Stage 6 Niagara Falls to Portsmouth New Hampshire and the Atlantic Ocean. - Mission completed.

Last 7 days: 920 kms

The morning of the start of the last stage of this cross continent ride had me re focused and keen to get going. We have seven days of riding and the first two days to Rochester and on to Liverpool the longest days of this section. The distance is 300 kms spread over the two days, but the weather is fine and the winds are light south westerlies. 

We are now riding in the state of New York. I think it's the best riding of the whole trip, the roads are fantastic and although flat there are lots of bends and curves and there is something different around every corner. 

We have spent several days riding on roads along the Erie Canal, this is a man made canal that runs from New York City all the way up to Lake Erie. It's an amazing network that runs through much of this part of America and you can still boat up or down the canals through the old locks and through small villages and towns that were established to support the boats. 

Had a very close call today. We were just 3 miles from the hotel and one of our group did not call or signal a giant pothole. My bike almost fell into a bucket size hole and seemed to jack knife in the air, I didn't have time to think I just wrenched it back from almost crashing and a very strange angle and was very lucky not to fall. Damn got to keep concentrating. 

My favourite boat. 

An interesting thing in this part of NY is that there are quite a lot of Amish. These are the religious sect who shun technology. They are great news for cyclists. Why ?? because they dont drive cars and only use horse dawn vehicles. Why is this good  ?? It's because the road shoulder has to be wide enough for a horse drawn cart. It's fantastic 

 my room mate Mark at Fairport on the Erie Canal

The entire group is now riding thinking only of getting to the coast and we were shocked that Ohio Don was taken to hospital two nights go with fluid in his legs and also his lungs. He missed a day on the bike but is now back riding.  Your EFI status is a well treasured thing on these trips. ( Every Fucking Inch)

We rode through to Little Falls for our 3rd wet day of the trip. ( We had rain EFI that day too !! ) Little Falls is now a very empty sad town but was once a thriving city and was once home to the biggest bicycle factory in the world. One year they produced 2 million bicycles !! (before the war ) They also made the uniforms for the Union army back in the day 

Check the names of the IPA beers. 

We left New York and into Vermont State. 

 

The weather was as described, well the hot and sunny bit. 

What an amazing change to the countryside it is very hilly and very green. It's known as the Green Mountain State and it lives up to its name. We are only there for 2 riding days and we overnight in Brattlebro a great town with a vibrant alternative culture. Birkenstock sold everywhere and we could not get a milkshake in town without rice milk or whey WTF  ?? 

The ride to Brattlebro was great we climbed all morning. ( Had to find those climbing legs again ) then had a 20 km downhill into town. Some of it pretty steep with shitty road surfaces. 

How can it be artificially flavoured when its 100% arabica coffee  ?? 

Next day was in to New England, hilly hilly hilly. 

Our ride to Manchester was a roller coaster ride. It was 140 kms with a fair bit of steep climbing. We passed Phillipe (crazy Isralie ) 7 times during the day. We waited at the top of the climbs for one of our group then he rode past then we chased him down again. He was very frustrated in the end and stopped trying and sulked. Haha. At one stage we passed him and he had snot hanging down to his neck.  !!  

Graham flavoured ice cream WTF could that taste like

Yes be very careful cyclists. Walk down the gradual slope  !! 

Last day to the beach was glorious. Sunny with a decent tailwind. We just had 100 km to ride and we savoured every km. it felt a bit like the final day of the Tour de France when you see the riders chatting and in no hurry to reach the final circuits. ( but we had no final sprints) 

The beach was quite emotional ( no I didn't cry ) almost everyone had family and friends there, a crowd of about 400 turned up including press and TV, what a great laugh as we were given a police escort for the final 5 kms with flashing police lights etc etc. 

Phew, made it. 

( monkey is off my back James)

Stage 5 part 2 London Ontario Canada to Niagara Falls USA

Distance ridden so far: 5395 kms

Rain days: 3

Am I feeling lucky: Damn right  !! . 

