Saturday, July 29, 2006
Day 41 - Brantford, CANADA - July 29th 2006
Weather: Sunny 80sLocation: Brantford, CANADA (From London, CANADA)
Miles per day: 64
Average miles per hour: 12.76
Elevation climb: None
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 30
Flat Tires to date: 1
With another very easy day, we looked for entertainment and found plenty. Seeking a favourable outcome for the day, I took a break at the Optimist Club chair of Otterville.
Early in the day, Lois and I tried some 'Evil Knevil' hay bail jumping - quite an easy feat! Getting down was another story altogether.These stacks of hay are about 6-7 feet tall.
Cycling across America is quite a challenge but the real challenge is keeping track of all the little experiences along the way. A highlight for me is looking at all the endless miles of wildflowers. These blue and white flowers have been with us since Wisconsin and it looks as if a Master Gardner has planted them.
Most of this area was reknown for Tobacco growing. Stu is pictured here with one of the few remaining fields. A local told us this is the last year of Tobacco growing as its no longer viable. In its place, they are growing Ginseng. Ginseng takes 6 years to yield a crop. There is a bit of a concern that the rapid shift to Ginseng is going to cause a market crash on the price of Ginseng.
We also managed to squeeze in some bean (red and white variety) and carrot picking.
After stopping for an ice cream, we were directed toward the bike path (off track) to Brantford - 5 miles of tranquil beauty to finish the day! We arrived in Wayne Gretzky's hometown but there was no sign of him (literally)!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Day 40 - London, Canada - July 28th 2006
Weather: Sunny 80sLocation: London, Canada (from Port Huron, MI)
Miles per day: 79.8
Average miles per hour: 16.54
Elevation climb: None (flatter than a pancake!)
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 30 (Mud Fudge, again!)...
Flat Tires to date: 1
Excellent day! We departed the hotel at 7:15 am with van escorts over the Blue Water Bridge into Canada with the bridge authorities stopping traffic to ensure our safety. As a group, we all wore our 'America By Bike' shirts and it looked quite impressive as we enjoyed the luxury of a traffic-free bridge cycling. With giant kingpins (see photo), we walked our bikes in a few places. Remarkably, we kept together for about another 10 miles. With terrain that was flatter than a pancake, it was again a very easy day. I practiced speed workouts over the day and came in with my best time yet (16.54 average).
With such a quick speed, I took a few time outs, including a blueberry picking excursion at the Olde Drive Blueberry Farm in Mt Brydges. They said due to the weather (lots of rain and hot weather), it was one of the best seasons in a few years. Here Bill poses with the Degroots!
As we left Michigan, I became slightly nostalgic as I kept seeing Corvairs (most of them for sale). These were cars built by Chevy in the 1960s but discontinued due to the alleged dangerous rear-engine design. Growing up, my father had a 1967 Corvair that I learned to drive on and that car still drives today. I could not help taking a photo of this lovely convertible!Thursday, July 27, 2006
Day 39 - Port Huron - July 27th 2006
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Weather: Cloudy (no rain)
Location: Port Huron (from Birch Run, MI)
Miles per day: 87
Average miles per hour: 14.03
Elevation climb: Negligible
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 29 (Georgia Mud Fudge - Great!)
Flat Tires to date: 1
With slight overcast, our day was brightened up by the big watertower! A work of art. We started out early with the intention of getting 60 miles in by noon ( a trial run for the final day o
f the tour). We came close (or close enough)! The day went by fairly quickly and the only (and best thing) to slow it down seemed to be some fresh raspberry picking at Marvins Gardens. We picked about 2 quarts under the guidance of Marvin and his wife Joyce who provided us with great local farming and raspberry facts. The challenge then became carrying them back to the hotel - a bit tricky and we did end up with a bit of jam. 
The potholes and roads continue to be dire. I will not miss cycling in Michigan (as pictured here). Miles and miles of bumps.
Port Huron is, of course, on Lake Huron. In terms of Freighter traffic, it is one of the busiest places in the world. It is also 'boyhood home' to Thomas Edison. Tomorrow we head across the border to Canada.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Day 38- Birch Run, MI - July 26th 2006
Weather: Cloudy to rainy, 84Location: Birch Run (from Mount Pleasant, MI)
Miles per day: 75
Average miles per hour: 13.78
Elevation climb: negligible
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 28 (Reeses' - an old favorite) . With just 2 weeks to go, there is discussion on the future of my Blizzard consumption. Watch this space!
