The final chapter

 

Day 53 – Portsmouth to Boston to London to Manchester to Morecambe – Estimated mileage lots!

Today is a little bit ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’ as everyone who is left makes their way from Portsmouth to their next destination. Some head home, some to family and friends and some to extend their stay at leisure in the USA.

Even after the late night last night, I was still awake at 5am so I did some tidying up on the computer and further packing before going for breakfast with Brian about 5.30am. There was an America By Bicycle ‘shuttle’ bus running for anyone who wanted to go to Boston Logan Airport that left at 7am, so we saw our new found friends at breakfast, then waved them away as they started their journey.

The question was what to do then. Portsmouth looked a lovely little town as we went through last night on the way to the restaurant and a stroll downtown had appeal. There were other options too, but in the end we just stayed in the room until check-out time at 11am and chilled. American TV entertained us, it was that desperate. We really didn’t feel like doing anything at all, and achieved that objective. At 12 noon, together with 6 other riders, we went by luxury limousine bus to Boston Logan, arriving about 1.45pm. The baggage handler helped Brian and I with our bikes and bags, and when I tried to tip him he gave the money back. Either it’s against the law or he considered the amount I had given too insulting to accept. Either way, it was his loss.

I have spoken before about America By bike, the tour company that I travelled with and who organised the whole tour. I cannot praise them too highly; their organisation was magnificent and the price paid was the best value for money imaginable. All food was taken care of by their superb organisation. One thing that we were warned was that when we left the ride and went out to eat, we should remember to pay before leaving restaurants, and to leave a tip. Yes, it was that well organised. The food was paid for and the waiting-on staff tipped at each restaurant that we went to by our staff. We never had to pay for anything unless it was an alcoholic drink, or something outside the cost of the meal that had been negotiated. Each day, the SAGs provided enough food of the right type to satisfy the needs of the riders. If there was something that was wanted that wasn’t there (and was reasonable) it would be obtained whenever possible. Energy bars, fruit, Gatorade powder, salt snacks, sugar snacks and such like were in plentiful supply as was a seemingly never ending supply of cold water. This didn’t materialise by magic; it was all done by the superb staff. Michelle was going out to buy ice from a local Wal-Mart at 10pm one night ready for the ride the next day.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say that if you are contemplating doing anything like this in the USA, go with America By Bike. You will not be disappointed.

This leads me on to the next point and that concerns personal preparation for the ride. I really thought I had prepared sufficiently for the ride, and to a certain degree that was true. With the time restrictions that apply to ‘leisure cyclists’ I do not think I could have done more training. I could, and perhaps should, have done more when I got to the USA and taken the bike out for a twenty or thirty mile ride during my pre-tour time. Having said that, I wasn’t alone in that, but the locals all seemed to be very keen cyclists who regularly rode considerable distances with clubs. It took me some time to get into their way of riding, but when I did, I was more than able to hold my own.

My own view to the ride did not change throughout the whole. I wanted to see America and wanted to do it by bike. I wanted to see things, appreciate them and take photographs of places and people. There were any number of reasons why other people wanted to do the ride and I respect everyone’s right to do the ride as they wanted. That some seemed to want to get from hotel to hotel as fast as possible without ‘smelling the roses’ was a source of mystery to me, but there were times when I had to do just that myself to get the whole of the ride done within the time allowed. I did not allow that to spoil the experience, though, and I think I stuck to my principles throughout the ride.

Clothes, shoes, cycle and equipment needs to be looked at closely. Ten and eleven hour days in the saddle were not uncommon, and the equipment used needs to be of the very highest quality you can afford. Shoes should ideally be a size larger than normal because of the heat. Nearly everyone complained of aching and sore feet on long days and this was due to feet swelling due to the constant pounding they got. There were not many chances to rest feet, and into a headwind in Kansas, there was none at all as one would be pedalling all day. The right shorts are absolutely essential. Everyone had saddle sores and that was even with good shorts being worn. In preparing and training for the ride, the biggest thing I can recommend is time in the saddle. It doesn’t matter what distance you ride, obviously the further the better, but a long time with one’s bum on the saddle will be rewarded on a ride of this length and intensity. Look at getting something called ‘Bag Balm’ or something with lanolin in it for applying to the tender parts; Vaseline doesn’t last long enough and by the time you realise it’s wearing out, it’s already too late.

Overall, we were very lucky with the weather. Although we had everything, there were no real extremes. When we were in Kansas, about thirty miles south of us, the area was experiencing 18” of rainfall in one day. I know there was rain at home that led to flooding, but there were flash floods after that amount of rain for days on end.  We did not get extremes of heat either. It was over 100® on a couple of days, but just before the end, when we were out East, the Western states that we had started in were experiencing 124® days. If it’s that hot, you shouldn’t be on a bike; as hot as it was for us, there is little you can do to prepare for that in England!

Get used to taking Vitamin C and Multi-Vitamin with mineral tablets as soon as the ride starts. The food eaten in the USA is such that all the vitamins are beaten out of it and one’s intake of essentials is insufficient; I ended up taking double the daily dose and feeling good with no side effects. Also, use an enzyme based drink as well as water to re-hydrate. Cycle shops or Chemists will guide.

The roads in the USA are generally appalling with occasional bright spots. The bike needs to be very robust and fitted with the most puncture resistant tyres you can find. I ended up using Continental ‘Gator Skin’ tyres and they were very durable. Ekert from Germany almost made it through puncture free and he used Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres which he had used all over the world and found to be excellent. A decent saddle is also essential for the reasons stated above. If you are a ‘big lad’ like me, get a strong back wheel with 36 or more spokes. It will save buckling and spoke damage.

Finally, don’t use metal bottles. In the heat, they are an effective kettle. Get some insulated bottles as they at least keep the water cooler a little longer than your average bottle.

