This was a lovely day’s cycling through the pastoral backwaters of New York state. We hardly touched a main road all day, and I felt more than a little in tune with the local Amish families, passing in their horse drawn buggies, in their rejection of the petrol engine. 

This is hilly country, still quite heavily wooded, and we were cutting across the grain of the land – constantly up and down steep valley sides. This was the first sustained climbing since we left the Black Hills, and it was a welcome change! 

New York may not have as many lakes as Minnesota, but it makes the most of those it has. They really are little gems.

  
At Madison we happened across an enormous antiques fair. There were hundreds, possibly over 1000, stalls stretching about a mile on both sides of the road, and back into the fields. There were huge car parks, and people milling everywhere. We considered buying a very nice table and four chairs, but the logistics of carrying them looked tricky.

  The lunch options were limited and we ended up in a pizzeria in Waterville. So we each ordered a slice of pizza and a side salad. Well, we are realising that you haven’t really experienced US portion sizes until you reach New York state. The ‘slices’ were about a quarter of a large pizza and the chicken ‘side salads’ contained more poultry than my Christmas dinner! And that’s before you consider the huge amount of salad veg and parmesan cheese …. and the free garlic bread (nearly a loaf!). I went in starving hungry after more than 3 hours of hard work on the bike (1500-2000 calories?) and I still couldn’t quite finish it all. No wonder so many people are so obese. 

The ride finished with the descent of a narrow, winding, canyon-like side valley, ending at Ilion in the Mohawk valley. This is a major transport corridor, with our old friend the I90 passing through, a rail line, the Erie canal, and the Mohawk river winding down to Albany and then south to New York. But it was still surprisingly rural, even with some old mills. It reminded me of the Derwent valley, south of Cromford. 

We are staying in Little Falls, the remnants of which still exist, particularly since the weirs for the mills have fallen into disrepair.

   
 
Tomorrow we head even further from civilisation as we climb up into the Adirondacks. 

This was a day of sunshine and heavy showers – the first of its kind since leaving England. Jackets on, or off? Stop and wait for it to pass, or carry on? I haven’t had so many difficult decisions to make for weeks. 

The first leg of todays ride took us to Geneva, at the head of another of the Finger Lakes. The only thing missing, as you’ll see from the photo, was Mont Blanc in the background.

 
We rode south down the lakeside road, with more posh houses with boats on the jetties. After about 10 miles, halfway down the lake we turned east. This took us through Sampson State Park, an abandoned army base, on a traffic free road through woods. There was a museum with some hardware outside.

 We climbed to the village of Ovid, before a descent to the next Finger Lake. This one had a huge rain squall roaring down it from the north, and we got soaked briefly as we headed north along the shore, watching the curtains of rain move down the lake. Just like being in the Lake District!

  
We stopped in Ithaca for lunch. This is a very trendy town, full of students from Cornell, even at this time of year it seems. We ate outside (under an awning, just in case) for the first time for weeks. It was a shortish day – so the lunch became quite an extended period of people watching!

Then it was off up the steepest hill since the Teton Pass. But not so high! At the top is the campus of Cornell University. I was curious enough to want to see an Ivy League campus – but without any connection to work, of course! So we wandered round the impressive array of buildings and facilities for a while.

  
The final section took us off the campus, through more rain showers, and cross country to Cortland – very clearly the poor relation to Ithaca. On the way we saw an Amish family driving one of their traditional horse drawn buggies. The hotel in Cortland is excellent, and there is a steak house next door, so we are set up for tomorrow! 

It had rained heavily yesterday evening and most of the night. We woke early to drying roads, but low cloud and mist. It felt oddly creepy to be riding through the centre of the normally packed casino and amusement district, just after dawn, when the streets were deserted. Then we turned onto the Rainbow Bridge over the Niagara Gorge. The view upstream to both falls was stunning – everything was in shades of grey, sheathed in mist and spray, with the harsh vertical lines of the high rise hotels emerging from the gloom. Not one for a photographer of my limited ability.

We had allowed time for passport control at the American end of the bridge. But, compared to Seattle airport, this was very easy. Just a quick scan of the passport while the bloke read our shirts and wanted to chat about the ride, and his female colleague quietly admired our legs. No problem. 

We set off upstream right beside the grade 6 rapids that lead to the brink of the American Falls. These were nearly as impressive as the falls themselves. There was one huge ‘stopper’ that was 20 feet deep. The bike path ran right along the edge of the water that was travelling close to 20mph, with no railing. Not a place to fall off your bike.
  
After about 15 miles we turned, reluctantly, from the river bank into Tonawanda. I had enjoyed travelling across and alongside 2 of the Great Lakes, and their connecting waterways. Here we met New York accents for the first time as we had ‘cworffee’ and breakfast in another of these community diners, this time full of single elderly men having breakfast and chat. 

