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Meet The Riders
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Meet The Riders
Bamacyclist Home Page| ROUTE: Brantford Ontario to Niagara Falls NY | DISTANCE: 72 Miles | WINDS: Light, but in our face after the SAG |
| WEATHER: Sunny, warm, mid 80s | TERRAIN: Rolling to flat | TOTAL CLIMBING: 1,450 feet |
RIDE OVERVIEW: Hello
Sports fans, this is Mikie! I'm giving Susan the day off since she thought
it was her day off anyway . . . something about getting confused about what day it
was. Actually, she had so many "Duhs" today, that I was afraid she
wouldn't put them in the site if I let her post it today.
She's been doing a great job with the
site and I've enjoyed the respite which has allowed me to help with mechanics
and other things. But fear not, she'll be back tomorrow for our last week
to the beach . . . now, the news.
We've been blessed with great weather this trip and today was no exception. It was a bit crisp when we loaded luggage and went to eat breakfast, but by the time we got on the road it was very comfortable riding in just the minimum. By the time we arrived in Niagara, it was in the mid 80s and sunny . . . just another great day to ride a bicycle.
I was able to ride today and had the opportunity
to ride with the Geritol gang of Duane, Murray, and Fred (above right).
They are living proof that age is just a number as we scorched the countryside
all morning at speeds in the mid-twenties even when the wind was slightly in our
faces at times. I noted that I've never ridden with a group
that fast where I was the youngest
rider at 57 . . . usually I'm at least 20 years older than my riding partners, but
these guys all can hammer with anyone. I had a great time pushing the
pedals with them and riding at almost race pace. There was one problem
though...since we were riding fast today, their usual partners they ride with
were not along . . . the ones who navigate. We missed or made wrong turns at
6 different places in the first 35 miles. If I hadn't been there to call
them back when they went flying through turns, we might never have seen them
again. They'd still be wandering around in the Canadian countryside
. . . they even turned the wrong way 3 times at "T" intersections!
Duane commented that it was nice to have
a "young guy" around who had good eyes to read the cue sheets. Yeah, but I
lost my voice hollering for them to turn around before they got too far down the
road.
Today's
route was a pretty good ride. We rode out on lonely, Sunday morning
streets for 3 miles; then we turned into quiet Canadian backroads. We even
picked up 0.3 miles of dirt . . . pretty rural if you ask me. In contrast to
the lonely country roads we rode most of the day, when we entered Niagara on the
Canadian side we were in the middle of wall-to-wall traffic and tourists.
"Wall-to-wall" is hardly overstatement. The area is congested with towering
casinos, hotels, tourist shops; balloon, helicopter, boat, and bus rides/tours;
restaurants galore (some such as the Hard Rock Cafe blaring music), and both
people and vehicle gridlock. It resembles Las Vegas more than anything else.
But, it was great fun to people watch and to listen to the language polyglot and
when the traffic is in gridlock, it's easier to get through on a bike anyway.
Plus, it's fun watching the interesting and colorful tourists and families from
all over the world picnicking on the lawns along Falls Avenue and taking in the
sights.
We managed to navigate through the traffic and tourists and inched across the Rainbow Bridge and through Customs. Our motel is just a block from the bridge on the American side which is really convenient for tomorrow's day off of sight- seeing.
After getting through with rap,
dinner, and maintenance, we had a little time to go watch the lighting of the
falls and the fireworks plus do a little sightseeing for ourselves. We
(staff) won't have much time tomorrow as we have 13 new riders coming in for the
final leg. We'll be working with them to get bikes together and getting
them orientated before dinner. Tune in again tomorrow to meet the new
folks and to join us on our last week . . . we'll be the ones in tight, black
lycra. See you then.
HEARD ON THE ROAD: "Duane . . . don't you think
we should go this way?"
Border guard at customs, "Where are you coming from?" Josh, "Canada."
"They are just falling apart." "Yes, you are a big mess." "I'm
talking about my gloves."
LUCKY THING OF THE DAY: Carol lucked out when she was trying to find her way back to the motel for Rap . . . she just followed the trail of socks that fell out of Dar's laundry when he came back. Led her right to the front door.
DUH! OF THE DAY:
As I said, Susan got a couple today, but the best one came right out of the
motel. She was driving White today and responsible for the first SAG a
mere 35 miles from the start. Some riders got on the road directly after
loading which was at least an hour before we could get served at breakfast, so
time was of the essence when she got on the road. As she was moving up through
the riders, she missed a turn at a crossroads about 7 miles out of
town . . . undaunted, she turned around and returned to the intersection . . . whew,
back on track and hustling to get on station before the first riders arrive.
Only problem, she was supposed to turn right when she missed the turn the first
time. When she returned to the intersection from the opposite direction--you
guessed it--she needed to turn left, but she turned right . . . oops! The next
cue was a "T" intersection . . . you guessed it again. She came upon a "T" but it
wasn't quite the correct mileage . . . something was wrong . . . what could it be?
Must be a mistake in the cue sheet!!! Think??? Expecting a problem,
but not sure what it was at this point, she went ahead and turned at the "T" as
the cue sheet directed. Shortly she passed Barbara in the luggage truck
going in the opposite direction. Now I wasn't there, but I know what was
going through Susan's head . . . "I wonder why Barbara is going that way?"
"Oh, here's another street with the same name I passed awhile ago . . ."
Barb called her on the radio: "White is that you? Where are you going?" Barb asked. "I'm
trying to get to the turn at 13.5, and I've seen another street with that same
name. How did you get in front of me? Why are you going in that direction, did
you forget something from the motel?" Susan asked. Then it dawned on Susan
that she was beginning to recognize the landscape that she had passed through
about 10 minutes earlier--hey, this looks familiar--is that the motel?
She had been driving around in circles and was almost back where she started.
She got a second shot at the same intersection . . . nailed it the second time.
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY |
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The merriment never ends as the group ignite the party favors to celebrate Earring John's 59th birthday. He's the one in the goofy hat expertly engineered by Linda.
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Several times today Duane's navigation got us "slightly" off route. Finally, I showed him the finer points of interpreting the cue sheets . . . like first simply referring to it from time to time.
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Duane couldn't resist trying to ride over one of the hay bales he found on one of his "detours." Of course, I'm on top of the bale to record his achievement.
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 Oops, Houston we have a problem! Looks like this could leave a mark! |
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He proclaimed, "I came THIS close!!!"
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 I couldn't resist the challenge either. |
