Aug 8 2014 Watertown to Star Lake NY

The good supper equals good breakfast rule held up this morning.  Last night we had an awesome supper of barbequed hamburgers and all the fixings and this morning an awesome breakfast of French toast with blueberry compote with ham and sausage.  So I filled up to the point of this might be a bit too much for the bike ride.

Ken C and I rolled out together this morning.  It was quite busy on the road but most of the traffic was headed into town. After a couple of turns we were out in the country and cruising down some very nice deserted country roads.  The route today was only 62 miles so we were not in any hurry. We rolled past a lot of small acreages and farms. I really don’t understand how come there are all these beautifully paved back roads with no traffic.

Picnic was at 36 miles so it came up pretty fast.  We hung around as there was only 25 miles to ride and even though there were some big hills to climb it was still no more than a 2 hour ride.  Star Lake where we were going is a not a big place. In fact the high light of the town is the little IGA store.

When Ken and I got in we headed down to the IGA and grabbed some choclate milk and some apple fritters. They were great.

Tomorrow we ride into Lake Placid which is the last day of the week. Right now we have less than 450 miles to ride and only 7 more ride days.

Terry

Aug 7 2014 Oswego to Watertown NY

We had supper last night and breakfast this morning in the Oswego University cafeteria.  It was very nice. It was great eating off real plates using real cutlery and drinking coffee out of real mugs.  An added bonus was that the cafeteria didn’t open until 7:00 so we got to sleep in an extra half hour.

The ride today was straight up NY state highway 3 for 72 miles.  It wasn’t too busy and it had a nice shoulder all the way.  The pavement was absolutely the best we have ridden on this tour.  There were only a couple of small detours where we ducked off the main highway to tour along Lake Ontario.  Of course nothing comes for free so the penalty was that there was a 10-15 mph head wind almost the entire day. 

Following the highway the road was slightly rolling however there wasn’t too much to see as it was well inland from the lake. The only time we saw the lake was on one of the short detours.  Picnic was on one of the detours and was located on the beach in Wescott State Park. This detour took us down along the lake where there were some beautiful homes overlooking the lake. 

At three miles out I spotted an ice cream shop so Ken and I rolled in. I had the medium soft serve cone which had a pile of ice cream 10 “ high.  

Tomorrow is a short day at only 62 miles down to Star Lake.

Terry

Aug 6 2014 Seneca Falls to Oswego NY

Last nights supper was terrible. Tasteless pulled pork which had not been drained on an extremely cheap bun, Mashed potatoes which had some sort of hard lumps in them ( I suspect that the lumps were under cooked potatoes which had been added to some sort of instant mashed potatoes) and un-drained broccoli which had been boiled to mush.   Of course I forgot the rusty lettuce salad.  The rule is that if supper is poor breakfast will be worse and it was.  The coffee was so weak it looked like tea. No toaster, no ham , no bacon, no sausages.  Some sort of egg quiche and oat meal.    However the surly service was probably the topper.

The ride was suppose to be 79 miles however there was a turn onto West Gully Road at 30.9 miles  which was kind of a bear left onto a what looked like a lane.  As it was only a “bear” instead of turn there was only 1 arrow. I came over the top of the hill hard and charged down the back side of the hill and missed the single arrow (I guess a lot of others did as well).  I got down about 3.5 miles and realized I was off course so I turned around. Only 3.5 miles and three very steep hills to climb, not so bad but then it started to rain.  Ken C realized I had missed the turn and phoned Greg who dispatched Ed “Wrong Way Bob” to find me.  Ed found me about 0.5 miles from the turn.   Ok that little episode only cost me about 45 minutes.  Then just be for picnic there was a second bear left at this “Y” intersection. The main road continued to the right and the arrow pointed more to the right than left so I went right.  About 3 miles down the road I am on a highway headed west so wrong again.  

Ken C is patiently waiting a picnic when I did get in so I quickly grabbed a sandwich put it in a baggie and we rolled.  When we get to second water there is only one water cooler.  Strange as there is usually two.  When we get into camp we find out than someone cut Greg’s padlock and stole one cooler.

Cher from Texas also had a tough day.  Hers started out with a big dog barking right behind her which scared her half to death.  She threatened me with marshmallow cream in my shoes.   Then just after second water her rear shifter broke and so they waited for the sag wagon to come but gave up after a couple of hours and rode in with no rear shifter. 

The weather has turned sunny so I am hopping for a couple of nice days.  I was good to get in and get stuff dried out. 

Terry

Aug 5 2014 Geneseo to Seneca Falls NY

Last night Greg was out doing routing as Ed W was back in Colorado. As a result Matt stood in to do the rider meeting.  The weather report he gave us sounded pretty ominous.  The forecast was 80% chance of rain in Geneseo and 50% percent in Seneca Falls.  As the day’s ride was 95 miles and 4820 ft of climb, you are pretty much guaranteed to get rained on.  In fact Matt made it sound like constant thunder and lightening all day.  So I laid out my heavy duty rain gear. 