The ride from London Canada to Brantford Canada was a wet day. We started the 122 kms with light rain falling and it was wet through to lunch time. It was actually nice as there was no wind at all and it was quite warm too. We rode as a group of 3 as Mark was taking his enforced Detour ( more further down ) and Mitch went country boy on us and wanted to visit a market or something to buy corn  or whatever  !!  He didn't find one market open haha. We arrived in Brantford a university town and ate a great lunch in a modern part of an old town. We checked into the hotel at 1pm and I was told my room would be ready at 3.30 ish. I was a bit  pissed off but smiled sweetly. Dinner was in the motel and it was one of the best meals of the trip. It was a buffet but it was fantastic. Weird as it may seem there was a wedding going on in the room next door and the guests also ate at the buffet  !! There were 8 kinds of desert as well and not just fruit or ice cream. 

Brantford is the home town of Wayne Gretzky the famous ice hockey player and we ate in the Gretzky dinner in the Gretzky wing of the hotel situated on Wayne Gretzky Parkway. Just a little bit of an overkill  !! 

Next day we woke to clear sky's and a strong wind - at our tail again. I tell you west to east is the go for a bike trip. We rode as a 4 and we flew along. We rode 135 kms at an average of 33 kph. What a hoot, at times we were sitting on 43 kmh and not really trying, it was quite funny. It was also warm. One of the riders is a bit of a know it all and had told me it was going to rain so wore his rain jacket and rain pants all day, he must have boiled. 

We arrived at Niagara Falls at noon and WOW it truly is an amazing sight. It has been the most spectacular thing of the trip from a tourist point of view. The falls are breathtaking and I'm not sure if the photos do it justice. 

We have now completed Stage 5 and at Niagara Falls rode back into the USA.

The view from our lunch table  !!  No water shortage here. 

Meeting the Mounted police, behind him is his steed. 

Meanwhile my room mate Mark rode the 750 kms around the bottom of Lake Michigan staying within the USA. He took a very small backpack 4 tubes a spare tyre, my pump and thongs, his toothbrush, credit card, a pair of gym shorts and a light T shirt. And yes you guessed it he rode 750 kms in 3 days and arrived one day ahead of us, so he had 2 rest days. 

Mark hiked the Appalachian Trail which is 2200 miles or 3550 kms during last year non stop end to end by himself !!  Why did I ever doubt he would make the trip around the lake. 

Would you eat the Daredevil Burger  ??   What is it about peanut butter and the Yanks  ?? 

Ah yes the ice cream of the day. 

Only 7 more riding days  !! 

Stage 5, part 1 Ludington Michigan to London Ontario, Canada

Not just a Ride across America but a Ride across a Continent. We now ride through Ontario Canada before crossing back into the USA at Niagara Falls.

What should have been a rest day was spent waiting for and catching the SS BADGER across Lake Michigan. The SS Badger is the last coal powered vessel operating on the Great Lakes. She was launched in 1952 (Tom Neilson travelled on her in 1955,  - bet she was state of art back then  !! )

Loading the bikes aboard  SS Badger

Before we left on the boat we stopped at the Manitowoc maritime museum. It has the USS Cobia restored and ready to view. She was a WW11 submarine that saw active service in the pacific and actually called in to Perth during the war. It was well worth the time as it was in very good condition and with the other 40 tourists it gave one a real feel of how crowded it would have been with 80 crew aboard. 

Torpedo Tubes. 

On the ferry it was strange having nothing to do for 4 hours. We seem to be either riding or eating or sleeping every minute of the normal riding day. On leaving the boat we rode into Michigan and had had a ripping dinner in Ludington. 

 The next 3 days take us across Michigan and then into Ontario, Canada.

First day of this section was 186 kms to Mt Pleasant with a strong tailwind  !! Yes I repeat a tailwind  !!  

We arrived in town about 1pm and had a nice lunch at a sandwich shop in the old part of town. 

This was our last "Century" ride ( 100 miles + ) for the trip. 

We had a strong cross headwind the following day which was disappointing as the forecast was for a tailwind. When you are riding 130 kms a day, any wind with any E in its name is a bummer. Michigan is not nearly as nice as Minnasota it is very flat ( that's good) but its a bit boring to ride through as there is nothing new to see. 

Just before we got to Port Huron we stopped at the ice cream / shake shop of the trip so far. The menu was for 100 different flavours and the chocolate custard was incredible  !! 

My room mate was today denied entry to Canada due to a conviction when he was 20  !! It was just a driving conviction as well,  it appears that the tour company forwarded a list to the canadians who did checks on everyone. Canada  changed their laws a few years ago and you must notify them of any past convictions, Mark did not notify them, so he now has to ride south by himself for 4 days and meet us in Niagara. It adds 230 kms to his 5 days riding. 

