Sea-to-Sea NA Day 57 Today was the first day I have had to do any serious climbing since switching to my single bike. The first 2/3 of the ride was a roller coaster type ride, up and down, some hills a little steeper than others some a little longer. The landscape was mostly forested interjected with farms, mostly dairy. Josh K., Josh II Aretia and Jason caught up to me fairly early in the ride and I rode with them for a stretch till they dropped me on a hill and I gave up chasing them. They were insight at the next rest stop and pulled over as I continued. I passed Rita at another rest stop well into the ride. Next of note was George, who did not give chase today. The last part of the ride consisted of a 1000’ climb at a pretty constant slope but there were several false tops before the real top was reached where there was another SAG stop. We were now in New Jersey and Sussex County so I figured that I must have been getting close to the end. The road down the summit was not as wide and smooth as the one up so I had to be careful choosing my path and braking for blind corners till I could see around them. The run-out varied so my speed did as well, anywhere between 30 and 70kph. I started seeing welcome signs along the route outside of Sussex and more in the town itself. Upon arriving at the church/school there were only Sea-to-Sea people there plus Reuben. Rick had passed me but had stopped for a bite to eat so came in a little later. Aaron came in soon after me but there was another rider between us. We decided to go to the local hotel just back a bit and wait there for more riders to arrive, the shower shuttles to get started and the unloading of the gear truck. Rita came in good time. Her bike doesn’t have the best gearing for serious hills so I was worried about her but she made it up each of them and at a good clip too. She has done very well on the whole tour and I’m very proud of her accomplishment. Most people seem to prefer the short steep hills to the long steady grades like we had at the end today and out west and didn’t mind the ride at all today. Tomorrow is a day of mixed riding and many other activities. Today was the last serious riding day.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 56 Today was cloudy throughout the 93 km ride. The sun had pocked out briefly about 7:30 and the vapour could be seen rising from the wet tents but it did not last. I chose to ride in just my jersey and shorts but it was quite cool for the first 20 minutes until I got warmed up. The route was quite complex through the city of Binghamton and suburbs and we appreciated the road arrows once again. Once I reached Pennsylvania I crested on a long grade and then started a gentle downward slope. The speed went up to around 35kph but I had expected more considering the 30+ I was doing on the uphill portion. The slope is hard to judge when it is a long one with no reference point. This down slope was probably 10km or more in length and as the road levelled or went up my speed went up instead of down. I think I was just in a strong pedaling mode so I kept on trucking. We saw 2 long concrete train viaducts, which looked like Roman aqueducts, today. They make a picturesque variation to the country scenery. Tonight we are in Lackawanna State Park, several miles from any town but the park is blessed with a concession stand like no other I have seen. It has Italian opera music playing and all sorts of Italian food. Rita and I had eggplant on a bun smothered in a tomato based sauce and Parmesan cheese, very good. The only thing missing was the red wine. We have two days of riding left, one relatively hard and then the wind-down day on Saturday. Now our thoughts start to turn to the other life we led before the tour but it is hard to really think about that because many of us do not know what has gone on in the world except for some contact with family. We see election signs now for anything from president to local roads supervisor but other than that we have not a clue what has gone on in the rest of the world. The tour takes over your life, you are busy from before sunup to after sundown. You need to stay focused on food, preparations and recording either in journals or on blogs (ahich can’t be posted). Sure there are days when you have more time than others but that is spent primarily in discussions with fellow riders about the last ride or the next ride or other things tour related. Like the last tour, near the end you start to wonder what the others do outside of the tour and questions about their future come up. During these 9 weeks most conversation is tour related.