Tag: Cross Country: Northern Tier

You know when you are cycling on a road named Furnace Road in New York at the end of July at 4:30pm its going to be a scorcher.

Just the same as when your hubby has claimed a campsite in the Bluff Campground you know you’re going to have some climbing to do before you rest for the night.

That would not be so problematic except that…we’d already climbed a lot! And we stopped in town at the C-store for provisions which included three cold Molson tall boys, a free piece of hot pizza, some broccoli and a sammie.

While “grannnying” up to the “bluffs” I’m thinking our beer is getting warm, the pizza is getting cold and is this hill ever going to end.

All good though! We arrived at site 83 and immediately received invites from camping neighbors. One for dinner and one for s’mores.

Are New Yorkers the best or what?

We passed on dinner because there was that pizza, broccoli and sammie but opted in on the s’mores.

As far as the ride, it was splendid. It really was. However surprisingly we took very few pics. Mostly Tom and I were in prayerful reflection about a very special young man named Owen.

Owen’s parents were our warm shower hosts for the night. They let us sleep in their home, fed us, let us use their laundry, etc.

We met Chris several weeks ago just outside Babb, Montana as he was touring around Jasper and down to Glacier. We met in a parking lot just after we came down from Logan Pass.

He said he and his wife Kate were warm shower hosts in Rochester and we should look them up if our route took us near there.

I never gave it a second thought, however Tom took a note and contacted Chris on the WS app a few days ago. We discovered from their write up they are parents of two young adult sons, one however was killed in a boating accident in August 2017.

What to do? Honestly it was a bit daunting. We have been in cycling/vacation mode since June 1 and meanwhile these people whom we’d not met were experiencing the most significant loss one could experience. What would we even say and how could we be happy in the midst of their great loss?

We decided to let the Spirit lead us and stay with Chris, Kate and Michael.

What we walked away with was more than we could have imagined. Chris is a solid adventurer and litigator. He’s been everywhere and has his own hand glider.

Kate is one of the most compassionate, poised, intelligent, faith filled woman I’ve ever met. There are no words to explain what Tom and I walked away with from our morning conversation with Kate. Through the loss of her mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s, the unexpected tragic death of their son and even a propane gas explosion in their camper that could have killed Kate and did destroy many treasured family artifacts they were transporting this woman remains peaceful, prayerful and hopeful.

So sometimes it’s not what we say, but how much we listen and learn.

What’s in a name? The name Owen will be honored, loved, cherished and sweetly remembered for many reasons by many people but also by those who benefit concretely from Owen’s House.

So more about the ride. The first 30 miles we continued on the Erie Canal on what we think might be our fave stretch of the canal. And then it was on to rural New York, a place lush with apple orchards and loaded with hills. #ouch

We also met several riders riding the Bon Ton ride. That’s been on our bucket list for a while so that was fun chatting it up with the riders.

Finally, we said hello to our third Great Lake, Lake Ontario!

As we spin toward the finish we are so very aware of the gifts of others and what we can learn from them. And while we are so anxious to see family soon, we know we will miss our bicycle adventures.

#acaNoTier Lockport to Rochester, 70 Miles | The Erie Canal

Having stayed in a motel we again averted sleeping in a tent through a stormy night. #missionaccomplished

And the Mexican food we had the night before at the mom and pop diner was fab. Although Tom has always eaten his meals fast, I now eat all of the food on my plate within seven seconds without a morsel left. It’s as if someone is going to take the food away at the eight second mark. #alwayshungry

But by far the most memorable conversation of the day was the chat we had first thing in the morning with Linda and Norman from New Zealand.

We were going in the direction they’d just come from and they were heading west on the Northern Tier down through Pennsylvania and Ohio.

After our route rap Linda shared more about a camping spot near Old Forge where she and Norman camped for the night. They were on their bikes and when they checked in, the ranger said to be sure to store food in their car. Linda of course said there was no car, and the ranger proceeded to tell them to hang their food bag from a rope.

In her unique coquettish New Zealand accent, she said she thought they were being a bit dramatic. Norman said their campsite number was #642. What were the chances a bear would visit their campsite, on that night.

Without a rope to hang food, as a precaution they left the panniers with food on the bikes that night.

Sure enough in the middle of the night Linda heard an animal. Yogi was there for a meal. Linda jumped out of the tent (no clothes on) and started jumping up and down and clapping her hands to shoo the bear away. Norman just giggled and said it was her first bear encounter and it was like “bare met bear”.

Folks ya can’t make this up. And they told their own story a lot better than we ever could. It was a lot of fun talking to these bicycle world travelers.

As far as the ride went, we were able to avoid all rain and actually had a tail wind. We moved back and forth between the historic and scenic Erie Canal and Route 31.

Apparently Rochester had just experienced torrential rains and the canal path was a bit muddy which made for tougher cycling as our tires sunk into the soft trail surface.

