Day 41: Speculator to Ticonderoga

Even though today was a short day of 72 miles we had to get up early to meet the other half of the group who had stayed at another hotel down the road.  We had breakfast at a diner in Speculator and I had the best pancakes of the trip so far.  We started the ride with a slow descent out of the Adirondacks in one group at 7:30, the weather was cloudy and quite cool, similar to yesterday.  It was a really enjoyable start on a quite road surrounded by amazing coloured trees, several stops were made for photos.  We crossed the Hudson river, looking a lot narrower than it does down the road in New York City.  There was a section just before lunch that had lots of trucks passing us on fairly pot holed roads that wasn't quite so enjoyable. Lunch (being at 10:30 it was more a brunch) was on the banks of Brant Lake, I lovely spot to stop.  There was only around 25 miles to pedal after eating including a longish climb which ensured the legs didn't have a complete day off.  Strange to think that a ride like this would have constituted a pretty descent training ride but in the context of the trip it was walk in the park.   There was a long, fast descent into the pretty town of Hague which I really enjoyed before rolling hills to tonight's destination in Ticonderoga (N.B. this is the US's second most Australian sounding place behind Walla Walla).  We got to the hotel early and were greeted with donuts supplied by the staff.  My impressions of New York state after 3 days riding: it kicks ass.

Ride Details

Lake opposite hotel of other group before riding commenced

Quite and pretty road in the morning

Check out the colours on this 

Hudson river

Lunch at Brant Lake

Day 40: Cazenovia to Speculator

Today was our eighth century in nine days and the final one of the trip.  The day was overcast with temperatures between about 8 and 15 C.  The wind was quite a big factor today as we faced the strongest consistent headwinds for sometime.  It started to bring back memories of the day from Helena to Bozeman, which I consider to be one of the toughest days, mainly due to the headwinds.  Maybe they weren't as bad today but I also think we have become stronger, more experienced riders as the the trip has progressed because they didn't really bother me as much.  The day started with a nice descent which was a change from the previous two rides where there were hills from the start.  We were on some fairly busy roads before lunch but in the afternoon we entered Adirondack Park where we rode though a forest and were treated to views of the vivid Fall colours and some pretty lakes.  There are lots of familiar place names round here, we rode though Rome, I spotted signs for Poland, Russia and Ohio and Google Maps reveals loads more, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Oxford, Norwich, Bolton (now I'm just listing places to increase the word count). Lovely view from the hotel again tonight and another great dinner.

Ride Details

Lunch spot

Fall colours

Will and Ed on the attack!

Post ride photo shoot outside the hotel

Hotel view 1

Hotel view 2

Day 39: Corning to Cazenovia

Today was our penultimate century of the trip and it was very similar to our ride to Corning a couple of days ago.  The 8 am start it was very cold at about 2 C but warmed up quite quickly and with the early climbs people were soon shedding their layers (I just took off my arm warmers).  In the morning we rode just to the south of the Finger Lakes here in New York state and in the valley between two big climbs we passed through Ithaca, which is home to the ivy league Cornell University. After a lovely, Trevor prepared lunch we passed through several farms and more lovely scenery before reaching tonight's destination in Cazenovia. We again had some fairly tasty headwinds to contend with in the afternoon but Charlene and I were riding together again and shared the burden of being out front.  There is a bit of a discrepancy in our sizes and it must look a bit comical with me, being quite tall trying shelter behind her petite frame.  It was a really nice day though and the hotel wins the award for the most picturesque location, sitting as it does on the banks of a lake.  The dinner tonight was really good too, butternut squash soup, tuna and chocolate cheesecake for me.

Ride Details

On a bridge over a gorge on the way out of Ithaca

The view from the other side

Action shot of the day

Lake Cazenovia next to the hotel

The hotel

Day 38: Rest day in Corning

Our final rest day today and it is hard to believe that in a week's time it will all be over.  It was a lovely day outside (as have been all our rest days) although I admit I spent much of it inside resting.  I stayed up to watch the presidential debate last night and over a later breakfast some of my fellow riders expressed their embarrassment and offered an apology for fellow countryman Trump!  Riding through Ohio and Pennsylvania I have been surprised at the amount of Trump yard signs on display, maybe there'll be more Hillary ones as we head further east. Apart from laundry chores, a visit to the pharmacy, supermarket and local bike shop I did little else.  The bike shop had the biggest cat I've ever seen, a Maine Coon, apparently the largest domestic cat.  He didn't take too kindly to being stroked so I left him be guarding the shop, I didn't want to sustain an injury so close to the end of the trip.  We only have 6 more rides left although there are still some not insignificant hills between us and the Atlantic.

