BikerAl Across America 2018

Boy, an 11 hour train ride must have really done me in.  I didn’t wake up til after 6 and crawled out at 7:30.  I slept good in the nice cool nite air.

I spent the day doing errands and just checking out the town.  We will actually be staying in one of the establishments here on the 17th.  I know where all the important things are; post office, pharmacy, grocery store, restaurants, and our accommodation.

I did laundry, cleaned my bike and walked over four miles today.  Checked out the beach but I’m just not a water person so only sat out there for a half hour.  Boring.

This is a beautiful area.  When the train came out of the boggy forest yesterday, all of a sudden we were back in rich farm land and had beautiful vistas of lac st. Jean.  The next few days should be spectacular.

I mentioned that people here like to practice their English.

Well, the camp ground host really thinks hard to come up with the words she wants to use but she does a good job.  And the waitress tonite was fun.  She kept asking me how to say a certain thing and we used hand signals a lot.  She tried to explain to me the menu that was totally French and I had one of the best tacos ever so we communicated ok. She knows a fair amount but still struggles with vocabulary.  So I in turn asked her how to say some basic things.  My biggest problem is the accent and we had a good laugh.  It is really fun having a conversation where we both are struggling.  I’ll be ok here.

Looking forward to meeting my riding buddies tomorrow.

 

I am writing this the next morning.  What a day yesterday was.  Train ride was 11 1/4 hours long.  Over 2 hours late getting in.  I still had to ride to a campground, and, of course, I took a wrong turn.  It was almost dark when I got in and setting up my tent was a chore.  The mosquitos about carried me off.  I was so tired last night, I just couldn’t think.

The train ride was interesting. The first hour or two it went through the seedy parts of towns.  Once we left the urban areas, the scenery turned to farms. The beans and corn were really short, probably because they looked dry.  I saw some of the shortest wheat I’ve ever seen.  I did see a couple broccoli fields as well as a couple fields I couldn’t identify.  Almost looked like peas.

The train delay was due to having to share the tracks with freight trains.  We had to wait for them to pass.  I counted 38 lumber loaded cars in the middle of one train. Kinda weird. The train car was pretty comfy, lots of leg room and never very many people on board at a time.  I was supposed to have to pay for my bike to ride but all baggage fees had been suspended due to a promotion they are doing.  That was nice.  When I checked with baggage at the train station the night before, the guy said all my stuff would go for free.  I tho’t he was kidding.  But he wasn’t.

Once we left civilization as we know it, the country side turned to heavily forested, weedy, boggy swamp.  Lots of lakes of all sizes but water everywhere.  In places there was an abundance of sumac, milkweed, and or ferns.  I couldn’t identify lots of the evergreens because we were going too fast.  It was definitely a wild, mostly uninhabited woods.  Saw several beaver dams which may have accounted for so much standing water that wasn’t a lake.

Occasionally, the train would stop in the middle of nowhere with a foot path leading to the railroad tracks and someone would get off.  You could see houses next to a lake and our train attendant verified that in many places there were no roads.  Wow, not sure I’d want to be that private.  One group of ladies got off with several coolers and were met by a guy with a pushcart.  I am assuming they had gone grocery shopping.  That is roughing it.  One stop was at mile marker 106.6.  Nothing else around.

We were given free water and snacks on the train plus you could buy other drinks and sandwiches.  Really a nice ride, just 6 hours too long.

I have to say, Ottawa was a really a very nice place to visit.  Very pretty and well kept.  However, I do think Canadians smoke more than Americans but they also recycle better than us.

The one thing that really impressed me was that almost everyone, without exception, takes their own bags to the grocery stores.  Rarely do you ever see a plastic bag and if you do need one, you have to pay for it.  Why can’t we do that in the states?

There are more than 700 kilometers of bike paths in the Ottawa area.  There are bikes everywhere.  One bike path in a nearby town had a dashed yellow line down the center and a solid white stripe on the edges.  Willma said this was heavily ridden by seniors.  I just laughed.  But we did see more seniors on that stretch.

Finally, I have to thank Ed and Willma for putting up with me and extending such gracious hospitality to me the last three weeks.  And especially for gettimg me into Montreal and the train station.  I enjoyed my stay immensely and wish them the best.  Thanks guys.

11 miles today.  2549.6 total

 

This was a tough day compared to all the other days lately.  Left at 6:15 and rode 11 miles to the Oka ferry.