When I crawled out there were some clouds but it was pretty much blue sky.  It didn’t look too much like rain to me.  So the rain gear was bundled up on the bike as you just never know and it is easy to put on if you have it.  At digital sign indicated 64F as I rode out of town. 

Ken C and I had rolled out together but were only loosely in contact with eath other during the first 20 miles.  Ken stopped to help fix another rider’s tire and by the time I got up he had it well in hand.  As he did not need any supervision or a safety officer present I rode on and Ken met me at picnic. 

The ride was running perpendicular to the finger lakes so there was lots of hills between each lake. As we were on back roads the hills were really steep and I saw 13% on my bike computer several times.  It was very pretty riding down the little used winding back roads.  The lakes were lined with beautiful summer homes which actually looked more like summer mansions. The hills had small farms which looked like the farmers were probably pretty poor.  

Ater lunch Ken and I got together and rode along together as it was starting to look more and more like rain.  The last 15 miles was a race to get in before the down pour.  We were taking turns pulling as hard as we could.  We got to the school and started putting up tents among the first drops of the down pour. 

Terry

Aug 4 2014 Niagara Ont to Geneseo NY

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast in the Tower Hotel baquet room.  The Tower Hotel is a big tower which is locate right on the edge of the Niagara escarpment, over looking the Canadian falls. There is no prettier sight.  You are several hundred feet above ground level looking right down on the falls. The breakfast itself had everything you could want eggs, bacon sausages, hash browns, waffles, good coffee, pastries, cereal, etc.   This is one of the real highlights of the trip.

After tanking up for the 86 mile ride I was on my way.  First stop was the boarder crossing across the Rainbow bridge.  Although I did not see a rainbow others did.  I was too busy making sure that I was in the right lane and watching traffic to be looking around.  I got into a lane with all of the other cyclists and by time I go to the check point they were basically waving us through.  Next up was the ride through metro Buffalo which has been totally horrendous in the past however router Dan found a way which was very quick and easy down a bunch of bike paths and side streets. Yes there were a lot of turns but it was great.  A real testament to his skill.

Out in the country side it was a picture perfect day blue sky with the odd little puffy white cloud, beautiful rolling countryside with lots of trees, dairy farms, smooth pavement and good shoulders (mostly).   There was just a hint of a breeze which helped keep you cool and temperatures in the low 70’s F.  It was the quintessential up state New York.  I doubt that Norman Rockwell could have painted it any better. 

In 2010 we rode along the south shore of Lake Ontario however this time we are well south of the lake. It was a great route and I think a huge improvement over following the lake which had a ton of traffic.

Just a wonderful day.

Terry

Aug 3 2014 Rest Day Niagara Falls Ont

The sound of rain falling on my tent woke me at 5:30 Am this morning. It wasn’t hard just a soft drizzle.  By 6:00 it had gotten a little louder and by 7:00 Am I had to get up anyway.   So I gathered up my stuff and headed off to find breakfast.   It looked like an all day soaker rain. The sky was one solid shade of gray. 

I went up to the Flying Saucer restaurant for a waffle and coffee.  It was also a good place to post the blog and catch up on e-mails.  There I met Wally, April and a couple of others.  We decided to head down to the falls and do the Maid of the Mist boat trip.  After all what trip to Niagara Falls would be complete without the boat trip.  

It was only a mile up the road so we walked over. By the time we got there the rain had quit and the sun was kind of half heartily shining.  We had been warned that it was a long line up but the rain had scared the crowds off and we walked right on.   The Maid of the Mist trip takes you right up to the base of the falls. The thunder of the water coming down is deafening.  It really is a wonder of the world.   There was lots of joking and laughing getting the ponchos on and we all really enjoyed the trip. 

After the trip Wally was intent on finding food and April and Derek want to see the horticultural center. I wanted to walk up along the escarpment and view the falls and go into the visitor center.  So we split up.

I walked back to camp to do some work on my mural/collage of rider pictures. 

Hopefully tomorrow isn’t so rainy as it is another ride day (only 12 ride days left and 900 miles). 

Terry

Aug 2 2014 Port Huron to Niagara Ont.

To day was a great day. The weather was perfect. Breakfast was wonderful, especially the pancakes.  The route along the north shore of Lake Eire was beautiful.  The little ferry ride across the Welland cannel was fun.  Picnic had some wonderful treats.  Tom had made his trifle which was great.  There was a ton of fresh fruit on the picnic table.  Lots of my favourites like raspberries, blueberries, and pineapple.