Flat Tires to date: 1
Michigan has been hit hardest by the downward economic spiral of the automobile industry. Both the urban and rural areas are noticably poor. However, with a strong indian community, Casinos seem to be the main opportunity for growth, Soaring Eagle has been a lifeline for Mount Pleasant. I am not sure how long this will last.
We had the luxury of a late start today (7:30 am) as it was anticipated to be an 'easy' day. Promises of tailwinds turned out to be false but with just a little headwind and flat terrain it was (admittedly) one of our easier days. With a flat tire, we lost some time but also discovered the vicious Michigan Mosquito that chomped away at us while fixing the flat.
The biggest challenge of the day was navigating the 'Michigan Pothole', these are rather large poorly patched parts of the road that physically jolt your body every inch of the way. A mixed blessing, part of the road had just been repaved with loose gravel so there weren't potholes but rather treacherous miles of slippery stone. Take your pick!
There were many vegetable farms along the route today including asparagus, corn, soybean, beets, beans (green and lima), pumpkin and cucumbers. As one field was being cleared by automated trucks, we joined the locals to pick up the leftover cucumubers.
As we head East with more miles under our belt, we are picking up Media interest. TV, Radio and Newspaper reporters are becoming the norm. Many of us are raising money for charity. My cause: Save The Children. For donations, see link to the left of my blog.Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Day 37 - Mount Pleasant, MI - July 25th 2006
Weather: Wet and rainy, 80Location: Mount Pleasant (from Luddington), MI
Miles per day: 115.5
Average miles per hour: 13.78
Elevation climb: Neglible
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 27 (great one today - Georgia Mud! 9/10)
Flat Tires to date: 1
Despite the rain, today's ride was quite enjoyable, fairly flat and rather cool all day. At times, it was raining quite hard so the focus was to get the miles on the bike with little time for photos. We started out along Lake Michigan and quickly turned inland towards more farms, corn and logging. We passed a frozen food processing plant, today beans were the order of the day (for Stouffers frozen food). Glad to see it all starts out fresh. To my surprise, we also saw logging trucks. As you can see the roads are not overly bike friendly so as we saw them coming, we pull over.
We completed our 8th and final Century of the trip. I am happy to have them out of the way, although I feel like a seasoned Century veteran and have no fear of 115.5 miles. At this point in the trip, it is not a question of IF I will finish the day, it is a question of WHEN will I finish the day. And that is driven more by how many excursions (e.g. DQ, photoshoots or site seeing) we have during the day!
At our last SAG, we stopped off at Grandpa's Nursery (pictured below) and had a great time with not just one Grandpa but with Abe and Stu who are also grandfathers!
The highlight of the day was that my brother Bill, his wife Marianne and their children (Colleen, Caitlin, Corrinne, Cara, Sean and Garrett) met me at the Hotel and we had dinner at the Mountain Town Station, a very good local restaurant at a restored train Depot. Cara, my niece, made me a stash of cookies which will not last beyond tomorrow's breakfast!
Monday, July 24, 2006
Day 36 - Luddington, MI - Rest Day!
Weather: Sunny 85Location: Luddington, MI (from Manitowac, WI)
Miles per day: 7
Average miles per hour: N/A
Elevation climb: N/A
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 26
Flat Tires to date: 1
Today is considered a day off with just 7 miles of cycling. In the morning, we cycled around the local sites of Manitowac, WI which included the Cedar Crest Dairy, the Budweiser plant, a local cookery shop and the Manitowac Maritime Museum. The highlight was the museum dedicated to all those who built or served on Manitowac built submarines from 1941 -1945 and in celebration of the the 100th anniversary of the US Navy Submarine Service (1900-2000). Most interesting was the broom in the top of the submarine (pictured below) as I was to learn that a 'clean sweep' in nautical terms means 'mission accomplished'. I will perhaps be riding into Portsmouth with a broom on my bike!
In anticipation of NH just a few weeks away, we practiced our wheel dipping while waiting for the ferry. We spent the bulk of the day traveling across Lake Michigan aboard the SS Badger ferry, a coal-fired Steam Boat originally built in 1952 for the C&O Railroad. Its a 4 hour boat ride. With great weather, most of us napped on lawn chairs but a few were motivated to play bingo with the chance of winning an SS Badger hat, beer glass or lump of coal.
We knew we arrived in Michigan as we saw Michgan's famous symbol : The lighthouse. With Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior), its no surprise that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state (124 in total). And of course, we were welcomed by the customary State sign just .2 miles off the boat! Today was a day off the bike but not necessarily a day of rest.