Ray's Travels

I’m on the Pacific Coast bike trip. The ride is from Astoria, OR to Costa Mesa, CA. Today was the 4th day of riding. We did about 65 miles the first day and about 80 miles each of the last three days. I’m a bit beat from doing so many miles on consecutive days but I’m holding up well.

The trip got off to an inauspicious start. On the first day we left the hotel in Astoria about 2 hours late due to an horrendous rain storm. We had no rain on the “Across America” trip yet this is the way that the Pacific Coast trip started. Luck only stretches to far.

WE DID IT!

Coast to coast. Across America. From the Pacific Ocean
to the Atlantic Ocean in 50 days, over 3,600 miles and
(by someone’s calculation) nearly 1 million pedal
stokes.

We survived it healthy, happy and strong. Finishing
was an exhilerating experience.

The final irony is that we did the entire crossing
without any significant rain while we were riding.
Within an hour of getting to the final hotel where we
picked up our luggage the skies opened up with a
torrential rain.

Today we completed the last challenging stage of the
ride. It was about 80 miles from Brattleboro, VT to
Manchester, NH. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.
There were some tough hills but the ride was more
exhilarating than difficult.

Tonight we had our final dinner together as a group.
Everyone had a chance to say something about what the
ride has meant. As you can imagine, it was quite an
emotional experience.

Tomorrow we ride about about 52 miles into Portsmouth,
NH and will regroup at a school. From there, a police
escort will take us the last 3 miles to the Atlantic
Ocean so we can dip our wheels and give a finality to
the trip.

Our son Matt will pick us up in Portsmouth and bring us back
to New York City. We will resume the life we know but
which will forever be changed.

We’ll give a final report with some thoughts after we
are finished. Right now it’s all a confusion of
bittersweet emotions.

Yesterday we had a good 84 mile ride from Liverpool
(Syracuse), NY to Little Falls, NY. It gets hot in the
afternoon but the roads were pretty good and we had no
problems.

Little Falls, NY is a prime example of the problem
that afflicts small town America and particularly
upstate New York. It’s an old, small city that was
once bustling and had some impressive buildings for
manufacturing but has fallen on hard times as the
manufacturing has left. Now the community is
struggling to maintain itself and keep things from
becoming too decrepit. I don’t have the answer but
it’s a sad picture.

Today we biked about 82 miles to Troy, NY. Troy is
about 20 miles from our country house. It’s odd to be
in familiar territory. It starts to sink in that we
have really come all of the way across the country.

The weather gods really cut us a break today. The sky
was ominous when we left the hotel. We tried to put as
many miles behind us as early as possible. When we
stopped at the first scheduled refreshment stop the
sky looked like it was going to open up. There was
rolling thunder and a bit of lightning. We actually
outran the storm and avoided all but a few drops of
rain. By noon the weather was bright and sunny.

Much of the ride today was on a designated bike route
(along side a road) and a dedicated bike trail. It
made for smooth, fast riding.

Tomorrow we bike to Brattleboro, VT. That means
climbing into the Green Mountains. It will be a change
but at this point we know we can do it. It’s a matter
of completing the journey safely.

Marie almost spent the night in jail due a multitude of violations of local ordinances.

In the last update we spoke a bit about the safety
issue as we enter the last week. Well, this morning,
before things hardly even got started one of our
riders was hit by a motorcycle while leaving the
hotel. I’m not quite sure how it happened but he was
banged up enough to have to spend a few hours in the
hospital. He will be OK but it is questionable as to
whether he will be able to finish the ride. It’s very
unfortunate because he was one of the nicest guys and
a very strong bicyclist.

We’ve ranted about the current Harley-Davidson types
but there is another type that is on the other end of
the spectrum. They are the young guys who ride what
are called “crotch rockets” that look like racing
motorcycles. The cycle of choice for these guys are
Suzuki’s. They have ultra high performance and 99% of
the people riding them can’t handle them. It was one
of these that hit our rider.