What did I take from the ride? Well, I learnt a lot about my strengths and weaknesses and, for that I think I am a better person for doing the ride, and I think a lot of the other riders are too. The whole tour ‘story’ was filled with great characters who touched each other’s lives in some way. I also learnt that it’s not just where you are at the moment, but what you do with the experience of the moment. Additionally, there were winds when riding. Some were into my face and were very noticeable and not a nice experience. Tailwinds on the other hand were a better experience and gave more benefit to me. Tailwinds, however, had to be thought about and looked for because you don’t always feel them immediately on your back. I learnt that I should look for the tailwinds more and appreciate them when they are there and not look for the difficulties so much. Finally, I learnt that it isn’t about the challenge that has just been accepted and achieved – dwelling on past success is not the way ahead. The way ahead is looking for, accepting and taking on the next challenge. What will that be? I don’t know at the moment, but I know one thing:-

Riding cross America – I’m really pleased to have done it – I’m glad it’s over and no, I won’t be doing that ride again!

I missed my family and friends and the day to day things of home. I missed a good rest. I also missed the sea!

In no particular order, I list these as the ‘lows’ of the tour:-

• Kansas that was straight, boring and went on for ever;
• The ‘rollers’ of Missouri that lasted for three days;
• Head winds and Rain (not necessarily together);
• The food (everything seems to be processed with all the goodness taken out and if there is a world sugar shortage, the USA will be brought to its knees) (This does not imply any fault or blame at all to America By Bike)
• The (state of) roads;
• The attitudes of some drivers of motor vehicles to cyclists;
• Long days, in particular the one into Garden City.

And again in no particular order, I list these as the ‘highs’ of the tour:-

• The laughs along the way;
• Over 1,000 pictures;
• Screaming downhills!!;
• Friends I rode with throughout the whole ride and some through the latter stages- Bob, Tim, Gary, Brian, Cliff, Gary and Robert;
• The genuine people in the group who did not change the way they were at all;
• The attitude of all the staff, Andy, Michelle, Gerard, Tom and Christine towards the whole tour. From their lead and encouragement I never felt under any pressure to do anything but enjoy the ride;
• Arches National Park, Niagara Falls, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison;
• The people we met along the way and who were all so interested in what we were doing;
• The increase in fitness and decrease in weight over the weeks;
• California, Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire;
• America By Bike;
• Value for money!

Once again I really must thank all those who have read this record, be you fellow rider, friend of a fellow rider, my family or friends. It has at times been a labour of love, but it has become something I wanted to continue to do as I realised people were supporting me all the way across. Over 6,000 hits on the site can’t be wrong and thanks to you all.

I hope you have enjoyed following me and maybe this will inspire you to do something that will make people say, ‘You’re doing what?’ whilst under their breath, they are saying, ‘There’s no way he/she will do that!’

I did it.

You can too.

Goodbye.

Last Hurrah

Day 52 – Manchester to Portsmouth – Estimated mileage 62 miles

At 12.15pm today, led by a patrol car from the Portsmouth Police Department with full ‘blues and twos’ going, we left the Rye School playground on the outskirts of Portsmouth and went to Wallace Beach where we finished the epic journey across the USA by dipping the front wheel of our bikes into the Atlantic Ocean. Some stayed short and left as soon as they got to the beach, others stayed and talked to family, friends or anyone who would listen to them whilst others stayed longer, swam in the sea and drank champagne. All in all, the group riders had been part of a magnificent achievement, the experience being enriched by their participation.

Last night was Awards Night where each member was presented with something that typified their participation. As I had proudly displayed an England flag on the rear of the  bike (widely mistaken for Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Poland – ‘but gee, where’s that Union Jack?’) I was presented with a Stars and Stripes which I attached to the St George Cross and rode with for the last day. Other awards were amusing but only to the participants, so I won’t go into detail.

We all got a chance to say a few words, so I thanked Rick for being a great ‘roomy’, Bob and Tim for being a great help to me all the way and Brian for squeezing every last drop out of the experience. The staff also acknowledged Brian’s contribution by presenting him with the route map that was displayed each day showing our progress across the country.

The evening finished at 9ish and everyone hit the hay for an early start on the last day. We were up at 5.45am and out on the road an hour later as we all had to be at the school at Rye by 12 noon.

The mood of the riders was high with much laughing and joking and even the speedsters slowed down enough to take some pictures and talk to us lowly ones at the back. We rode through some beautiful countryside – new England really is a magnificent place – and went through some lovely small towns, finally hitting Fremont and finding a coffee shop with plenty of bikes outside that indicated it would be a good place to stop and so it was. I paid the fine given to me by Robert for the ‘loan’ of his chain pin yesterday and paid for the coffees and a hot chocolate for him. We got to the first, only and last ever SAG stop of the tour in the town of Chester and there were a lot of people there too.

Riding away from there, we did a quick time check and found that we had about an hour to cover the last 15-20 miles, so skates were applied and we shot along the route, arriving at the school just before the escort.

There were a number of wives, families and friends of local riders there to meet them, and it was quite moving to be cheered into the school playground for our achievement. There was much hand shaking, hugging and congratulations being bandied about. We had group photos taken then headed for the beach.

On arrival at the beach, some riders just went off to the hotel, got their luggage and headed home. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t missed all that much, but those that hung around wanted to make the moment last.

After about an hour at the beach, and a phone call home to tell the news that I really had done it, some of us rode off to ‘do’ another State by riding over a bridge into Maine before turning back and heading for the hotel.

At the hotel some got changed, got their luggage and headed off. Others got their luggage, checked in then went about the task of packing bikes ready for their journey to their respective homes. Some bikes will be condemned, others will be ridden in the next week and others will never be ridden again. One will go into the clubroom of the La Baule cycling club in France to celebrate the cycling life of Robert who has promised his wife that ‘C’est assez’. (That’s enough)

For me, it was pack up the bike, unpack and start to re-pack the bags, then go out for a meal. Six of us went to a highly recommended seafood restaurant. When in this area, the only thing to eat is Maine lobster, and we went just over the bridge into Maine to ‘Warren’s’ where the lobsters are delivered daily to the restaurant’s own dock. We all chose the day’s special of twin 1lb lobsters and I’ll tell you what…….

 

…………they were bloody gorgeous!!

I’ll finish today’s report at this point but I will write a little more about my thoughts about the trip over all and post that, if not tomorrow, then over the next few days.

Once again, thanks for reading. Over 5,000 hits tells me someone was interested!

Statistics today really didn’t make any difference at all, but over all, we have covered 3,863 miles officially. Unofficially, it’s a few more, but who’s arguing and who cares………..

