Final Thoughts

Final thoughts from Tom:
It seems like we finished a long time ago, but today is Friday, the 17th, so it's only been 10 days. After completing the ride, we did go have lobster--all of us. Our incredible good fortune with weather and circumstances continued. We had a couple of different people recommend the same lobster place so we took their advice. Not only was the lobster amazing, but the setting and the weather were fantastic. We watched one of the cooks walk out onto the dock, pull up a large cage of live lobsters, and pull out three for us.

My Favorites:
Having Patty along was the best thing about the ride, day in and day out. I think Jerry and I could have gone longer without her restocking our water and food, but it was really great to have her when it was really hot, windy, or rainy.

Favorite riding day: the Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier Park.

Favorite sights along the way: Glacier Park and Lake Superior.

Favorite cooler lunch sight: Too many great ones to single one out, but one along Lake Superior, and one along Lake Huron stand out.

Favorite state for cycling: New York. That must sound crazy, but the roads and the drivers in the parts of NY where we rode were the best.

My Not-So-Favorites:
Worst riding day(s)--Wolf Point, MT to Glendive, MT--104 miles, 60 or 70 miles into the wind, and a temp of 97 when we got to Glendive. A close second was from Alpena, MI to Standish, MI. A stiff head wind, 100 miles, and 96 degrees at the finish.

Worst hotel: The cabin in Marblemount, WA, but the Scheall Motel and the Running Bear cabins in the UP are close seconds.

Least favorite state for cycling: Vermont. The roads were the worst of any state, and the terrain was really hilly.

Least favorite state for drivers/safety: Washington. The logging trucks seemed determined to intimidate us, if not purposely injure us. One came within 12"-18", and many were within a couple of feet.
Things I learned/things to think about for future cyclists:
Prepare well. We were in pretty good riding shape and we didn't have many physical problems. I had the good fortune of a second bike that I could strip of parts for back-up. I didn't need any of them, but that's a good thing. We also took more tires than we used, but one sharp object on the road could take out two tires in a heartbeat, so no regrets about what we took.

Make a plan and try to stick to it, but be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunity. Don't book hotels too far out--one or two days in advance is usually adequate.

Be prepared for bad weather. I found heat and wind much more difficult to ride in than rain, but I think that's because we had good rain gear and were willing to use it several times.

Take the time to rest. In retrospect, I should have moved the first rest day to Columbia Falls/Whitehorse, MT instead of Sand Point, ID. First, it would have been great to spend more time around Glacier Park. Second, it would have made the space between rest days more reasonable. The 10 days without rest from Sand Point to Bismarck was a long haul.

What you pay for a hotel is not necessarily an indication of what you'll get. We paid $36 for the Scheall Motel, and it wasn't very good. Even though I rate it as one of the worst, it was perfectly adequate--clean and had a shower--that's all we really needed.

You can ride the interstate in some states. In ND, we rode I-94 from border to border. The drivers, especially the big trucks, gave us a lot of room, and the interstate had a lot fewer and less steep hills. On I-94 is where we had the 134 mile day.

Would I do it again? Probably not that route. I don't think I need to see more of Montana east of Glacier, or any of North Dakota. They were part of the whole adventure, but not worth another coast to coast bike trip. What I would do is another ride in the NW, to include Glacier. Maybe start in Anacortes, ride as far as Glacier, then head south and west and end up in Astoria Oregon. I would also consider a ride that followed the shore of Lake Superior. I found it, including Marquette, to be really enjoyable.

Final Stats:
Total miles: 3,420.
Average miles per day: 85.
Most miles in a day: 134.
Days over 100 miles: 7.
Days over 90 miles: 19.
Total time on the bikes: 216 hours, 27 minutes.
Average time on the bikes: 5 hours, 25 minutes.
Longest time on the bikes: 7 hours, 2 minutes.
Days over 6 hours on the bikes: 8.
Flat tires: 2 each.
Weight lost: 19 pounds from the time I started training until yesterday.
Beer consumed: Sorry, that would be TMI.


Final thoughts from Jerry:
It is pretty amazing what the human body can adapt to. If you would have told me that we would do 10 days of straight riding, over mountain passes with rain, wind and conditions that at home you wouldn't ride in, and average 90 miles a day, I would have laughed in your face. In Montana and North Dakota we did many consecutive days of back to back 100 milers (mainly just to get through the endless plains, but also to build up some float in the schedule). Gwen actually told us to slow down, so she could still have a full visit with our friends Karen and Jim in Michigan before meeting us.

The fact that we had no physical problems, including getting sick, is simply amazing. Along with that we really only had two very uncomfortable days of heat or wind and the rainy days could be counted on one hand. We really lucked out on the weather, especially considering that while we were in Washington and Montana the Midwest was experiencing record breaking heat.

For me one of THE most important things that lead to an enjoyable trip and our being able to adhere to the schedule was to have Patty along with us with the car. As Tom said she was always there for us and we usually had to force her to drive up the road more than 15 miles to go relax in some shade and read her kindle, as she didn't want to have us run out of water or food. Because of this, and the fact that she can make sandwiches fast, we were able to keep the bikes on the road and eat real food (not 7-11 stuff) without wasting a lot of time. The trip would be an incredibly different one if we had to support ourselves, (I for one would have needed a touring bike. Even if the trip was a supported trip, having more than two or three riders is like trying to herd cats and with just 2 riders we got to make our own decisions.

I was so glad that Gwen was able to join us at the two- thirds point of the trip. Sharing part of this adventure with her was a highlight of the trip for me, especially since she got to experience a little bit of everything, some beautiful varied scenery in Michigan and New York as well as Ontario, Canada, several rainy days and of course Niagara Falls and the wine region..

Here is my list of favorites:
Glacier Park - Spectacular and different from either the Rockies or the Sierras due to the wild mountain formations and the incredible glacial activity that was so very obvious. This was everyone’s favorite!

