Bike The Lake Day 8 - Welland to Waterloo

Day 8 had arrived and it was the last day of our tour around Lake Ontario. Hard to believe it was almost over, but both Koichi and I were looking forward to getting home.

The day started out cool and over cast and by the time we finished our amazing breakfast at my father in laws Bed and Breakfast it had started to rain.  We got a pretty late start but finally we were on the road and heading for home.

The rain was pretty steady for the first hour and we got wet quickly, especially my feet.  We were lucky though and actually had a South East tail wind!

The road out of Welland was nice and followed the river,  but it was hard to see anything with the rain. After a couple hours it had finally stopped raining and we pressed on for lunch In Caledonia.

We had to detour South for lunch to our usual Subway, and of course it started raining hard again as we got there.  We also had to take Highway 6 south for a few km's and that was not fun in the rain with all the heavy traffic.  Made me miss the wide shoulder of the roads in new York!  After lunch, it had stopped raining and we headed out again for home. We still had a long way to go so we took advantage of the tail wind and tried to make good time.

Most of the afternoon was pretty uneventful as we plotted on.  A bit outside Cambridge, the skies turned dark again and sure enough it started raining, this time pretty hard. If we were dry before, it didn't take long to get soaked once more.

We continued on and eventually made it to our home town Waterloo and then finally to my riding partner, Kochi's house.   We were both really excited to have made it home, after such a long day riding in the crappy weather. Of course we celebrated with a beer and couldn't really believe our trip was over.

The trip was really amazing with lots of memories and good times. I've mentioned it before, but I was so impressed by the help we received from people on the trip and the kindness of those in the cycling community. I loved it.

I also need to say thanks to my wife, Marissa who not only encouraged me to go on this trip but then had to take care of our little boy Jack all by herself.

So all said and done today came in at 160 km, which is not only my longest ride ever but also my first real Century ride (100 miles).

The total for our around the Lake trip was about 1044 km.  Can't wait for my next trip, but now sure when that'll be!

Bike The Lake Day 7 - Brockport To Welland

Day 7 was to be an exciting day, we were returning to Canada and also meeting our wives in Welland at my father in laws Bed and Breakfast, "At Home Bed & Breakfast".

We left Brockport in good time and the sun was out again and winds were pretty light. We headed West and rolled along route 31A. The roads again were in good shape and I was really starting to appreciate the wide paved shoulders on New York roadways.

Around kilometer 25 things went south in a big way! I was leading and tried to negotiate my way through a bit of a pot hole mess, and just after I got through it my rear tire instantly blew out. I quickly came to a stop only to find my buddy Kochi had got a pinch flat on his front tire after hitting the pot hole right at the same time.

So there we were with simultaneous tire blow out on the side of the road.  We had a little laugh about it and then started the job of fixing everything up. Once I got my rear tire off I realised what cause my flat,  I had a big cut right through the tire sidewall!  After seeing that I started to get a bit concerned since the tire looked like a right off and we were in the middle of nowhere, with no spare tire.

I went back and noticed a big piece of glass on the road, which must have caused my flat.   I didn't even see it.

I took the tire off and decided to try and patch it, since I had nothing else to try. I used a big patch on the inside of tire and two on the outside to try and seal up the cut.  I also put a patch on the new tube in the same location to try and give everything a bit more support. 

I got the tire and tube back together and started to fill it with air. At this point we were probably on the side of the road for about 45 minutes and someone actually stopped to see how we were doing.  The guys name was Dominic and he lived and worked in the area and was also a Tri athlete. He offered a hand and even had a nice bike pump in his truck he let us borrow.  

I pumped up my bandaged tire and took it for a test spin. It held but the patch was already starting to bulge. Dominic offered to give me a spare tire he had, but it was at his shop, All Metal Works, that was 25km away! I took his number and he headed back to his shop to get the tire and we'd meet him later.   Again I was amazed at the kindness of fellow cyclists and how generous he was!

So meanwhile as I was fixing my problem, Kochi was dealing with his own flat front tire.  He got it back together with out to much trouble, but then notice his rear tire was pretty soft too,  not flat but definitely leaking air.  So off comes all his panniers and off comes the tire and he found a small puncture mark in the side of his tire.  He took the time off the wheel and it went right through so he through a patch on the inside of the tire and put a new tube in his rear tire too!

While all this was going on it looked like carnage on the side off the road with tires, tubes, wheels and tools everywhere. It was kind of comical.

Anyway after about an hour we had everything back together and started out with my wounded rear tire. We took the first few km's pretty slow and everything was holding so we ramped up the pace a bit and pushed on for Dominic's shop.  After I stated to trust the tire a bit I pushed on harder then normal and tired to maintain 30 km/hr so I could get  there in as little time as possible.  For us this was fast.

His shop was 25 km away, so it wasn't exactly close.  The tire was holding and I was happy as I pushed on.  After about an hour I saw his place and was pretty damn relieved! Dominic had two used Trainer tires with him and even a brand new Trainer tire that he gave me, again I couldn't believe it.  He also gave me two new tubes to get us rolling again.  So I swapped out my now seriously bulging tire and installed his new Trainer tire. I took one of his used Trainer tires too,  just in case!