Outside the hotel looking down the main street in town

Guard cat, apparently he still not fully grown

Day 37: Bradford to Corning

Today's ride from Bradford started in pretty bracing conditions of 3 C and even I was beginning to regret not putting on a few more layers (my minimalist approach to cold weather clothing has become a bit of a running joke - northern roots).  After an hour an a half the sun got to work and things warmed up for another nice day of riding.  25 miles in to the ride we entered New York State, our 14th state of the trip. Unlike some other state boundaries we had a nice big sign for the obligatory photo.  Rather than the usual picnic, today's lunch was at a roadside diner called Rock Burgers, so we all refuelled on fries, burgers and milkshakes.  The afternoon ride in to Corning was pleasant with more nice views, the wind was a bit gusty and we did have to battle headwinds at times but nothing we couldn't handle.  So concluded our 6 centuries in 6 days, not sure I will repeat that feat anytime soon, if ever.  Tomorrow is our final rest day and rather than the usual social hour drinks we all went to the Corning Museum of Glass.  Corning is famous for its glassware and the guides organised for us to decorate our own picture frames, we had different shaped coloured glass to create our own designs.  The frames will be put in a kiln overnight to fuse the glass pieces to the frame, we'll pick them up tomorrow to have a nice souvenir of the trip.

Ride Details

Quiet roads out of Pennsylvania

Into The Empire State

Who would live in a house like this?

Lunch spot

BLT, curly fries and milkshake, Chris Froome swears by this

At the top of the final climb of the day

Arts and Crafts hour

Day 36: Meadville to Bradford

Another great ride today, definitely made the top 5.  We set off from Meadville in cool temperatures of around 6 C but more short, steep climbs from the outset meant it didn't take long to warm up.  It was one of those crisp, cloudless days that I really like riding in and that in combination with some more nice scenery in Pennsylvania made for great day.  Shortly after lunch we hit more roadworks and had to make an impromptu detour along some train tracks which added to the excitement.  Not only was today's destination Bradford but I also saw signs for a nearby Sheffield which added to the Yorkshire theme.  There was plenty of trees around today and we are just beginning to see the pretty autumn yellows and reds making an appearance, I expect the transition will progress over the remainder of the trip.  Still surprising myself with how my fitness levels are improving and how I'm getting through the days without many tears.  That said, pretty tired right now so that'll do for tonight.

Ride Details

Pennsylvania countryside 1

Pennsylvania countryside 2

Charlene and Trevor in their cold weather gear

Jim and Mark arriving at the lunch stop

Train track detour

Day 35: Strongsville to Meadville

Today was another long day's riding.  We left at 8 am again because the hotel didn't start breakfast until 7 am.  The ride including the most significant climbing for a number of days with lots of short, steep rolling hills so was a bit of a shock to the system. The riding conditions were very pleasant though with lots of sunshine and temperatures lower than yesterday, there was a bit of a head wind for most of it but there was a fair amount of shelter today so it wasn't so troublesome.  The day started through some of the Metroparks of Cleveland's outer suburbs, riding on bike paths, we then passed through some really pretty looking villages with Chagrin Falls a particular highlight.  As we progressed we saw more and more of the local Amish population riding along the road in their horse drawn buggies.  They seemed friendly and waved at all of us as we passed on our bikes, perhaps acknowledging a shared eschewing of the motor vehicle, although I did see many of them trimming their lawns with strimmers (in US - Weed Whackers).  Later on in the ride we passed in to Pennsylvania our 13th state.  We even had time to feed some fish on the way.  All in all a long but varied and enjoyable ride.