Today was a 94 mile ride from Henrietta (Rochester),
NY to Liverpool (Syracuse), NY. About 30 miles of the
ride was on a trail along the Erie Canal. When we say
“along the canal” that is literal. In many places if
you got knocked off your bike you would end up in the
canal. It was a nice ride with some beautiful scenery.
It has been getting hot in the afternoons but with the
wind a bike creates, it is quite tolerable as long as
you stay hydrated.

According to the weather reports we’re staying ahead
of the thunderstorms. Tomorrow we bike to Little
Falls, NY. We’re something like 3,300 miles into this
trip which seems unbelievable even to those of us that
have pedaled every mile.

In the last update from Niagara Falls I said we
weren’t going to do anything touristy on our rest day.
Well, it’s hard to hold to a promise like that in
Niagara Falls since there is little else to do. We
took the “Maid of the Mist” boat ride and we did the
“Cave of the Winds” walk (where you walk right up to
the Bridal Falls).

But we swear, that’s the only touristy stuff we did
(aside from paying $3.50 for an ice cream cone). We
did get our laundry done and we did rest.

Today was a great day of riding. We traveled 82 miles
from Niagara Falls, NY to Henrietta, NY. The weather
was gorgeous, there was some tailwind, the roads were
in good condition and we felt rested. We started at
about 7:30am and were at the hotel by 1:15pm. That was
with 3 stops including a lunch stop at the 60 mile
mark. We would have to call it almost a perfect day of
bicycling.

Tomorrow is a 90 mile trek to Liverpool, NY. A big
chunk of it is on a bike trail. The weather should be
good but there might be some headwind.

We really and truly find it hard to believe that we
are into the last week. The guides keep reminding us
to be safety minded. The trip has been without a
significant safety incident and they worry that people
will lose focus. Your care and concern has seen us
this far so keep the prayers, good vibes, or whatever
working for us.

Sorry there were no updates from Canada. I found out
that my laptop doesn’t translate Canadian to English.

The crossing of the Blue Water Bridge was great. Kudos
to the Michigan Department of Transportation for
closing the bridge for our crossing. It was a special
day and we biked to London, Ontario to spend the
night.

The next day we traveled from London to Brantford,
Ontario. Brantford is the hometown of Wayne Gretzky.
When you travel through downtown Brantford it becomes
apparent as to why Gretzky worked so hard at hockey.
He was trying to get the hell out of Brantford.
Seriously, the downtown is totally distressed with
little but vacant stores. Anything that is happening
is in the outskirts that are just ugly urban sprawl.
It is obvious that the city was totally mismanaged.
The downtown looks like it is getting ready to be
demolished. We don’t care to stick around long enough
to find out the root of the problem.

Today we biked about 72 miles from Brantford to
Niagara Falls, New York. It was an interesting ride
through Canadian farm country. We saw farms where they
were growing ginseng, tobacco, corn, sod, asparagus
and whatever else. Farming must be a good business in
Canada. The farm houses and barns looked very new and
had nice landscaping. The MacMansion has arrived in
farm country.

Of course the place is very touristy. Tomorrow is our
last rest day of the trip. We’ll probably spend it by
doing nothing that could be considered touristy.

Some friends of ours, Lance and Kathy Barrs met up
with us this evening. Lance and Kathy live in
Huntsville, Ontario and used to own the summer camp
that Matt and Tommy both attended and worked at. This
summer Tommy is a water ski instructor at the camp. We
had a great time and a great dinner with them. It was
a good break to our routine. Having met up with family
earlier in the week and the Barrs this evening gives
us a lot of support in taking on the rest of the trip.

There are only 7 more days of biking and we will touch
the Atlantic Ocean. It’s hard to believe that we are
getting this close.

Tomorrow we rest.

Brantford, ON. The runway markings at the airport have fallen into disrepair due to a downturn in the local economy.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Now drop the puck and let’s play some hakky!

Gotta practice that song. Tomorrow we cross the Blue
Water Bridge from Port Huron, MI into Sarnia, Ontario.