Niagara Falls and the Niagara On-The-Lake Region - The Falls lived up to everything I had ever seen or heard about them and more. The boat trip was a highlight and riding a bike in upstream next to the river was pretty special – especially on a Saturday with all the crazy tourists on the Canadian side. A real show – both the falls and the people! The Niagara On-the Lake region was a real surprise with a perfectly restored old village and lots of fun shops and as a bonus a great wine growing region all around, so lots of wine tasting and good food. We discovered Ice Wine which Gwen and I had never even heard of..

Biggest surprise - the town of Medora in North Dakota. We had no idea that this was a big time tourist destination with a top notch live musical performance in a one of a kind outdoor theater every night of the summer. The town and the accommodations were something that Teddy Roosevelt would be proud of, as he fell in love with the area, bought a big ranch nearby, and carved out a big national park in the neighboring hills. I thought it was a movie set when we first drove into town.

Second biggest surprise - the Adirondacks. Being from the west we didn't understand that this is such a beautiful area and is a prime summertime vacation area for all the folks living in the Northeast. Looking at maps, there were few towns or roads shown and I personally was a little worried that we would be in a desolate area - the boonies - with few services, towns etc. Not so, the area is covered with beautiful lakes, nice little resort towns, summer cottages and cabins and lots of boats, fishing, beaches and vacationers. Very nice, with an alpine flavor and interesting mountains nearby. Very nice.

Here is my list of not so favorites:
Roads that have cracks every 25 feet or so. Since we were riding the “Upper Tier” as the Adventure Cycling Maps called it, the roads are subjected to brutal conditions, particularly in the winter. Tom and I originally thought that the cracks were construction joints, but it became apparent that these were not man made but random. UGH. Whether the cracks were caulked or tarred, our butts suffered dearly every few moments, ba bump, ba bump, ba bump.

New Chip and Seal Roads: Riding one of these is the fastest way to numb your fingers and lose at least a mile an hour. Until the cars had pushed the aggregate into the tar so that the surface was really flat, you basically were riding in the top portion of gravel. Delightful! We found ourselves creeping off the shoulder of the road into the main lane so we could get into a track left by the cars just to avoid the vibration and drag. Cars did not appreciate this.

Logging Trucks : Since they drive mainly backroads they are used to difficult conditions, twisty narrow roads and hills, so they basically slow or stop for nothing. I think bicyclists are favorite targets to intimidate and their trucks are the loudest, with bark flying off in all directions. Like Tom said, lots of close encounters. Not unusual to hear fellow cyclists tell of being forced onto the gravel shoulder on narrow mountain roads.

Wind: Headwinds are brutal, but day after day of the roar of wind noise from any wind other than a tailwind has probably affected the tinnitus in my already bad ear. Gwen has noticed this already, Tom just thought I was just trying to ignore him when riding and started saying everything two or three times, louder and louder.

Day 44 - Hiram to Portland ME - The Last Day.

Today we will do our normal blog, however if you check back in about a week, (after everyone gets home, unpacked and re-organized), we plan on posting a rap-up summary of the adventure with some of our thoughts etc.

Hi all:  What a spectacular day.  The weather was perfect, the roads were fine and I did not get lost :)   I am so proud of both those guys - what an accomplishment.  I will say again, how much fun I have had traveling along, fixing coolor lunches, enjoying a glass of wine at dinner (I don't drink beer) as we relived each day.  I have enjoyed getting to know Jerry, his wit, sense of humor and patience.  As for Tom, I can't think of a better way to start retirement than spending six weeks on a road trip with your husband and just hanging out - oh the memories we have created.  Thanks for inviting me to be a part of such a special event!
Patty on the road - signing off - heading home

Notes from Jerry:  I can't believe we just finished, on a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 70's and low humidity!  Everything worked out as far as finding our way into Portland and the bike shop owners warning of, "be prepared for the worst roads of the trip in the last few miles of the ride in Portland", were totally unfounded.  The ride in was super with good roads, mainly downhill.

Due to our use of the tailwind yesterday we had only about 40 miles to do today, and as we met Patty in the town of Gorham, which is only about 10-15 miles out of Portland, we asked if she could make a sandwich for us.  She looked at us with daggers and said, "you guys just ate breakfast!"  We told her she couldn't quit on us now, and we needed all the strength we could muster to negotiate the urban potholes and navigate streets with cars and signals and detailed directions.  After we told her it would be her last cooler lunch - kind of a celebratory thing, she gave in, said something about where is Gwen when I need her.  We said she needed to dip her cooler in the water just like our bikes, and she did, as the picture below shows.  I think Patty was more excited to accomplish our goal than we were - ha!  Three cheers for St. Patricia!!

We dropped off my bike at the bike store that Gwen had scouted out for us, and then proceeded 3 blocks down the street to a little Inn called the Inn at St. John, which is a great find, and close!  Tom is taking his bike apart for the return drive home and Patty is at the laundromat so she has something clean to wear for the big celebratory lobster dinner tonight.  We have the place already scoped out.

This trip has been a dream trip of mine.  The fact that Tom and Patty invited me to participate, in Tom's big adventure was a chance of a lifetime, especially because there were only the 3 of us and we were fully supported by Patty with a car.  Thank you T and P!!  We are the envy of every cyclist I know and for sure all of the cyclists we have met on the road.  We even gave up using our camelbacks, and yesterday when I had only one bottle holder on the rental bike - no problem, Patty was always there. Incredible to be able to ride across the country totally unencumbered with junk!

Notes from Tom:  It's over -- we did the last 38 miles in little more than 2 hours.  Our grand total was 3,431.  I feel sort of like I did when I was a kid and all of the Christmas presents had been opened--the anticpation of getting to Portland is over--what do I do now.  The mental and physical energy it took to get up every day for the last 44 and continue the trip never seemed like a big deal, until we finished, and now I feel like I'm suffering a let down.