There was an REI right on the canal so we were able to resupply and then we cycled on to our warm shower host in Rochester.

We will have more of the canal tomorrow for half a day and then it’s on to the Adirondacks for some elevation tomorrow.

#acaNoTier Dunville, Ontario to Lockport, NY, 92 Miles | So Long Ontario

Ontario we will miss your courteous drivers as you slow down and give cyclists plenty of room when passing. Even during our short visit to Alberta a month ago, Canadian drivers watch out for cyclists. Thank you Canada!

Today we are back in the USA and had another epic ride. We averted the rain, even had a bit of a tailwind and were able to use scenic cycleways for a good bit of the 92 mile ride today.

Niagra Falls was on the route however it was just a quick stop for us to view and “do” the Falls. There were SO many tourists. That’s not what we are used to. Still it was worth the quick stop.

The border crossing was somewhat of a cluster and we laugh about it now. Apparently the “Border Commander” on the Canadian side was new in his position. He told us just to cross the Lewiston Bridge and just stay on the right side with the trucks.

Honestly there was no one in the office. He could have been part of the cleaning crew because his instructions to cross were a bit vague. We had to cut through a “Do Not Enter” area.

Nevertheless we boldly set out on bikes with bags to renter the USA.

Keep in mind it’s mid 90’s, we are pedaling our little hearts out with the big trucks over the Niagra River. I wanted to take a lot of pics but restrained myself.

When we hit the USA border the border officials there were aghast. What? You crossed with the trucks, on bicycles?! You are NOT allowed to do that. They walked us over 5-6 lanes of traffic, all re-entering the USA. We had to lift our front and back tires up over the curbs – yep that’s one way to get an arm workout in.

Finally we were quickly readmitted to our native country. I guess that’s one way to get expedited to the front of the customs line, and we consider ourselves a couple of rebels, for a minute.

So… a new state, New York, and a new map is on our agenda today.

As always we are so grateful for this opportunity and continue to pray for all those who have asked for prayers.

#acaNoTier Port Burwell to Dunville, ON, 82 Miles | Cycling the Erie Connector

It was a stunning ride today on the Erie Connector. First we travelled through an agricultural area rich with crops and apple and cherry orchards. The route provided views of Lake Erie with a smattering of small villages – enough to keep us well supplied with Gatorade and ice cream.

We road along the “Toast Coast” which is mostly made up of vineyards and tasting rooms and after a picnic lunch in Selkirk we were routed through an unforgettable coastline ride for the last 15 or so miles of the day. It was awesome!

No rain, some short steep climbs and a few headwinds made for a good day of cycling.

Today’s video song is Pearl Jam’s Wish List. I have just four wishes right now while laying in my tent.

I wish I hadn’t seen that snake slithering through the grass behind our tent site. The tent is on lockdown for peace of mind. 🚫🐍

I wish the RVers next door who locked themselves out of their RV at 7:30pm would ask their rescuer to dim his truck lights that are shining in our tent. 😬

I wish the toddler who doesn’t appear to like camping would give the 4.5 hour tantrum a break since it’s almost 11 pm. On second thought maybe it will keep Mr. Snake away. 😂 Poor mom and dad though. I’ve been there, done that. Good for them for camping with their family. ❤️

I wish Tom and I could do that ride one more time today because it was stellar.

It’s back to the USA tomorrow!

#acaNoTier Marysville, MI to Clearville, Ontario, 82 Miles | Watching the River

On Saturday we anticipated a difficult ride. The rain, the headwind, the ferry was out so there was a detour and then border crossings can always be a little slow.

But… all went pretty well. There was a lot of wind, yes, and then there was the rain. But it went pretty smoothly.

Following the St. Clair River for most of the morning on a cycleway provided fairly flat and easy cycling. But there was that headwind and rain later in the forecast.

Freighters moved up and down the St. Clair and it was kind of fun to try to stay ahead of them.

The ferry crossing at Algonac to Walpole Island was quick and costs a mere $4, total. Two bikes, two people, two dollars each.

We camped very near the Lake Erie shoreline. It was rough and windy near the shore but nice and calm near us. A family camping nearby invited us over to chat. After a quick visit it was early to bed with just two little critter visits at night.

The BEST news of the day though is we are going to be grandparents again – like on Sunday! Yay Missy and Jared!!

Stay tuned… cell service and Internet is a bit sketchy.

#acaNoTier Otter Lake to Marysville, 67 Miles | 3K and We Are Still On Our Way

We met another what we call “smilestone” instead of milestone today – 3,000 miles complete!

With headwinds picking up throughout the day we decided to leave Otter Lake Campground as soon as possible. By 6:30am we were on our way.

We made a few stops along the way just to take a breather from the head winds. Tom considered a coney dog and rootbeer float from A&W but then decided to meander down the road.

Yep the winds did pick up but we were able to duck into a Super 8 before the storm. It had actually started raining as we pulled in.