Again I was amazed at the kindness of this stranger who was willing to help us. Turns out he's leaving for Lake Placid next week to compete in his first Iron Man, that's pretty serious business. Good luck Dominic!

So back on the road we go and headed west again for Niagara Falls. We stopped in Lockport for our usual Subway lunch and met a few ladies who where cycling across the States. They started in Settle and are on their way to Portland Maine, very impressive.

Eventually we hit Niagara Falls and found our way to the Rainbow Bridge crossing. We got in line with all the cars as that was what I read we were supposed to do. It was pretty busy so it took us an hour to get across to the costumes officers. It wasn't really fun baking out in the sun amongst the cars, but we made it.   Of course the costumes officer says while didn't we cut up the side past all the cars... Oh well,  next time!

Back in Canada we passed Niagara Falls and headed for the canal trail which took us right into Welland.

We got to the Bed and Breakfast and were met by out wives and my little boy Jack.   It was really nice to see them again after a week away!

So today did turn out to be a pretty exciting day, partially for the wrong reason but it also made for some great memories and furthers my amazement about how willing complete stranger are to help you out.  Not sure if it's just a cycling community sort of thing or what,  but whatever it is I'm grateful for people like Dominic who took the time to help us and give us things for free to get us rolling again. 

All said today was about 126 km on the bike.

Bike The Lake Day 6 - Walcott To Brockport

Day 6 started with the challenge of getting all our gear down two flights of narrow stairs at the Walcott Hotel! Once that was accomplished it was off to McDonald's for breakfast.

The morning was sunny but cool and the West head wind was pretty light early on. We started out on highway 104 which is a pretty main road but traffic was light and all the major roads have a really wide paved shoulder.  The roads have been really good here.

After a little while we turned off the main road and found Ridge Rd,  which basically runs parallel to 104 but is much less busy.  The first few hours were pretty uneventful, which was nice.   We saw lots of Apple orchards and encountered a few rolling hills, but nothing like yesterday.

We hit up another Subway in a small town and had half a sub to keep us going. Soon we were at the out skirts of Rochester and we headed south to avoid downtown and find the Erie Canal Trail.

After a short while we manage to find the Canal Trail and met a local cyclist who was interested in our travels. We chatted for a bit and rode with him on the trail for a while.  He was on his way to work, so he took off and we crusied on at a slower pace.  We came across one of the many locks on the Canal, so we stopped and had a little break to eat the rest of our Subway.

After a little rest we headed on to Brockport, which was pretty much right on the Canal trail. The canal trail was really nice,  the first 15+ km in Rochester were all paved and was really nice riding along the water.

West of Rochester the pavement ended but the trail was hard pack gravel that was just about as smooth as some of the roads we've been on.   So we continued on and followed the Canal trail right into Brockport. It was nice not dealing with any cars and just cruising along.

Once we hit Brockport we found our hotel and were happy it was much nicer than the Wolcott Hotel!

Today was a nice day, not too long and again we had nice roads and a wonderful trail to ride on. The drivers in New York state seem to be much better at sharing the roads with cyclists and always wait to pass and give you lots of room.  Seems much better than Ontario.

All said, it was a little over 120 km on the bike.

Looking forward to getting back to Canada tomorrow and seeing my wonderful wife Marissa and my little boy Jack!

Bike The Lake Day 5 - Watertown To Walcott

Day 5 brought on the turning point of our trip as we were past the half way point and starting to head in a Westerly direction!  Of course that also meant we would most likely be dealing with a West head wind and that is exactly what we got.

The morning started off sunny but cool,  at around 15 C,  and as soon as we got on the roads the head wind was pretty intense.  Our first 30 km was straight West into the wind,  which was probably blowing about 20 to 30+ km/hr.  We soon started trading pulling into the wind, with each of us taking a turn at front for 2 km and then switching it around to get the draft.  This helped a lot, and we knocked off the km's at a decent pace (for us).

Around 40 km I heard the tell tale "pop" from my rear wheel and knew I broke a spoke! We stopped and took the damage spoke out so it would let get stuck in anything.   I actually thought about bring spare spokes... but I didn't, oops.  So I get on the phone and look for a bike shop in the area (which was really in the middle of no where at this point).

Google said there was a shop called Cornell's Pedal and Paddle about 18 km away, close to Pulaski, so off we went.  There wasn't much to do but ride with it so I opened up my rear brake so the wheel wouldn't rub, it was pretty out of true after the spoke broke.  The bike worked pretty well and didn't seem to affected.

So we roll up to Cornell's and the sign says going out of business sale and the shop is all closed up! No one home!  Not very helpful.

It was close to lunch so we pulled out the Subway sandwiches we bought earlier  and had a little break.  After some food,  I took the rear wheel off and had a look at it, couldn't do much but I loosened a few spokes off beside the one that broke so they wouldn't be in so much tension. Got the phone out again and found a bike shop in Oswego, another 25 km away,  along out route. So off we went again. This one looked more promising.

