 30 kms to camp and I jumped on the pedals as I could see the clouds building. I got in and could hear the thunder banging away so I set my tent up. As I got out of the shower it was raining.

It looks like it might be a nice evening, as the clouds are moving off.

Terry

Caught In A Thunder Storm: June 3 2011

2011-06-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today was stage 16 and had 116 kms and had 1546 meters of elevation. We were riding from Rome up to Capodimonte. The first few kms were busy as we rode out of Rome, although most of the traffic was headed into Rome

We got on to some almost empty country roads and I was just cruising along taking in the ambience. The sun was out and riding down tree lined lanes was wonderful. At about the 30 kms mark I went past this little village which had the most interesting arch. So I rode on into the town. It was only about 6 blocks long but at the center was a fountain which was built in the 1500’s. So I stopped for a drink.

At about the 50 kms mark we were back on a busy road for about 5 kms, and I hit a pot hole and the top of one of my water bottles popped off. I guess I forgot to tighten it at the fountain. So there it is in the middle of this busy road. At least 15 cars pass me and none of them hit it. There is a truck coming so I have to wait, and sure enough it hits it. The top is cracked but still works.

The village of Sutri is sitting on this huge hill and not on the route but I can see it has a huge cathedral at the top. So I ride up and sure enough the cathedral is magnificent. It was started in the 1500’s and finished in 1745. This village cannot be more than a couple thousand people. How did they build this? Totally amazing.

After lunch I can hear the thunder banging away and so I am hurrying along. The clouds don’t look that bad but there is thunder in them. I still have around 30 kms to go which means I have over an hour of riding. Then about 7 kms out it breaks loose, and I mean breaks loose the rain is just coming down in sheets. The wind is howling and trees are being whipped about. I pull into a gas station. Soon there are about ten other riders in there. We run to this little café which is down the road. We spend about 90 minutes, before it lightens up a little. So we decide to bolt down the road. There is about 2 inches of water on the road. It was kind of scary as you have no brakes in that much water. I put my tent up in the rain. Then the sun come out.

Tomorrow is an easy day with only 76 kms and 1228 meters of climbing. We ride into Tuscany! Wow!

Terry

Happy Birthday Italy June 2 2011

2011-06-02T07:06:00.001-07:00

I slept until 7:45 this morning before the birds woke me. It was really nice to get the extra rest. I was in bed at 10:00 P\m last night so almost 9 hours, which for me is lot of sleep,

Today is Italy’s 150 birthday so it is a national holiday. Everything is closed and everyone was pouring into Rome for the celebrations. So when John and I boarded the 9:30 am train into Rome it was packed. Then as we stepped off the train in Rome it was 10:00 AM and the national aerobatic team of 10 jets flew over head. They were pouring the red, white and green smoke across the sky forming the nation flag. It was quite a site.

There was a huge flea market in front of the station so I found a bottle of SPF 50 sunscreen for 3 Euros which was great as it is close to 18 in the stores. I also found a really nice case for my camera for 5 Euros. My old case was for my old camera and it was just a little smaller so this case is just perfect.

We walked though a few parks and went into several national exhibits which had been set up to display Italy’s achievements in everything from agriculture to zoology. They were very well done and although we couldn’t understand very much of the recordings the displays were very interesting. At one point they had the two huge locomotives away up in this park. One modern and one restored steam engine from the late 30’s. It must have been quite a chore getting them way up into the park.

We had transit passes so we decided to take one of the street trolleys out of the main down town and have lunch in a non-tourist zone. So we found a nice quiet place away from downtown and had an few nice Panini.

After lunch John and I headed back to the camp site as we wanted to clean our bikes, do some e-mails, and have a quiet afternoon.

For the statistic hounds. The La Bella Italia tour which is from Palermo to Como is 28 stages and 3000 kms. We have now ridden15 stages and have covered 1688 kms with an elevation gain of 35,849 meters.

Looks like we are going to have an afternoon thunder storm so I have to head for cover. Pictures will not load -- Sorry I will try to add them later.

Terry

A Day in Rome June 1 2011

2011-06-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

I had meant to get up early and go for a run but I didn’t. Sleeping in seemed like such a better option. Never the less I was up and John G and this new guy, Robert from Holland were on the 9:30 AM train to Rome. Mussolini may nave made the trains run on time but then he was working with new equipment. His equipment is now older.

The three of us stepped off the train and wandered into a place which I have seen in so many films and in so many books. It is a place in history. I was totally awe struck. We headed right over to the Vatican as that is one of the most famous places in Rome. We stepped in to St Peter’s square and it was exactly like all of the pictures I have seen. There was a rumour running through the crowd that the pope was going to say mass in the square that morning. Sure enough he was just arriving. The three of us were standing by this railing which was way in the back and then some guards opened the rail for some special tour group to be lead up to chairs right at the front so we just followed right on in. His imminence arrived and we got to hear the most famous words of all, right from the Pope himself, “ Spiritus Sanctu” I fell truly blessed.

After mass we headed out into the city to see more of the sites. We took a walking tour of the city. We saw Castle Saint Anglo, Palzzo Di Gistizia, Palazzo Navona, Pantheon, Fountana Di Trevi, Plazzo Venezia, Foro Romano, Foro Di Traiano, Colosseo, Palatino, Circo Massimo, Quirinale, Palazzo Spagna, and Palazzo Del Popolo. Some of these have English names but I just copied down the names from the guide we had. It was really neat being in all of these places which I seen so often in film and in books.

All to soon it was time to catch the train back home to our camp ground. Tomorrow I get to see some more.

Terry

All Roads Lead to Rome May 31

2011-05-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

I was awake before the alarm went off this morning. So laying there seemed like sleeping in. Eventually I had to open the sleeping bag and crawl out into the morning chill. The heavy dew had stuck the popular fluff down which was nice as there was a lot of it.

The road down to Rome from Taglicozza was 133 kms with 1469 meters of climbing. The total climb doesn’t sound like much but the first 10 kms had 750 meters. So it was a steep climb to the top. I was determined to get over that climb early in the day. The views were just incredible. Little villages perched on impossible cliffs, green valleys, olive groves, and lots of vine yards.

I was riding by myself this morning as I had gotten away early. It was so nice just gliding along without a care in the world. I was almost sorry when the lunch spot came up at the 58 kms mark. It kind of spoiled the moment. The lunch spot was about half way up this really steep climb, overlooking this huge reservoir. It was so beautiful.After lunch the remaining climb seemed impossibly steep with a full stomach. I was gasping by the time I made the summit. I cruised along for another 30 kms before I caught up with a large group of riders who were coming out of a Gelatto shop. They were all following Franc who has a programmed GPS.

It looked like a good group to follow. There were still 43 kms to go and a lot of turns. So I got in line and followed them in. It isn’t very much fun riding in a line but the road was rough and the traffic was getting worse the closer we got to Rome. It was a quick ride which took about 90 minutes and would have taken me close to 2.5 hours with all the navigating.

Here we are on the out skirts of Rome with 2 days off. Tomorrow I will catch a train into Rome to see the sites.

What The? May 30 2011

2011-05-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

It was totally amazing to wake up this morning and look out the window and see the Mont Cassino. To see such a famous sight from your hotel window in the morning was really something else.

We were to have a group ride out of town as it was pretty confusing but some how it never happened. I stood around until well after the group ride was to leave and was the only one left so I pulled the plug and left.

A few Kms out of town I came up on the a small group of riders who had left earlier contemplating which way to go so I joined them in the decision to ride up the busy road. I called it the freeway but was corrected. It was just a busy road. About 15 kms up the road we pulled off the busy road into a little town called Belmonte Castello. The road was a shady lane with no cars and beautiful smooth pavement, but the road was over 11% grade. The busy road was less than 3%.

A few kms up the road we pulled into an amazing village where there was a farmers market. The town center was probably over a 1000 years old. I bought this huge bagel which had to be 10 inches across for a Euro. I shared it with the three riders I was with. Walking through the town center was just amazing.

I was riding with four other riders and we were having a lot of fun cruising along this country lane. It was a real pleasure not having cars honking their horns at you. There was no diesel buses passing you and blowing black diesel exhaust in your face. The pavement was the smoothest we have ridden on this tour. The road totally tree lined so we were in the shade most of the time. There were lots of curves and gentle rolling hills. The tail wind was a total bonus. The scenery was postcard perfect. All I can say is “WHAT THE??”

After lunch we continued down the road to a town called Capistrello. Our bike computers were off from the mornings missed road so we were not sure of where we were and I got talked into riding up this huge hill. It was about 7 kms up a 6% grade. At the top it was obvious we were in the wrong place and so we rode back down. This little misadventure cost us about 90 minutes. `

Back on the right road we still had one major climb to complete, so we found a fountain, filled our bottles and were back on the road. We rolled in close to last. However we didn’t miss supper which was great. It was my favourite – steak.

Tomorrow is Rome. I cannot believe that I am riding my bike into Rome. But then “All roads lead to Rome”

Terry

The Longest Ride of the Tour May 29

2011-05-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today was 155 kms from Pompeii into Cassino. Cassino was the site of one of the major WWII battles in Italy. During this battle 54,000 allies died and 20,000 axis died. The allies were held up in the valley by the German forces who were dug into the surrounding hills. But then you can Google it and read all about that. This is about important stuff like biking.

Jaap who is one of the cooks made a huge omelette for each table. They were great. Nice and salty. Then everyone pitched in and cleaned up dishes and breakfast. Rob the tour leader lead a group ride out of town. The route was extremely twisty, and the road was terrible. The pavement was all broken up and there were a lot of pot holes. I was really glad of the group ride as I could never have found my way through the maze. Rob let us off at the 25 km mark and pointed us down the road.

Bruce the Auzzie and I decided were going to ride together. I would pull and he would navigate on his GPS. Then we missed a turn at the 57.3 km mark we missed a turn and wound up in this little town called Limatolo. They were having a big celebration in the town and an antique car show. It was really cool, There was an amazing a array of Alfa’s, Peugeot’s, Citroens, a few old Mercedes, and even a Model T. It was great. As we were only a couple of kms we were soon back on track after having seen a great car show.

Lunch was down at the 78 km mark and we made it there by 12:30. Richard the mechanic who also does lunches was making a Viking helmet out of a water melon. It was very funny.

The 127 km mark was the start of the big climb of the day. I stopped as Bruce had dropped off my wheel and I looked at the map. I notice that you can avoid the big climb by taking this other road and taking a tunnel. So I said to Bruce lets take the tunnel. He was in for that and we head down to the tunnel. The tunnel cut off a huge climb over a pass into Cassino. Bruce and I roll in to the hotel in Cassino happy.

It was a great day. The hotel room faces the famous Mont Cassino Abbey. Amazing!

Terry

Rest Day In Pompeii May 28

2011-05-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

I was glad of a rest day today. It felt good not having to rush around and pack up the tent and get out on the road. However the campground is so jam packed that I was awakened early by the other early risers. I mistakenly thought I could catch a hot shower by getting up early but everyone else had the same thought, so it was luke warm at best

After breakfast I walked up to the ruins on Pompeii. The main entrance is less than a block from our campsite. I rented the audio guide so that I would know what I was looking at and that was a really good move as the audio guide was packed with info on all of the buildings. The actual site is some 67 Ha of which 12 Ha are open to the public. They have been excavating the site since 1715 when the then king of Italy ordered a dig. However that was more of a treasure hunt than a archaeological dig. At any rate the people knew that Mount Vesuvius was rumbling and there had been a series of earth quakes which wrecked havoc on the city years before the quake. I walked around the ruins for over 4.5 hours and had not seen it all however the sun was really beating down and it was time to go.

After I got out of the ruins I went for a pizza and a walk which was very interesting as we only get to see the neighbourhoods by bike and walking is so different.

Tomorrow we are on our way to Cassino. It is 155 kms and the longest day of the tour. So I better get a good nights sleep.

Terry

A Ride Into Pompei May 27

2011-05-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was awake before my alarm this morning and got packed up in record time. A quick breakfast and I was ready to push back and take off at 7:20 Am. This is at least 40 minutes early. So I got in a great early morning ride in the relative morning cool.

The first 30 kms when by very quickly as it was dead flat and open country roads allowed me to average 27-30 kms/hr. Then I hit Salarno which is a huge crowded city. The traffic was unbelievable. You had to bike through a sea of cars, trucks, buses and scooters. It was 1-6 lanes wide. Nobody was in a lane and moving along in a straight line everyone was just cutting in and out. Scooters cutting around the vehicles. Total insanity! The exhaust was a killer. I was choking by the time I got to the other side.

After Salarno, It was on to the Amalfi coast. This area is famous for the buildings clinging to the shear cliffs which plunge hundreds of feet into the sea. There was a lot of neat climbs and descents on the road until I got right into Amalfi itself. Then there was more traffic and it was jammed. Two buses had gotten together and traffic was all bottled up. More exhaust!.

