1812 ... More than a Symphony (8/31/2013)

There are only a few symphonic pieces that I can recognize and name ... The 1812 Overture is one of them (along with Bolero ... for obvious reasons, eh?).

One of the joys of bike touring, for me, is becoming aware of the historical development of areas that I ride through.  The last few days have been an immersion into the Canadian's historical version of the War of 1812.

Seems the British, who took control of Upper Canada (Ontario Province) and Lower Canada (Quebec Province) away from France in 1760, were still a little miffed at the result of the Revolutionary War.  The area along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River was populated by Loyalist (previous citizens of the Colonies who supported the British before and during the Revolutionary War ... obviously they were not welcome in the States after the conclusion of that war).  The President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, thought it would be an opportune time (1812) to attempt to take control of the two Provinces (the Canadian version referred to the Imperialistic desires of Adams) ... seems the British were somewhat occupied in the Napoleonic Wars which were ongoing in Europe at the time.  So there were several battles fought along the St. Lawrence River, with major naval battles waged on the Great Lakes.  After 30 months of fighting, a treaty was signed that restored all lands held prior to the start of the war.  And Canada still rejoices today.

The structures (houses, churches, towns) along this stretch are stunning.  Many beautifully restored buildings attest to the elegance of a bygone era. 

I had two nice days of riding from Kingston to Cornwall ... the first day was 56 miles to Brockville and yesterday was 68 miles to Cornwall.  Still following the Waterfront Trail.  Of particular joy was the many paved bike paths separated from the main highway ... much reduction in the stress levels associated with riding on the shoulder of the highway.  Yesterday's ride included a wonderful route out onto several islands ... added a few miles, but well worth the time.

Today I will be leaving the Waterfront Trail (Ontario Province) and entering onto the Route verte (Quebec Province).  I hope that the Route verte is as well signed as the Waterfront ... makes riding much easier if you do not have to be referencing a map all of the time.

Looks like rain today ... oh joy.

Waterfront Trail (August 28, 2013)

What a wonderful way to spend one's day ... riding along the Waterfront Trail.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Waterfront Trail is a 740 Km trail running along the Canadian shorelines of Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as the St. Lawrence River.  The Trail consists of paved and unpaved multi-use paths, paved and unpaved roads, and sometimes boardwalks around the many marinas.  Most enjoyable.

The adjacent picture was taken as we approached Toronto, and the weather was amazing that day.  Not all of our days along the Trail have been as beautiful as that day ... as a matter of fact the other day, had we been playing baseball ... the game would have been called due to prolonged rain.  Fortunately, the day was relatively warm (by local standards), so riding without rain gear was okay.

Since leaving Toronto, we have had daily rides of 53 miles to Port Whitby, 44 miles to Port Hope (rain day), 56 miles to Trenton , and 65 miles to Kingston ... where we are tonight.  Most of the riding has been off of the primary roads and have been in very high humidity weather.  The last two mornings we have started our rides in fog (as opposed to "in a fog", which I am most of the time) for the first few hours of riding. 

Tomorrow will not be easy.  Kim and I have been discussing what routes/destinations we each have in mind, and tomorrow we will be heading in those divergent paths.  Kim will be heading back into New York State and follow the Northern Tier route to Bar Harbor, then down to Portland, Maine.  I will be heading to Montreal, Quebec City, Bar Harbor and Boston.  The month we have spent together has been special ... tomorrow will be sad.

Sometimes life ain't so good.

Toronto (August 25, 2013)

A day of rest in a beautiful city.

As nice as riding through rural areas is, it is refreshing to spend time in a highly urbanized city such as Toronto.  The architecture of stately structures built in the 1860s to 1920s is stunning.  In contrast to these older structures are the daring stylings of modern designs.   Add in the many, many high-rise residential buildings and you have a very interesting, eye-catching experience.

Since leaving Cambridge, we put in two easy days of 35 miles +/-, overnighting in Burlington then Toronto. The ride from Burlington to Toronto was along the Waterfront Trail, and proved to be a true delight.  Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, beautiful day.

The Waterfront Trail is a 740 Km trail that runs along the north shore of Lake Erie, then wraps around the Canadian shoreline of Lake Ontario, then northeast to Quebec along the St. Lawrence Seaway.  We intend to follow this Trail to Montreal, and then make some directional decisions at that time.