……..I did it………….

Scorpion Day

Day 51 – Brattleboro to Manchester – Estimated mileage 86 miles

This was undoubtedly the sting in the tail! The scorpion stung and stung well.

After yesterday’s great journey through Vermont’s glorious countryside, at 0.7 miles into today’s journey, we crossed the border into New Hampshire, our destination State. The weather was cloudy and fine, but the forecast predicted cloudy and rain. We still set off in good spirits, even though we knew that today had the second highest climbing day of the whole trip. There was more climbing today than the first day into the Sierra Neveda Mountains and in the whole of the Rockies. Today we climbed 6,100 feet, but fortunately the climbs were not long ones, the longest only being about three miles or so.

Jay, Me, Gary, Robert, Bob and Cliff at the New Hampshire State line

The route started us out on New Hampshire state road 9 and we seemed to criss cross that all morning as we went looking for more and more hills to climb. Some of the gradients were listed in the route sheet as 10% – those with fancy bike computers had actually measured one at least at 26%. They hurt, even when you walked up them!

Before we got to the climbing, I managed to break my chain. I made a mess of a gear change then tried to recover from it and in doing so put a little too much ‘torque’ into the pedals. There was a sudden ‘Crack!’ then my feet were going round at nineteen to the dozen and there was no resistance. Thinking I had only dropped the chain off the front sprocket, I looked to replace it, only to see there was nothing there and the chain was on the floor like a piece of roadkill. Once again (and how many times has this happened to me?) Gerard was riding about two minutes behind us and he fished a tool out of his pocket, Robert provided a new link for the chain and within ten minutes we were on our way again.

I later found out that Jeff Glover had broken his chain twice today. He has had some real bad luck with mechanics. The feeling is he could get a puncture in a vacuum. I don’t think he had any today, though.

Of course, this put us back even further so we had to forego our usual coffee stop. This upset Robert as he insisted that I pay for all the coffees for delaying the group and using his chain link. He did say I could keep the link as a souvenir. I don’t really think he would want it back tomorrow anyway. That’s entente cordiale for you. I got him back later when he rode ahead and made a wrong turn. He obviously hadn’t read the sheet properly and went up a hill, though he did wait at the top. We stayed at the bottom and shouted to him and he had to ride down, so I told him he would have to buy ‘pain au chocolate’ (Chocolate croissants) if I was buying the coffee.

By this time, the hills had started to kick in. As I said, although they were not too short, some of them were vicious and on one in particular, four out of the five of us were walking for about a hundred yards. One thing we discussed between gasps for breath was the fact that we were not going to injure ourselves just for the sake of riding up them. On one of them, the downhill was very treacherous and needed extreme caution because the road surface was so poorly maintained. There were cracks wide enough for a tyre to fit into running down the surface in the direction of travel and these could be anything from ten feet to twenty yards long and of varying depth. Get into one of those and you have got problems, so we had to concentrate hard to avoid them.

Net result was that we arrived at the first SAG at 27.5 miles at 10.30am after 3 1/4 hours riding. At that speed, we would still be riding the route well after dark, and today we had been asked to be in the hotel and ready for dinner by 6pm as it will be the presentation and ‘Awards’ night.

We didn’t stay long and carried on up and down the hills of New Hampshire, finally arriving at the town of Antrim in time for lunch. To make progress, we bought take away from the store. Corn, Chilli and Chicken Chowder for me (and try saying that when you’ve had a few to drink!) and a variety of cold food for the others.

Whilst we were eating, the heavens decided that the forecast should come true and turned on the taps. Cliff had no coat, but, showing great enterprise, went into the launderette that was next door, spoke to a woman who was doing her washing then came out with a fleece coat that he had managed to persuade her to part with for the princely sum of ten dollars. He was well chuffed with the acquisition, as he said it will come in handy for the Alaska cruise that he is going on next week. It was newly cleaned into the bargain.

Again, we set off into the wet stuff and after sheltering for a short time from one shower, decided that we may as well just get on with it and head for dryness at the hotel. The climbing didn’t stop, so we had the joys of those, the rain and treacherous downhills on probably some of the worst road surfaces we have had. The cracks running down the road were complemented by cracks running across the road and these gave a resounding ‘Bu-Dum’ everytime you ran over one. There were a lot more than one and on each of them I was genuinely concerned that a tyre would puncture or a spoke would go. Miraculously, I escaped unscathed.

  Just trying to keep dry at the second SAG stop of the day

In addition, whenever we came to a sign pointing one direction that said Manchester x miles, we usually turned in the other direction and our route sheet said x + more than we wanted.

We got to the hotel just after 5pm to be told that dinner would now be at 7pm as so many people were still out. We hosed down our bikes and gave them a clean. I was last to wash off, and some went over Bob’s who had already done his and got it dry. I’m afraid to say that his protestations were met with a little more than a sprinkle with the hose pipe from me. He did grab one of his water bottles and looked like he was considering squirting me with that, but he’s a sensible man and quickly put it back in its frame! He said he was going for a bath anyway.

A tough day. Hard riding, long mileage, hard climbing, mechanical defects and rain.

The scorpion certainly stung today.

Distance 87 miles  Ride Time 7 hours 26′  Average Speed 11.4 mph Maximum Speed 38.6 mph  Altitude 6,100 feet.

Back to climbing again

Day 50 – Troy to Brattleboro – Estimated mileage 77 miles

Today was a day of only (only!) 77 miles that would take us into the next to the last State of our journey. It was also the day where we went back to some serious climbing. The mood of the group is changing somewhat, too. There is a little bit of ‘de-mob’ attitude setting in, and I suspect some people are either on their plane home (metaphorically speaking) wishing they were or making the arrangements. The problem with that is that when concentration goes, that is when accidents happen. Additionally today, when people saw there was a lot of climbing and a fair distance to travel, there seemed to be a bit of panic from some that they wouldn’t be able to get over the hills and needed to set off hours before everyone else to get the ride out of the way. My smaller group are trying to carry on as we always have done – riding calmly, sensibly and within ourselves and respecting the judgement of the tour leaders to get the start time right to get us all to the finish at a reasonable time.