I came up to one of the staff and he had blown a huge hole in his rear tire. He didn’t have a tube or any tools and didn’t know how to fix his tire. So I fixed it. His tire was an odd ball size so I had to patch the tube but it was a ¼ inch hole in the tube. I put a cardboard boot in the tire but the casing was so bad it didn’t hold. So I fixed it 3 more times before I finally got it fixed. He was able to finish the ride.

By now I am at the tail end of the ride and come in close to last and all the camping spots are taken and the showers have nothing but cold water. So I crowed my tent in and had a cold shower (the second one in a row). Topping it off it was my turn on dishes.

Tomorrow is a day off so I am going to see the ruins at Pompei. We are camped right beside them.

A Fast Day Into Paestum May 26

2011-05-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was up early and threw my gear into my bag and was down stairs to catch breakfast. Breakfast in the hotel was a bit disorganized but Bike Dreams had provided cereal and some food so I was able to get enough to eat. I left right away and was down the road as soon as I could. The weather forecast was for afternoon rain showers and I wanted to be well down the road.

The first ten kms was very flat so I made good time. Then I started the big climb for the day which was approximately 15 kms of 8% grade. The sun was out and it was getting hot. The best that I could do was about 12 kms. By the time I had gotten to the 10 kms mark on the hill, I was soaked and over heating. I was wishing for one of the Italian fountains. Then I turned a corner and there was one. The water was nice and cold. I drank my fill and poured water over my head. It felt so great. I got back on my bike feeling totally refreshed and just powered the hill. These fountains are the greatest.

Coming down the other side of the hill was a lot of fun. There must have been 10-12 switchbacks. Then lunch came up before I knew it. At lunch I took a look over my shoulder and could see the big thunder heads building in the hills. So I jumped on the pedals made for camp. By the time I was 10 kms down the road I could hear the thunder behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and I was only minutes in front of the rain. It was 66 kms form lunch to camp and I had to go as hard as I could. I rolled into camp without getting a drop on me. I threw my tent up and then the rain hit. Most of the other riders were hit by the storm. A lot of them had to be picked up by the van as the rain came down in such a violent deluge.

It was a fun ride and I feel really fortunate that I made it in dry,

Terry

May 25 bonus Pictures

2011-05-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

To day was a great day for seeing a lot of really interesting sights. I also learned a new trick which is how to resize the pictures so they load fast. I hope you can see them.

Three Tough Climbs May 25

2011-05-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today’s ride was from Sibrai on the east coast of Italy to Sapri on the west coast of Italy. This is the second time we have gone from one coast to the other. Every time you cross from one coast to the other you have to climb some hills and to day was no exception. In fact today we had three large climbs. The total ride was 148 kms and had a total climb of 2376 m.

I was determined not to get lost today especially with all the climbs. Getting lost would have been disastrous. So I said I would ride with a couple of other riders. However they were really slow getting ready to leave and we were the last ones out of camp. It was really frustrating as I am generally one of the first out of the chute. When we did get going we fell into a huge long pace line which we rode for the first 30 kms. So I didn’t get any pictures for the first hour as you need to pay attention to the bike in front of you and you can’t look around, or play with your camera.

At the first hill the pace line broke up and I was able to get some shots. It was a 35 kms climb up a 1000 meter hill. The sun was really intense and I was boiling in the sun. There must have been a dozen switchbacks and it seemed like each one was steeper than the one before. There was a tunnel at the top of the grade which took you to the other side of the hill. What a welcome sight it was.

We rode past this town of Morano which was built on this really steep hill side. On the top were the ruins of a medieval castle. It was really quite a sight.

The second climb after lunch was not as long or as high but it was just as steep. However there were lots of trees so I was able to ride in the shade a lot of the time which really helped.

When I got to the bottom of the second hill and was preparing to climb the third hill there were a lot of thunder heads banging away on the surrounding hills. However as the last climb was the shortest both in length and height I was determined to keep going. By time I got about half way up I was surrounded by this really thick fog/cloud. Visibility dropped to less than 10 meters. However the coolness made the climb easy and in no time I was heading into Sapri.

Sapri is right on the coast and the hotel is right on the water front. I guess that you would call it a 2 star hotel. Well maybe 1.5. However it is clean and the showers were hot. There is some sort of internet in the lobby. If the internet is any good I’ll post some pictures.

Terry

A Rest Day In Sibari May 24

2011-05-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

I am woken up by the sound of rain on my tent at about 6:30 Am. I lay there dozing until about 7:30 and the rain had stopped so I got up and went to the showers. They were good and hot. I washed yesterdays cycling kit in the sink.

The camp we are in is a beautiful resort on the coast. There is a very nice beach, a very nice pool with nobody in it, good laundry facilities and hot showers. However there is no internet, and we are along way from any thing. There is a shopping mall about 2 kms from the camp where I got some food for my dinner.

At this point it looks like we are going to be short three riders. There was a very large Dutch fellow who tore a leg muscle and he and his friend left. Then John one of the Auzzies crashed on day 4 and has a dislocated shoulder. He has just gotten back from the hospital and they told him that he had stay off his bike for 40 days so he is headed home. It is always to sad to see riders not complete the tour.

It looks like it is time to have an afternoon nap.

Terry

Getting A Few Bonus Kms

2011-05-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

When I got out of the hotel in the morning the heavy cloud and rain of yesterday had settled down on the mountain top. In fact the base of the clouds was just at the axles of the bike. We were headed down to the coast so I knew that it wouldn’t be long until I was out of the clouds.

The route were taking took us through a national park, which was very heavily wooded with huge pine trees. The guard rails were made of these heavy wooden timbers and there on top of one of the guard rails was a huge black squirrel. Xena my big black Bouvier just hates those squirrels, and barks at them every chance she gets. So I knew what to do. I started to bark at the squirrel, and jumped on the pedals. The squirrel turned and started running down the guard rail. I must have chased the squirrel 200 meters down the rail before the squirrel jumped off into the deep grass on the side of the road, I laughed for 30 kms.

Lunch was that the 75 kms mark beside this really pretty lake and I was down there in about 3 hours. However the dark clouds were moving down the mountain so I didn’t stick around. I jumped on my bike and was off down the road.

After lunch the route called for a left turn at this gas station in a town called Acri. So I made the turn but somehow go turned around in the maze of little streets. I rode around the town three times and there were four ways in or out of town and all the roads lead to Cesneza. I had seen this on the route sheet and one of the roads was down hill which was what we were doing as we were headed to the coast. As it turns out we were not suppose go into the town. I am on the wrong road and although I am headed north I am going in the wrong direction. About 35 kms I come to a little village which isn’t even on the map. So I stop and ask directions. A very kind lady points me in the right direction and I am off. Stop again and get more direction. I talk to a lot more folks along the way, a grandmother in a garden, a lady in a bar who refills my water bottles, a man in front of a gelato shop, a Fiat repair man, and a farmer on a tractor. Wallace the other Canadian is on his bike and I spot about 300 meters form camp. I wind up rolling into camp about 6:45 which was just before supper. In the end I had turned the day’s 133 kms into 195 kms.

It was a great adventure.

Terry

Really Tough Day up to Villagio Racise May 22

2011-05-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

The rain started 40 minutes too soon this morning. If it had of held off just a little longer I could have got my tent rolled up dry. It only lasted a little while and by the time I was on the road it had stopped.

To ride today was 121 kms and was really two parts. The first part was along the coast which was very pretty and although there were a few rollers it was generally level. Yap tour guide stopped us at one point to tell us the road was out and we needed to take a detour down a dead end road and then go from there. What?? The second part of the ride turned inland into the hills At the 60 kms mark we hit the big hill which was a 7 kms climb up 650 meters. It was a real grind, However we were more than rewarded for our efforts. At the top was a little village called Tiriolo and lunch was in the main village square around the town fountain in front of the village church. There we watched the villagers coming in for Sunday mass. We were treated to a little slice of insight into how this mountain village works. It was magnificent. From there the ride when up hill for another 53 kms. It wasn’t really steep but it was insidious. It looked like about 4% for the majority of the climb. There were a couple of short little down hill sections of a few hundred meters or so but in general it was all up hill. When I got to the 90 kms point it started to rain pretty seriously. Now you are thinking heck I had only 30 kms to go, but with the up hill grade I am luck to be doing 13-14 kms/hr. So I still had 2+ hr to go.

The big treat was that we are in a beautiful hotel to night. This was such a welcome sight as I was soaked and freezing. Another night with cold showers would have been too much. The other thing which deserves mention here is that Bike Dreams always has soup after the ride. Today’s French onion soup was so great after a cold wet climb.

I think that not withstanding having no riding under my belt this year, my training is paying off as I feel pretty good on the bike and even managed a fourth to day.

Well it is bed time for Bonzo.

Terry

Up The Coast to Briatico May 21

2011-05-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Today’s ride was 76 kms with two climbs totalling 990 meters. Both climbs were rather short but were definitely in the steep category. The weather was over cast and just a little on the cool side in the morning so it was perfect cycling temperature. I set off with Bruce the Aussie. Together we are not the fastest but we don’t get lost and keep moving so we are always at the front.

As it turns out my bike takes very unusual spokes, The spokes are threaded on both ends. Most spokes are only threaded on the rim end and are hooked into the hub. Richard the mechanic did not have any of these type of spokes. So what he did was he took two spokes and made “S” bends in each one and then linked them together using a link of bike chain. It was a brilliant fix! It is strong and is supported by the spoke next to it where they cross. The wheel is totally true and runs great. I will still have to look for these specialized spokes next bike shop.

The ride went really fast and Bruce and I rolled in first of any of the riders. Everyone had gotten lost in Tropea which was this town about 15 kms back from camp. So as it was still early I went for a run which is the first run I have done since leaving Canada back on the 10th of May. It felt really great to stretch my legs out.

Well I see that the Kiwi’s have rolled into camp and are setting their tents up on top of mine. I just don’t understand why they always have to crowd me. It is a huge campground although not a very nice one and the showers are terrible. No hot water, and the nozzles are terrible.

Terry

A Ferry Ride To Italy May 20 2011

2011-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day on Sicily. It was 45 kms from Taormina where we were camped down to Messina where we were getting on the ferry across to the mainland. It was gorgeous day. The weather was absolutely perfect for cycling, not too hot and not cold.

I was busy taking pictures of all the riders as we cycled along the coast. The sea was so perfectly blue. It was an idyllic ride. We were going to meet up at this little café just a couple of kms from the ferry depot and get organized. When I got there were a lot of riders there and it was very hectic as it was right on this very busy road.

After everyone got there we set off for the ferry docks in a large group. The road was extremely narrow and extremely busy. The best you could do was just push along between the cars. It definitely wasn’t for the nervous. It turned out to be 4 kms down to the ferry docks. Then just as we arrived at the docks I hit a pot hole and knocked my bag loose. It when into my spokes and broke a spoke. So I pushed my bike over to the van and our mechanic loaded it on his truck.

The ferry ride is only about 20 minutes across the straights between Sicily and the mainland. They really need a bridge. The loading and unloading takes a long time and is very frustrating for everyone as the line up to get on the ferry and get off is huge.

On the second half of the ride I rode in the truck which was very frustrating as it looked like a great ride. Stuff happens and you have to take the good with the bad.

I see that there are fresh cherries and strawberrys for supper, which have been purchased of one of the local vendors along the road. They look great.

Terry

A Welcome Rest Day

2011-05-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

May 19 2011

Camping Paradise is right below this set of train tracks on which this high speed commuter train runs. The train runs past every 15 minutes starting at 6;00 AM which is about the same time as the traffic on the freeway starts which is right beside the tracks. However I lay in my tent until almost 8:00 napping and reading my book.

The camp ground turns out to be about 5 kms to town however there is a local bus which runs once an hour for 3.3 euro you get a return trip. So I hopped aboard and rode on into to town. It is quite a tourist town. There were hundreds of tourists walking up and down the main street when I got there. There is a lot of Roman ruins and a huge Roman amphitheatre. I never made it to the amphitheatre as it was very lined up to get in as there was some sort of special presentation there today. The town centre is all within the old walled city. It was very cool walking down the narrow streets and up and down all the steps. It looked just like it was out of the movies.

I found one internet café and got one blog posted before the whole place crashed and it turned into a gong show so I went and had a pizza for lunch. By then it was time to catch the bus back to camp. On the way back I spotted another internet café so I am going to walk back to it. Maybe I will be lucky there.

Terry

Mount Etna May 18

2011-05-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

This morning was cool. So I pulled on arm and leg warmers along with my riding jacket. However as we were riding up to the summit of Mount Etna it didn’t take long for me to peel them all off. It was 17 kms to the summit and a 2500 meter climb. It didn’t take long before I was down to grinding along at 8-9 km/hr so it was a two hour grind to the top.

Mount Etna is apparently quite active and is constantly smoking. At the summit there was a huge parking lot and a lot of tour buses. There is a gondola to the summit where you can look into the caldera. The clouds were about 50 meters above parking lot and it was freezing. The tour was going to have lunch at the summit but the truck was tied up for some reason. I was soaked in sweat from the climb and was freezing. So I split. On the way down I was doing about 40-45 kms when this bike team went by me like I was a grease spot on the road. They must have been doing 80-90 kms. The ride down was pretty scary with all the twists and switchback corners. Then there was fog/clouds on the road. I was glad to get to lower altitude and get warmed up.