Crossed the Bridge at Port Huron this morning and into Canada. Was quite an experience as they closed the entire bridge for us to ride over. Normally bikes are transported over by bus. 

You forget that that's a lake and that its fresh water, it looks just like the sea and check out the colour !! 

We then rode 150 kms to London a nice town in the middle of Ontario. Light winds and sunny, perfect day. 

We are now just 9 riding days from the Atlantic. 

How do they know  !! 

Really  ?? 

Wearing the tour jersey for the ride into Canada

Stage 4 Sioux Falls to Manitowoc (Lake Michigan)

Total Distance ridden so far: 4227 kms 

Ice creams eaten : losing count I think it's 45 including rest days

Last 6 days of this week we rode 910 kms

Sioux Falls was a great rest day, we watched Froome win on Ventoux then we went down town. Sioux Falls has a population of 160,000 and looks like a nice town. The city centre is very small and as it was Sunday almost everything was closed til noon. Many of the buildings are built in a rose granite which is quarried from very close to the falls themselves. 

Just across from our hotel was the biggest single level mall in the USA. We didn't even bother to go in except on our way to dinner one night. It was 9.00pm on Sunday night when we passed back through and all the shops were open but there was not a soul in sight shopping. 

First day out of Sioux Falls we rode to Worthington in Minnesotau yeeha another new state. The first 16 kms were through the green belt bike path which lines the city and down to the actual falls! It was a really beautiful.

 roads have been fantastic here so far. Very smooth and wide too. 

Next day we rode 189 kms to Mankato a glorious ride through corn fields and more corn fielda and yet more corn fields. It was a green day out there which made a very nice change from the last two weeks of brown fields. The entry to Manakato was down a 15 km rail trail through the woods it was fantastic. 

Apparently it's getting very hot  !!  Today's ride to Rochester was 181 kms and there was a heat advisory issued - WOW the temperature rose to 31c  !! 

Riders were complaining about the extreme heat,  some struggled all day and were concerned because tomorrow it may get as high as 34 or 35. WTF gives ?? 

HEAT ALERT - HEAT ALERT  !!  Last day in Minnesota and we rode 156 kms to  La Crosse in the state of Wisconsin. Today would be one of my favourite days of this trip so far. There was a lot more variety and less straight line farm edge riding. The scenery was spectacular with rolling hills around every corner and it was pretty hot too the temperature rose to 38c about noon and the humidity was 90%. I guess we are used to the heat but the wingeing from the Americans was very funny. We had a very steep 2 km hill at the 110 km mark it was like someone had folded the road up. 10 - 14% the whole way from a flat start. Almost like riding up a wall. Part of today's ride was along a Rail Trail a disused train route that went through a beautiful Forrest 

La Crosse is on the banks of the Mississippi River and feels like a really nice town.

Day 5 of this stretch was to be 144 kms, it should have been a fantastic day as we had 60 kms on a bike path. We had been told that under no circumstances were we to ride through the 3 long very dark tunnels. Sure  !! We rode through he first tunnel and 1/2 way along passed one of the staff walking. Damn and they were shitty too. We just rode on and later in the day I spoke to Jeff the ride director and he was cool that I had spoken to him about it. 

Tunnel photo - ( walking haha )

We arrived in town after a big detour which increased our distance by a lot of kms only to be told that the hotel we were booked in had been sold and we no longer had any rooms. Shit the staff had to work like crazy to get us accommodated in 5 separate motels all over town. Lucky we were in Wisconsen Dells which is like a poor Disney land town with many hotels and thousands of accented tourists from southern USA. 

Last 2 days we rode on towards Manitowoc on the edge of Lake Michigan.  Two longish days with a strong headwind.

That means we have now completed stage 3 yeeha  !! 

THEFT We have been warned that from here on as we travel east we need to lock up our bikes or there is a good chance they could be stolen.

The night we stayed in Rochester, Mitch ( one of the fabulous five - our riding group ) took his clothes to a laundromat adjacent to the motel. When he returned in an hour his clothes were gone. They stole his F'ing Lycra - very funny  !! I wonder what they thought when they opened their bag. 

A Few random photos

sandwich with a small amount of Beef and it was not the "Max Version "

Refer to me from now on as " The Thompson " or " The BT "

At dinner today I told the table that I thought I had found Adolf Hitlers son living here in Manakato. They looked bewildered so I showed them the photo I took of the restaurant manager. Well apparently nothing you say about Hitler is funny. It seems to be considered not funny to mention Adolf at all. 