Yesterday was a non-biking rest day, and we took advantage of scenic tours downtown, plus used the City's transit system (bus, train and subway).  Plus, we took a cruise of the Toronto Bay area ... most enjoyable day.  After the tours were completed, Kim headed back to the hotel for a true rest.  I stayed downtown, and just meandered around.  As I proved in Portland, Oregon earlier this summer, if you meander around long enough you will eventually find what you were looking for ... walk relatively fast and people will not think you are lost.  I also used the day as a non-helmet day so as to attempt to even out facial coloring ... yesterday morning my forehead was pale white ... this morning bordering on beet-red.

Yonge Street, one of the main entertainment areas downtown, was closed off to vehicles ... the street was jam-packed with people attending the Annual BuskerFest celebration.  All kinds of street performers were performing and the masses were enjoying a weather-perfect day.  The  adjacent picture is a chalk artist's work, using the asphalt pavement as his canvas.  Stunning talent.

So we are off again, heading for Montreal.  As I mentioned earlier in this post,  decisions are to be made upon reaching Montreal, which should be reached in eight or nine days.

Life is good, eh?

Small Victories (August 21, 2013)

The last two days of riding in Ontario have been long and tiring, but the rides have been more interesting than the trudge across some of Michigan.

Yesterday we came across the Blue Water Bridge from Port Huron.  Having read several forum entries, we fully expected the process of getting across to be a time consuming exercise.  Pedestrians and bicyclist (with the exception of groups of 50 riders, ala "Ride Across America" guided tours) are prohibited.  Michigan DOT, however, offers to carry cyclist, and their bikes, across the bridge.  Then there is the possible wait at Canadian Customs.  As I say, we anticipated a two to two-and-a-half hour delay.  As it turned out, the whole process took less than half an hour ... small victory #1.

We rode to London, Ontario yesterday ... a ride of approximately 70 miles.  Good roads and a nice tail wind.  Today we rode on to Cambridge, a ride of  75 miles or so ... quite a haul and quite tiring.

Maybe a quarter of the ride today was on dirt roads.  While the dirt roads are mostly traffic free, the tire-to-road surface friction results in a little more strenuous effort.  Small victory #2 occurred on one of these dirt roads.

When we were in Port Huron, we saw one of the Google cars with a 360 degree camera attached to the roof of the car ... we waved and smiled.  Today, while out on one of the dirt roads, I heard a car approaching from the rear.  Typically out on these roads, the vehicle will slow and swing wide ... in this case, a Google camera-car sped past me at about 45 to 50 mph, and it felt as though he was only about 2 to 3 feet away from me.  I do not know the designation of the road, so I suspect that you will never be able to get a street view of this occurrence ... but if you do, I am the bike rider in a white shirt flipping off Google.

Tomorrow we head to Lake Ontario in the Hamilton area, and hope to then be able to follow the 740 Km Waterfront Trail ... possibly all the way to Quebec.  Probably reach Toronto in a couple of days and take a rest day to take a look at the city.

Easier mileage tomorrow ... easier mileage is good.

That be Canada over there (August 19, 2013)

Twin bridges spanning the St. Claire River (also known as the Blue River) ... looking east from Port Huron, Michigan.

Tomorrow we head into Ontario. Instead of going to Owen Sound and then on to Niagara Falls as previously planned, we are going up over the top of Lake Ontario.  One of the great things about self-contained self-directed touring is that plans can be changed when so desired.

Since leaving Midland, Michigan, we have made overnight stops in Saginaw, Imlay City and Port Huron ... taking a rest day today here in Port Huron.

We went for an easy ride earlier today into the downtown area and along the river ... very nice easy ride.  Apparently Thomas Edison did something here as a young man ... there is a statue of him down by the waterfront.  Lot's of beautiful old houses along some of the avenues leading from the waterfront to the downtown area.

I really enjoyed Midland ... quite a pretty town.  I really did not enjoy Saginaw ... from the areas we rode through I would say it is definitely not a place to which I wish to return.  Riding as been uninspiring for the most part ... the sameness in terrain, the sameness in crops, the sameness in architecture, the sameness ... the same sameness.

However, a "sameness day" of riding is still pretty wonderful.

Speaking of riding, Sandy and Mark Doumas are scheduled to be starting their cross-country tour come the 21st of August.  Although they have done numerous shorter tours, this is the first ocean-to-ocean ride for them.  Follow their adventures at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=12757&v=1x.