I got turned around in this one town and missed the turn. There are all these tiny little alleyways which are a total maze. So I headed for the coast and picked up the main highway. The coast is amazingly beautiful. There are these huge cliffs and then a little narrow strip of land and the beach. So there are all kinds of resorts either perched high up on the cliffs (100-200 meters) or crowded along the narrow strip of land. It looks like a great place for a vacation.

The highway has a mile post every km so finding the camping spot was easy. It is called Camping Paradise. That maybe a bit of and exaggeration but it is pretty nice and the view of the sea from the campground isn’t bad either.

Tomorrow is a rest day which is great. I can really use the rest. Town is about 3-4 kms so I will see if I can find an internet connection and catch up on the blog.

Terry

A Big Climb May 17

2011-05-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

It was cold this morning as we piled out of our tents and there was rain clouds threatening to soak us. So with full arm and leg warmers on as well as my rain coat I headed off, from our campsite under the olive trees. It was 16 kms from Gerace to the Enna and that is where the rain caught us. You could see the rain clouds crawling over the hilltop and dumping on the town. Maybe this why all the towns are on hill tops as this where the rain falls.

The rain let up in about 30 minutes and I was off. There were lots of ups and downs with most of the climbs under 2 kms and although they are all pretty steep they were short. There was only one climb which was over 10 kms before lunch and it wasn’t all that bad. Lunch on this tour is always half way into the ride. So as today was 116 kms lunch was at 60 kms. The rain clouds were still threatening and the wind from yesterday was still nagging at you every time you turned a corner. There are a lot of corners here as I think that the longest straight stretch that I have seen is something less than 300 meters.

At the 84 kms mark you started the big climb which was 2500 meters over 18 kms. I rode the first 9 kms at about 9 kms/hr. This took us up to a town called Adrano. After we left Adrano we started up Mount Etna. This huge volcano had its head it the clouds today however I am told that Mount Etna has recently started to smoke and there are some people who think it is getting ready to blow. We were on a little used back road which was not marked in any way. I was riding by myself so not knowing that I was on the right road was a worry. By now I am totally exhausted and so the best I could do was ride about 1 kms and then walk 500 meters then ride again. Fortunately I ran into some Swizz cyclists going the other way and they confirmed my direction.

Well I made it into camp about 3-4th which was pretty good. And so ends another exciting day.

Terry

A Howler May 16

2011-05-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

San Leone/Agrigento Gerace

A lot of people would not consider a 109 kms bike ride with 1718 meters of elevation to be a big day. However the deal breaker on any ride is the wind. Today’s wind was crazy. It was swirling around and was howling in your face and then with such a ripping cross wind it would grab you an nearly throw you over. I was coming down what had to be at least a 20% grade out of Mazzarino with the bike in low gear and all I could do was about 12 kms/hr. But wait why am I complaining? On the bike ride of a life time in unbelieveably beautiful country side with magnificent sun shine.

So let me step back to the morning. I set off with Bruce (Australian – Duh). We rode along together and then I got infront with my head down and lost him and rode past the turn. About 2.5 Km I realized I was in the wrong spot and had to ride back. At least it was down hill with the wind. Made the turn and was off. Because of my little detour I was relatively far back in the field but was making up time as a lot of the riders were pulling in for coffee.

The country side is very rugged and for some reason every road has to wind around to go over the very summit of every hill. There were lots of opportunity to day were you could see how the road could just as easily run around the base of the hill to the other side or at the very least go through a saddle but no we have to put in a dozen switch backs to go over the very top of the hill.

So what were the high points to day, apart from making into camp and surviving the wind. The town of Marrarino had the most beautiful cobbled main street which a huge cathedral one end and then the was an Norman castle which was in ruins on the other end. Seeing this stuff is just incredible. The other big high light has to be the Gelato in Gerace.

Tonight’s camp site is a remote villa in the hills. We are camped in an olive grove. It over looks this fantastic valley which is set with olive groves and vineyards WOW!

They are calling supper so I have to run.

Terry.

2011-05-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

So last night we are at this mountain top resort which is absolutely spectacular. We go into the main dining room and are served the most unbelievable 5 course meal with wine. It was really over the top. They had some sort of dial up internet and one connection but nobody could make it work even the staff.

I was in a room with three other people but is was a huge room with individual beds. I have been having trouble getting to sleep as my internal clock is so out of whack so I told this to one of the room mates and they immediately handed me a sleeping pill. It really worked. I took the sleeping pill and was out like a light. I was so knocked out that I snored them out of the room. I am told that they got up and turned me over and I stopped for 30 seconds before I was back at it. I took a lot of teasing today but at least I got a good nights sleep.

The morning was perfect bike riding weather and from the mountain top you could see for miles in all directions. It was really an unbelievable treat to stay in such a marvellous place. Best of all we had 15 kms of down hill right off the start.

All of the villages are built on hill tops so the next thing you know we are on a long grind up to the next village. The roads here are a minmum grade of 10-15%. I don’t understand the fascination with building such steep roads. You are either in dead low gear cranking as hard as you can to keep enough speed to stay vertical or riding the brakes for all you are worth to keep from flying off a cliff. It maybe for the views. There are certainly lots of them. They are just stunning.

So after riding for 40 kms I hit the big climb of the day. It was approximately 15 kms and wicked steep. It took about 1km to get down into the grind of about 9 kms/hr. |So this is going to be about 1.5 hr on this hill. At the top was lunch which was on this hill top from which you could see in every direction. In fact you could see the mountain peak where we stayed last night. While it was probably 25 kms away, you could pick it out because of the big cross on top of the mountain. I am only guessing at the 25 km number but the roads are so twisty and have so many ups and downs, I would not surprise me that you have to go 2 kms to cover 1 km of distance.

After lunch there was only 30 kms to go to camp, and it was mostly down hill. In fact some of it was so steep I had to stop twice as I was afraid that the brakes would over heat my rims. The camp is a lovely spot under these huge olive trees. We are only a kms or so from the sea and there is a very nice breeze otherwise it would be dead hot again.

Also of interest I saw my first Roman ruin today. It was a temple to one of the Gods. There were a series of columns and a large temple. I was very tempted to ride up and see it. However it was on top of a very steep hill. So a picture will have to do.

This is really exciting stuff.

Terry

Stage 1 Hotel at the top of the hill

2011-05-19T02:28:00.000-07:00

This morning was organized chaos trying to get all the riders into a photo and then get everyone organized for a group ride out of Terrasini. One of the staff lead us through the madness of the little town with the narrow streets and a much of cars. However as we were in a big group the cars just had to stop and let us pass. Most of the drivers didn’t seem to mind as everyone is waving and smiling and yelling “Gratcia” It seems like everyone is keen to practice their Italian. There is lots of “Si” and “No” along with “Prego” which is some sort of fill in type of word.

The ride itself was though some very rural country side which was very rugged. There were lots of farms which seemed to be farming everything from cattle to onions. There were also lots of grape vines, lemon orchards and olive groves. The really neat thing was these ancient fountains which are used to fill water containers for the local residents. I know you have seen pictures of them in the stuff on the Romans. I forgot to take a photo of one as it was so hot (33C) when I pulled in all I wanted to do was soak my hair and have a big drink. The water was so cool and wonderful.

One of the towns on the ride was Corleone. It was made famous by the FBI investigations into th Cosa Nostra and Don Corleone a.k.a. the Teflon Don. It is actually a very rural hill community. I am sure that this little town was more than a little surprised to be thrust into fame. It looks like the town is very old.

The ride was only 103 kms however the hills and the heat conspired to absolutely pooch me. The last 3 kms was almost straight up hill to this little resort which is built on top of this hill. The Pigna d’oro Country Hotel is build on some old monestry grounds. There is huge chapel which can be seen for miles.

So it was a tough first day but what a day.

Terry

I wil try some thing else later

2011-05-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

2011-05-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 8:00 AM this morning which was great to get eleven hours of sleep. Maybe this will cure the jet lag. I need to be in top form to do this ride. Every where I look there is nothing but hills, and everyone talks about how hilly this ride is. However to put that into perspective these are all Auzzi’s who are saying this and the highest point in Australia is 1800 meters. So they are kind of use to riding the flats.

After breakfast, I packed up to move hotels from where I was staying to the move down to the tour hotel. I put my pack on and hiked down to the new hotel, then walked back and picked up my bike. It all worked great. The other hotel check in was a little confused as rooms were not ready and then there was only one key and the room mate was not to be found. As it turns out the room mate is a geologist from Calgary. Travel half way around the world to meet one of your neighbours. Incredible!
After lunch there were several riders who were going for a little ride so I joined them. It was a very pleasant ride through some of the country side. Although I never checked my odometer we were out for about 90 minutes which was just perfect.

The organizational meeting at 4:00 Pm was very interesting as they handed out the jerseys which are very nice. Almost too nice as I will hate to get it dirty. The ride is 103 kms and it looks like it is all up hill. It can’t be too steep as we gain 1000 meters over the ride. They look very organized and have been doing this business for several years. The crew has been with them for a number of years so it should be fairly smooth sailing.

Well I have to go as there is a lot to do before bedtime.

Something happened to Blogspot and my latest blog posts were deleted. I restored the words but not the pictures. May be later. It never ends.

Terry

An easy day

2011-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

I woke up about 2:30 Am local time and had a terrible time getting back to sleep but when I did I didn’t wake until 9:30 AM.

I put my bike together and it seems to have made the journey in relatively good shape. The only not withstanding is that the padding I had under the front gear ring slipped out and the gear cut through the box. There is one tooth on the large ring which has been damaged so I may need a new gear. The test ride seems to give it a pass so I guess we are good to go.

After a late breakfast I changed into by running gear and went for a run. It was pretty nice just cruising along not having a cold wind blowing down your neck, or having to watch for spots where there is black ice on the pathway. The sun was hot so I turned around after 20 minutes and ran back to the hotel. It was a nice 40 minute run. I felt great.

A quick shower and then off to lunch.

The hotel is incredibly beautiful right on the coast and over looking this little harbour. However the internet is unbelievably expensive. It is 9 Euros for one hour. So I guess I will look for an alternative place to post my blog. I have just put a few of the local shots on the blog. There weren’t really of the Frankfurt airport, but then you figured that out. I hate to say it but this place is really authentic Italian.

Tomorrow is the organization day. Too exciting!!

on the Way

2011-05-13T11:52:00.002-07:00

They are calling the flight now so it is time to put this way and we will continue it from my final destination. I have to tell you that I broke the trip into two entries as it took two days to get to Palermo. This time zone stuff really confuses the issue especially when you have more than one day of travel involved.

It was an easy flight from Milan down to Palermo. I had lots of time in the airport and I have to say that traveling through Milan was really the best way to go. In the airport I spotted two other guys with bikes so I asked them if they were with Bike Dreams and they were so we agreed to get a cab to the hotel together. It was hilarious as all the cabs were these little hatchback cars. Three guys with all the gear and three bike boxes in there but it worked out. And we were down to the hotel in no time.

We were all hungry so we headed off to find some food. The one fellow asked a local where to eat and after a lot of pointing and hand signals we were pointed in the right direction. The food was really delicious. We wound up back at the hotel about 9:30 pm and I just fell into bed.

2011-05-13T11:52:00.001-07:00

The excitement was pretty high last night and this morning. I got out of bed early so that I could say Good Bye to Kurt. He laves for work at 5:30 am to go get on the train. Kurt is working on a build downtown. It always seems so strange to see him dressed in his coveralls and work clothes. Ajax was jumping around and making the usual pest of himself. Jumping around with a toy and begging me to play catch me and tug. Xena was there too and even though she is too old to be jumping around she was there getting pets and rubs.

Agnes and I had some breakfast and talked about what she was going to do while I was gone. If Agnes gets the yard work guys in, and gets that done it will be great. Spring was so late that I got none of it done. There are still big lumps of ice in corners of the dog run. Most of the yard is still too soft to work on. Soon it was time to head to the airport so Agnes drove me out and came into the airport so that we could say good bye after I had checked my bag and bike.

I don’t know why I seem to have not very much luggage this year. Last year I had two big heavy bags and this year I have only one bag which weighs only 35 pounds. I sure hope that I haven’t forgotten something which is going to turn out to be critical.

There was nobody at the checkin as we got there plenty early and there was very few in the security line so there I was ready to go. I even had time to check my e-mail but nobody had sent me anything that early in the morning. And before I knew it they were calling my flight. Debbie had booked my flight on Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Milan and finally on to Palermo. She said that the service on Lufthansa was the best and it was. I had areally nice meal took a sleeping pill, and woke up just in time for breakfast before landing in Frankfurt. Avery painless trip. Frankfurt however was a mad house and I had only a one hour layover. During that layover I had to clear customs, change terminals and clear airport security, It couldn’t have been done in Canada but they did it, as there were lots of lines and they really pushed the people through.