I can't say enough thank you's to my wife Patty for being the support team for us.  I know she really did enjoy it, but it was still a heroic effort that allowed me to fulfill a long-time dream, and put a couple of checks in boxes on the bucket list.  Whatever she and I do for a next or several adventures, it will be her choice.  Tonight she'll feast on fresh Maine lobster, but that won't even make a dent in what I owe her.  Thanks Patty.

I told Jerry this morning as we rode that I was so glad that he wanted to participate in this trip.  I would have attempted the trip with just Patty and I, but having Jerry along made it much more fun for me.  I can't think of anyone else I would have rather shared the adventure with.  It's really good fortune that we started as roomates and fraternity brothers in college, and we still have enough in common to complete this trip and still be friends.  Our riding skills are very comparable so even though we didn't ride close together much of the time, it was great to have someone to share the experience with.  Thanks Jerry.

The last thank you is to all of you who read the blog.  We really enjoyed the e-mails and comments we got, and we're totally amazed that our blog has been viewed almost 11,000 times.  That's as amazing to me as the fact that we completed the ride, exactly on schedule, with minimal problems.  Thanks all.

We're off to have lobster!!

Day 43 - N. Woodstock NH to Hiram ME

Hi from the driver :)  Can't believe we are a day away.  The past six weeks have been filled with chuckles, laughs, ah ha's, and some 'ok, now what' moments.  Motels that made us chuckle, the great restaurants we found (or the ones we did not find)  The nights we have spent around the computer remembering the events of the day for the blog.  We've traveled through wide open prarie land and tree lined country roads.  We've seen the bad lands and the wet lands.  It has been very fun.  I will miss getting up at 5:15 every morning (ha).
Tomorrow is our last day on the road.  My treat awaits me in Maine - a lobster dinner (hopefully near the water).
Patty on the road

Notes from Tom:  WOW!! Today was our next to the last day, and we have less than 40 miles to ride tomorrow--that's not even a respectable training ride.

Today was little a disjointed due to the bike problems from yesterday.  This morning Jerry went back and rode the 20 or so miles he missed yesterday.  I joined him in North Woodstock and together we rode another 59 miles.  We had our last big climb today--it was about 2300 feet of elevation gain in 14 miles--called Kancamagus Pass. There was a great scenic overlook just below the top of the pass.

The picture below shows our enthusiasum for completing the serious climbs--I just hope my shoulder doctor doesn't check the blog--he said I wasn't allowed to lift much weight. 

The climb was fun and it had a couple of places where the grade was around 9%, but I'll stand by my earlier comment about the mountains in CO.  After a long gentle downhill, we crossed into Maine--our 11th and LAST state.

With only one day left, it's interesting to think about the whole trip--we've been focused on each day with not much time to worry about yesterday or the next day.  As Patty said, lots of memories.  One thing that surprises me is that we never woke up on a riding day and wished we didn't have to ride.  I will admit that on the rest days I woke up and thought how nice it was not to ride, but the riding never got to be a chore.

As I mentioned yesterday, my bike has some random noises, and the freaking creaking seems like it will make it to Portland along with me.  I made one more attempt this morning, but the creak won and Tom didn't.

Notes from Jerry:  I was a little worried about today because I had to make up the last 21 miles from yesterday when my bike died, and that meant two climbs, plus what was on todays plate which was the big ride up the pass.  Well I learned quickly how to shift the rental bike which had the same dumb shifters that I had on a rental bike last summer in France.  I nearly crashed in a ditch last year, this year I only had to do one circle in the road while trying to get into the lowest chainring.  I must be improving. 

The ride I was dreading up the "Kanc" was actually fun - especially the downhill.  Afterwards I picked up my bike at the bike shop in North Conway and the mechanic had done a great job of modifying a replacement part to fit - only one problem, he couldn't put the three screws that hold it on the frame back in, so the axle bolt is holding the whole  thing together!  One more day - it will work.  Maybe I need to get my trusty duct tape into action.  Anyhow it held together just fine for the afternoon session.

We had tailwinds again for the next segment of the ride and after lunch we took advantage of the wind and added some more miles - 21 to be exact, which gave me 80 for the day.   Tomorrow should be short and sweet.  I can't believe it is almost over and that I was able to get around the broken bike problem.

I really like New Hampshire.  The mountains are very striking if not high, and are heavily forrested with pines and firs.  The town of Conway has a river with rafting, tubing, kayaking etc, plus a ski resort called Loon Mountain? We really lucked out with a little motel our bike shop owner recommended, not only because it is a great one, but because we were able to find a room.  This place is a real vacation destination and is hopping!

Day 42 - Stockbridge VT to N. Woodstock NH

Greetings from New Hampshire - the last state before Maine.  I still have a hard time with being in one state and four hours later being in another state - these states are pretty small :)
Today's ride was an interesting ride - and drive.  This day reminded me how great it is to have a support vehicle on a ride.  I have said many times - I am really enjoying this trip because I really do like to just drive - get in the car and drive.  But, on this day, driving along with the guys really turned out to be a good thing.
Patty driving along

Notes from Tom:  We enjoyed our detour to Killington.  Patty and I were there in the summer some 18 years ago, and I skied there the year before that when I was working in Montreal.  The hotel had just reopened for their fall season, but there was a great Italian restaurant next door. For a cyclist, Italian = pasta = carbs for the ride ahead.

Since we were rained/lighninged out the day before, we returned to the scene of that event to start our ride for the day.  The ride in the early morning fog was fun, and much cooler than it would be later in the day. We made up the 13 miles we missed yesterday, and headed for NH--our 10th state, with only ONE more to go. 

Leaving the VT roads did not break our hearts--in general they were some of the worst we've seen.  I'm sure most VT people would cringe, but they could learn something about road specs and road building from NY.  Before we left VT, I got a photog of Jerry coming out of a covered bridge.

