Done ... (September, 18, 2010)

My feelings can not be described ... happy ... relieved ... satisfied ... content. These, and many more emotions poured forth when dipping the front wheel of my bike in the Atlantic Ocean (just east of Orleans, MA ... a small community on Cape Cod).

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... my ride is done! Just under 5400 miles and just under 16 weeks.

Bike and panniers are packaged and on the way back to Arizona. I will be flying back to the warmth (extreme heat??) of the desert on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

New England and Cape Cod are stunning ... leaves are beginning to change, but "peak change" is probably three weeks away. Not seeing the "peak" this year will allow me to return in the next couple of years.

I am spending time with friends (Nancy McCarthy and Peg & Wayne LeProsta) in Cape Cod ("Thank God the tourists are gone", as we locals say.) Weather is beautiful ... first ride in a vehicle other than my bike is a boat ride on Pleasant Bay ... a pleasant ride it is.

Back to Arizona ... looking forward to some bone-warming heat ... looking forward to seeing friends and family ... looking forward ...

Indeed, life is good.

Almost Done ... (September 15, 2010)

Three more days of riding and I will be in Cape Cod. Three more days!!

Having been on this trek since June 1, I am ready to put the bike aside and travel via cars, buses, and planes ... whatever it takes to get home.

I have decided to not head north for "leaf viewing". Arizona is on my mind a good part of each day of late. Time to go home.

After having enjoyed the relative flatness of the route near Lake Erie and along the Erie Canal, the last few days have been a real shock to my legs. I remember talking with a cyclist along the Erie Canal, and mentioning that I was heading to Cape Cod. His remark was, "Oh, that means you will be going through the Berkshire Mountains ... but if you rode through the Rocky Mountains, then you shouldn't have a problem." Wrong. The Rocky Mountain climbs were long, but at a steady pace. The Berkshires are a constant up-and-down, with no repetition of grade nor length of climb. It is impossible to find a comfortable cadence. Lots of slow-going "ups" followed by short blasts downhill.

The difficulty of yesterday's ride was compounded by my faith in Google Bicycle mapping. I have had good luck in using Google for directions, but yesterday was not a lucky day. As I was following the directions, and heading up a fairly steep paved road, I passed a lady who was putting her trash along side her driveway. As I passed her she said, "You're going over the mountain????" Filled with innocence, pride and lack of knowledge I answered in the affirmative ... she just stared and shook her head. Shortly thereafter, the pavement turned to dirt. Not a bad dirt road, but dirt none-the-less. It was not the first time Google had put me on a dirt road, so I continued. After a couple of miles of reasonably good dirt, the quality of the surface began to deteriorate. According to the directions, there was a junction coming up in a mile or two, so I continued on. Welllllll, continuing on led me onto an extremely steep and rocky road ... a road I would hesitate to drive a two-wheel drive vehicle on. After dismounting and pushing several times, and after guessing at junction road directions, I was becoming quite concerned. The thoughts of serious injury and/or getting lost began to seep into my consciousness. I knew how to backtrack if needed, so I set a time limit on this path. Fortunately, I eventually came to an intersection where I talked with a local guy in a car ... he assured me I was on the right road ... the quality of the road had returned to smooth dirt and was heading downhill. I was greatly relieved (under statement). It had taken me two hours to travel six miles. It turns out the map had sent me through the October Mountain State Park Wilderness area. Worst two hours of this whole trip.

Anyway, three more days to Cape Cod. Life, while not great, is getting better. And meeting up with long-time friend Nancy McCarthy in Cape Cod will be a joy. What is really putting a smile on my face is the thought of being off the bike and back in Arizona by this time next week.

Bike touring is great, but sixteen weeks is too long for me.

Erie Canal ... (September 9, 2010)

Over the last week or so, I have been riding the tow path of the Erie Canal. Some of the stretches of the canal are still active, others have been abandoned since the 1850's. The common element on all of the paths is that there are no cars or trucks. Some of the paths are heavily used by other cyclists and walkers; some areas are almost empty of others.

And other than riding in the rain today, the riding has been most enjoyable.

The history of the Erie Canal is captivating. First envisioned by a former mill owner (who suffered financial ruin in the early 1800's, and served several years in paupers' prison), the full length canal (from Albany to Buffalo) was opened in 1825. The result was that the Midwest was then opened up to much cheaper transportation ... what had cost $100 a ton to transport via wagons could now be hauled at around $2.50 a ton. This allowed much trade between East Coast manufacturing and Midwest agriculture. The Canal was critical to the economic and population growth of the Midwest.

The size (depth and width) of the Canal was expanded in the 1850s and 1910s, but the development of the railroad system spelled the end of the Canal as a viable means of hauling goods. Today the Canal is primarily used for pleasure boats and cruise/vacation barges.

The surface of the tow paths consist primarily of crushed stone, which makes for easy riding.

I am in Rome, NY today, heading on toward Albany, then Cape Cod. I plan on arriving in Cape Cod on September 18. I have reached a point where I am quite tired of the non-riding elements of this (almost 15-week) trek ... camping, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. I really do not know if I will continue on to the northern areas of New England (to see the changing of the leaves) after reaching Cape Cod. Guess I will see how I am feeling at that time ... which is only a little over a week from now.

On a side note, I saw a sign out in front of a church that said, "Autumn Leaves ... Jesus Stays." I would imagine that whoever is responsible for putting up these messages must get quite bored and crazy, so tries to get creative. Caught my attention, anyway ...

A bit of an odd feeling over-took me earlier this evening ... I went into a Walgreen's drug store here in Rome ... it is exactly the same layout as the Walgreen's store at Campbell and Fort Lowell Roads in Tucson ... exactly. While everything else about this area differs from Arizona, good ol' Walgreen's brought me the comfortable feeling of home.

This trek across the country has been exceptional. I will be coming back to the upper Midwest and the New England areas again ... just not only on a bike next time.

Tourist (September 2, 2010)

I am, along with a great number of others, a tourist here in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I find it hard to believe how many people are in this area purely for the reason of looking at the Falls.

The streets leading to the Falls are much like a carnival. Loud music and lots of wax museums and other such typical "tourist attractions". After being out in the hinterlands of Ontario, following the Lake Erie shoreline, I find this area to be quite a shock to my senses. I am not quite sure what the attraction of "The Falls" is, other than it is one of those "must see" geological features. Since this is Labor Day Weekend, the place is packed.

My ride across Ontario has been quite enjoyable ... lightly traveled roads and attractive landscapes. There is much more agriculture than I had anticipated ... lots of tobacco, peppers and corn. At times I thought I was in Indiana, but the huge lake off to my right always brought me back to Ontario.

I am heading across the Rainbow Bridge back into the U.S. today. Think I will find a cheap hotel and take another day of rest. The New England area is expecting to get hit by a hurricane, so I am thinking that being in a tent is probably not a great idea ... also I am tired, so think a day of comfort is in order.

Cape Cod is about 600 miles away, so the end (actually the Atlantic) is getting close. I am not at all sure about hanging around, after Cape Cod, to see the leaves change color ... Arizona is calling.