So here I am in Milan waiting on the plane for the final leg of my journey

Sleeping Late

2011-05-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Eagle Has Landed

2011-05-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

In The Air

2011-05-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Getting ready

2011-05-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

And so it begins again. The big ride of the year is about to begin. The planning and hard work is about to pay off. Sounds great but in truth it is more like a comedy of errors which through a series of fortune events materialized into a great trip. I was casting about for a ride and stumbled on to this ride at the last minute on the internet. The weather has dealt us a late spring this year with snow blowing well into April so I have only 2 training rides. Fortunately I was in Phoenix and my friend Jim took me out for a ride, and my good friend Don dragged me out for a weekend ride on an afternoon I had already written off. So here we are in two days I leave for the big ride. Not much for training and scrambling around trying to organize my gear.

So let me tell you about the big ride. Firstly the ride is being put on by Bike Dreams which is a company out of Amsterdam. Here is a link to their home page: http://www.bike-dreams.com/ Just click on the two tabs labelled Italia and Alps on the right hand side of the page. It starts in Palermo Sicily, goes around the island before we take the ferry to the mainland. Once we are on the mainland we head up the coast. Pompeii is the first big town which is on the west coast of Italy. From there we continue up the coast to Rome. After Rome we head to the east coast to Venice. Then it is north to the Italian Alps and into Como. This is the first segment of the trip. From Como we head into Switzerland and then on into France and down the Alps to finish in Nice. It is a total of 4500 kms in 45 days. When you take the rest days out it is approximately 120 kms on ride days.

I am told that there are a few hills on this ride. So it should be lots of fun.

Thanks for reading along with me.

Terry

On the way home

2010-08-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but for me once the trip is over and you are on your way home I really want to just reach into my pack pull out my communicator and have Scotty beam me home. A number of the riders who live in the proximity of Boston were driving home. This one rider who lives not far away had parked his car in a car park and when he rolled in he grabbed his bag and bike and climbed into a cab and was gone. Most of us have long flights to take to get us home. Several of the riders from the UK and Holland will be in transit for more than 24 hr.

Last night we were staying in the Gloucester High School which is home of the Fighting Fishermen. Most of the high schools were home to the cougars, eagles wolverines etc. So Fighting Fisherman congered up an interesting image of what the team mascot must look like. There was no outside camping so I set my tent up inside. It was really crowded on the floor with all the other tents set up inside and all of the regular floor floppers. However I noticed that the door to an upstairs balcony was open so I set my tent up in the balcony and had the spot to my self.

The harbour tour which Greg had organized was a huge hit. The ride was almost 2.5 hour and everyone had a bunch of margaritas. It was pretty neat seeing the harbour where Perfect Storm was filmed. The smell of the salt air and seeing all the fishing boats was great. It was also the perfect venue for all of us to have one last get together. I really had a good time. It is sure going to be different going back to reality.

After the harbour tour Tom, Cynthia, Patrick and I went for a late supper before returning to the camp. Riding with these friends sure has been great. It wasn't just these friends but all of the new friends and the old friends which made the trip great. Seeing the Mushorns for the first three weeks was really fun. I thought they were strictly motel types but they sure showed me that they are avid campers. Having Earnie come out to ride with us for a week sure meant a lot. I really appreciated your help when I needed it. I am really looking forward to the next ride. AND I mean you JH!

I have put up a few pictures from the trip in no order as no body needs to see the inside of an airport.

Where to next?

Terry

Atlantic Ocean -- Wow!

2010-08-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

This morning was bitter sweet as it was the last day of an unbelievable trip. There were so many great things about this summer. I really don't know where to start. The people were great the weather was unbelievable. The route was ninety plus percent down tree lined country lanes. The food was well beyond expectations. The organization of Cycle America was phenomenal. I don't think they missed a beat anywhere and if they did I sure never noticed as it was so small.

Today's ride itself was pretty. However we have become so jaded that we thought it was just another 63 miles. Ed and I set out from the university cafeteria where we had a wonderful breakfast which included made to order eggs. Yes that is right no green eggs! Ed set a hot pace and had me panting to stay with him. Ed claimed that he had been riding with his wife and so had had four days of rest. It is true that he had been riding with his wife but it was a pretty hot pace. We were flying down the road so fast I didn't dare reach down for my camera, I had to hold on to the handle bars or I would have flown right off. As a result we we down at picnic at around 9:30 AM.

With only twenty three miles to go before we hit the finish line it should have been an easy roll down to Gloster. However Ed was in the lead and I wasn't going to let him drop me. We charged down though the final leg which is pretty congested with lots of winding roads and a lot of Saturday traffic. Ed even ran down Jo, who is this woman from UK who is a professional racer, and clearly the fastest rider on the tour. I think she passed me every day and some times twice. When we got to Gloster Greg was still painting a finish line on the road.

The final leg of the trip was a one mile trip behind a police escort down to the beach for a front wheel dip in the Atlantic Ocean signifying the completion of our journey from Pacific to the Atlantic. Some riders charged into the water, however most of the riders including my self settled for a quick dip of the wheel in the water and then a photo. A lot of the rider's husbands and wives were in attendance so it made for quite a scene.

Tonight we are headed out for a harbour cruise with the whole tour group. It should be a blast. I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

What a long strange trip its been.-- Grateful Dead.

Terry

Second Last Day

2010-08-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

To day was the second last ride day of the coast to coast. It is really hard to believe. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were in Everett Washington and getting ready to leave for our first ride day. The summer has just flown past. I saw trees which were starting to turn colour, and I saw leaves on the road.

The ride was 84 miles today and the weather prediction was for upper 80's so I was keen to get a bunch of miles in before it got to hot. However I was slow getting in line for breakfast and wound up close to last in line. So I didn't get out of camp until 7:10 Am. Camp was in the Fryeburg county fairgrounds which is a really neat place. There must be 20 or so buildings for the fair. There are hog buildings, steer buildings, goat buildings, you name it they got it.

Once I was on the road I made good time and even though I was almost last out, I was passing a lot of riders. The road was exceptional. It had just been paved a very short time ago so it was very smooth and made for a great riding surface. The wind was supposed to be out of the North which was great as we were headed due south to Durham. However the wind didn't know which way to blow and swirled around from all directions. It would be right in your face and then turn and be a tail wind. There were a lot of ups and downs and lefts and rights as we were headed down what was a country road which had close to zero cars on it.

About five miles out of picnic I spotted Patrick and thought I could catch him. So I jumped on the pedals and sprinted after him sure enough a few miles later I was close. When he hit a hill I used one of his tricks of pulling up with your ankles to accelerate on a hill. Then I was right behind him so I gave him the big dog bark. I was out of breath and the bark came out like a lame old

Newfoundland, but it worked and I scared him into thinking that a big dog was about to take off one of his legs. We both had a good laugh and rolled into picnic a mile or so later.

After picnic it was hot but at least the wind had settled down to become a tail wind. I was content that I had lots of time to make camp so I was riding slow and Patrick caught me and we rode along together until we came to the Lone Oak Ice Cream stand. This place is the place to go in New Hampshire or so I am told. We rolled in, and I had a "Kiddie Cone" which had to have over a pint of ice cream on it. Patrick had some sort of a float which was huge. While we were there a lot of other riders rolled in and everyone was enjoying ice cream and the tail wind. As a side note I see that place are now advertising an new item "Lobster rolls". I may have to try one.

I rolled the last 15 miles on into Durham and past the University of New Hampshire. It is an absolutely beautiful campus. The building are all set on the rolling hills and are surrounded by beautiful lawns.

Well tonight is the last awards night. I wonder how many there will be.

Lets Ride !

Terry

Recognized!

2010-08-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

When the alarm went off at 5:35 Am this morning the first thought; "Was do I really have to do this?" It has been a long trip and now we have only 3 ride days left. It was only 48F so crawling out of my sleeping bag was double hard. I decided that I would put on my new Lake Placid riding kit. There is something wonderful abut about putting on a jersey and new shorts. When I did crawl out of the tent there was a morning haze. I was really glad that I had put my arm and leg warmers on.
With only 63 miles to go I was in no hurray to leave breakfast. So I rolled about 7:15 AM. The sun was well above the horizon and the fog was almost gone. I had been hoping to get a few photos of the morning mist, but it burned off so quick that I didn't get any shots.
The stunning moment came when I had stopped for a moment and a local rider going the other way calls out great blog. I turn to look and he wheels around and comes up to introduce himself. Tom has been reading my blog and following my progress across the US. He recognized the silver surfer on my bike. Tom did the coast to coast in 2002. What an amazing thing that he would spot the silver surfer from across the road while going 20 mph. I was totally stunned that he recognized me. WOW! Thanks Tom! you made my day.
I rode down the `Notch`which is this place between two hills leading up to Mount Washington. There is something like 10 miles of up to 13% grade. It was this pass which lead the development of the interior of the New Hampshire. It was a great down hill.
Tonight was graduation for the coast to coast riders and we were given plaques commemorating our achievement. It was a very emotional celebration. All I have to do now is complete the final 150 miles to earn it.
Lets Ride!

Terry

Into New Hampshire

2010-08-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well Vermont didn't last long. The states are pretty small in the NE. Today's ride took us from Stowe VT to Littleton New Hampshire. We were on a back road when we crossed the state line so the only note was a small sign on a bridge. I wouldn't have even known but I spotted the sign.

However I am getting ahead of myself. It is only appropriate that I mention that last nights supper was in the Sunset Grill. It was a barbeque and It was fantastic. There was barbequed chicken, ribs and meatloaf. No barbeque is complete without beans and the beans were perfect. It was a real meat lovers heaven.

I had a great time to day. The ride was a lot of short steep rollers. On some of them I would charge up just going full tilt. Standing and pounding the gears. On others I would shift down and grind away. Of course for every climb there was a decent so on some I would just glide down and on others I would power down, shifting as I gained speed. I don't think there was a single flat spot the entire ride. The cue sheet gave the ride 4770 feet of climb over the 70 miles however, I heard numbers as high as 6000 from some of the riders.

Besides the fun riding I had a lot of fun taking pictures. I was with a lot of riders so I got a lot of action shots. I total spent the battery on my camera and at one point the card showed that it was full and I had to stop and start deleting pictures. I stopped at a farmers market and there was this young couple selling the most amazing kinds of vegetables. I don't think they had many costumers, but they had a beautiful display and when I asked to take their picture they gave me the biggest smiles in the world.

The big dog was out in force as well chasing down riders and barking at them. I managed to scare three rides, which makes it a record day. Two of them were sectional riders so they had never heard the big dog bark however one of them was a coast to coast rider. I came up very quickly and kept well to the right so i would not be seen. Scaring Janet made the day. As I passed she was cursing a blue streak at me for scaring her so badly.

Littleton is a historic town or so the signs claim. For what I am not sure but I am sure you can Google it. One thing it is famous for is Chutters on Main Street which claims the worlds longest candy bar. When I when in I was amazed. It goes on forever. You take a bag and start filling it. There were things I had not seen since I was 10. You take a bag and pick your own. So I took a couple of these and a couple of those and some of them and by the time I got to the end I had a pound of candy. Having not eaten since 10:00 and it was now 1:00 PM, I ate the works. Supper wasn't until 5:30, so it was OK.

We are camped at the Littleton High School tonight and when I got there I was really disappointed as the camping was limited to this tiny area where the tents are less than 3 feet apart. However on closer examination I found a spot around the corner which was just big enough for one tent and I got it.

Terry

2010-08-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

This morning we started a little later as the ride was only 42 miles. So it was nice to get the extra hour of sleep. We ate breakfast in the university cafeteria, which was great. The kids sure have it good. It sure wasn't like that when I lived in the dorm at university. Ya ya I can just hear the groans from those kinds of statements, about how it was up hill both ways to school.

I set out with Ed and his wife after breakfast and rode along with them for about 11 miles. When they stopped for a drink of water I rode on. A few miles later I came upon Robert who is a sectional rider. He is in the Australian Navy but is on assignment with the Canadian navy. As I rode up I could see that he was having trouble so I stopped. Robert had suffered a blow out in the side wall of his front tire. I stopped and within 10 minutes I had the tube changed, a boot in the tire, and the tire inflated and the wheel remounted.

It was only 34 miles down to picnic so it came up very quickly even though I was trying to take my time. It was such a beautiful day, and the road was so pretty. This section of Vermont is absolutely picture book quality. The rolling wooded hills look just like the pictures you see in the calenders. I was just having a ball on the rolling hills and twisting roads.

After lunch was a special treat. The Ben And Jerry's ice cream factory was only two miles after picnic. I rolled in and took the factory tour which included a sample of a new flavour which is only available at the factory, Choocholate, which was vanilla with dark chocolate cows in it. The two miles further down the road was the Old Cider Mill. I stopped in and had a large cider and a cider/Cinnamon donut. I like a good cider once in a while however finding good cider is not easy as most of the available commercial cider is over processed and tasteless. This cider was fresh and very tasty.

Tonight's camp is two miles out side of Stowe VT, so as it was still early I rode on into town. Stowe is a very picturesque town. The church in Stowe is the one which is used in all the Vermont promotional literature. The town has a 5 mile bike path which leads up to the Van Trapp family estate. The Van Trapp family settled here in Vermont after fleeing the Nazis. Well who hasn't seen the Sound of music. I rode up the path however it was very congested with slow moving traffic. It is pretty.