We had three hills, rather long, and I had to get in my lowest chain ring because I couldn’t get a run for it.  I hate stop signs at the bottom of hills. We weren’t ready for those hills first thing in the morning.

We caught the ferry and crossed the Ottawa River.  Soon after disembarking, we hit our first detour of the day, one of 3 or 4.  Lost count.

Eventually we ended up on a very nice bike path, but with more hills.  Also, twice there was a sign warning us of turtles, lizards, frogs, and snakes.  Just what I wanted early in the morning.  NOT.  Fortunately, none appeared.

After getting off that first bike path, we ended up on city streets for the rest of the day.  Saw the most unusual church steeple ever.

Pretty cool, but weird.

This seemed to be the day for bike issues.  Ed’s rear view mirror that was attached to his handle bars fell off twice, Willma’s rear light fell off right in the middle of an intersection, and my bike bit me ( big gash on my arm that bled forever) when it fell over.  Also, loosened the kick stand to make it useless.  Ed to the rescue.

We had several rough roads today which prob accounted for things falling off.

I am so impressed with Ed’s ability to get us where we need to go.  He never gets lost and keeps his cool through detours.  He led us right to the door of our accommodation through downtown Montreal.

We are staying in a dorm of McGill Univ and these dorm rooms are like none I ever had.  It’s like a mini apartment.  Spacious with all the amenities like private bath, closets, tv, desk etc.  Unreal.

We got here before our room was ready so walked to the train station so I know where to go tomorrow.  All set for an 8 hour ride north.

46.8 miles today.    2538.6 total

 

Left this morming at 6:50 and had a beautiful riding day.  All dairy and chicken farms with lots of corn fields etc.  My favorite kind of riding.

We had to go through Van Kleek Hill and I told Ed that that town had to be on top of a hill, and, boy, was it ever.  We rode up one side and down the other.  First time in a while I’ve had to put it in my low chain ring.  They were the only real hills we had all day.

Before we got to Van Kleek Hill we rode along side the Alfred bog. There were piles of rich looking soil and a cleared area.  Ed said someone is prob capitalizing on selling this rich soil to the ritzy homes somewhere.  This bog is home to over 80 moose and we saw the moose crossing sign, but no moose.

We stopped for a much needed snack soon after Van Kleek Hill and this church steeple took my eye.

As we came into the next town, we saw what they call popsilos.  Artwork on silos and so cool.

About five miles before our destination, we crossed over into Quebec.  The road deteriorated a bit but no worse than a couple Ontario roads we’ve ridden on.

 

We walked into town tonite to eat dinner and Willma and I stuffed ourselves.  It was so good, but, wow. The plates were big.

Tomorrow is our last day riding together for awhile.  I hate to see this end, but, I need to move on to the next phase, the Maritime Provinces with other friends.

52.45 miles today.   2491.8 total

Here we are all ready to take off for Montreal.  Left Greeley at 7:15 and had a beautiful ride to St. Albert where we stopped at the big cheese factory (St. Albert Cheese Factory) and had an early lunch.

Was first built in 1885 and went through several renovations and upgrades over the years.  Burned to the ground in 2013 but was rebuilt by 2015 and is a beautiful, modern facility today.  The surrounding area has several large dairy farms which supplies the milk.  The factory makes all kinds of dairy products which includes cheese, ice cream, and gelato.  They have a big gift shop and a restaurant.  Kind of out in the middle of nowhere.

We are staying in a motel in Cassleman and enjoying the air conditioned room.  Was starting to get hot but nothing like last week.

39.05 miles today.  2439.35 total

Today we didn’t ride because we had lots to do to prepare for our trek to Montreal.  Ed and Willma will be gone a week so Ed had to water and weed and Willma had to clean house as well as pack etc.  Now I know some of you are thinking why clean house before you leave for a week.  I do the same thing.  Who wants to come home to a dirty house.  Not me.

We all did bike maintenance ( cleaning etc) and laundry, packed food and clothes.

Forgot to mention that I spent another hour yesterday weeding in Ed’s yard again.  Man the weeds grow fast up here.

Willma is a meticulous housekeeper as well as a very artsy and talented lady.  She sews and makes anything and everything out of scraps of material, including comforters and useful household items.  Nothing goes to waste.  This picture is a stained glass window, one of three, she has hanging in her living room.  Really beautiful.