We didn't get very far though before I had another problem with my rear tire, it was going flat! Not sure why or what caused the slow leak but had to take off the panniers again,  pull off the wheel and change the tube. Checked for cut or holes in the tire but didn't find any so I put  a new tube in and got it all back together and we took off for Oswego.

At this point I was a bit nervous about my bike situation, would I break another spoke of flat another tire! 

We rode so big hills getting to Oswego but my bike held together, now would the bike shop be able to help fix it? We found Murdock's Bicycles and Sports easily and went to talk to the mechanic. He said,  sure I can fix that and I wheeled my bike in.

So Kochi and I hung around in the shop and about 5 minutes later the mechanic, Chris I think his name was, says he doesn't have a spoke the right size but he's going to make me one that will fit!  How's that for service, willing to help me out right away and make me a spoke when he didn't have one, awesome!

After about 30 minutes he had it all back together and working good! I asked him what I owed him and get this, he say,  $1.95... for the spoke, that's all. I said what about the labour, for your time, and he tells me they don't charge labour to cyclists that need help while on touring rides.  Needless to say I was really impressed with this shop and them being so willing to help me for almost nothing! The cycling community can be awesome like that, I love it.  

So bike finally all back together, it was time for the other half of my subway sandwich and then we headed for Wolcott. By this time it was about 3pm and we had another 40 km to go yet.

I hadn't mentioned it but the roads and scenery were really nice today too.   The road had a huge paved shoulder almost the entire day with lots of rolling countryside and nice views.

Now once we left Oswego we encountered so many hills, it was ridiculous and amazing at the same time.  The terrain map of the area is speckled with hills all over the place,  it really is pretty cool,  but a bit tiring on the bike, especially after 100 km of riding.  We battled on and both really enjoyed the hills and cool views and great road!

Around 5:30 pm we finally rolled into Wolcott.  it wasn't hard to find our hotel in the small one street village. I had to go to the bar to check in, amongst the patrons drinking and smoking, while I'm in my full lycra cycling gear!

Now this hotel is your typical small town bar / hotel with the rooms above the bar and main street. Our room is on the third floor and to get up there was two narrow stair cases and a bunch of doors, lots of fun.  The floors in this place are crazy angled and slopped and I amazed the place is still standing. But it has two beds and a decent shower so we're happy.

So that was our day, full of adventure, adversity and some of the best cycling I've ever done! Love it!

Total was just under 130 km.

Bike The Lake Day 4 - Picton To Watertown.

Day 4 of our trip was going to be an exciting and long day. Unfortunately it also starting with heavy rain! Was thinking about Rule #9 as we left the hotel.

Today we had 3 ferry crossings to deal with so we had to schedule our ride a bit more then normal.  We left the hotel at 7:30 and headed for Tim Hortons for breakfast. After a quick breakfast it seemed to be raining even harder but we had to leave to chatch our first ferry.

The first  ferry from Glonora wasn't to far away but by the time we got there we were  pretty soaked.   My new Sugoi rain jacket worked well but still couldn't repel all the water! A nice ferry worker let us hide out in a sheltered area on the ferry.

Once we got off the ferry the rain actually let up and soon after it even stopped. The road was really nice with very little traffic and nice scenery. Unfortunately after an hour it started raining again,  but only lasted about 20 minutes.

About halfway to Kingston an OPP cruiser passed us, then pulled over and waved us down. He just wanted to chat and see where we were going. Was a nice guy,  guess he stops most of the touring cyclists to see what they're up too. Maybe he wasn't too busy today!

After that we pushed on to Kingston trying to get the 11:30 ferry to Wolfe island.   We almost made it,  but due to some construction and lots of red lights we just barely missed it.  Was no biggie,  we just went for lunch at Subway and waited for the next ferry.

The road to Kingston, highway 33, had some great Lake views and was one of the nicest sections so far. 

Once we got to Wolfe Island we stopped for a little break at a coffee shop since we thought we'd have to wait a while at the next ferry crossing to the US.  We slowly cruised across Wolfe Island and met Richard, a fellow cyclist.   He had already rounded Lake Erie and now was doing Lake Ontario, the opposite direction to us. He was more hardcore,  with full camping gear.  Wolfe Island was a nice little spot,  lots of wind turbines and almost no traffic. Road was quiet and great for riding on.

We got to our last ferry crossing, to the US, a half hour before it was scheduled to leave by there were a few cars waiting so the very nice ferry Captain took us across early!

Entry to the US was a breeze and then we headed for Watertown. As soon as we got into New York,  the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.  We had a bit of a head wind but the road was in great shape and it felt good to be riding in the States, and also heading south for the first time.

After a few more hours we made it to our hotel and celebrated the half way point of our trip. 

Today was a long day, but the riding felt a bit better due to all the breaks we had to take for the ferries. It was enjoyable,  even with the rain. We might need to take some more breaks tomorrow,  as it could be a long one too!

All said,  today was about 125 km (including the ferries).  Part 1. Part 2