In more than 3000 miles of riding, we've seen a lot of street signs.  In the last couple of days I've seen a couple of Lover's Lane signs, but when I stopped to capture this one, I realized it was the turn off for the local cemetary.  Who know's what that's about.

We knew we had some climbing to do and we wanted to cover the 89 miles it would take to get to our reserved motel in North Woodstock, NH before it rained again.  We had a tail wind as we headed north along the Connecticut river.  Along the way we had two cooler snacks/lunches to keep us fueled up.  At the beginning of the last couple of climbs we hit a major snag, but I'll let Jerry explain the details.  I will say that Patty has "rescued" us in the past, but today the rescue was a huge deal.

My bike has developed some unusual sounds over the 3,333 miles I've ridden it on this trip. One is the sloshing of the water in my water bottles when they get partially empty.  At first I thought the noise was coming from my knees--not impossible for an old guy like me.  Another noise I get sounds like crickets chirping (or whatever they do is called).  That one is the little wheels on my rear derailluer (sp?) but a little squirt of chain oil usually solves that for a while.  The one I haven't been able to eliminate is the creaking/squeaking noise coming from the area near the handle bars.  It only happens when I stand up, but that's been fairly often--to give my butt a rest from the seat, and to help me climb some of the many hills.  I've decided the creak will be will me when I dip my front wheel in the Atlantic at Portland, and it will get fixed when I get home.

Notes from Jerry:  Today started off great and as Tom said, the tailwind was awesome so it was looking like a smooth day.  Not so.  What started things off was the wind blowing my bike over at lunch and  I noticed that my certain of my gears were not tracking properly.  I thought no sweat, I just won't use those gears for the next 2 days.  WRONG!

As we were starting the last 2 climbs of the day and I shifted down, all hell broke loose, as I think the chain jumped somewhere it was not supposed to go and basically the deraileur got dragged into the spokes.  The end result was the deraileur was ripped off the bike and the chain twisted into the back wheel.

Tom continued his climb and since we had no cell service Patty and I supported Tom, until he said he was good to go all the way to the hotel and we could check into getting the bike fixed or find a rental.  As is turned out the closest real bike store was in our next destination, Conway an hour away from todays destination and by a real fluke the owner was in the store doing paper work - he was not officially open, but said he could help us out one way or another.

Poor Patty - we drove to our destinatiion for tonight where we checked in and dropped off Tom's bags and beer and then headed off over the biggest pass we have seen since the Cascades.  The end result was my renting a bike for tomorrow which would give the great bike store guy time to fabricate/ modify a new hanger to fit my bike for a new (used) deraileur and chain which I would pick up at the end of the day.  It looks like the Cannondale bike will fit - let's hope so, as Patty and I drove the route and it is 20 miles of up with the last 4 miles at 9% ugh.  Of course I will wake up and do the part I missed today, as well as this pass as Tom and Patty will drop me off where I broke down - no cheating here!

Day 41 - Schroon Lake, NY to Stockbridge, VT

Hard to believe it is Saturday, August 4th - we are in Vermont.  Yep, we arrived in Vermont after crossing Lake Champlain on a ferry, with Fort Ticonderoga on the shore of New York.  What we have seen of Vermont, so far, is more rolling hills and windy roads, small farms and, of course, maple syrup.  Yep - a can in the car!
I think we have been very fortunate, so far, that in our travels and booking motels on line, that we have have had pretty good accommodations - for the most part, modest but adequate.  To start with, finding accommodations on a Saturday night is rough - from an internet search, we called multiple motels, all full - finally finding one in Bethel, VT - a B&B, seemed okay on the internet.  After picking up the guys in pouring rain, driving ahead 13 miles, we arrived at our B&B.  What we found resembled something from the Adam's family with a Lurch in residence.  UGH!  It was dark, unfriendly, unkempt - simply unacceptable.  After having a heart to heart on the veranda of the haunted mansion house, we all agreed to say - thanks, but no thanks to the owner and put our bags back in the car and headed to Killington where we found a great inn, friendly owner and a fabulouse Italian restaurant next door.  As Jerry said, "it is the best thing we never did".
Patty in Vermont

Notes from Jerry:  Today was one of the big unknowns as we were leaving New York and the Adirondack area for Vermont, and the Adventure Cycling map showed one of the biggest climbs on their profile.  Once we headed out of the mountains down to Lake Champlain we saw a grand vista that was a little disconcerting - many rows of ridges in the distance followed by a real mountain!  The beginning of the Green Mountains. 

After getting beat up by all the ridges and hills for 50 miles, when we started the real climb out of East Middlebury, Tom and I started up what was a 10 percent grade or more right off the bat!  We both thought to ourselves, "I don't think we can do this for 4 or 5 miles"!  Luckily it tapered off and we survived - even did another 10 percenter near the top.  Only one more mountainous day and then it is literally downhill to Portland.

Notes from Tom:  When we left Anacortes, WA on June 25th, I don't think I would have guessed that NY was the best state for cycling, but so far it has been.  The paths and roads were great, and most of the drivers gave us plenty of room.  A pleasant surprise.

Vermont is our 9th state, along with one province--only NH and ME remain.  When we boarded the ferry to cross Lake Champlain, we notice that there are cable stretched from NY to VT, and the ferry just gets pulled along them--the "pilot" has an easy job and probably never gets lost.

Jerry described the first climb in Vermont, and the first real climb in a long time.  What made this climb difficult were the combination of the 10% or greater grade and the 7 mile length, but the real problem was the heat and humidity--one thing we rarely have in Colorado in the mountains.  When we got to the top we saw a sign saying that the descent was 12%--unfortunately the road wasn't that great so our speed had to be controlled.  Our 80 miles for the day ended in rain and lighning as Patty rescued us, again.

Day 40 - Boonville to Schroon Lake, NY

Hi all - the ride from Boonville to Schroon Lake took us in, around, up and down - over hill, over dale - the heart of the Adirondacks, small villages, beautiful lakes. 

