Onward and Upward

Two states in one day, not bad. We finally trekked out of New York today which was fantastic, I was getting sick of being only a few millimeters into our route on the back of the B&B shirts. The last couple of days have been quite busy and quite painful, a whole lot of miles. I am sitting in a church in Ashtabula, Oh right now after having spent the afternoon with my parents who so lovingly drove 200+ miles to the middle of nowhere to come and see me. It's always nice seeing family during a long trip like this; they want to do stuff like buy dinner and hang out. Ashtabula is located way in the top corner of the state about an hour from Cleveland right on the water. After walking through the quite limited downtown area we decided to try the only restaurant looking thing in the city. I had the prime rib, mom the fish, and dad opted for the Alfredo. It was descent and the waitress was nice; it's great to have someone else wait on you while you eat off of real silverware....

We left this morning from Westfield, NY which was our last stop in New York, located right on the border of Pennsylvania. It was a small little town, but the church was great and the dinner last night was phenomenal - I ate too much like I always do. It was a long day yesterday and after not having showered the previous day we were all ready for the well deserved shower, or so we thought. Showers were located at the public pool in a room no bigger than someones kitchen. It wasn't until after we had all jumped in the pool that we realized that the pool did not have any hot water, none and all, the only thing available after two days without a shower was the coldest shower I have ever taken - it was painful to say the least.

Yesterdays ride was nice, a bit long towards the end, but nice. One of my fellow riders (and midwesterns) Kathy decided about 80 miles in that she would clip the back of my tire and go flying off into a ditch. I don't know if she was just bored or what. She was fine, no injuries, just a little shaken up. Everyone stopped and we got her bike back in working order to finish off the trip. That morning we had left from Niagara Falls, NY following a day of relaxation at the falls.

Now the falls is perhaps one of the most surreal places I have ever been, it is as though the water is a nice back drop to a monstrosity of a casino or one of the many wax museums available for touring. July 4th we rode in from Lockport, NY which was a mere 20 miles. We unpacked, changed, and hoped in the van passports in hand for the falls. Several of us got there, looked at the falls (appreciated it for a time), crossed into Canada, looked in disgust at the silly touristy things, and ran as fast as we could out of there for some Chinese food. Well we found the Chinese and stuffed ourselves silly. Walking around the falls allowed our bellies to rest, but I swear I have never seen so many people in my life.

We returned to the church in Niagara for a 4th of July meal and had some down time before the van left to take people back for the fireworks show. I was pretty excited, fireworks over the falls, cool no? Well, to make a long story short, we missed them. The van always has to take two trips because there are too many of us for a single ride. Fireworks started at 10 and the first van load didn't even leave until about 915 for the 15 minute ride (in good traffic....) The van returned for the rest of us at about 950 and we raced over to the falls hoping to catch the show. When we got there everyone was walking back to their cars as though the show was over. How could that be it was only 10:08. Well, it was over, way to go Canada you put on an 8 minute show for the 4th.... Several of us were pissed, most of us relatively apathetic. We walked to the falls and looked at the red, white, and blue colors adorning them and then walked back to where the van was supposed to get us. The first van load had left by the time we got there and given the traffic, it took nearly an hour for it to get back. Fortunately, right in front of our pickup spot was an Indian restaurant whose aromas filled the air. Unfortunately, it was an "all you can eat" buffet and none of us were hungry. So we sat and thought about how nice it would be if we were hungry.

Tomorrow we will be riding to Avon Lake on the west side of Cleveland. It is good to be back in my home state though I know I will only be here until Tuesday. We'll be in Michigan for a short time and then onto Chicago which should be right around the half way point of the journey. We haven't hit 1000 miles yet, but we're getting there. The roads have really flattened out and we're back to the terrain that I know so well and have come to love: flat, very flat.

I'll keep writing when I get a chance, keep commenting.

Incidentally, I'd like to add that after discussion with my father this evening it should be noted that I perhaps presented his response to my trip in an ill light. He was very supportive of the trip (still is) and was excited about the whole thing. He still thinks I am crazy for doing it - I am starting to believe him...