We left the hotel just after 7.30am. That was after Robert had repaired his ‘hotel flat’ i.e. the tyre had punctured overnight. We are also now in a situation where every single rider who started in San Francisco, including staff, have had at least one puncture. Jeff Glover leads the way by a long way and he looks like getting the ‘flats’ award at the end of the tour.

Back to the ride. Cue sheet reads ‘Out of hotel on 6th Street’. Two turns later, at 0.4 miles, Turn L onto Ferry Street – start to climb. Not even a mile into it! Be fair! The climb lasted about a mile and wasn’t too painful – it actually got the chill out of the bones and shook the breakfast down, too.

We bowled on through the New York countryside along a reasonable road to start with. You could then guess that we were getting close to the State border as the road surface deteriorated rapidly, with little sign of any repair work having been done for some time.

The first SAG stop was at the bottom of a fair descent at a Service Station. There were quite a few people there when we got there, and it was quite a social event. There were also some figures knocking about and I had a word with a couple of them to see if they fancied transferring to Lancaster and becoming props for the Vale. They looked pretty friendly here, but I think they might get angry and be reasonably useful in the tight.

After the SAG we soon crossed the State border into Vermont. This is the last State that we enter before we go into the final State of New Hampshire where the journey finishes on Tuesday.

We entered the town of Old Bennington which the Route sheet suggested as a good stop for lunch. At 10.15am on a Sunday, lunch was not really on our agenda, but coffee was. Problem was, at the time, there wasn’t much open on that front either, so we rode on through what was a lovely little town and eventually found a cafe on the open road that was open and run by a husband and wife team who were into their Vermont cheese and local (non-alcoholic) cider. The only problem was, they didn’t have a sample of either, but their coffee was good, and Brian said their ice cream was fine, too!

Shortly after that, the route sheet gave us the good news of ‘Climb next 10 miles (+/-)’ We bent our backs and pushed the pedals round in the lowest gear and made reasonable time to get up that hill. Andy showed his experience of the ride by just happening to be parked at the side of the road with the van with ice cold water just at the right place, about half way up, when everyone needed a little rest and a drink. We got to the top of the hill and then the route sheet said, ‘ Steep down hill 2 mi’. Whilst it wasn’t as steep as some we have gone down, it was very welcome and a good speed was built up as we headed to Wilmington. There we found Dot’s cafe and had lunch.

Here I made a big mistake. Lulled along by my colleagues, I ordered the same as them, a Bison Burger which was excellent, well cooked and very lean and with a salad on the side. It was really very good, but I felt the effects as soon as we left and started a 3 mile ascent away from the town. It felt like a sack of potatos on my stomach and just as heavy to carry. We reached the top of ‘Hogback Mountain’ and I looked forward to another screaming descent. I got one, but then there was a sting in the tail in that the road started to go back up again. Climbed that one, another descent then it went up again. I then looked further at the route sheet and saw that the hill ‘Will continue to Roll’ and so it did until, finally, there was about a five mile descent into Brattleboro.

Once again, we saw some different styles of front garden decoration in this State, and here’s an example of one of them:-

(Sorry, WordPress would not let me upload the photo to put in here)

We got into the hotel about 4.15pm after a day spent in some great sunshine, with great company and through some of the best countryside we have had the pleasure of riding through. It really has been beautiful today since we came into Vermont and a real pleasure to ride through. The scenery was a cross between the Lake District and Scotland. A lot of the areas were ski areas. At not a great height above sea level, it really must be a touch chilly round here during the winter months, but today was just a perfect riding day.

Distance 78 miles Ride Time 5 hours 49′ Average Speed 12.1 mph Maximum Speed 47 mph Altitude 5,300 feet.

Holland? Familar names and a canal. It could be.

Day 49 – Little Falls to Troy – Estimated Mileage 83 miles

After yesterday’s downpours, today dawned bright and clear. The forecast was not the best with rain threatened for later in the day but once again, the forecasters were wrong and this time it was in our favour as the day stayed clear and sunny and warm.

After yesterday’s dash for ‘home’ and a chance to wash some clothes, we set out today at a sedate pace and were quickly at the back of the group heading along Route 5. We seemed to be heading towards what appeared to be the Netherlands as the signposts were for Amsterdam and Rotterdam but then we got to the towns of St. Johnsville and Nelliston and thought that they didn’t seem particularly Dutch.

Route 5 ran alongside the railway and the Mohawk River which also doubled as the Erie Canal. We kept alongside the river and canal for the rest of the day until we were just entering Troy, then we crossed the Hudson River and it took over from the Mohawk.

Just after 12 miles we went past Fort Klock which is a restored fortified farm homestead that provided a defensible position through three wars. The original building dates from 1750 (who says the Americans don’t have any history?) and the restoration looked very impressive from the outide but the Fort wasn’t open at our time of the day, so we couldn’t get to look inside.

From there we went on to the town of Fonda and stopped for coffee (and cinnamon pastries for those that needed them after a full breakfast) at a little diner that was doing a roaring trade for a Saturday morning. The waitress claimed to be Italian and when Robert asked her where she was born, she said New York and she later said that she had only been on holiday to Italy twice. She could probably qualify to play for Wales or Eire at some sport or other with such tenuous links to being Italian!

Amsterdam was a larger, busy town and we had to be careful riding through there due to some road works that were making a real mess of the surface. Soon after, we turned off the main road and over one of the bridges above a canal lock. They are much the same as those at home, but the lock does not extend the whole width of the river, just a small part of one side. This was Lock number 9. I don’t know how many there were in total, but by the end of the day we had got to Number 7.

Taking photos and riding a bike was a time consuming and hungry business, so we rode over this bridge and as soon as we got to the other side, there was a cafe that served excellent home made beef and vegetable soup, so that was lunch.

The route now took us away from Route 5 but still alongside the canal/river and on a purpose built bike track. It was strange because, at times the route was so similar, I felt like I was only four miles away from home, riding between Lancaster and Halton along the bike track alongside the River Lune. When I told the locals this, they couldn’t believe that we had such good fortune and told me in no uncertain terms how lucky I was. It really was a beautiful run and well worth the effort to get up and down some steep parts.