We have been pretty lucky with weather so far.  We traveled east along SR28 then north on SR9 - a vacationers paradise - cabins, motels, lodges all along the way.  Canoes on cars coming and going through all the small villages.
Patty having fun driving along

Notes from Jerry:  Today was probably one of my favorite rides!  The towns or hamlets as they are called of Old Forge and Inlet were great little mountain towns at opposite ends of a long lake that were obviously a vacation destination for many.  Lots to do, hiking, biking, rafting, fishing, boating and all water sports.  What was unique, as Tom mentioned, was that all of this was easy to see from the highway - something we never saw in the land of a thousand lakes, Minnesota, due to all the trees!

The best ride of the trip was along the south shore of the Fulton Lakes chain (lake #1, lake #2 etc.).  With a newly paved road, gentle hills and twists and turns we really had a ball and cranked out the speed.  We also solved the guu delemma - new tar = guu!

Notes from Tom:  Like Jerry said, earlier in the trip we rode through the land of 10,000 lakes, and didn't get a sense being amoung lakes.  Today in the Adirondacks we really enjoyed all of the lakes and little towns.  One thing New York could use is some help naming lakes.  As Jerry said, we saw a whole chain of lakes that were numbered.  We definitely saw lakes 3 through 9, and there is no doubt that there was a 1 and 2.  These little towns reminded me of some small mountain towns in Colorado, like Ouray or Lake City.  Even a town that was a small dot on the map, North Creek, had a great main street and we enjoyed homemade sandwiches in a small deli.  There were a lot of hills, but nothing too steep or long--just one after the other for the 90 miles we rode.

We started seeing rivers that remind me of those in Colorado--clear water flowing among the rocks.  In this part of NY, even the Hudson that flows past Manhattan clear and pretty.

As we rolled into Schroon Lake, we couldn't resist a picture of a place that reminded us of Tracy.

Day 39 -8/2 - Fulton to Boonville

Greetings all -
I dropped the guys off at Dunkin Donuts conveniently located at the start of their ride today.  Convenient because our daughter, Amanda, wanted me to pick up some Dunkin Donut K-cups that she is unable to purchase in Denver.  Lucky her.
Each text I sent to the guys today included the same road condition notation - narrow roads, curves and hills - but good roads  :)  We shall see what they have to say.
Small townships describe the towns we passed through traveling along hwy 3, hwy 104, hwy 17, (crossing over I-81), hwy 297 and hwy 12.  The highways change numbers and names each time they go through a township or county line, sometimes they have multiple numbers.  It is still amazes me that I have been able to navigate my way from town to town without getting lost more than once a day.
Found a great lunch spot today on the shore of the Salmon River Reservoir near the town of Redfield.

Patty still driving along

Notes from Tom:  Today we passed the 3000 mile point.  We knew we were heading toward the Adirondacks and the mountains of Vermont, so we expected the terrain to change.  As Patty said it was curves and hills.  Most of the hills weren't too bad, but there were a couple that required us to be in our lowest gear and stand up to pedal.  At one point I thought I was going to have to walk my bike. We climbed a total of 5700 feet today--the most we've had to climb in one day since Day 4 in Washington.
Recently we've wondered about is what people who live out in all of these rural area do to earn a living.  In many areas west of here there was a decent sized town and lots of agriculture, but today we rode through long stretches of pretty nice houses in remote areas with no agriculture.  Who knows how they make a living.  We did see some Amish homes, identified by the horse and buggy signs, and one buggy on the road.

One thing we've learned is that getting hotels for Friday and Saturday nights is more challenging than the other days of the week.  Patty has booked us through Saturday night, which leaves us only Sunday night in NH, and Monday night in Bridgton ME.  After that we'll be in Portland.  Yee Haa. 

Notes from Jerry:  We were blessed with excellent weather today and the light winds when they came up in the afternoon were favorable.  The landscape definitely got more hilly and mountainous, so that by the time we arrived in Booneville the feeling was one of a good sized mountain town, older, with lots of character, spread out over lots of land and surrounded by forrests and open spaces.  Pretty cool..... we had no idea what to expect.

Getting there was a bit of a chore as Tom and I were constantly churning the gears and standing up in the pedals - definitely not  boring.  We rode for another hour after getting to Boonville to make it easier for tomorrow's long and mountainous day.  The scenary got more spectacular, but so did the hills.  We were very glad to see Patty drive up to call it a day - about 90 hilly miles,. but very interesting and pretty.

Day 38 - 8/1 - Rochester to Fulton, NY

Well, my traveling buddy left today.  Amazing how quick you get used to having someone along to share the ride. It was fun having Gwen along - hard to believe we only have one more week! 
Off we went, leaving Rochester, Tom suggested I make a stop at the Wegman's flagship store.  Thankfully, my GPS route went right past the store.  All I have to say is WOW.  For those of you not familiar with Wegman's - it is a grocery store - but, not just any grocery store - Whole Foods is a Wegman's wanna be - really!
Traveling through this part of New York finds you on hilly, tree lined country roads and small farms.  Really fun. 
Our resting (motel) spot for tonight is in the town of Fulton, right along the Oswego River, a port town near Lake Ontario.  We chose this spot just for our good friend Peter Fulton!  Interesting--his wife Mavis has a tire shop in the same town??

Patty still in New York
PS - we really enjoy reading your comments on our blog - they are funny and entertaining - thanks!

Notes from Tom: 

Riding in New York.  Of course we're not in New York City, where there's terrible traffic, lots of drivers who would not be happy with cyclists on the road, and narrow and pot-holed roads.  However, I've been really impressed so far with the roads and drivers in NY.  The roads are some of the best we've ridden--wide shoulders, very few bumps, and no rumble strips, and the drivers seem to generally give us plenty of room.