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 54 My team was on sweep today, but with 19 people since Grand Rapids we have enough so that all of us don’t have to help all the time. The ‘newbies were put on breakfast detail and the veterans divided between clean-up, loading and sweep. George, Rob and I took off somewhere before 9 with George setting a fast pace to start. As I warmed up after a few km I took the lead and we rode through the upstate NY countryside. At the first T intersection I came to there was not an C arrow. Checking the instruction we saw that we should have made a right turn a long way back and so we turned down that way. Rob had a good map, which we checked at the correct distance south and we figured out where the route was. Joining it we soon saw some riders making us feel better. We continued at setting a good pace past the first, second and the third SAG stops. We picked up Marty for a while till she stopped to take a picture and without me knowing it Rob slipped off the back (he is riding his full fendered touring bike). At the 86 km mark we reached our morning goal; the lunch stop put on by East Palmyra CRC. I had been using Harry’s gift of special Mango juice that morning as energy drink and have no other explanation for the 31+kph speed through the 86 km up and down the hills. It was a great stop with sloppy joe’s, beans, great potato salad and many delicious desert items. I ended up drinking 3 and a half cups of coffee. I think I better stop saying that I don’t like coffee because there were other choices available. After a long stop, waiting for Rita to arrive but it was taking too long, we set out on the last 50km for the day. Geneva is situated at the north end of Lake Seneca and we figured this would be the last town before the State Park so we decided to look for some refreshment. Having finished a pint we went out and got ready to ride again. George thought we would be able to continue along the railway track and find a place to cross but the road turned to bricks and then gravel after only a short distance. We turned around again risking our tires on the gravel. Arriving at the corner, George wanted to stay on the left side of the road on a bike lane but because of the oncoming traffic we had to ride close to the curb for the 100 or so meters. We both noticed the chips of glass spread all over the place. I tried hard to avoid all I could. As we set off down the road on the route again we saw Joe’s SAG stop after less than a km and thought we had better apologize for our earlier stop instead of his. We explained that had we know he was there we still would have done the same thing. As we pulled in George noticed his front tire was getting softer by the second. Sure enough he had a flat. He proceeded to change it without finding the cause. He said that he was sure it was a small piece and it would be OK. I was not so sure and told him that was wishful thinking. Off we went and sure enough, we were less than a km down the road and fisss went the tire again. He told me to proceed and he would go back. George always has a theory or explanation for everything but this time he wasn’t quite sure if it was a second hole in the patched tube he had put in, whether he had put the punctured tube back in or if it really was a second flat. I guess we will find out tomorrow. Last time I saw his bike before dark he had hung an inflated tube on it to make sure it would hold air. Rueben mentioned to me that some of the boys might be interested in a team time trial before the end of the tour. I offered a 100km ride with teams made up of riders from the individual ride plus maybe one other person who was not able to do the earlier ride. Initially there was interest but there seems to be some hesitation setting in late tonight. We will see what develops; at least this will be fodder for some good-natured ribbing if the young lads are not up to the challenge. We have not had our own Internet connection for weeks now and have depended on schools and neighbours for access to posting opportunities. I hope to post this tomorrow sometime but the pictures will have o come later.

Sea-to-Sea NA Day 53 Several people were yelling at me “Bill get in the left lane”, “Bill we are supposed to be in the left lane” as if I didn’t know. What I was trying to do was ride as close to the right as I could to get a decent photo of Niagara Falls as we crossed the Rainbow Bridge on our way to the USA. There were no cars behind me, so I took advantage of the space. The boarder crossing had been clear sailing, we actually just rode our bikes right through the customs/immigration booth while the officers wave us through, all 200 riders. Before that we had a nice ride from the Brock monument along the river to the falls. After that we took the opportunity to view the falls from the American side, something I had never done. We were advised to ride in groups through Niagara Falls NY and the regulars teamed up as if a natural phenomena; Rita and I, Anne, George, Dora, Joan and Andy. Soon others joined us and we had a long train as we exited the city. I had promised to ride at 24kph unless the wind changed to make it easier and this I did for the remainder of the ride -90km, stopping every 30km or less for a short break. Our numbers decreased at the rest stops, as some were not ready to leave yet when we pulled out. The roads were clean and smooth the wind at our side or even at our back as we twisted and turned through the NY countryside. Tonight we are in an RV park and some of the folks here have joined us around a campfire (the first on the trip) with their musical instruments and we are having a kind of impromptu country hoedown.