The track ran for nearly twenty miles and took us into Troy where we left then joined the regular Saturday traffic (fortunately not much of that) before crossing the Hudson River and getting into the hotel about 4.30pm.

Today was a really good day and we stayed out for a long time. There are now only three riding days left. That statistic sneaked up on us. Where have all the days gone? Two of the three are promising to be testing with a large amount of climbing in them, and the other is the run to the coast to dip the wheels in the Atlantic. Our little group have decided that we are going to make the most of the time we have out on the road during those few days and try and squeeze as much out of them as we can. Daily journals could be short if riding days are long, but that will also depend on the weather.

On the injury front, Stu Kinney who took a tumble in the rain the day before yesterday and was kept in hospital for a couple of nights has now been given a clean bill of health and released. Sadly, Stu will not be rejoining us as his wife and family are coming to pick him up and fly him back home to California. I feel sorry for Stu. He hadn’t done a lot of cycling and wasn’t the most confident of riders on the road, but he got up and went out earlier than the rest of the group and worked very hard to complete the ride within his own limitations. That he got so close to finishing and then can’t do so is very, very sad, and I, and everyone else, will miss him.

Today, Carl, who joined us with his grandson Andrew in Erie, hit a rock and did a header over the front bars, injuring his knee and elbow. He went to hospital and has his knee in a cast, so both he and Andrew have decided that they will leave the group tonight and head home.

The rest of us are concentrating really hard to ensure that nothing happens to any of us in the next few days. PLEASE.

Distance 84 miles Ride Time 6 hours 1′ Average Speed 14.5 mph Maximum Speed 38.6 mph Altitude 1,900 mph

Little Falls? Not on the rain front!

Day 48 – Liverpool to Little Rock – Estimated Mileage 79 miles

If the Rain gods were a little angry yesterday, they were seriously miffed today. The forecast was much the same as it was for yesterday, the only difference was that today the forecast was wrong and not in our favour. I once remember working with a Police colleague who came into the station absolutely soaking wet and told me, ‘You can only get p****d wet through once,’ and that was something right at the forefront of my mind for the whole of today.

It didn’t start out too badly with clear-ish skies and a few clouds about that promised a decent day. It didn’t last long. We left the hotel and our route took us through some lovely suburbs of Liverpool and Syracuse, past some nice houses and gardens and avoiding any heavy traffic. The drizzle started after about ten miles and it was a little on the cool side, so we stopped to ‘coat up.’ The thing with waterproof coats is that they are waterproof from the outside. Some also say they are breathable. Don’t let that fool you. They only breathe to laugh at you whilst you pour sweat out from your pores and it soaks the inside of your coat as condensation while the rain falls outside. By the time the real rain arrived soon after I put the coat on, I was wet through inside the coat anyway.

We tried to look for a coffee stop to get a warm, but by the time we found a town, we were at the first SAG stop of the day. This was located at a town called Canastota whose claim to fame is that it was the centre of the wagon making industry that was responsible for making the covered wagons in which the early pioneers made their way across country. There was no evidence of this industry today, but we did find a bakery that sold big cups of coffee and pastries for those that wanted them. Gary and Bob took their cups of coffee outside and sat on the pavement drinking:-

Shortly after this was taken they were arrested for posing as being blind and begging. The bail was a bit too steep at four dimes, so we chipped in and paid their fines for them.

The rain was sporadic and its strength was erratic, too. By the time we arrived at the SAG it was almost sunny; by the time we left it was starting to rain again. We carried on but then saw a monster black cloud approaching and decided that we were chicken enough that we didn’t want to get too wet so we took refuge in a house that had been abandoned. It was the nearest ‘building’ to us, but when we got in there, it barely gave shelter. Virtually everything had been removed apart from the staircase (which we didn’t venture on) and a toilet bowl downstairs. When the storm finally cleared, we were quite surprised that the ‘house’ managed to keep any of us dry at all.

We carried on again, but after another ten minutes, the rain started again and we just managed to get under the awning of a barn and keep less wet than we would have been had we stayed out in the rain. And when I say ‘just’ I mean it!

When it cleared again, a consensus said that as we were wet anyway and the weather was unlikely to change for the better during the day, we would now just carry on riding and stay out. We rode a few more showers before finding a bar called ‘Knuckleheads’ for lunch. It was probably a very apt name for us today. Soup and a sandwich and back on the bike. We got to the second SAG stop very shortly after that. Cliff and Gary had had enough by now and didn’t want to stay there too long; all of us were cold and probably just wanted the ride to end, so it was sign in at the SAG then ‘let’s go’ and a run for the hotel.

I set off leading. As you know, I don’t do uphills or headwinds very well, if at all. I do, however, do downhills and flats with a tailwind pretty mean and I felt really good. I led all the way in, and I reckon we covered the 26 miles from the SAG stop in just over an hour. Whatever it did take, we were all breathing well when we arrived at the Best Western at Little Falls. Bob said at one stage his speedo read 26 mph and he couldn’t catch up with me. I must be getting fit – just in time for a cycling holiday!

Most of today we have followed along the path of the Erie Canal. Interestingly, the locals think the idea of a canal is of great attraction. For Brian and I that is difficult to come to terms with as I am used to them around home and Brian probably has more than we do around Oldham where he lives. At ‘Route Rap’ tonight (where the following day’s route is explained) one of the group had to explain what happened at a canal lock. This was a case of knowledge reversal almost for Brian and me but we just kept quiet and listened in.

The Erie Canal is in some disrepair and some of it has been restored and is used as a leisure facility, though not as much as could be. The parts that we saw today had a bit of towpath and the canal was full of weeds. The potential for leisure use was obvious, but there didn’t seem to be anything being done about it.

The original canal was hand dug by Irish ‘navvies’ who came across before and during the civil war. The means of getting them to dig is interesting. A cask of whisky was placed at a point ahead of the diggers. The diggers dug and when they reached the cask, they got their reward in a shot of whisky. The cask was then moved on again to the next point on the plan. Obviously, the ‘shot’ man was a very important man in the building of the canal. He had to gauge the right length of canal that needed digging that ensured the diggers were sober enough to continue for the whole of the working day but that they were kept ‘interested’ enough to keep digging.