Ride Details

In the Metropark

Nice lunch spot today

Over the causeway to Pennsylvania

Feeding the fish

Day 34: Bowling Green to Strongsville

A pretty long day in the saddle today.  We set off from Bowling Green just as the sun was rising and the first 50 miles were enjoyable in pleasant temperatures going at a fair pace.  Then our progress was abruptly halted at a train crossing. We have seen plenty of these huge, mile long trains during our journey and I suppose it was inevitable that at some point our paths would cross. We waited about 20 minutes while one train passed but another on the other track didn't seem to be going anywhere.  A motorist who was also waiting told us of a detour and kindly escorted us the 2 or 3 miles to get us back on our way.  After lunch the temperatures continued to rise to over 30 C and I was flagging a bit at points but we saw the support van frequently on the run in so much sugar was consumed in various forms to supply the energy to get to the hotel.  There were a couple of bike paths on the way in and they provided welcome shade and a break from the traffic too.  My bike computer is set to statute measurements and didn't realise until after I got back that I had ridden just 300 meters shy of 200 km, should have done a couple of warm up laps before we set off.

Ride Details

Leaving Bowling Green at sunrise

Long morning shadows

Train makes its way past

This one was going nowhere

Unplanned stop

Making our way over a cool bridge

Day 33: Coldwater to Bowling Green

Another beautiful sunny day for a bike ride today.  Again it was a relatively long, flat stage (you're not in the Tour de France) day but with enough variety in the road topography and landscape for it not to be boring. We started on more dodgy roads in Michigan before entering out 11th state of the trip, Indiana for all of 7 miles.  The majority of the ride was through the countryside of Ohio, state number 12 and by the time we reached tonight's destination in Bowling Green had reached the 75% mark in our journey.  For some reason today my front wheel attracted the attention of not one but three dogs and it took all my sprinting reserves to out pace them.  We also saw a cat but that ran in the opposite direction, much more sensible animals.

Ride Details

The Dream Team crossing the Michigan / Indiana state line

Farm building at the same spot

Indiana / Ohio state border.  See below for an exclusive behind the scenes making of shot

This is how the magic happens

Lots of these red coloured barns around today

Cooling off in the afternoon sun

Day 32: Holland to Coldwater

Another slightly later start today because of the time zone change.  We left Holland with fairly cloudy skies and over the course of the first couple of hours riding they became increasingly dark and menacing. Outrunning the approaching storm was futile and soon we were riding in torrential rain, thunder and lightening. Fortunately one of the support vans was just down the road so we took refuge in that for quarter of an hour while the worst of it passed.  After lunch the skies brightened and it got quite warm so we all dried out quite quickly.  The afternoon presented a new challenge as we had to contend with some pretty shoddy Michigan roads.  We were all shaken about from the uneven road surface and pot holes.  There is a convention when cycling in a group of pointing out pot holes and other hazards in the upcoming road for the benefit of riders behind whose view is obscured by the cyclists ahead of them.  By the end of the day I had nearly developed repetitive strain injury from pointing at the road for 50 miles.  116 miles in total today so the longest one for a while though we made good progress so got to the hotel at Coldwater just after 4pm. Another 5 centuries to go before our final rest day.

Ride Details

First van stop, dark clouds encroaching

In the van an hour later, laughing at weather

Tonight's restaurant, can we have a table with a good view of the tv please?

Day 31: Milwaukee to Holland

It was a different day today as we took a ferry across Lake Michigan.  The ferry departed at 12:30 so we had a later breakfast before some of us took a trip on the bikes to Ben's Cycles in downtown Milwaukee to buy a few bits (disappointingly, no discount was offered to me).  After that we had time for a coffee stop before making our way over to the ferry port.  The crossing took about two and half hours and brought us in to Muskegon, Michigan, the tenth state of the trip. On the way we crossed into the forth and final time zone of Eastern (GMT -5).  Once we disembarked we had a short 37 mile ride to our rather fancy hotel in the town of Holland.  Since it was a short day's ride we were able to ride together as a big group again which was nice.  As a result of the late start and time change we didn't arrive at the hotel until 18:30 but there was pizza and salad ready for us when we arrived so were able to quickly refuel before setting about our evening routines. Tomorrow is the first of six consecutive century rides, fingers crossed the weather remains as nice as it has been the last few days.

Ride Details

Cool shop

Sybil and Will next to the important cargo

Ferry parallel parking

On the upper deck with Milwaukee skyline in the background