Well time to roll.

Terry

The Best and Worst List - A work in progress

2010-08-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

It was the best of times it was the worst of times. Oh! Wait that line has been used already. The Good, the bad, and the Ugly. Used as well. Ok How about? The Terry Wiechert "Top Ten List". No too close to David Letterman. So how about just a list of what was great and what wasn't so great about the last 9 weeks. I have been talking to lots of the coast to coast riders and have been hearing ideas but everyone on this trip has seen something different and done different things. Part of that is becuause we all past the same point at different times and part of it is because we all take our own perceptions into every thing we do. So this is really my list an not some body elses list of what was great,not so great and maybe just so. Check back to this list as I am going to continue to work on this list.

Best Ride:

I think that the Needles highway/Iron Mtn ride into Mount Rushmore was the best ride. The ride was very challenging but not a killer. We saw unbelieveable scenery, the weather was perfect, and the ride took us past Mount Rushmore which is probably the best known American Icon. There were so many great days that this was a really hard pick. I will elaborate on this choise later.

Worst Ride:

I am going to give this spot to the day into Spokeane whch was hot and we had terrible head winds. We only had a couple of days with bad head winds and this one seems to stick in my mind, I just hate head winds and here was a day riding past not much for scenery with relatively busy roads into the wind.

Best Meal:

A lot of the riders liked the Elks club which was in ____. However I think that they are selecting the Elks club because of the people who were our hosts. They were absolutely the best. They were so freindly and welcoming, you just wanted to hug them. I thought the food was good but not outstanding. My favorite was the Chapati restaurant in the Achibald House in Northfield. It was an Indian restaurant which had the best Gulab Jamun. Of course I like indian so it was really my ticket.

Worst Meal:

Hands down it was the rolled turkey in Grand Coulee. Although there was a lasgana night that I walked out on which looked pretty bogus. However as I walked out I cannot comment on it. Reports have it that the night I went to the hospital with a bee sting was pretty bad as well.

Best Breakfast: I just said that people were picking the Elks club for the fellings for the people and not for the food. Well now I am going to go 180 and pick the best breakfast as the breakfast we had in Niagara Falls in the Minolta tower. The food was pretty much all the same. Bacon is bacon. Scrambled eggs are scrambled eggs. However the view and the atmosphere were unbelieveable. You were in another world upthere looking down on the whole world.

Worst Breakfast: Ya we ate a lot of green eggs and ham this summer but let me tell you about this one. The breakfast at Star Lake was unbelieveable. The scrambles eggs really did have greenish tint and had the texture of jellied foam. The ham was floating in this yellow greenish soup, making it quite chewie. There was one toaster and 70 riders so forget having toast.
Best Camp/School
Worst Camp/School: hands down Ennis was the worst school. They kicked us out of the gym. Kicked us out of all of the rooms in the school leaving access to only the foyer. They couldn't turn on the hot water. I run some extremely complicated oil processing plants and let me tell you there is ZERO excuse for not having a hot water system running. Camoping was on an extremely limited piece of ground as the school is on a hill. Cannot use the athletic field behind the school. Might make some tent peg holes. Ya We felt real welcome here.

Best thing About this trip:

Well this is kind of the one big question. I think that there are really four things which have all come together to form a near perfect storm. The first is the organization. Greg is hitting on all cylinders. He never misses a bet and everything has been executed in near perfect form. The second has been the riders themselves. What a great group! To a person they are all great people. I am so pleased to have had the oppertunity to meet and ride with every one of them. The third thing is weather which has been so good and has propelled the rides into the exceptional catagory. The fourth is the route which has taken us across America on basicly back roads. We have seen the very heart of rual America.

The Worst thing about this trip: No to name names but three sectional riders by the names of Jack, G (he is too cool to have a name), and Gary show up and act like total asses the entire week. On Saturday the tried to wreck me. The antics of thes clowns was insane. Greg should up a warning on his web site when these guys show up. You ya I have heard about what great club riders they are and how they are such great riders. Maybe somebody should tell them about how to act in public.

More later

Ferry Ride Number Four Aug 16

2010-08-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

Our stay in Lake Placid was out at the horse show grounds. On the first night there was a wedding in the big pavilion so everyone had to camp. However, last night the pavilion was not being used, so this meant that the pavilion was open. It was a terrible old place with creaky floors. There was a lot of clouds with a chance of showers so a bunch of the floor floppers moved into the pavilion. Oh! It might rain ooh too scary! Of course it didn't and they all got a terrible night sleep because of the squeaky floors.

There were lots of clouds in the hills when we got up but no rain. So down to breakfast in the beautiful old Northwoods Inn. As we only had 40.1 miles there was no hurray, so I lingered over breakfast and then Steve and I rode off. The ride was pretty much all down hill as lake Placid was at 1738 ft and we were headed for Port Kent on Lake Champlain at 79 ft.

We get to the 30 mile mark when the was a huge crack of thunder and it started to rain. So Steve and I stopped and put on our rain jackets. We rode down five miles and went in for coffee. After about 30 minutes the sun came out and we cruised on. At Port Kent we had picnic in a beautiful park along side the Ausable Gorge. The Ausable River goes over several water falls here before entering the lake. Just as I crossed the bridge there was a huge bump and my camera jumped out of my bento box, and hit the road a 20 mph. The shock proof Olympus took the hit but suffered a little road rash.

After picnic we rolled on down to where the ferry was which would take us across Lake Champlain to Burlington VT. I had no idea that there were all these ferries involved in crossing the US. This is ferry ride number four on the trip. I guess that when you take the back roads there are still lots of ferries in operation. The ferry turned out to be an open deck ferry of the 1950's vintage and Lake Champlain is very large. The wind was just howling down the lake, with a three foot chop, so there was a lot of roll to the old ferry. There was spray coming over the bows and everyone was crouched near the back out to the spray. It was a fun forty minute ride across to Burlington.

Here in Burlington we are staying in the University of Vermont dorms. It is a beautiful campus over looking Lake Champlain. There seems to be a mix of old and new buildings. I think there is a group who are headed out to saample the local night life, tonight as tomorrow we have a 50 mile day.

Lets ride!

Terry

Lake Placid Aug 15

2010-08-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated day off has finally arrived. So I thought I would celebrated by sleeping in. However my internal clock had me up at 5:30 any way. I lay in bed until 6:30 and caught a couple of cat naps but by then the sun was streaming into my tent so it was time to go. I pulled on my running gear and headed out for 45 minutes. I was intending to turn around at the 22 minute mark but getting my legs stretched out felt so good that I pushed it to 30 minutes before turning around. I paid the price later by being quite stiff for a couple of hours. Long Beach could be a long marathon.

After the run I cleaned my bike and headed downtown. I had two tiny lanterns for my tent but they got rolled up in a wet tent and that was the end of them, so I needed a replacement. I found a very nice one in a camping store which is actually far brighter and can be dimmed. I also found a couple of gifts.

Patrick and Tom have been eating breakfast in McDonald's rather than with the group. McDonald's is selling the Marvel comics action figures so they have been buying them. Tom is Captain America. So they made me the Silver Surfer. I took a few minutes and mounted him on my handle bars. He looks good. We will see if he makes it to Boston.

I had passed up buying the really nice cycling jersey and matching shorts the other day in the local bike shop. However I changed my mind and went back and got the kit. Having cycle wear from Lake Placid is pretty cool. Besides it is good to look fast even if you are not. It keeps the the club racer types from hitting on you. They look at you and think "Wow, this guy has cycled Lake Placid. Better not hit on him."

One week to go and only 390 miles to go. Not far considering we have covered 3900 miles.

Terry

Last Day of the week

2010-08-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

From Star Lake to Lake Placid was 73 miles and to say it was rolling would be an understatement. There was nothing but hills. You were either grinding up one or sailing down the other side. There was probably 50 to 350 feet of elavation gain between each crest and trough. I think that each climb was about a quarter mile and so were the decents. I guess if you do the math that means we climbed 150 hills today.

Ed and I were out of the chute early this morning and made great time down to picnic by 9:30Am. So we hung around there for a while. With 30 miles to go we were taking our time. We stopped in Sarnac where we had a milk shake. Then we rolled on into Lake Placid. We arrived by 11:30 Am so we cruised the town which is a big long tourist trap. The town has lots of pubs and fancy shops. I think it is for people coming to see the past olympic facilites. I understand that there are training facilities here but I didn't see them. We stopped in a cycle shop and Ed got some new clips for his shoes. I almost bought a jersey and matching shorts which said "Lake Placid" on them, but they were kind of expensive.

Tomorrow is a well deserved rest day, before the final push to Boston.

Blogspot will not take pictures so I'll add them later???

Terry

Sixty Three to Star Lake

2010-08-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:25 Am the last thing I wanted to do was get my cycling gear on and head down the road. Last night I had insomnia and I remember looking at the alarm clock at around 1:45 Am so I did not get a bunch of sleep. However with only a few days left on the ride there is no way I am giving up my EFI (Every Fantastic Inch) and getting in the van. Micheal has crashed twice and is covered in road rash and his one wrist is swollen, but he has not being in the van. Besides it is only 63 miles and there is only 3500 feet of climbing.

After a quick breakfast I set off with Ed but he dropped me like second period french. So I rode along catch a few riders here and there. As I did this I was talking to them about their trip. I want to write a separate blog entry which is going to the kind of the "best of/worse of" Of course it is very subjective and everyone has a different point of view. Some of answers I got were very illuminating. Some made me wonder if I was on the same trip.

just before the first water stop there were a number of riders who were all strung out so I thought it was time for some action shots. So I jumped on the pedals and rode on ahead. Once I was about 300 yards ahead of the first rider I jumped off my bike and lay down to get the best angle. By doing this your perspective makes the riders seem taller and the action seems more imposing. First rider goes past -- great shot. Second rider comes up but there is a semi truck and I am sure he thought I was injured as he jumped on his brakes. I waved and he flashed his lights. At the water stop Bruce who is a sectional rider took my picture from the ground.

Picnic at the 35 mile point came up by 9:30 Am and I hung there as long as I could but after vacuuming up all of the watermelon I had to leave. I rode the "Jan Express" for a 15 miles and got his opinion of the best and worst. Jan is this really strong rider from Holland who always seems to be pulling an assortment of riders along behind him. So with 12 miles to go I stopped for a root beer. The last 12 miles were though this winding country road. There were a number of steep climbs and descents. There was forest on either side of the road as we have left the farms and are now starting a different sort of terrain. Star Lake where we are staying is a tiny lake surrounded by small summer cottages. It looks like there is one bar/hotel, a gas station, fire hall, and an IGA.

One day to go before a rest day. Yahoo!

Terry

Lots of adventures Aug 12

2010-08-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

The morning started out great with a wonderful breakfast.There was no bacon but there was breakfast burritos which were excellent,but it was the pastries which really turned the difference between a great breakfast and a wonderful breakfast. I am a baked goods fanatic and after the first two, I knew it was trouble and managed to get out the door with only a few more.

There was a lot of cloud cover in the morning and no haze which was a change from what we have been riding though for the past few days. I had teamed up with Ed in the morning a we were making good time. The area was much poorer than what we have been through so there wasn't much in the way of photo opportunities. We were 25 miles down the road by 8:15 and with only 17 more miles to picnic we stopped for a coffee. After coffee we were riding along and steadily gaining on a couple of new sectional riders. So I said to Ed, "Time for the big dog bark". I jumped on the pedals and we were right behind them when I started into the barking. It sacred the heck out of both of them. Everyone had a huge laugh all the way to picnic.

Picnic was at the Southwick Beach State park. It was a beautiful white sand beach along Lake Ontario. The beach was completely deserted and stretch for as far as you could see. I didn't go swimming as I didn't feel like riding another 30 miles in wet shorts. If it had of been warmer then your shorts dry and it is OK. The wind had come up and was now bordering on being a nasty head wind. So it was time to roll, so Ed and I were off. About 5 miles later we caught Jim who had a flat. So we stopped to help. Before I could get the pump off my bike Ed had the old tire off and was sticking a new tube in. I pumped the tire and the whole thing was over within under 5 minutes.
We had some excellent pavement and it made up for the head wind, however we had no sooner commented on how nice the pavement was than we were routed though Henderson Harbour. It was a beautiful beach community and we had a good time rolling through. I had been saying that we have to stop and get some apples out of one of the orchards we have been passing however we had run out of orchards. Ed spots a couple of apple trees in a yard and yells to stop so we had some apples of the tree. They were perfectly ripe and very tasty. We were no sooner on the bikes when we spotted two ladies walking a huge Golden Retriever. So we stopped to meet him. His name was Buddy and was the Henderson Harbour mascot. It was pretty neat getting to meet the mascot of Henderson Harbour.

The route took us through Sackets Harbour, which played a key role in the war of 1812. The fort there prevented the French from controlling in important supply point along the south shore. In the state park we saw a re-enactment. It was a beautiful little town with a lot of tourist art and craft shops. We didn't stop but it would be fun to explore and wander through.