One thing that makes these journals fun (at this end) is receiving comments, jokes, whatever ... so keep that in mind as you read of the travels of Sandy and Mark.

So, off to Canada ... I have been taking some on-line language lessons in the hopes that I will be able to communicate with the Canadians.

Smooth Sailing (August 16, 2013)

In bike touring, I am not sure there is anything nicer than a well paved rail-to-trail path combined with nice weather and a tailwind.  Well, a soft bed at the end of any day may be nicer, but speaking in terms of the actual riding part, the paved trail is tops.

Since leaving St. Ignace last Sunday, we have made stops in Petoskey, Traverse City, Cadillac and now Midland ... all towns in the lower Michigan peninsula.  This area was economically dominated by lumber harvesting/milling in the late 1890's to 1920's ... the houses along the lake and bay shorelines are magnificent.  The areas along the various shorelines were also resorts for people from the Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee areas.  Beautiful old structures.

Talking riding, we have covered about 830 miles since leaving Minneapolis on July 31.  We have seen a wide variety of countryside, of towns and villages, of colors, of lakes, of trees ... sure ain't Arizona, that's for sure.

Getting back to the wonderful rail-to-trail experience, when we left Cadillac yesterday morning we intended to stop for the day in Clare, MI, which would have made for a 45 mile day ... but then we came upon the Pere Marquette Rail-to-Trail path about 18 miles prior to Clare.  After being misled by Google Maps (once again) as to how/where to access the path, we got on the wonderfully paved path and rode ... with the gentle tailwind and happy bodies, we opted to ride the 30 additional miles from Clare to Midland.  Happy riding to say the least.

Pere (French for Father) Marquette is this area's Father Kino.

Couple more days and we will be heading into Canada.  Ride is going very well to date.

Paved bike paths are good ... as is life.

I hit 65 ... (August 11, 2013)

Miles per hour ... no; years ... yes.

Three score and five years ago a child was born ... there was no guiding star nor Magi marking the birth, so not much of any magnitude was forthcoming.

65 years old.  Sometimes hard to believe.  Oft times felt to the max. 

Life has been good to me.  Having spent the past two years volunteering at the Tucson Community Food Bank I have come to realize what a fortunate life I have led.  Although there are certainly those who have lead a more comfortable life, I certainly have never faced the economic and social pressures that too many of our fellow citizens face.  Speaking of a comfortable life, I am reminded of the story concerning an accident where an older gentleman was struck by a car while out walking.  A good samaritan offered his coat as a pillow and asked the man if he was comfortable, to which the old man said, "I make a good living".  Old joke ... sorry, we older gentlemen sometimes get distracted.

Travel info ... we are in St. Ignace, MI, which is located on the north end of the Mackinac Bridge, and will be heading into Lower Michigan today.  Spent a wonderful rest day yesterday here and over at Mackinac Island.  Since 1898, motor vehicles have been banned on the island, so the few roads are filled with horse-drawn carriages and wagons, and clogged with bicyclists.  Rather nerve racking sharing a narrow paved road with bike riders who seem to be unaware of others, with new bike riders of all ages who have not mastered the skill of riding in a straight line, and most dangerously, 9 year old boys.  As mentioned above ... I am now 65 and now officially an impatient crabby old codger ... I wish all those people would get off my lawn.

I don't really know what I thought I would be doing or how I would be feeling at 65, but I must say that I have few complaints in life-style and in health.  I am thankful for all that I have ... especially thankful for my family and my friends. In many, many ways I am blessed.

I think it would be appropriate to add ... Life is Good.

Green to Gray (August 5, 2013)

After the incredibly beautiful ride into Cumberland, which provided a vast array of shades of green ... green-boredom seemed to set in.  It wasn't that the scenery wasn't stunning, it was just that it rarely changed, and there was just not a lot of interesting sights to view.  Yes, there were many. many lakes, but again the sameness somewhat dulled the mind.  For the most part, the view as one rides down the road is one of pavement bordered on each side by a 30' strip of grass with tall stands of trees on each side.  Pretty, but not exciting.  So, I have little to comment on the 50 miles into Hayward, 40 miles into Clam Lake and 55 miles into Mercer.