Oh come on - he has to be related to Adolf  ??  Ooops Not Funny  !! 

Found myself a new pet, in down town Sioux Falls

Nice touch - bit different to the China experience 

Nice street  name

Mississippi River

I guess we are not that important to the Clarion Inn. 

3 different churches. - And that's the last church photos you will see from me. 

Crazy Helmet tan lines - NO THAT'S NOT ME  !! 

Of course we all need Military Arms  !! 

Small American beauty

Stage 3 part 2, Wall to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

We had the worst food of the trip in Wall. We ate dinner and breakfast at the same fast food joint, it was called Fat Boys BBQ The dinner consisted of chicken or ribs. They both looked awful. The chicken was very pink actually it was raw red. I only ate salad. Been there done that arse squirting stuff on bike trips. 3 of the riders have spent the last 2 days with very upset guts and the last two days have not been easy for them. 

We left Wall at 5.30 am on the way to Pierre the capitol of South Dakota, it was just light and the day was 198 kms of riding. The forecast was not good, we were to ride due south east for 100 km then north for 20 then east for 78. The wind was to be 15 to 20 kph from the SE then easterly from noon on. Oh whoopie. We rode a very tight day and arrived at 3pm pretty much stuffed. Dinner was at 6pm and some riders limped in at 6 and came straight to dinner  !!  

Capitol building Pierre, South Dakota. The Capitol only has 16,000 people and was chosen because because its in the exact centre of the state. Many other towns challenged the decision. Remind you of anywhere else  ?? 

Feel like I'm back in China today. We had 132 kms to ride to Chamberlain  and the forecast was for a direct head wind at 25 to 33 kmh. In fact the wind increased to 48 kph and we took 6 hours to get here. Right at the end we had 3 quite big climbs right into the wind. It was a F'ing hard day. 

Today I also had to speak to Phillipe the Israeli. He asked if he could ride with us because of the wind and we said yes if he would pull a turn on the front. ( In the past he sits on but will not pull a turn) One hour into the ride and we were doing 2 tight lines but Phillipe kept rolling into the middle of the road and not giving anyone any cover. The wind was howling and I finally got pissed off. I said to him forcefully  " Phillipe either ride here " and I pointed at the spot he should have been " Or Fuck off " his eyes widened with shock and he muttered " No you fuck off " and he rode off ahead. We rode past him about 2 kms up the road and never saw him till he rode in to the hotel 3 hours after us looking totally stuffed. The staff described him to us this evening as the most dangerous rider on tour. He is all over the road all the time, and they also took him aside and spoke to him tonight. Pk

We past the half way point today as well today, I guess it's all down hill from here. Haha sure. 

We arrived in Chamberlain and relaxed in the hotel swimming pool, right beside the Missouri River. 

Note the invisible bridge. 

Next day was a very strong side wind. 110 kms with the wind howling from our right. We rode 60 kms then stopped in a diner for apple pie and ice cream. Perfect.  !! 

Look at that shit coffee I'm being forced to consume  !! 

Final day before our rest day in Sioux Falls started with a slight headwind then back to a strong side cross head. The thought of a rest day after 8 solid days riding was very inviting too. It was only 115 kms too so seemed quite short. We arrived in town and went straight to a Stone Cold store and consumed ice cream FAAAAAST. The weather is starting to get very humid. 

At the riders meeting tonight several of the riders introduced a family member or friend who is joining to ride a leg with them. ( Jimmy, Michael dont you feel bad about leaving me here on my own   !! )

Today is day 28 of 50 days and it is starting to feel as though we are flying across the country. We have completed 3 of the 6 stages and the final 3 stages are shorter than the initial stages. 

Here are a few photos from the last week. 

Letterbox  !! 

Never heard of it  !!

Bison I managed to capture. 

WTF  ?? Anyone tried this stuff  ?? 

My riding mates - from the left

Mark who is also my room mate and an all round great guy, comes from Texas. 

Me also an all round great guy.

Josine from Holland.

Mitch also from Texas.

Ric from Finger lakes NY

People I have spotted, who do not ride bikes ( note all photos taken in restaurants  !! )

The shape of America  !! 

Next 7 days take us into and through Minnesota and then into Wisconsin. I'm looking forward to a change in scenery as we leave the plains behind us.