We had caught up to Chris who took me to hospital a few days earlier so the three of us rode along together and stopped for large strawberry milk shakes.

The route sheet had the ride from Oswego down to Watertown scheduled for 71 miles but I think it came in closer to 80 miles. Although I was wonder what I was going to write about as the scenery was a bust there was still a lot of adventures.

Terry

2010-08-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

You are thinking that I got lost but that isn't the case. The route took us down two sides of a triangle. The direct route was only 40 miles but that was down a major road so we rode two sides of the triangle. The routers on this trip are ingenious. They took us over some incredible back lanes and out of the way places to get from Sodus to Oswego. Of course the back lanes have some really steep pitches in them so there was a total of 2500 feet of climb in what was a net zero day.

As I headed out the sun was just coming over the horizon and I caught a couple of riders and took their picture. It was perfect riding temperature and I was making good time. I had just rolled into Wolcott where there is this fountain in this town square when Ed rolled up. I told him I would take his picture if he would get into the fountain. He wouldn't, so I did and he took my picture. From there the route took us a long way inland to Baldwinsville, where we had picnic. It is on the Erie canal. However we did not ride along the canal. Ed and I made good time and were into picnic by 9:30 Am so we had lots of time to cover the remaining 30 miles after picnic.

We hung around picnic until it started to cloud over and so then we made a bee line for Oswego. However as we approached Oswego the clouds blew away and it turned hot. So we arrived at just after 12:00 Am and the school where we are staying wasn't ready so we had cool our jets in a near by sports bar where pints were $2.75.

What a great day!

Terry

Sodus NY Aug 10

2010-08-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Last night's rain storm forced me to take my laundry down before it was completely dry. So I hung it up on the cloths line which I have strung in side my tent. The cloths line works great for hanging your lantern, and all manner of things. It still wasn't dry when I went to bed last night so I just left it hanging. Then about 2:30 Am this morning there was this huge man standing over me in my tent. It was quite scary and I was trying to cry out but couldn't. Finally I was able to reach up and grab the man who was in my tent and he turned out to be my jersey.

This morning was humid and kind of foggy but it was a great day. It is always fun riding when there is some fog on the horizon. The ride went straight north to the coast of Lake Ontario where we turned east along a parkway where there is a bike lane beside the parkway. The bike lane had a lot of loose rocks on the pavement, but there was no traffic. The miles flew by and before I knew it we were at picnic which was in Rochester NY. The routers had plotted a great route though Rochester and we were able to slip though a major city without hitting any big streets or major traffic conditions.

The water stop after picnic was at this fork in the road where there was a peach orchard. The peaches had been picked but there was the odd one still on the trees. They were perfectly ripe and very delicious.

At the 82 mile mark there was an option to ride out to Sodus Point. This added seven miles to the ride. So I took the option and it was worth the ride. Sodus Point is a beautiful little village right on Lake Ontario. There is a historic light house there which has been restored and is in magnificent condition. The grounds are trimmed with loving care and the homes surrounding it are fabulous.

The small downtown has several bars and I meet a couple of other riders in one where we had a beer on a lakeside patio. It was great, and hard to get back on the bike to finish the ride into Sodus, where we are camped. With the option today's ride was 91 miles.

A great day!

Terry

Into New York State Aug 9

2010-08-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a very special treat. We went for breakfast in the Minolta tower, which over looks Niagara Falls. You go into the lobby and take the elevators to the 26 th floor and there is a fancy dining room. The dinning room was perfectly positioned so that you could see the river above the Canadian Falls, the Canadian Falls were directly in front and then off the left was the American Falls and the Rainbow bridge. The lower escarpment was all laid our in front of you. The view was stunning. Of course we are not use to eating off real plates with real silverware and tablecloths. It was a great way to start the week. I loved it. The ride also started an hour later so sleeping in an extra hour was great as well.

Taking the elevator down was tough to do. However day light was burning and we had to get across the Rainbow Bridge and into the US before it got busy. As it turned out there was nobody there and I rolled right through. On the US side we rode along what is called the Sea Side trail which was past magnificent homes over looking the river and Lake Ontario. There was nice tail wind so it was pretty easy, and it brought picnic which was at the 47 mile mark up by about 11:30 AM.

After lunch, I teamed up with Ed and having only 25 miles to go we just rolled along. The roads were very rural with virtually no traffic and beautifully smooth pavement. We stopped to take pictures of these giant pumpkins in a field. Then at about the 67 mile mark we spotted a very old cemetery so we stopped to investigate. It seemed like there were three or four family names in the cemetery so it may have been that they were all related. I think the oldest date was 1825 and it ran to the 1865. We caught up to Steve and Jim just on the edge of Albion NY where we are staying so I invited them for an ice cream. The cue sheet said there was one just before the school so I knew we would find ice cream.

I was going to go for a run today but I just couldn't find the motivation. The temperature is 85 F and the humidity is probably close to 100% so everything is stuck to you. It is now pouring which will clear the air.

Let's Ride

Terry

A Day In Niagara

2010-08-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

Tom, Patrick, Dan and I had decided that we were going to be on the first sailing of the Maid of the Mist in the morning. The Maid of the Mist is the boat which takes you right up to the base of the falls. So we were up early ate at the Flying Saucer Inn which is a local landmark and headed down town. We were there in plenty of time and got prime locations right at the front of the line. We talked to one of the workers and he indicated that staying on the main deck was better than the upper deck as you are closer to the water, and I think he was right. We had a great time and the views were exceptional. It is really hard to describe how big and how powerful the falls really are. I guess you have to experience it to understand it.

After the boat ride the four of us jumped on our bikes and rode out to Niagara-on-the Lake. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a very exclusive area and a very historic area of Canada. There are lots of ice wine vine yards. We were not dressed appropriately so we just kind of peaked over the fence. We had forgotten the keys to the Rolls Royce so we couldn't get in. The bike path out there however was great and we had a great ride. We had lunch in the Angel Inn which is reputed to be the most haunted place in Canada. I had the Steak and kidney pie and it wasn't scary, it was delicious.

Tomorrow we re-enter the United States and continue our journey. There are only 12 ride days left. We have covered close to 3600 miles to date so the original estimate of 4200 miles would appear to be low. It is looking like it is going to be closer to 4500 miles. Bonus Miles -- YA!

Lets Ride!

Terry

Niagara Falls! Yahoo!

2010-08-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was a little concerned about how I was going to feel, after yesterdays trip to the hospital, but I awoke feeling totally refreshed and in great spirits. So why waste a moment? Lets go for it!
We had a great 75 mile ride today along the north Shore of Lake Ontario into Niagara Falls. The route took us right along the shore though all be summer beach cottages which line the north shore. It was beautiful. Ed and I stopped at a number of for sale homes but there were no prices listed. I guess if you have to ask the price you cannot afford it. We were making good time and we picking up Klingon's on a regular basis. Picnic was at the 50 mile marker and by the time we were about 6 -7 miles out Ed and I must have had ten or more Klingon's riding our wheels. It was getting a little bit scary as there was a lot of jocking about and people cutting in and out and passing on the right and just plain showing poor judgement. In these situations you have to either drop off the end of the pack or blow the pack away. I chose to blow the pack away to I jumped on the pedals and flew on into picnic. I think that Philippe and Ed were the only two who stayed with me.

So there we are at picnic at 10:00 Am with only 20 miles to go so we just headed on into town. We crossed the welland cannel on this little ferry boat,which was off a bike trail which was fun. The great tail winds which we had shortened our journey even more and Ed and I were eating ice cream in Niagara Falls by 11:30 AM.

With the ride over and a day off looming us in the face I headed on down to see the falls with Patrick and Tom. We chose the full tourist pack to see all of the attractions of the falls. We elected to do the walk under the falls first. It was really fun as they hand you this yellow poncho and then you go down this tunnel which takes you down and behind the falls. There is a viewing platform which is right beside the falls which is an absolute maelstrom. Then there are some portals which are behind the falls. The scale of the falls is beyond the imagination. Then we did the 3D film thing which was a lot of fun but pale in comparison to the real thing.
We headed on out for supper and found a micro-brew pub which was out of the tourist zone where we sampled several of the different brews and found them all to be excellent. I had the fish and chips which where exceptional.

To day was a big day and a very exciting one.

Terry

In the hospital

2010-08-08T12:47:00.001-07:00

To day we are started out on a 97 mile ride which is across the Niagara peninsula. It is billed as 1000 feet of climb so this is about as flat as it gets. When you looked at the route map it looked like we were going to be following the north shore of Lake Erie so I expected a lot of beach cottage country and tourist towns. However it was mostly out in the country riding with farms of corn and soy. I was riding by my self but I was making good time so picnic which was at the 54 mile make came up pretty quickly. In fact I was at picnic before 10:00 Am. I had realized on the ride that taking pictures of riders in action was great but it was very tough work as you have to charge past a rider get set for a shot then jump back on your bike and do it again. So it takes a lot of hard riding to get a few shots and then it is of a limited number of riders. A better plan would be to charge up to picnic then walk back to a good position and then take shots as they come into picnic. The plan was formulated.

Picnic was on the beach where there was this historic light house which served as a perfect back drop for rider photos so I took a lot of rider pictures while at picnic. It was a lot of fun catching the riders rolling into picnic. They were all so happy and smiling as they roded in.

After lunch I teamed up with Ed and the two of us we just eating up the miles as we flew down the road to Port Dover. The road was perfectly smooth and the temperature was about 75F. Our bikes were being buffeted back and forth by 15-20 mph tail winds which didn't hurt. We got to about the 82 mile mark and decided it was time for a root beer while some thunder clouds moved though and then we headed off. About 5 miles later a wasp flys into my jersey and stings me three times on the right side before I can get ahold of it an kill it. The thunder clouds have solidified and it is starting to come down so I jumped on the pedals with Ed right behind me. I averaged 22mph into town.

I jumped in the shower but by now I am not feeling too good and I am covered in hives. I come out to set my tent up and Earnie comes over and see that I am not doing so well and sets my tent. Earnie then gets Chris to drive me to the hospital. I guess that I was worse than I realized. Of course this turns into a four hour affair. I am checked in but sit there for two hours before a doctor comes by. I am now feeling much better and am ready to leave but the doctor now has to administer some medicine via iv and keep me for two hours for observation. Within minutes of the medicine being administered the hives are gone. So two hours later I am released and Chris and I go have supper. Thanks Earnie for your concern and work on this and thanks Chris for driving me and sitting patiently in the hospital for four hours. I now have one of the insect bite injection things.

All's well that ends well!

Terry

Starting With A Bang Aug 5

2010-08-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Breakfast was 25 minutes late this morning. The folks putting on breakfast never showed up until 6:30 Am and by the time it was ready it was 6:55. So we are behind schedule but as there are no climbs and the ride is only 75 miles no big deal. After a quick bite I am off down the road but not very far before I hear this huge bang. I have heard that sound before and it is not good news. I pull over, and yes I have a flat rear tire. However this is not just a flat but my second brand new Armadillo tire is has blown out the side wall. Now this isn't just a little hole but an eight inch rip in the side wall. I can't believe it. My first Armadillo got only 1500 miles, but I was over some incredibly tough roads. I ground up 5 miles of fresh chip coat to a mountain pass and then down some really bad gravel roads and over lots of construction. This tire has less than 1200 miles. So I walk back to the school where John, who is one of the mechanics pulls a tire off of Greg's bike and puts it on my bike. OK now I am 2 hours behind schedule and the forecast is for hot and humid.

At the 20 mile mark we take a ferry across the St. Lawrence River and cross into Canada. It is a quaint little private ferry which takes about 20 minutes to cross the river. I was wearing my Canadian jersey so there is no mistake at the boarder as to what is going on. The customs guard has seen lots of cyclists this morning and is very friendly. In the Calgary airport the customs agents wear flack jackets. Here they are in short sleeves.

Once in Canada the road is straight and flat, with a good tail wind so I make good time down to picnic, which is at the 45 mile mark. At picnic I am too late for the water melon but there is still lots to eat. As it is now getting hot I have to hurry, however my stomach is starting to send me signals that it is upset. So I rolled into a store and drank some ginger ale hoping to settle it down. Luckily it worked and was off again.

About 6 miles out Steve the rider from Wales is pulled over and is working on his tire. I could see that he was having trouble with it so I pulled over and helped change his tube. I have this great pump and can pump a tire in no time. I figured I had been helped this morning so it was time to pass it on.

As I rolled into West Lorne where we are staying I could see an ice cream shop on the corner. Now I had been promising myself a milk shake for the last 15 miles so now it was time to make good on my promise. They didn't make milkshakes but they did have huge ice cream cones so I had a two scoop cone which was great.

The school were are in has the weirdest showers which are either all on or all off and have to be turned on somewhere in the mechanical room. So Greg is waiting for a number of riders before he turns them on, so I go set up my tent. The showers are now on and I have mine. When I come out there is a quick cloud burst. I went out to my tent and crawled in it was so nice and cool so I just laid down and had an hour nap. It was perfect as I was exhausted. The nap was just the thing I needed.