Ed, of course, is a gardener and retired engineer.  There isn’t anything he can’t build or fix.  And he does wood carvings for fun.  (He paints them, too, which would drive me nuts, but he is very good at it.)

These are all pictures of Ed’s handy work.  Awesome.  Plus he cooks and is very good at that, too.  I was sure I had gained weight while here, but, alas, I lost another half pound.  Don’t know how that was possible.

Our next few days will be longer rides than what we’ve been doing but I think we’ll be fine.  We will just take our time.  Oh, did I mention that Ed and Willma are 80 and 79 respectfully.  Hope I can still be that active in another 10 years +.

This has been a great visit.  For those of you who maybe don’t know or forgot, Ed and Willma were my riding buddies on the Odyssey 2000 bike trip around the world.  I’m so glad we’ve been able to keep in touch and it is a pleasure to still be able to ride with them.  Gonna miss these guys.  Two of my favorite people in the world.  Just hope I haven’t worn out my welcome.

This was our last day riding the awesome rides around Ottawa.  And it was a great day.  Quite windy at times but we still made decent time and the temps were glorious.  Even wore a jacket for a short time.  Very little humidity.  I loved it.  We rode down one side of the river and back up the other side.  A nice ride.

This is a picture of a bicycle ornament outside a nice garden.  The gate was closed so we couldn’t walk thru it but I could tell it was well maintained.

Tomorrow we prepare for the ride to Montreal.  Ed and Willma will ride there with me where I’ll catch the train north to Herbertville near lac st Jean.  Then they will ride back to Ottawa.  Since they will be riding seven straight days, we won’t ride tomorrow.

34 miles today.  2400.8 total

 

The last of the Super hot days so we took the day off.  Ed and Willma swam this morn while I played lazy.  Cold front moving in tonite. Can’t wait.

I finished one book and then started and finished another.  The most exercise I got was walking a mile to the subdivision office to trade in a book to read.  Just too dang hot to even sit out on the porch.

The neighbor whose yard I weeded had us over for dinner tonite.  He was very appreciative.  Ed’s weeds are already coming up again so if it is cooler tomorrow. I’ll tackle them again.  Plan to ride in the cool of the morn tomorrow.

On the road before 6 am again.  And it was hot by 9.  All that intense heat that the Midwest had a week ago we got this week and now we have passed it on to the eastern seaboard so lots of you should know what I’ve been talking about.  Brutal heat and humidity.

Another great back country road ride today.  Went past a mushroom farm that is no longer in business after having been infected with some mushroom disease.  Had been in the family for decades and forced to to shut down after runnimg out of money battling the disease.  Really sad.  I hope you can make the picture bigger.  There were at least 37 bays (each pointed roofline was a bay with its own people door and two stories high.)  That’s a lot of mushrooms.  The buildings sit empty now and it is so sad to see something that was so profitable be shut down because of something out of control.  I just feel for the family.

Another brutally hot day so we stayed inside, read books, played games and tried not to think about how hot it was outside.  It hit 103.6 degrees again today and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter, then cool off for the weekend.  I sure hope so.

I did weed for a few minutes when we got home and Ed watered his lawn after mowing  but, otherwise, we hibernated.  And why he picked today to mow was beyond me.  His yard is very small but his shirt was soaked when he came in.  Silly guy.

31.5 miles today.  2366.3 miles total

We talked about getting up early again but I was shocked to see Willma in the kitchen soon after 5am.  We were on the road by 5:45 and it was heaven (compared to what it gets like later in the day).  We road to Hallville and made the best time we ever had.  This is Ed’s favorite place to ride to so he can get a cinnamon roll.

We were back home by 8:30 and it just started getting hot.  But the humidity is way down today and the ride was very pleasant.  Sweat wasn’t rolling down my legs like it was yesterday which was awful.

Read books in the morning and shopped for lunch goodies.  Then entertained one of Willma’s friends for lunch.  Kinda a laid back day.

We plan to head out Sunday for Montreal.  Ed and Willma will ride with me that far and then ride a different route back home.  We will take three days to get there.  I catch a train to northern Quebec next Wed and will meet other friends up there to start our Maritime province tour.  So my lazy, resting up days are about over.

Still in the upper 90’s at 5pm.

31.8 miles today.   2334.3 total