Today we started in Rochester on the Erie Canal trail and rode it to Palmyra, but since it rained hard last night there was some mud and puddles.  My bike and I weigh considerably more than Jerry and his bike, and my tires are skinnier than his, so the mud and sketchy places give me more trouble, but we made it to Palmyra with no problems.  There are always picturesque sights along the canal, such as Fairport in the picture below.

Riding through the country side on good two lane roads and virtually no traffiic was really nice.  Today we rode through rural areas that could have been in the UP of Michigan as easily as rural NY.  Who knew?  See Jerry's comments below for his theory on hills.

Stats up date.  We're in our 8th state, plus one province, with only VT, NH, and ME left.  Tomorrow we'll pass the 3000 mile milestone, and right now I'm estimating the total mileage will be 3450.  I've had 3 flat tires--another one today.  I've retired 4 tires, and barring damage from a something on the road, the tires I have on now should easily make it to Portland. 

We still have some "mountains" to cross.  Coming from Colorado I'm kind of a mountain snob when it comes to riding a bike--if it isn't an 8% grade for 10 miles that climbs to 10,000 foot elevation, then it's not really a mountain ride.  I know we have some climbs to negotiate, so we'll see how long and steep they really are.
Notes from Jerry:  We dropped Gwen off at the Rochester Airport this morning and as Patty said she will be missed - especially by me!  She really enjoyed the best part of the trip - the Niagara on the Lake Wine country and the Falls of course, and I have to give my thanks to Tom from doing some amazing on-the-fly rerouting and replanning to carve out an extra rest day on top of the already planned rest day.  This was on a no float schedule!  Gwen and I really had fun and I know that on top of her great visit with Karen and Jim in New Haven she had an action packed vacation.  I was especially glad that she was able to be part of the team effort to help make this happen - it is a little hard to understand what is involved in doing this ride, so I'm glad she got to participate.

Well Patty and Tom are going to start calling me Pig Pen pretty soon.  I seem to be the only guy who can ride for a few miles and get either guu or grit on both legs in a matter of miles.  Today we were eating our second breakfast in a great diner and I put my hands on my knees under the table.  GRIT!  From the wet (from rain) crushed rock Erie Canal Tow Path.  I told Tom, " feel your knees".  He did and nothing!  When we went back outside it looked like I had been sandblasted from gray grit from the knees on down!  The only thing I could come up with is that my tires are slightly bigger at 25cm than the standard at 23cm that Tom has.  This means that there is barely any clearance for the crushed rock that gets stuck on the tire to pass between the tire and frame.  I think the wet grit comes up, hits the front fork at the top and then sprays right and left onto my legs!

Yesterday I felt that my shoes were a little loose so after our lunch picnic I really cinched up the velchro straps.  Bad move - I succeeded in pulling the leather shoe away from the plastic bottom.  (In April I asked Tom if he thought I should get new shoes because they were starting to separate - I ignored his advice and had the shoe re-glued at a shoe repair shop.) The picture below shows how creative I  can be with duct tape when required.  Tom's is now totally embarassed to be seen with me - trailer trash icon, I have duct tape on the left shoe where I cut off the bothersome tab on the left side of my achilles, and now the total toe of the right shoe is duct taped.  Notice the vent I cut out! Coool!

My theory on hills is this: The upper USA appears to have troughs or valleys that are oriented east / west. When traveling east/ west you are paralleling these valleys either in the valleys or on the ridges separating them. Going north/ south you are crossing these valleys and constantly going up and down, like a washboard. That's my theory and I'm sticky to it, because every time we go north/ south we encounter sucky hills, and every time we go east/ west it is relatively flat.

Day 37 - Queenston, ON to Rochester, NY

What a great way to wrap up our stay in Niagara on the Lake.  A beautiful sunrise welcomed us as we packed the car.

Jitters were in abundance when Gwen and I dropped the guys off at the parking area to the bridge over the Niagara River - last stop before leaving Canada and returning to U.S.A.  We passed through customs and after four right turns, were on our way into New York.  Still not sure how we made four right turns and still ended up going east.
The landscape was different as we passed through each township and village.  The guys were on a recreation / bike path, we were on local and state highways that wound in and arround small towns.  In one town, I loved the sign!

All is good, we arrived in Rochester - in our hotel and ready to begin our final week of cycling.
Patty in New York

Notes from Tom:  As Patty said, we were a little iffy about riding our bikes across the bridge into NY, but it turned out to be really simple and it was good to get back to the US.

We hadn't realized that we were in Tracy's territory, but we saw a sign that made us wonder about that..

When we got onto the Erie Canal Canalway Trail, we had to pass by a lock, and were surprised by the elevation difference at the lock, and the fact that we never passed another one in the 40 miles we rode along the canal.  Overall we rode 88 miles today.

I think I've wished for flat roads in the past, but this one was so flat that I got tired of riding the same speed in the same gear for so long.

We've seen a lot of draw bridges on this whole trip, but we finally were in the right place to see one raise and lower.

Notes from Jerry:  Our stay in Niagara on the Lake was excellent but I think we were all looking forward to getting back in the USA.  As Tom and Patty said we did a very good job of navigating the bridge and getting onto the Erie Canal Tow Path which is now a very nice bike path that starts in the town of Lockport (which has the lock that Tom has a photo of above),  and goes for many miles past Rochester and Syracuse. 

Despite a thunder shower that had us huddling under a bridge, the ride was surprisingly smooth for riding on crushed rock.  We probably averaged above 16 mph but it was pretty noisy, and believe it or not despite the beauty and cooling of the water, it got a little boring, except for the fact that the slightest turn on the slippery surface in an unbalanced position  meant you were probably going down.  It was nice not having to worry about traffic!

Short Note From Gwen:  The guys saw an interesting microbrewery from the road and, of course, we had to drive back there after showers (and thunder showers) for dinner and their I.P.A. (India Pale Ale) draft beer fix for the day.  We all enjoyed a great pub dinner fare with carbo-loading by the guys.