The hotel tonight very kindly provided a free welcome drink for us all. Red and white wine and beer were flowing. Quite a bit was drunk and a very social evening ensued before getting ready for another early start tomorrow.

Distance 79 miles Ride time 5 hours 6’ Average Speed 14.9mph Maximum Speed  31.9mph Altitude 1,950 feet.

No Mersey here

Day 47 – Canandaigua to Liverpool 0 estimated mileage 70 miles

Today was a short day in comparison to some that we have done recently. I never thought that I would look on 70 miles riding as a short day, but that’s the effect of this ride. As it was a short day, we started out at 8am after breakfast at 7am so we had a very leisurely start to the day.

After days and days of threatening, the rain gods finally decided that we had been lucky for long enough and vented their anger on us today. We had left the hotel in cloud and cool conditions and travelled along in very fine drizzle before we got to the twenty mile mark and the heavens opened. Fortunately we were next to a roadside cafe (and rootbeer stand!) and we decided to get away from the rain and have a warming drink. Robert and I asked for hot chocolate to be told ‘We don’t do hot chocolate normally, but we’ll try and sort one out for you.’ Should have seen through that, shouldn’t we? Coffee would have been a better bet as the chocolate, when it came was lukewarm and very weak. For our second and third cups, we changed to coffee and that certainly helped to warm us up again.

So, one cup of chocolate and two cups of coffee. How much? $1.85 or 95 pence. I forgave them for the chocolate at that price.

Judge Gary got ‘out-Gary’d’ at this place. As he had finished before most of the others, he was heading for the gents and asked the man behind the counter, ‘Would you like me to pay for this now?’ MBTC replied, ‘Well, I don’t know how it works where you come from, but here, I supply you with the coffee and doughnuts, then you supply me with the money to pay for them, so I suppose, yes, I would like paying for them.’

Gary paid.

The rain had stopped by this time and we got on our way again through other parts of Europe; Geneva, Waterloo, Newport. The route was taking us through what are known as the ‘Finger Lakes’ as they look like fingers pointing upwards towards the Great Lakes. It was a shame that the weather was so gloomy, as I am sure the scenery would have been great in sunshine. We passed interesting shops and workshops, one where wooden Father Christmas figures were being made and carved from tree trunks in a similar way to the figures we had seen in Indiana. 

    Christmas in the making in July

We also passed an interesting road sign that was displayed just before a bridge that was going over the road. It read ‘Actual clearance 14′ 4″. makes you wonder whether some drivers would come along and try and go under a virtual clearance of, say, 16′ 8″ and get the top of their vans removed?

Another sight was a bird of prey nest that had been built in the top of a telegraph pole. It was either an Osprey or an Eagle’s nest and had three young birds in. We stopped to take some pictures of it and the mother or father bird was flying around making a lot of noise, but didn’t go back to the nest while we were there. We took our photos and left as quietly and quickly as we could, but it would have been good to stay and watch the nest for a while longer.

SAG stop came and went and we were just about to get drizzled on again so we stopped to put our coats on. As we were doing so, we looked behind and coming at us fast was the next big black cloud. We just about had time to get to the next building and find an awning to stand under before, once again, the heavens opened. Again we managed to stay dry. I took a couple of pictures of the amount of rain coming down, but from what little I can gather of the news from home, pictures of rain are not welcome.

On again after the deluge, to a little town called Evanridge where, just as we were about to start climbing a hill, we saw a little cafe called the Red and White House. Stop here? We did and had a very pleasant lunch with about eight or nine other people from the group who had stopped there already. Four lovely ladies served us and a bowl of Tomato and Basil soup with a garlic bagel (toasted) went down very nicely. The cafe was a wonderful little place and had a very good attitude towards children:-

   We liked this one!

Onwards and upwards again and we now meandered our way through a lot of country lanes then side streets before we finally got to ‘The Old Village of Liverpool’. It was very quaint, not in the least reminiscent of Scotland Road by the Mersey at home. This Liverpool is a suburb of Syracuse which is a big city in New York state.

Got to the hotel about 4.30pm and cleaned and oiled the bike after all its wetting today.

Another good day for us on the bike. For others, though it was not so good. During the rain, Stu Kinney fell and hit his head and was knocked unconscious for a very short time. He is OK but is now being kept for observations in a hospital in Rochester NY. We all wish him well and hope he is back to join us soon. Bob had a slide fall as we were stopping in the rain and he grazed his elbow and knee and will probably be a little sore tomorrow.

The group collectively had 29 punctures today! I had none. Cliff had one in our group and was the only one to suffer. Arlene had four, Paul had three, but everyone was hammered by Jeff, who must surely be the puncture king, as he had 7 today to add to his (already) double figure total. Ouch!

Distance 70 miles Ride time 4 hours 37′ Average speed 12.9 mph Maximum speed 33.4 mph Altitude 2,220 feet

Under 500

Day 46 – Hamburg to Canandaigua – Estimated mileage 94 miles

First of all, thanks to Graham Dowling for reminding me about the Billy Joel song ‘Allentown’. Graham has put a very poignant comment on yesterday’s blog about the depression that I saw and put out the words of the song, which fit very nicely with what I saw.

Today’s ride took us to Canandaigua (pronounced Can-an-die-goo-a) and deeper into New York state and ever nearer to the Atlantic coast. We have actually, from the end of today, less than 500 miles to go. I sometimes thought I would never even ride 500, let alone ride over 3,000 so far.

The day started with a ’side trip’ to the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo and about 7 miles from our overnight hotel. A number of the group had visited yesterday and about 15 went this morning. The owner/curator had opened up specially for us and he gave us a guided tour of some of the thousands of exhibits that there were on display. He talked us through the history of the bicycle and its development from a walking two wheeled machine to the Penny Farthing and up to today’s cycles. It was a very interesting diversion, the only problem being that there was nowhere near enough space to adequately display all the items that there were. Had the museum been in England, I am sure the Local Authority would have stepped in with some help to make it a useful historical museum, but this just seemed to be one man’s private collection that cycling enthusiasts went along to look at.

Cliff on board a Penny Farthing. He says he can remember riding one when they first came out when he was in his thirties.