However, the 55 miles into Eagle River brought a new kind of excitement into our riding ... cold rain and gray skies.  Dressed for battle in our yellow rain jackets and black rain pants, we withstood the five hours of drizzle and rain.  Fortunately, the route was fairly level ... but because it was a major highway there were many, many cars and trucks providing us with the ever so enjoyable road-spray.  We survived, and will live to ride another day.

Stopped in at a Wayside (called "rest stop" in good ol' Arizona) riding to Hayward.  While standing at the urinal (and looking straight ahead as we guys do) I read of someone's offer to perform a certain sexual act (9:00 to 5:00 daily, I might add).  Just call 355-034 ... great ad placement; poor messaging.

Another oddity occurred the other evening.  We have been enjoying the accents of the locals ... reminders of the movie "Fargo".  While ordering dinner, the waitress commented on my accent, which is odd because I never considered that I might have an accent.  Years ago, there was a movie called "Raising Arizona", starring Nicolas Cage and John Goodman that was set in Apache Junction, AZ.  Kim and I discussed the possibility that the actors took on the speaking accent of the Phoenix area ... and the possibility that residents of Fargo may have said, "Oh yah, that's how they talk don thar."

Heading into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan tomorrow.  More green, but fortunately less gray ... or so the weatherman says.
  

Must be God's Country (August 1, 2013)

Beauty abounds.

Today's 58 mile ride from Osceola, WI, to Cumberland, WI, was quite simply a ride through incredible beauty ... with a few nasty short steep hills to remind us of the darker sides of the road.

Amazingly pure blue skies doted with a few clouds (fortunately with white undersides indicating "no rain today") ... many, many shades of blue in the many lakes (dotted with green lily pads).... vast vistas of green, whether the greens be corn fields, fallow fields, wild-growth fields or forested areas ... lots of green

Beauty abounds (except for those damn hills!!).  Very enjoyable ride today.

Also treating the eye were a few fields with patches of wildflowers that were of many vivid assorted colors.  While viewing these fields my first thought was, "Look at those beautiful weeds!", but then I was reminded of the vicious email I received several summers ago from this cranky old codger (who lives up along the Columbia River) ... this email read, "THOSE ARE NOT WEEDS ... THOSE ARE WILDFLOWERS."  Cranky old codgers ... even though you love them, they must be humored.  I'm looking at you, Mr. Burk.

Anyway, quite a delightful ride (excepting hills).  We are currently in Cumberland, WI.  As is the case of many of these older small towns, the Cumberland downtown area has been restored and is quite active.  But then what would you expect of a town that takes great pride in being the Rutabaga Capital of the World (or at least of this part of the world).

The adjacent picture was taken here in Cumberland, and the actual sunset was even more beautiful then this iPicture.

Oh, and the weather today was also beautiful.  Kind of a nice day ... even the hills.

Wisconsin's on the Left (7/31/2013)

Heading east toward Maine ... seeing new cities ... viewing new vistas ... feeling old legs.

Spent late morning today picking up our bikes from the Minneapolis Amtrak Station and riding into the downtown area to make a quick stop at the local ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) office.  As mentioned in an earlier post, Kim has dedicated this tour to a longtime friend and mentor who has recently been diagnosed with ALS.  In conjunction with her friend, Del, she is raising funds and awareness of this disease that impacts more people and families than I ever realized.  Kim's journal, which includes a "Donate" button (should you wish to contribute) is at Biking with the Tailwind.

After an enjoyable visit at the ALS office in Downtown Minneapolis, we headed east.  I hesitate to comment on our earlier ride west getting to the downtown office ... leave it to say that the Google GPS map is not the clearest directional service available.  After several turns and misturns, all the while being chastised by the "female voice" of Ms. Google, we did find some wonderful bike trails that made the misadventure successful.

Later heading east to Wisconsin (picture above is the St. Croix River ... and Wisconsin is on the left), we rode for about 20 miles on the most enjoyable and beautiful rail-to-trail Gateway Trail.  Unfortunately, we were supposed to have turned left after 15 miles at the unsigned Manning Road ... great directions ... turn at the "unsigned" turnoff.  Oh well, it was a beautiful ride none-the-less.

Ended the day's pedaling in Osceola, WI, after putting in 64 miles ... 64 miles that, although relatively hill-free, have definitely left me leg-tired.  That month-long stay in Tucson, with little or no real training, has reduced my fitness level to close to zero.

Feels good to be sharing the road with Kim.  Feels good to be experiencing new sights and states.  Feels good ...