Day 35 & 36 - Rest Days in Niagara on the Lake

It's amazing how a two day rest can seem like a week vacation.  As noted, we really enjoyed seeing the falls - up close and personal, enjoying the wine country and just relaxing.  I can't remember the last time we had breakfast at 9:00am.  We did find out that in this area, Niagara Falls is the name of the city - The Falls - is the name of the falls.  No matter that the rest of the civilized world calls them "Niagara Falls".
Wine tasting is fun.  Yep, sure liked the ice wine - actually, I prefer the 'late harvest' wines.  Monday evening will find us enjoying dinner at the Strewn Winery.  We enjoyed their tasting room hosts, and of course the wines.
Patty along the wine route :)

American Falls

Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls

Canadian Falls Up Close and Personal

Tom and Gwen in our fashionable ponchos

The group, sponsored by USC with visors

Notes from Jerry:  Ahhh.. rest days!  Time to sleep in, except you still wake up at 6 am or earlier, but most of us can go back to sleep.  We got going early on Sunday morning to beat any crowds to the "Maid of the Mist" boats that go right up to the Falls themselves. 

We really enjoyed a cloudless day and one of the first boats out with no lines or waiting to board.  The viewing was breath-taking and pretty hilarious with everyone wearing their blue ponchos.  Spectacular!  Lots of great photo opportunities both on the boats and above at the rim of the river.  The Canadian side is where you want to be because one can view both the American and Canadian Falls themselves from across the river which is pretty narrow where the Falls are located.

To top the day off we drove up to Niagara on the Lake, which is the next town up where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario.  We discovered that Niagara on the Lake is actually not just a small town, but the name that they use for a whole wine growing region that covers many miles.  Think of Napa or Sonoma.  The little historic town itself is really well restored and a great venue for daytrippers, weekend stays  or longer as it has lots of inns, B and B's, restaurants, neat shops, plays/theaters and is surrounded by lots of wineries.

After walking the little town and having lunch it was off to the local wineries to try the, "Ice Wine" which is what this region is famous for.  I had never heard of ice wine, being a California boy, so I will let the rest of the gang tell you about it.

Monday is another R and R day so it is time for rotating the tires on the bike (new on front - front to back), haircuts and catching up on blogs, then off to more sightseeing and wine tasting!

Short Note From Gwen: From my perspective, I think the three travelers have been eating gourmet meals throughout the trip.  Seriously, we have hand-picked some great dinner restaurants since I met up with the gang.  Last night we had great steaks while seated outside in a nice patio.  The night before in Niagara Falls, we each had home-made pasta dishes which were the best I have ever eaten.  Both places were recommendations from the hotel/motel staff.  Patty, Tom and Jerry keep relating their past experiences -- some great, some not so much!  Today, we will do some more wine tasting and sightseeing.  I can't believe the number and quality of the local wineries in Niagara on the Lake.  The small historic town is so quaint and picturesque.

Notes from Tom:  Ah, rest days is right.  This is the first rest day since Marquette, Michigan, which was July 19th, and it's the first time we took two days off in a row.  We'll need to be re-trained in the morning.  I won't dwell too much on the rest day activities--the others have pretty much covered that.  One thing I will add is that at the winery where we're having dinner we probably tasted 10-15 different wines between the four of us--some were supposed to cost $4 each.  While tasting we told the hostess about our bike trip, and when we left she charged us $4 total, saying she enjoyed hearing about us and wanted us to enjoy our trip.

When the three of us try to tell Gwen about some of the experiences we've had, it takes all of us to remember what hotel we stayed in which town, and which restaurant was where--we've been a lot of places along the way.

As I said in yesterday's blog, we have ridden 2800 miles so far, but even more surprising to us is that we have less than 700 miles left, and a week from tomorrow, Tuessday, August 7th, we'll be in Portland, Maine and the adventure will be over.  The first thing Jerry and I will need to give up is eating everything we can get as often as we want.  Even eating like we have, we've lost weight.  I'm not sure how much weight we've lost, but all of my clothes are a lot looser than they were 5-1/2 weeks ago.

Day 34 - 7/28 - Dunnville to Niagara Falls

This day of traveling was more like hopping - from one spot to another.  After a sketchy start (a meeting mix up) we were all back on the road.  A variety of scenery - views of Lake Erie, canals, small quaint bridges, city streets and highways.  Thank goodness for GPS in the car, along with the multiple maps we carry along.  Once at our motel, Gwen and I went for a walk along the Niagara River enjoying peeks of the river (below the falls).  A quick walk to the Whirlpool viewing area where the river makes a turn causing an enormous eddy. 

Very impressive views and great pathway all along the Niagara River.  Being so close to the US across the river, my cell phone actually thought I was located in the US and went off international roaming.  Armed with the name of a restaurant, we headed toward the main tourist area of Niagara Falls.  Although I thought I had made a wrong turn and had arrived in Las Vegas, the restaurant and people watching were great.
Patty along the falls

Notes from Tom:  We started out riding in the rain, but it didn't last all day.  We rode 78 miles today, and our trip total going into the two rest days is 2804 miles.  Jerry had his second flat tire of the trip (I've had one that was road caused and one immediately after that that was self caused) but Jerry's was in a nice place along Lake Erie, where we could see the US across the lake. 

Today was more of a navigational challenge than a riding challenge.  The Adventure Cycling maps showed a bike path that went for about 20 miles, which we eventually found after Jerry saw some riders about a half mile to our right.  It was a great path and it took us all the way into Fort Erie, ON, across the Niagara River from Buffalo, and got us close to Niagara Falls. 

We could see the mist from the Falls for a long time before we actually got there, and as we got closer, we were a little surprised how many people were there.  It was impossible to ride a bike unless we rode on the streets, which we eventually did.  We were able to ride all the way to where we will cross the border back into the US on Tuesday.