Knowing the wind was going to be wicked today and we had a lot of longer distance straight shots I did my best to tuck in behind Tom and draft a little bit, something I haven’t done until today.

Taking his advice to heart to pedal harder so my hands (which feel like someone has taken a meat tenderizer to them) and my back end which is in good shape but not optimal (sorry if TMI) I pedaled hard today and had a fine day of cycling.

My legs do still get sore, believe it or not. And my bike is wicked heavy. It’s harder to womanhandle that big ole thing than do 100 push-ups a day. Much harder. But peddling harder does take the pressure off the hands and rear. Tom was right.

Finally figured that out after 3,000 miles. #duh

If all goes as expected we will take a smallish ferry over to Ontario tomorrow for a few days of cycling in Canada before returning to the US near Niagara Falls. The weather forecast tomorrow is garbage tho, (sorry Dad, remember “garbage burger” from our trek across the US in our Ford with you mom and all six kids). We will see how well Tom’s advice works tomorrow.

But… it’s weird to think we will actually be riding south to enter Canada.

Happy 3,000 miles to us!

#acaNoTier Midland to Otter Lake, 65 Miles | Cycleways and Shortcuts

As many of our friends, followers and family members know, we are all about cycleways (aka rail trails, bike paths, etc.) and shortcuts. Today we had both!

The Midland mishap where we were late getting in and were off course actually put us ahead a couple miles for today’s ride to Otter Lake.

The Bay City Loop was scenic and a nice change of pace from the route and then right outside Frankenmuth a man stopped us on the road asking a few questions about the ride and offered us an option to cut some miles while taking an even better route. Thanks Bill!

When we rolled into Frankenmuth we were a bit hangry, not with each other but the situation. We needed food, fast. We nearly settled for a cheese curd food truck but instead landed in a real restaurant where we had the BEST BIG salads. And then there was the German Chocolate Shop in the level below.

When we got to the campground, Sue asked us a few questions about where we were from and the bike trip and she said, “Today camping for cyclists is free. There is a shower, water, electric and I have a space for you near a tree so you will have plenty of shade.” Today I am calling her “Saint Sue.”

Tomorrow night will likely be our last night in Michigan and then we head to Canada for a few days.

Thanks so much for all the comments on FB, Twitter, the blog and the emails. We read every single one. 😊

Looks like we have headwinds and rain tomorrow and Saturday. It’s been a great few days of weather while it lasted.

#acaNoTier LeRoy to Midland, 83 Miles | Midland Mishaps

Our day began early, about 2:30am tending to three uninvited guests to the campsite. The well fed raccoons paid us a visit and as Tom was shooing them away I was safely tucked in the tent Googling the best way to keep them from coming back. I so appreciate my iPhone and cell service.

It was a lovely night to sleep outdoors with owls singing lullabies most of the night. We are getting so spoiled. And the raccoons decided to visit another site so we were well rested.

Up and at ’em early we rolled out of the campsite about 8am and were on our way to (of all places) Temple, MI where we planned on a possible second breakfast. Right in the middle of prayers I picked up a metal staple that flattened my rear tire and yes, Vic it’s most always the rear tire. With Tom well ahead I got started fixing it.

Tom returned, got the tire and tube on the rim and back on the bike. Soon three “helpers” showed up, Harvey, Frankie and Steve – their pic is in the vid.

From then on the rest of the day went smoothly, well until the end of the day.

At Lake George we got to talking to a retired US Marshall who worked as a part time patrolman in this small and remote Michigan town to “get away” from it all.

His first day as a patrolman was on Christmas Day years ago. (You can tell he loves to tell this story) He pulled a car over with two elderly men in front and two ladies in back.

The driver had run six stop signs. When the patrolman asked the driver if he knew what he was being pulled over for, the elderly man in the back seat took his teeth out, turned to his wife and said “hold these. I’m going to kick his a$$.” His wife turned to the would be assaulter, hits him with her purse and told him to stay put. The driver was let off with a warning and no arrests were made.

As far as where to stay in Midland we’d reached out to a Warm Shower host but without hearing back from them and no camping options we were stuck getting a hotel. #notcomplaining

We cued up Google Maps to find one and it led us on a wild goose chase. What’s more is that when we finally located it, there were signs in many of the windows saying the rooms were condemned. We’d even called ahead and were told to come on by because they had two rooms left.

Ummm just no. Not doing rooms next door to condemned rooms because well… bugs fly. By this time it was after 8pm (we’d stopped for dinner) and all we wanted to do was get out of bike shorts and get settled in.

After touring the better parts of Midland and some not so good we found a room at the Best Western that also offered a breakfast (with unlimited Nutella). #sold

Most of today’s route was on a paved rail trail with villages every few miles. We were able to pick up a new tube, gas for the stove and enjoy a picnic lunch. My fave!

All is well on the tour and in Midland.

#acaNoTier Ludington to LeRoy, 76 miles | When You’re Pushing 60