The authorities are actually going to close the bridge
for our crossing. Really! It should be another good
experience that we wouldn’t get if we hadn’t done this
trip.

Today was a fairly easy 88 mile ride from Birch Run to
Port Huron. It was flat, the weather was cool and
overcast and we made good time. There actually was a
cloudburst that deposited some moisture. After ducking
under some shelter and waiting about 10 minutes it was
gone. 1/2 mile down the road the pavement was dry. The
Gore Tex jackets are feeling lonely and unappreciated.
There is rain predicted for tomorrow. Hopefully it
won’t spoil the bridge crossing.

The next report will be from a foreign country if the
authorities allow us to enter.

Tonight we are bunked the mid-Michigan town of Mount
Pleasant. It’s not exactly my hometown (East Lansing)
but when you’ve biked from Oregon you wonder how you
got so close so fast.

We biked out of Ludington, Michigan at about 7:00am
this morning and traveled about 115 miles. The weather
gods continue to smile on us. It was very cool and
mostly cloudy this morning. There was a fear that the
rain jackets were going to get their first workout.
However, the rain never came and it was mostly clear
and nice in the afternoon. The 115 miles went by very
smoothly except for one short but nasty construction
zone and there were actually some tailwinds. This is
the last scheduled century for this trip. Will we miss
them? Nah!!!

Yesterday was our quasi rest day. We all gathered for
the wedding at a nearby city park in Manitawoc, WI at
10:00am. It was a very nice, informal, non-traditional
ceremony with just a very few family members and about
70 bikers. Nobody did the hokey-pokey, the chicken
dance or the macarena. The wedding actually had some
dignity despite the fact that the groom was wearing
shorts and a t-shirt the was printed to look like a
tux.

We then boarded the good ship “Badger” which is a
ferry boat that was put into service in 1953. It is
still a coal fired steamer but a pretty nice ship,
considering. The trip across Lake Michigan took about
4 hours (we think). Because we lost an hour due to the
time change, we’re not sure when we arrived in
Ludington but we did get there. The “seas” were calm
and it was nice to find a comfortable chair, turn on
the iPod, read a book and nap.

Tonight, my parents, my sister Joanne and her
husband Don and my sister Kathy drove up for a visit. We
all went to a steakhouse for dinner and had a great
time catching up on things. It was a real nice break
from the routine. Joanne brought us some cookies and
we’ll probably kill those off before we get down to
breakfast tomorrow if they make it through the night.
(Marie is asleep right now so maybe I can finish them
off and tell her I left them at the restaurant – Ray).

Tomorrow we have a 75 mile ride to Birch Run,
Michigan.

We’re rolling in more ways than one. The bikes are
performing well, the bodies are holding up and the
morale is good.

Hang in there with us.

Today we had a light ride (57 miles) from Fond Du Lac,
WI to Manitowoc, WI. Again, the weather was beautiful
so we rolled through the Wisconsin countryside.

Tomorrow is considered a “rest day” only because we
only ride for 7 miles. However, we have to load our
luggage at 8:30am and then there is a wedding to
attend at 10:00am. That’s right, one of the guides is
getting married in a very informal ceremony tomorrow
morning. The woman he is marrying is joining as a
helper on the trip for the rest of the way. Yes, this
was all planned ahead of time.

At noon we have to be at the ferry for our ride across
Lake Michigan. We will arrive in Ludington, MI at
about 5:00pm and will bike to the hotel. Again, we
lose an hour due to the time zone change. What should
have been a rest day will turn into a busy day. The
following day we can look forward to a 115 mile ride
into Mt. Pleasant, MI.

We’re holding up well but there is an element of
fatigue. After our “easy” ride today we hit the bed in
the hotel and napped for a couple of hours. Maybe
tomorrow we can grab a nap on the ferry.

We are very much looking forward to meeting up with
family members in Mt. Pleasant. The time and the miles
are flying by.

We met up with the Wisconsin “Speagle” chapter of our fan club and signed autographs for them.