When I was in Frankenmuth I was in one of the tourist trap stores which specialized in dog stuff. They had a sign which said "LIVE LOVE BARK" I thought it was a good attitude to have.

Terry

Hoover Pulls a great one!

2010-08-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today started out nice and cool with a low mist hanging in the air. It was really welcome as it kept the temperature down. We had 85 miles to cover and I wasn't looking forward to doing it in temperatures in the 90's with 90% humidity. On the positive side there was some cloud cover, and some wind out of the west, with a very flat course. On the negative side we had 90's for temperature, with 90% humidity, and no shoulder and relatively busy roads.
I blitzed out of breakfast as soon as I could and was intent on making as many miles as possible before the morning mist left. One of the riders who is from this part of the country says they only have two kinds of weather here. Hot and humidity, and cold and damp. There wasn't much for scenery just corn fields one side of the road and soy beans on the other. So I am wondering what am I going to put in the blog. I took a bunch of pictures of buildings in the various little towns we passed through. I have been impressed with how nice the old Victorian homes are. San Francisco gets all the credit for having beautiful Victorian homes but there are a lot of them in the little towns we are riding through.

A couple of miles from camp we turn off on a beautiful little bike path and I am so glad to be minutes away from camp. It has been along hot day. I am all in. Then I come around the last bend in the path and there is Hoover standing beside the path, and beside him is a cooler. One guess what he has in the cooler! Hoover who is one of the fastest riders has gone into town got a cooler filled it with ice and beer and the walked from town back to the path to hand out beer. It was so cold and so good, I cannot describe it. Hoover had picked up 24 beer, so I went in and grabbed another 18 as it was obvious this was going to be a big hit. A couple of other riders went in and came back with another, 30 beer. A party breaks out as more and more riders roll in. Everyone is laughing and sucking back cold beers. What a supper ending to the day. Hoover, I salute you.

And so ends ride day number 40 with 15 more ride days.

Terry

Frankenmuth Christmas Store

2010-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

Frankenmuth Christmas Store
So how big is the worlds biggest Christmas store? It is big maybe twice as big as a Walmart Super Center. Frankenmuth lays claim to the worlds largest Christmas store so I just had to see it. It is located at 25 Christmas Lane. The outside has everything you can imagine for exterior decorations. Thirty foot Santa's, Nativity Scenes, coloured light displays, the works. In side the store it is organized according to the type of decoration. There is a section for lights, a section for Christmas villages, a section of animal decorations, decorations by occupation, a section devoted to stacking dolls, and on and on it goes. The roof is arched and above the ornaments is displays of Christmas scenes. Naturally there are Christmas carols being played over the intercom. I wandered for over an hour and saw 5-10% of it. I am going to let the pictures tell the story.

Terry

Frankenmuth - Tourist Trap or Barvarian Village?

2010-08-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

This morning was great! I rolled out of Falwell after a great night's sleep, and feeling on top of the world. My new bike computer was working fine and every thing was looking good. We had 82 miles to cover and I was on a roll. There was 5 miles of narrow road where they were working on repairing the shoulders of the road. However it was early and the traffic was light.

After that section was passed I turned off on to the Pere-Marquette bike path. It was the finest bike path I have ever seen. Yes I have said that before however this one is the hands down winner. The path was completed in 2008 so it is brand new. The pavement is soooooo smooth it just seemed to make the bike roll on it's own. Wait maybe that was the tail wind we enjoyed. The edges of the trail were mowed, there were toilets every few miles, beautiful road crossing markers, little turn outs were you could look out at the scenery, benches to sit on and rest, it had everything. Sailing along was great the only sounds were the birds and the hum from my tires. I could have stayed on that path all day. However around the 40 mile mark we were back on the road but only for 4 miles and then it was picnic.

I vacuumed up a bunch of fresh fruit at picnic and headed off. The wind had picked up and even though the road was really busy, sailing along with a tail wind was great. However, that came to an end when we turned south and now the wind was hitting me at about the 2:00 o'clock position. The road deteriorated and it was getting hotter all the time. However as there was only 23 miles to go it was time to just grind it out.

About 12 miles out I came up on Micheal and he was hurting the wind had done him in. So there was only one thing to do and that was to get him on my wheel and pull him in. Micheal could only do about 12-14 mph so that's what we did.

The town of Frankenmuth was originally founded by fifteen German ministers who came to convert the natives. Later the the town was settled by German immigrants. If you Google it you can get the whole history. Wikipedi says it is 98.6 % white with only 1.4% minorities. There is something like 53% of the people are of German heritage. So the town is built to look like a Barvarian village. There are quaint towers, fancy shingles, wall murals, etc. Frankenmuth also lays claim to having the worlds largest Christmas store. I don't know but it looks like a tourist trap to me, history and population notwithstanding.

Lets Ride!

Terry

Nintey Five Miles Closer To Boston: Aug 2

2010-08-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

To day was the start of week seven which is the second largest week in terms of mileage on the tour, and we started it with a 95 mile ride into Falwell, from Ludington. We started in the dark as we just crossed into a new time zone so crawling out of the tents was with your head lamp on. However by the time we were rolling down to breakfast it was light enough to ride.

Breakfast was at the Old Hamlin buffet downtown and they put on a good spread with lots of fresh fruit and of course my favorite - bacon. The ride it self a pretty straight forward ride though the country side with virtually no hills. There were a few small rollers but nothing to speak of. So I made good time. However my bike computer was acting up and so I didn't know how fast I was going or the distance travelled. Picnic came up pretty fast at the 42 mile mark beside a very pretty lake. The special of the day was some sort of tofu salad so I had a ham sandwich and rolled on out of there. After lunch was a 19 mile paved bike trail which took us off the busy road and it was probably the highlight of the day. It was so peaceful rolling along with a slight tail wind. The only noise was the hum of your tires on the pavement and the birds singing in the trees. I liked it. I even took my own picture. These bike trails are old railway lines which have been converted to bike trails and they are great. We were really lucky with the weather as it was overcast to day and so it never got very hot. I am not sure but my guess would have been in the low 80's. The humidity is close to 100% and it could have been a real baker.

I pulled my tent out and set it to dry while I showered. As it turned out that was a really smart move as the school has only two showers. In the three or four minutes I was in the shower there was a huge line of riders waiting to shower.

I had a spare bike computer with me so I swapped out my bike computer. Hopefully that will fix my problems.

While it was a pretty uneventful day we are now well over the 3000 mile mark. It may have been uneventful but it was still a great day. Perfect weather, great breakfast, wonderful path to ride on, and 95 miles closer to Boston.

Lets ride!

Terry

Ludington A day Off

2010-08-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

The sun was up by the time I got up and things sure did look a lot better than they did last night. So I put on my running gear, set my Garmin and was off for a run. It was a beautiful, run though a residential neighborhood to the downtown. Lots of beautiful painted lady Victorian homes, which have been loving restored. I managed to get a 45 minutes run in and covered 3.8 miles so I felt pretty good about that.
A quick shower and I grabbed my laundry and headed off to the laundry to wash clothes. With my laundry done and yesterday's blog written and the pictures down loaded. I am in great shape.
I get back to the school campground and when I turn around there is an old friend, Craig from the West Coast trip I did four years ago. So Craig and I hung out for the afternoon. We went downtown and wandered around the town. We stopped by the local gas station and got some beer and wandered down to the beach and drank beer on the beach. It was great to catch up on all the rides he has been on and having fun renewing our friendship. Craig is on for the next three weeks.
After we got back to the campsite Earnie shows up, and I got to meet his wife Betsy which was great as we have all heard so much about her but nobody has ever meet Betsy.
The bike got cleaned and oiled in there some where, laundry is done and supper has been eaten. It looks like tomorrow is a 93 mile day so I need a good night sleep, but that is tomorrow and on this trip you only worry about today. In fact I never ride further than picnic.
Lets ride!
Terry

The Longest Day Of The Trip

2010-08-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

The rain started at about 4:00 Am and continued on until my alarm went at 5:30. By then is was just the big drops from the tree hitting my tent. I guess that meant a wet tent to be rolled up I thought but at least the ride will be in the sun. When I crawled out of the tent that thought was gone as I saw that we were surrounded by a wet fog. The rain started coming down again as I folded my gear and got ready to roll. I lingered a breakfast until after 8:00 AM hoping for the rain to stop, and when it did I was off. It was only 38 miles from Plymouth down to Mackinwoc, where we would catch the ferry to Ludington Michigan, so there was no panic to get down there. We were to be on the ferry dock at 1:15 PM so it was an easy ride.

Most of the riders had left by the time I got on the road so I quickly caught a number of riders and we all rode along together in the rain. The rain wasn't really cold so it was kind of a fun ride once you got rolling. There was a paved bike path which paralleled the road so at least you weren't blasted by the spray from cars and trucks. At the 22 mile mark we came up to the shore of Lake Michigan. The fog had lifted enough so you could see the shore line. There were lots of beautiful homes along the shore and it was quite pretty despite the rain.

Picnic was at Carol's house. She is a long time friend of Cycle America and she always hosts the lunch before the ferry ride to Ludington. It was a great assembly point for the ride down to the ferry.

I had no idea what this ferry was like other than I assumed it was some sort of typical car ferry. As it turns out the S.S. Badger was launched in 1952. It is about 350 ft long and it is a coal fired, steam driven ship. I was shocked to see this thing. So at the appointed time of 1:15 PM the bikes are lead on to the Badger. All the while the coaling is underway which is quite an operation as 6 semi trucks of coal are backed onto the ferry and the coal is emptied into the bunkers. The ferry is suppose to leave at 2:00 PM but doesn't leave until 3:00 PM. It is a four hour trip across Lake Michigan. So arrival time is now 7:00 PM, but we lose an hour so it is really 8:00 PM. By the time we are rolling it is 8:30 and in camp by 9:00 PM.

The trip was exhausting and by time I had my wet tent set it was 9:45. The heck with supper I crawled in and when to bed.

Tomorrow is a rest day!

Terry

Back Roads = Amazing July 30

2010-07-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Maybe it was because we only rode 60 miles, and I wasn't tired. Maybe because I was kind of home sick. Never the less it was 1:30Am when I last looked at the alarm clock. So when the alarm went off at 5:20 AM, I felt like heck. I had admonished Greg the other day for looking tired. Then I show up feeling like I had been dragged through a knot hole. On top of that Patrick has decided to sag because he is tired.

Well I am not going to sag and so it is off to breakfast and I am just going to roll it. It is only 68 miles and the weather is beautiful. Besides I can burn the candle a little as tomorrow is the last day before day off and it is a short ride day. Off I go just cruising a long and taking my time. At the 8 mile mark we hit the spot where we are to take this bike path but it really isn't a bike path it is a ski-doo path. I ride it for about 3 miles and it gets too rough so it is back to the highway.

A few more turns here and there, some lefts and some rights and then it hits me. We have ridden 3000 miles across America and have been on nothing but country roads. Sure there have been a few spots here and there. Five miles here, ten there and so on but I would bet it wouldn't add up to more than a couple of hundred miles. Miles go by with out a semi-trailer passing or a loud Harley blowing your ears out. Things got a lot better with this thought, I stopped took some pictures, rode past the Horicon Marsh, took some open road pictures, took some rider pictures, and rolled into picnic. At picnic I did my usual thing which was to vacuum up as much fresh fruit as possible and then roll. Hey only 20 miles to go! Wow! Things are looking pretty good.
I cruised into town and there is a crowd of riders sitting on the sidewalk, and they tell me the school where we are camped is not ready. So I went into the corner gas station and grabbed a 24 oz can on beer and sat down on a park bench. It was cold and tasted great. The school thing was sorted out and everything is great.

We have wifi in the school and I sign on to find that Agnes has gotten Skype working at home so we talk for 45 minutes. Unfortunately Blogspot is blocked so I have to go through my office to post the blog. which means I will have to email the pictures to work. and then post them from there. So I will do it later. Job done!

What a great day!

Terry

A Fun Ride to Beaverdam July 29

2010-07-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

Not rain, no thunder storms, no wind, just a beautiful day for a ride down some totally deserted country roads. It was only 62 miles to day so there was no real panic to get down to Beaverdam but every rider seemed like they were on some kind of mission. As we started out it was 67 F and the sun was just coming up,without a hint of a breeze, so it was absolutely perfect riding weather.

I was having a blast riding ahead and then catching photos of the riders as they went past. At one point I lay down on the road to get some action shots as they crested this hill. Then Tom, Patrick and I started chasing other riders down and taking pictures of them. It was great. Before you knew it, it was picnic and there we filled up on a great chicken salad and lots of fresh fruit. I just love all the fresh fruit we have on this trip. There were some white peaches that were great.