Right across the street from the beautiful Falls, we were all shocked at how commercial, tacky, and trashy the Clifton Hill area of the town of Niagara Falls has become.  There is the biggest collection of tacky tourist attractions you have ever imagined.  After seeing the pristine beauty of the natural wonders in Glacier Park, it was quite disappointing to see the commercialization of this natural wonder.

Notes from Jerry:  We did our usual put the rain gear on, rain gear off only my rain pants were packed, so Tom suited up and I just put a rain jacket on, which due to the jinx worked well for me.  Once he had his full scuba gear on, within 5 minutes it stopped raining so I lucked out - he rode the rest of the day with his booties on over his shoes, of course he forgot to remind me that I had on my helmet cover on unecessarily so we were even.

The long bike trail into Fort Erie was really cool - literally, because it was very forrested and the sun came out and it got hot!  Riding a bike into the Niagara area was really an experience because the bike trail is right next to the river and you can see the plume from the falls miles away and then see rapids and an old barge that was hung up on rocks above the falls.  The bike trail really gave one a great view of the old power plant intake gates etc.  As Tom said within a half mile of Horseshoe Falls, the bike trail was more like an obstacle course - here it was Saturday afternoon at 3 pm !! People!! from everywhere, luckily there was lots of grass to ride on, only it was raining from the plume!  I might have well been trying to ride my bike down main street of Disneyland in the rain!  Chaos, but fabulous fun and one of the most spectacular natural wonders around.

Like Tom said I can't believe the Ontario Niagara Parks Organization could not hold in check the crass commercialism - much worse than the cheesist waterparks you would ever see in Orlando.  I wonder if the US side is the same.  Reminded me of sailor towns from Navy days.

Quick Note From Gwen:  What spectacular sites!  The Niagara River Whirlpool that Patty mentioned is a beautiful natural site along with the river and rapids.  The Falls coming over the escarpment from the USA and viewed from the Canadian side where we first saw it is amazing.

Day 33 - 7/27 - Port Stanley to Dunnville, Ontario

On the road again.  It really does not seem like we are in a different country - the scenery is so similar to the mid-west.  Homes are very neat, small family farms.  Traveling along little traveled country roads along the shore of Lake Erie.  We are including a photo of Port Bruce - a small fishing village along the coast - for my favorite brother, Bruce (who lives in Hawaii). 

Apparently, there is a Canadian hero with the same name.  Enjoying a very different drive along this route.  Hotel for this night is right on the banks of the Grand River - reminds me of 'Moon River'.
Patty traveling along

Notes from Tom:  In the last two days we've ridden 156 and 157, and my top speed was 57--really you say?  Oh ya, it's Canada and everthing's in kilometers, so that's really only 96 and 96.5 miles.  Still, the first day was rainy so we really aren't slacking.

Since we entered Ontario yesterday, the terrain and landscape has changed, but it's been fairly consistent.  We seem to be on a kind of plateau because the riding is really flat, and the only time we have any hills at all is if we cross a river or go down to the acual shore of Lake Erie.  This is our fourth great lake, with only Ontario left to see, and we should accomplish that either Sunday or Monday.

The well publicized drought in the mid-western part of the US is not apparent in southwestern Ontario.  The dominant crops here are soy beans, corn, and wheat which has already been harvested.  We've seen corn at 9-10 feet tall, compared to the 5-8 feet we saw in Michigan.  We saw a crop that we haven't seen before, and Jerry deduced that it was tobacco--fitting for a country where smoking is still much more common.  Today we also saw lots of aparagus, some potatoes, something that we think was zucchini, and one field that looked like cabbage.

At one of our afternoon stops, we met the girls at the beer store in the small town of Selkirk.  First of all, the name of the store really is The Beer Store.  Jerry bought a six-pack of Mad Tom IPA which we sampled at the hotel in Dunnville. 

Outside of the beer store we were approached by a middle-aged guy who asked us about our Portland to Portland license plate.  We told him where we had started and how far we'd ridden, but we think he'd already been to the beer store a few times and he had a hard time understanding.  Anyway, when he finally decided we'd ridden a really long way, he looked at us and said "...and you guys ain't no spring chickens,  either."

The drivers here seem much more tolerant of us on our bikes than those in southern Michigan, and the roads have generally been good, but with some sections that have been really bumpy.

Notes from Jerry:  Whether we are in Canada or the USA one thing that seems to be a common pastime is that most everyone is out mowing their lawns on sitdown mowers, probably John Deere wanabes! Whether they are young, old, male or female they all seem to be having fun driving their whiz bang lawnmower/ tractors all over the place - maybe because at the speeds they mow they make a quite a cooling breeze! 

As Tom and Patty have said, the farms are all nice and green and orderly and the roads have all been pretty good.  Port Stanley was a real find, the people were all great and the little town had a lot of character with a small marina on one side with village and on the other side of an inlet was our hotel which was on the beach and part of a popular restaurant.  The town reminded me of some of the little beach towns south of Santa Cruz.  Fun place to visit - a real surprise.

The coastal areas next to Lake Erie have a significant wind farm development and today we got closer than ever to many of the wind turbines.  Luckily the wind was low (for riding) and as a result many of the turbines were not moving.

Gwen and Patty thought of tricking us into doing the last 7 miles into Dunnville so that they wouldn't have to drive us back out to our stopping point the next day, but we wimped out and did what we said we would do which was only ride one more hour after finding the Beer Store that Tom mentioned. 

Short Note From Gwen: Patty and I had a nice back country drive from Port Stanely to Dunnville.  We stayed more or less on the same route as the bike riders.  We again met the guys on the route for a "cooler" lunch out of the back of their "new" 2013 BMW X3 ... it now has over 7,000 miles on it and it is 5 1/2 weeks old! Our picnic stop included a description of the wind farms found in the area with a view of wind turbines like the one pictured above.