The morning started with a 6 mile ride into Port Huron as we were staying in a campground out of town.  So I was on the rode just after 6:00 Am and down to the Erie Shores hotel where we had a buffet breakfast.  I think that the breakfast in Frankenmuth might have been just as good but it is at least the number two so far.  The pancakes were what made it.  They had a hint of cinnamon in them and when covered in real maple syrup they were great. 

Ken C and I rolled together and just cruised along the route as it was only 78 miles today and being the end of the week there was no panic to get in.  After we left Port Huron we rode down along the Lake Eire shore.  It was really neat riding past all the holiday beach cabins.  Some were just little tiny 400 sq ft places squeezed together, some were huge beach mansions, and then there were all of the rv resorts which where jammed with tents and trailers.  There were lots of beautiful lake views, and being a back road off of a back road there were no cars.

We rolled into picnic and when we found all the goodies on the table, we proceeded to gorge ourselves.  Well at least I did.  Shuli had made a chicken and lettuce salad which was filled with allsorts of wonderful crunchy stuff.    Tom had made his trifle. It had a layer of fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Boy it was great.  

After picnic we rolled down to the Welland cannel and jumped on the free ferry which services the bike path along the cannel.  Being it was a little warm today (31 C) the water was nice and cool and the ferry ride while very short was a great diversion.

The city of Niagara came up pretty quickly and I rolled in the school where we are camped and Ken rolled down to the hotel where he is staying.   Both the hotel and the school are only a mile from the falls.  Tomorrow Maid of the Mist and a day of rest. 

Terry  

Aug 1 2014 West Lorne (West Elgin) to Port Huron

Today was to be a 97 mile day however the school in Port Huron pulled the plug on Greg a couple of days ago.  This put Greg in to scramble mode as there isn’t a lot of options in this part of the world and especially during peak tourist season.  However he came through and landed us in a beautiful camp ground just 6 miles out of Port Huron.  The school in Port Huron was probably the worst place on the tour so I am not sad to see it go.  In addition the church ladies who did the supper also pulled out which is great as it was the worst meal on the tour.  We are being shuttled into Port Huron to a restaurant.

The ride was nice in that it was mostly along very quiet country roads which had very nice pavement.  We headed straight south to Lake Eire and then headed east along the lake shore drive. However as there was a huge fog bank just off shore there wasn’t much to see on the right side. 

Picnic was in the town of Port Burwell, which has one of the first lighthouses on Lake Eire, It was built in 1840 and is now a tourist info center. The quaint little town has a maritime museum which looked pretty good but I didn’t go in.  They have also pulled up the Canadian submarine Ojibwa up on the shore and turned it in to a tourist thing. The only option to see the submarine was a $25 tour which lasted 90 minutes.  As I didn’t have 90 minutes I rolled out of picnic. 

After picnic I missed a turn in the little town of Port Rowan and went of route.  Other riders missed the turn so I suspect that a car had parked on one of the arrows.  In an effort to conserve paint the arrows are getting smaller and smaller, and few and further apart.  Dan is routing for the next few days so there will be lots of arrows,   A few miles down the road I realized I was of course and went into a store and got directions.

Just a few miles out of camp there was an ice cream shop so I stopped.  I had a double scoop of the wild cherry and it was great.

On the trivia side we crossed the 1000 miles to go about 4 miles out of West Lorne.  This leaves us with 913 miles to go. Getting close!

|Terry

July 31 2014 Memphis MI to West Elgin On

I was out and on my bike early today. I was on the road by 6:50 which is about 15-20 minutes earlier than usual.  It was good getting away those few minutes earlier as I was able to cover a lot of ground before the local traffic in the town started to move. 

The road out of Memphis was really rough. There was no shoulder and the right hand wheel track was extremely broken. I kind of reminded me of the roads in Romania.  In fact they were so rough that they vibrated the screw out of one arm of my glasses.  This terrible road lasted about 10 miles and then when I crossed this major road there was some new pavement. 

The route took down to the St Lawrence River at a little place called Marine Bay where there was a ferry which took me across to Canada. The fee was only $1.00 for bikes which was a great deal.  They sure didn’t make any money taking me across. 

Dan the router had been across yesterday so Canadian customs knew we were coming so it took only a couple of minutes to clear customs.  After customs the ride was pretty much straight down this perfectly flat straight road for 60 miles.  This took me past lush green farms of corn, beans, and Christmas trees.  It was pretty uneventful. There was a slight tail wind which helped and I managed to get in quite early.

The school in West Elgin where we are staying has a most unusual shower system in that they are either all on or all off.  The shut off value is located out side the locker room so you have to get someone to turn on the water for you, and to conserve water you have to have a minimum of four others.  Kind of give new meaning to the shower with a friend phrase.

Terry