We left the musuem after 9am and realised that we had a very long day ahead of us, so, for once, we set about doing some mileage at some sort of speed. Even though we did, the landscape was kind to us and there were fresh herb fields and the smell of dill and parsley was quite noticeable as we rolled along. We were back to corn again, the vineyards having gone for the moment.

We also went through some native American ‘Treaty’ areas. These are areas that were given (back?) to the Indians by the Federal Government in the 18th Century to appease them as the white settlers took most of their land. They have retained the lands and the rights that the Treaty gave them, and they are effectively a state within a state. They are not governed by state laws nor pay state taxes, so they make their own laws (generally alongside the federal laws) and only pay tax to federal government. Thus they become a duty free state to some extent, and they sell cigarettes and petrol cheaper than a few miles down the road where the reservation does not extend. Strangely, the states are not too happy with these arrangements, and are trying to change them. As we went along during the day, I was asked to negotiate on behalf of the state with one of the chiefs, but don’t think I got too far!

He just stonewalled me and wouldn’t speak, but he was a big bloke.

We also went along a road called Two Rod Road today and when we were going along, we also saw Three Rod Road and Five Rod Road. No one could throw any light on where the name came from, nor where Rod Road and Four Rod Road were. It helped the miles pass, though.

We had our usual SAG stop, but later than usual due to our later departure, then stopped for a sandwich around about the halfway point. The second SAG stop became a flying pit stop as there was another recommended Rootbeer stand just after it, and you have to call into those now. It’s the law in this state that all cyclists must call at old rootbeer stands and get a rootbeer float. Wasn’t as good as the one the other day. Maybe because it wasn’t sunny made a difference, but the ’stand’ was actually a diner dating back to the 1950s and still had the original (restored) decorations and juke box (Remember them?) with Neil Sedaka singing ‘happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen’ on it. The young staff behind the counter looked at us funny when we started singing along to it!

Towns today included Aurora, Marilla, Avon, Lima and West and East Bloomfield until we finally got into our destination hotel just after 5pm.

The threatened rain held off today and we had some following wind, so all in all, a great day for riding, even though it was a bit ’sticky’.

Distance 94 miles Ride Time 6 hours 20′ Average Speed 14.6 mph Maximum Speed 39 mph Altitude 3,900 feet

Depression over Dunkirk

Day 45 – Erie to Hamburg – Estimated Mileage 81 miles

After the Niagara Falls day, today was probably going to be an anti-climax, but we tried hard to make the day go well. At the end of it, we had had a good day’s riding and met some interesting people along the way.

We left the hotel in Downtown Erie about 7.15am under grey skies and a weather forecast of light showers expected. We also had a following wind which continued for most of the day as we rode parallel to the route we had taken to the Falls yesterday on a minor road out of the city then along the side of Lake Erie. There were a couple of times when the heavens decided to very, very gently give one of the clouds a squeeze so that just a few little drops fell on us, but nowhere near enough to make us stop and put a coat on. The cloud cover also helped to keep the temperature down, too, but it was still just in the 70s.

The depression that affected the steel area sadly continued along our ride. Lake Erie is one of The Great Lakes between USA and Canada and it looked beautiful from the road side even in the grey conditions. We all talked about how nice it would have looked on a blue sky summer day and, in a way, the ride reminded me a little of riding along Lake Windermere from Lakeside to Bowness though Erie is considerably bigger than Windermere. The sad thing was the number of houses that were up for sale and the disrepair that those still being live in were under. Houses that anywhere else would have fetched hundreds of thousands were going cheap because no one wanted to live there. Lakeside properties with decks and docks were lying unoccupied, with no apparent purchasers coming along.

The farming landscape has also changed (hooray) from corn/soya to grapes/grapes as we are now in a ‘new’ USA wine growing region. There are quite a few wineries along here, though we are not allowed to drink during the day. None were open at the time we wanted lunch, as the food should be good in there. The fields were accessible enough for us to use the borders of them for our unscheduled ‘Potty Stops’ which occur whenever anyone calls for one. Robert, from France, took great pleasure in going in amongst the vines to carry out his natural functions. There may have been some sort of message there as he did seem to have a very weak bladder today and always went between the vines to relieve himself!

Twenty miles in, we left Pennsylvania, after a very short visit, to enter New York, the Empire State. Things didn’t change much, apart from the road surface which had become steadily worse as we approached the end of Pennsylvania but which vastly improved when we crossed the line. The housing situation continued. Today also saw us pass through some originally named towns; Dunkirk, Barcelona, Berlin, Hanover till our final destination of Hamburg. We also saw a roadside stand that was selling not only fruit and vegetables but also Goats’ milk fudge. A first for me when I tried it, and we all agreed that it was quite pleasant. The lady who owned the store didn’t deal in credit cards, didn’t have an internet address, so she missed out on an order for maple syrup from Robert who wanted her to send some to France for a friend of his. That’s business, or not as the case may be!

We had barely finished this when it was time for the one and only SAG stop for the day which was in the town of Dunkirk. We only stayed here a short time then went onto ‘Demetri’s Family Restaurant’ for soup and a sandwich. We were sitting on the deck of the restaurant talking to a man who happened to be Demetri. The deck looked out onto a harbour that would easily have been converted into a small marina and, with already adequate parking provisions, would have made a wonderful leisure complex and tourism centre for water sports in summer. Demetri was circumspect about the whole thing. The steel industry had gone, jobs had gone, people had gone and money had gone. Taxes had increased to try and maintain the living standards of the residents who stayed, leading to more people leaving etc., etc. Anywhere else, Demetri’s place would have been an absolute gold mine, but in this Dunkirk, there wasn’t going to be a flotilla of small boats coming in to rescue the town. Demetri went to have an afternoon swim, wished us all good luck and promised to contribute to Bob’s charity.

Lunch over we rode on. Cliff’s turn to have a puncture today and it was just after we had crossed the Interstate junction. At that time, Jay Butler caught up with us and rode with us for the rest of the day. Jay had ridden with us from Salt Lake City to Pueblo. He had also very kindly invited the foreigners to his house for dinner when we were in Indianapolis, and had rejoined yesterday to ride the last eight days. Jay is going to do the ride ‘in bits’ and it is good to have him back. He is a good man and good company. We have also been joined by four other people who will be with us to the end, but I didn’t see much of them today.