After lunch Tom, Patrick and I set off and being totally full and being only 19 miles we were riding pretty slowly. At picnic Tom had heard Kari say to Nathan that she wanted to get in early so she could get the best spot in the gym with the best plug in. There is some sort of competition amongst the floor floppers as which spot is the best. I don't know about it as I don't floor flop. They were well up ahead of us by at least 3-5 miles. Patrick said let's get them. Tom said lets wait and get them at the end. Nothing more is said until about 4 miles out we spotted about a mile ahead. Patrick had dropped back as his saddle was hurting him. Tom and I didn't say anything but we both stepped on the pedals. At about one mile from town they were 250 yards ahead, and I said to Tom OK I`ll sling shot you. So I took the lead and rode as hard as I could. When we hit town Tom blasted past to get in first and claim the best spot in the gym. It was great fun.

So it was a great day of riding, picture taking, and having fun.

Terry

Sparta to Elroy Bike Path July 28

2010-07-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

There is only one way to describe to days ride and that is WOW! Today we rode down the Sparta to Elroy bike path, and the Wisconsin 400 path. These two paths are really one path and are part of the rails to trails network of bike paths. The line was laid in 1873 and consists of 55 miles of bike path. It has a packed limestone surface which adds some interest to the path. There are three tunnels the longest is 3875 feet and the shortest just over 1100 feet. It had rained last night so the path was damp and the dust was kept down. However there were a few slippery spots especially where there was a lot of trees.

The first tunnel we encountered was the longest, and you have to dismount and walk the tunnel because you cannot see the exit and it is very disorienting and you would slam into a wall. The tunnel is not lined so it was pretty wet. There was lots of water dripping though. Ed and I had bought wooden train whistles and had a lot of fun blowing the whistles. Everyone had their head lamps on and it was really quite a sight. I took a lot of pictures and am posting some of the tunnel entrances.
The path itself was either a flat or a a very low grade so riding was easy. However because it is not paved you had to pedal constantly, otherwise your bike came to a stop because of the unpaved surface. So after 55 miles my legs were ready for picnic. I must say that is was very beautiful and peaceful. I just loved gliding though the tree lined path. There were no Harley's roaring in your ears. No semi's hammering down on you. It was great!

After picnic it was only 20 miles in to camp so it was an easy ride. Glen and I rode along together. The route was a lot of fun as it was gently rolling with lots of left and right turns. The rain has cooled it down and the humidity has slacked off so it was a perfect ride to finish the day.

Lets Ride!

Terry

A Tough Day July 27

2010-07-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Last night's supper was lasagna again so when the supper is bogus then so is the breakfast, so I decided to blow it off and roll out early. The time table had been moved up 15 minutes so I got my luggage loaded and was on the road by 6:06 AM. Micheal was on the road at 5:40!
There was a lot of cloud cover which was helping to keep the temperatures down. There was even a huge strom cloud moving in from the south. Sure enough I got nailed at the 15 mile mark. It just hammered down so I stopped and put my rain coat on and then it stopped. However I was soaked. Continuing down the road at the 35 mile market I stopped for breakfast at a gas station and Ed and Patrick rolled up just as I was finishing. The three of us rolled on together until picnic at the 45 mile mark, where Patrick decided to not stop but to eat on his own.
I think the story of the day is the combination of the hills and the head winds, which combined with the near 100% humidity and 95+ F temperature to make today a really tough day. It wasn't that there were so many hills or that the elevation gain was so large (it was only 3750 ft), but the hills were so steep, and there were so many of them. The wind was out of the SE and we were headed SE. It was gusting from 5 mph to 30 mph. When it was five, the heat would blister your skin. When it was thirty you could hardly make any head way. By time we reached the school in Sparta I was beat. So was it the hills, or the head winds, or the humidity, or the temperature, or it was the 94.9 miles?

Having arrived at 2:00 Pm I decided to go see the Deke Slayton/Bicycle - Monroe County Museum here in Sparta. Deke Slayton was on of the origninal Merucry astronauts. He never flew but was on the team with John Glen. He came from Sparta. The museum was very well layed out and had a lot of exhibits, including hundreds of bikes of every size and description. Of special interest was the information on the Elroy-Sparta Bike trail which we are going to ride tomorrow. I was kind of limited on time and had to rush though it but I would highly recomend the museum.

I havefound really spotty internet beside the road but it won't load pictures and the ants are eating me. So I will post some pictures as soon as I can.
Exhausted but happy!
Terry

A Fun Day Into Wisconsin July 26

2010-07-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

To day we had what is called an off site breakfast which is where the breakfast is not where we are staying. Breakfast today was at Tracy's house, who is one of the administrative people for Cycle America. She hosts the breakfast as a fund raiser for her daughter's dance club. The breakfast of baked french toast with strawberry and banana syrup was so good. It was 13 miles down the road. The ride was only 68 miles to day so having breakfast down the raod made the day seem really short.
I should mention that everyone was wearing thier new Coast to Coast 2010 jerseys. They looked very sharp. So there was a real spirit in the air. Group pictures, lots of jokes and calling out "HEY NICE JERSEY".
After breakfast we rode a further 4 miles down the road to the World head quarters of Cycle America which is in Cannon Falls. This being a photo op everyone posed infront of the building. We couldn't get in for a tour as it was too early. However we had fun taking pictures and peering though the windows.
After this we hit the Cannon Valley Trail bike path which took us 18 miles to Red Wing MN. This was one of th rails to trails projects. As we followed the Cannon River it was so beautiful along the bike path. The path it's self was pathed with the smoothest pavement imaginable. There were wooded sections which hung over the trail where it was wonderfully cool. There were opens sections of meadow, where the wild flowers where in large blankets of yellow, purple and white. A squirrel darted out ran right between my wheels. I may have run over his tail with my back wheel. It was crazy.
This took us to picnic which was in a beautiful park in downtown Red Wing. Red Wing is the town famous for Red Wing Shoes. It is right on the Mississippi River. There was a huge park and marine there and picnic was set up in the park. I was riding with Ed to day had he had some business to do downtown otherwise I could have stayed there sucking down all the fresh fruit which was out at picnic.
With lunch behind us we rode across the Mississipi River and into Wisconsin. Ed was born and raised here and spent a large part of his carreer working in Wisconsin before retiring to Colorado. So I got a low down on live in Wisconsin. It was really great and we shared a lot of laughs. As we had only 30 miles to go we stopped at every historic marker, view point and everything we could think of. We stopped and had ice cream at a little road side stand. We bought wooden train whistles for the tunnels we will be taking in a couple of days. We still arrived in Pepin at 1:30 and as promised luggage was still on its way. So we headed downtown to find beer, which we did and it was ice cold.
I have to say that to day was one of the highlights of the trip. Breakfast was great, seeing the world Head quarters of Cycle America, the bike path was so beautiful, picnic was great, crossing the Mississippi marks a point in the journey, riding with Ed was very entertaining, everyone had on there new Coast to Coast jerseys, and the weather was drop dead gorgeous. What more could you want?
So now that I have completed the pounding in part of the blog process the hunt for internet begins. I see that all of the houses around here have TV antenna's on the roof so I am not hopeful. Got lucky on some poached internet, an dgot two pictures but thats all I could get.

See you later!

Terry

A Day in Northfield MN

2010-07-25T18:36:00.001-07:00

The fame of Northfield comes from the so called Northfield Raid of 1876 by the James -Cole-Younger gang. These famous gangs rode north to hit the First National Bank in Northfield. This robbery was a total failure and two of the gang members were killed out right in the robbery. However it did trigger the largest man hunt in American history at that time. Eventually the James brothers were captured and spent 25 years in prison. There is a very nice museum in the very bank which the robbery took place. There have been several movies about the exploits on the James gang.

The day off started by sleeping until 7:30 Am when I finally crawled out and put my running gear on and ran for 45 minutes. It was really nice to stretch out my legs and being a Sunday morning I had the streets to myself. It was perfect running, nice and cool with a wonderful view along the river. I had a very nice 45 minute run covering almost 4 miles. After a quick shower and then some internet action it was time for the luxury of a nap. My tent is pitched under a huge tree so I have lots of shade and the breeze was blowing though the flaps. The birds were singing in the tree and all was perfect with the world. I was asleep within 5 seconds. In the afternoon I jumped on my bike and cruised the town. It has a very pretty setting right on the river. It looks like you can pick up a 1900's Victorian home approximately 2000 sqft in totally restored condition for around $160,000. Not bad.

Supper tonight was in theEast Indian Chapati restaurant in the Achibald House which is a historic inn of the 1880's vintage. The aroma was to die for. I knew we were in for a huge treat and just happened to be standing right in front of the door when they annouced dinner was on. One taste and I went on total vacum. Sorry for the oil field jargon but that is the only way to discribe the situation. Three plate fulls later I hit the Gulab Jamun. The Gulab Jamun was the best I have ever tasted. Not to sweet but the honey taste! WOW!

A few weeks ago Brian organized jerseys for us and they are in. They look spectaular. As we are visiting the world head quarters of Cycle America we are going to wear the jerseys.

Tomorrow is a ride day so time to sign off.

Let's Ride!

Terry

N

2010-07-25T17:59:00.001-07:00

A Nice Tail wind to Northfield July 24

2010-07-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a huge electric storm. It started about 11:30 Pm and lasted until well after 1:00 Am. The lightning was flashing almost nonstop for the entire time. The thunder would follow almost immediately after the flash so it was close. The rain was just lashing the tent something fierce, but the tent kept me dry. It was fun watching the lightning through the tent window.

This morning the aftermath of the storm was a stiff wind out of the northwest. Fortunately for us we were headed southeast. The normal route that Cycle America rides is under construction so we were forced to take a much longer route. This put the days mileage at 100.3 miles. My take on the century rides is that they are 20 miles too long. However with the good tail wind we just flew down to picnic which was at the 50.3 mile mark. I think I rolled into picnic at around 9:30 Am so just over 2.5 hours to cover the first half of the ride.

Just before picnic we crossed the Minnesota river. On the west side of the river the land is totally flat. On the east side it is very rolling. So a person had the choose to ride as hard as you could down hill and then gear down on the way up the hill hoping not to shift out of your big ring in the front, or glide down the hill and grind up the next hill. The wind had died down and the temperature was comming up so I did some of each. If I thought I could make it with out getting into the granny gear then I would charge the down hill. If I could see it was going to turn into a grinder well then I just let it coast on the way down. The road had a lot more cracks and was very broken up on the east side of the river as well. This made the second half much longer.

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At the 75 mile mark there was a huge gas station coner store. So I figured it was time to take a break. They had a sale on strawberry milk. Two, 16 oz. bottles for $2.00. Strawberry milk being my favorite I scouped up a couple of bottles, along with a glazed cininmon roll. The milk was ice cold and so delcious. I knew the milk would sustain me for the last push into Northfield.

Tomorrow being a rest day it was time to go out for supper. It was great not having to stand in line, sit on real chairs and order what you wanted. I had the half rack of back ribs. They were great. A lot of the riders wandered into the pub and a party broke out. After supper several of us wandered down the street and listened to a band in another pub for a while before heading off to find ice cream.
I feel so lucky that we have had great weather while riding. This week could have been hell riding across South Dakota. It could have been over a 100 everyday with head winds. Instead we had tail winds and low 80's.

Tomorrow is a rest day! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

Terry

A Great Day With A Surprise Ending:

2010-07-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we went down to the bar to celibrate Glen's birthday. Glen has been my room mate when we have been in the dorms. So We have become good friends. The bar was quite a distance from the school where were staying in Montevideo, so we had to ride our bikes down. Coming back was exciting as we had no lights on the bikes and the town did not have street lights.

That was yesterday and today was another ride. It was a total of 88 miles from Montevideo to Hutchinson with a climb of just 1070 feet. The big story of the day was the tail wind we had for most of the day. We where headed almost due east and there was a good stiff breeze coming out of the NNW. As a result the riders were just flying along. I stopped to watch a crop duster for a few minutes and Glen rolled up so the two of us rode on together. Picnic was at 46 miles and it came up at around 9:45 so we were well ahead of schedule. After picnic Glen and I met up with Frank and the three of us formed up into a pace line and whistled down into Hutchison in record time. The wind kept the temperatures down to around 74F. Combining the totally flat course and the tail wind made for a very fast and fun ride.

After arriving at the Hutchison school where we are staying I jumped off my bike and went for a 15 minute run. Baggage wasn`t unloaded so the run was in my bike shoes, which is kind of clunky but you do with what you have. So I have made my four runs of 15 minutes this week. I think that it has become easier to do and it feels less like I have wooden blocks for feet, now than it did last week so I am quite pleased. Hopefully this no run program will put me in good stead for the Long Beach Marathon in Oct.

The big surprise however is that the Hutchison Middle School has an olymic pool. It is absolutely stunning. So do blog or go for a swim? That question took less than a microsecond to answer. Out to my tent, find my swim trunks, and into the pool. It was so cool and wonderful. What a great surprise! I mean a middle school with an olymipic pool??? Come on! We have died and gone to heaven.

Supper is suppose to be beef tip, chicken wings, carrots and brocli with cheese, mashed potatoes, and salad bar. It seems like we have had more lasagna than you can imagine. Greg swears that isn't true, but I know we had lasagna last night and when I said something, to some of the other riders they all agreed that we have lasagna overload.

One day left to the end of week five---WOW!

Terry