We carried on into Hamburg and went past the Veterans of Foreign Wars Association headquarters which had one or two interesting ’souvenirs’ outside.

  I don’t know what they are other than a helicopter and a plane. There was a tank and one of those big guns that are on wheels as well. The tank is between the helicopter and the plane but it was done up in camoflage paint.

We got into the hotel after negotiating the Hamburg ring road. (After driving on the German Hamburg Ring Road, I am glad it wasn’t that one!) We checked in at 4pm and at probably something like 4.01pm, the heavens decided to stop squeezing and wring out a whole washing machine full of stuff and we escaped a drenching by that little. Phew!

Distance 81 miles Ride Time 6 Hours 11′  Average Speed 12.6 mph Maximum Speed 33.1 mph Altitude 1,200 feet

A Wonder of the World

Day 44 – Rest Day – Erie -  Estimated Mileage Nil

Before I start on today’s adventure, a little story was told to me last night after I had ‘published’ yesterday’s account. It happened at the rootbeer stand and was a conversation between two locals who were overheard by one of the group to say:-

‘Gee. Have you seen those Bicyclists (pronounced Bye-Sigh-clists)and have you heard what they’re doing?’

‘Sure have and they’re from all over the world, y’know. I heard one of them speaking French.’

‘Yeah. So did I. Did you hear the big guy speaking British, too?’

We have a lot of missionary work to do have Brian and I, and time is running out fast!

Let’s get onto serious stuff, though. Last night Bob and I grabbed a taxi and went out to the airport where his lovely wife Cathy had made arrangements for two rental cars for us. We picked up identical Lincoln Town Cars. They are probably called that because they are the size of a small bus with a bonnet that you could land a jumbo jet on. I would hate to see a Lincoln Country Car! They are a ‘full size’ rental car, i.e. the biggest you can get, and were nice motors. Bob’s was white and mine black, both with leather interiors and more switches than a gadget fetishist could manage. The passengers thought they looked like royalty or mafia, but liked the comfortable, spacious interiors. The first thing I did on getting onto the Interstate was test the rumble strips to see if they felt different to running over them on a bike, and they actually did. In fact, I couldn’t feel them at all, only hear them.

As we approached Niagara Falls, after passing round Buffalo, we could see what appeared to be a plume of smoke in the distance. As we neared, we also saw the speed the river was running and it appeared to be running downhill, so quick was it going. Nearer still and we realised that the plume of smoke was actually the ’splashback’ from the fall of the Horseshoe Falls.

We drove over to the Canadian side of the Falls, on Darling Daughter’s recommendation, and negotiated Customs and Immigration with ease. We parked up and went first to look at the Horseshoe Falls which fall on both sides of the border. Spectacular is not really enough to describe the sight that met our eyes. Think of a lot of superlatives and you probably come close to describing the frightening power of the water falling off a cliff at a rate of knots then bouncing back hundreds of feet above where it started from. It’s a place with perpetual rainfall in some places, but that didn’t detract from the phenomenon. We were told that 84,000 gallons of the stuff flows over the Falls per minute!

 This is a picture of Horseshoe Falls taken from between 1/4 and 1/2 a mile away. You got a little damp on the boat!

We then went and walked onto the ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ which is a walk through tunnels that brings you out at various points. The first one is about half way down the falls and about twenty yards to the side. All you feel is wet and the sheer unadulterated force of the water hurtling over the edge of the cliffs. Pictures were taken, but not very many! Plastic capes were provided ‘in the price of the ticket’ (Thanks!) but whilst they had hoods on, they had massive arm holes, so the water just entered through them and ran down the inside. They were just a bit more use than a chocolate teapot. Strangely enough, the exit from the walk was through the gift shop. Funny how that always seems to happen, isn’t it?

As time, the old enemy, was getting on, we walked a little further outside and got a little wetter before splitting up. Four of us went onto the Maid of the Mist boat while the other four went in the ‘Needle Tower’ overlook. I chose the Maid of the Mist because, again, it is something that I don’t think is done anywhere else in the world, and when would I get another chance? We again got a designer rainwear package and were told if we wanted to get wet to stand at the front of the boat, upstairs without a rain cover on.

Declined, thank you.

  I model the designer rainwear ‘included in the price of the ticket’. I’m the one in the middle, not on the right. Don’t think it would be much use as an England training top.

The journey is only about 20 minutes and leaves the dock, goes alongside the American Falls then up to and, what feels like, under the Horseshoe Falls. The taped commentary says, very dramatically, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Niagara Falls.’ This is the time when the moment becomes speechless. I can’t describe what it felt like to be there looking up at such a majestic force of nature working its wonders. It was truly magnificent, and again, that does not do the sight justice. Like the Grand Canyon, truly indescribable, and the only thing I can say is ‘You must go and see it.’

Time was the enemy, even though we thought we had planned more than enough for the day. We looked onto a bridge that gave access back to the US and saw that the line that we would be taking was solid traffic, no doubt with the increased checks that are being done at US Immigration. We quickly looked at our map and found an alternative route that took us South of Buffalo and along Queen Elizabeth Way, over the Peace Bridge and into USA customs with minimal fuss. I handed over one United Kingdom and one Irish passport and two US driving licences, then we were met with a barrage of questions from the Immigration Official. It does seem that the USA has tightened its border proceedures, and there was also some pleasantry from the official which almost caused me to drive into the kiosk she was in!

Blast back along the Interstate, having a last few calls on the rumble strips in comfort and we arrived back at the hotel at 5.15pm.

This was a great day. A little tiring but, as I said yesterday, it’s one of those things that you’ve got to do, because you don’t know when you will be here to do it again. Everyone enjoyed it and the whole day for transport and parking etc. worked out at 20 quid each! Fantastic Value!

Tomorrow, we do part of today’s journey again, but finish well before we even set sight on the water plume. Should be a good ride as we follow Lake Erie as far as Hamburg (New York, not Germany!) and it should be fairly flat with a following wind.

Please!

Distance About 250 miles in extreme comfort!

All speeds FAST!

Cost to refuel car – 3/4 tank used – 11.65 gallons put into tank – $34.48 (£17.24) (and the locals complain about how much ‘gas’ costs!)