A succession of pleasant bike paths allowed us to avoid the rush hour traffic in Tonawanda, and then in the outskirts of Buffalo. Then a rail trail took us out of town altogether, through increasingly affluent suburbs. Some of these houses were enormous, with huge grounds and swimming pools. 

For the rest of the day we followed highway 5 east. This had a broad shoulder, a good surface, light traffic (because our old friend the I90 runs parallel) and, best of all, a tail wind. And the sun began to come through. This was fantastic after 6 days of calm or contrary winds and terrible roads. It was so good to be back to making fast, easy progress.

Lunch in Avon was the biggest Julienne salad yet. A big dinner plate mounded 3 inches high in the middle. But we still had room to stop at an ice cream parlour about an hour later for the biggest ice cream (but certainly not the best) I have ever eaten. 

We had finished our 100 miles by 3pm at a lodge just outside of Canandaigua, near the tip of the lake of the same name. This is one of the ‘Finger Lakes’. Tomorrow’s ride is designed to take in two more of them. 

Well these are certainly the most impressive falls I have ever seen. But that’s probably fairly obvious. (By the way, the shower in our motel appears not to want to be outdone – full body massage as well as a wash!)

It was a grey old morning, but the vertical plume of spray from the falls still rose several hundred feet in the air!

They are close to completing a new hydro tunnel right under the town. It is twice the diameter of the Channel Tunnel rail tunnels! Enough to generate another 1,600 MW. I found it slightly disappointing to learn that the flow rate over the falls is tightly controlled by the existing hydro plants – and that there is an agreed minimum flow rate over the falls in the tourist season. Things are not quite what they seem!

I also enjoyed the tacky part of town – Blackpool on speed! We had lunch in a classic diner – but the afternoon has been spent lying down. Back to the USA tomorrow.

PS Breakfast and dinner were at the same all-you-can-eat place. Great cheap food. But I fear for the business if they get regular custom from trans-continental cyclists! 

We woke to sunshine again, and we were back to enjoyable cycling, thank goodness. 

After an enormous hotel breakfast, the early miles were worrying, because the roads were still terribly rough, and a strong easterly was starting to blow in our faces. After an hour, even taking 5 minute turns on the front, we were struggling to hold 14mph. Typically, the wind increases through the day as the heat builds, and with 116 miles to ride we were facing another very long, hard day in the saddle.

The first sign of changing fortune was being overtaken by a tractor, with a pick up truck following. I am never one to miss some drafting, so I sprinted up behind the pick up, and Tim joined me. The guy driving seemed surprised initially – it was probably a first for him – but then he relaxed and waved, and seemed quite happy to have us sheltering from the wind a couple of feet off his rear fender whilst doing 20mph. It didn’t last long – unfortunately they weren’t going to Niagara – but it lifted the spirits. 

Port Dover, after 35 miles was a lovely holiday town with a beach on the north shore of Lake Erie. Here we had a repeat of the enormous breakfast we had eaten just 3 hours earlier! This was the first tourist spot we had seen since Ludington, and we lingered down by the harbor taking photos and reluctant to move on.

   
In the cafe we met a guy whose fishing family had moved from Hastings in 1910 to join the fleet out of Port Dover on Lake Erie.

The shore road was beautiful. It wandered in and out of small coves, with great views of the emerald blue lake – and the road surface was not too bad either! I had not realised what a holiday hot spot this is. Once we had passed the enormous steel works, the accommodation was graded by social class. First there was very expensive real estate with expansive lake views, with new mansions being built. A few miles east there were normal looking wooden houses, but still with their own beach and lake view. A few miles later and they were simple wooden cabins and sheds. And finally we reached the caravan sites and camp grounds! But this was Sunday, and all of it was teeming with life – people swimming, having barbeques, or just sunbathing. It was so good to have something to look at! And the wind seemed to have dropped a little.

  
At Dunnville we were forced inland to cross a river. We had a huge salad lunch with a mountain of mashed boiled egg and shredded chicken on salad veg. Delicious. And we restocked our supply of between-meals muffins which had run dangerously low! 

Another 20 miles of good lakeshore riding brought us to Port Colborne. There was a very big lifting bridge over the river. We had to ride across some very slippery metal grill.

  
A final 20 miles of lanes took us NE to Niagara Falls itself. From several miles away we had been able to see the huge plume of cloud or spray rising from the falls, dwarfing even the high rise hotels. 

  
 Imagine booking a room in one of those and then finding you’re on the wrong side to see the falls! (We are in a cheap motel with a great view of the main road.)

We are saving the Falls for our day off tomorrow. Tonight we only got as far as the nearest steakhouse. A 16oz sirloin and american cheescake to follow has just finished the day off nicely. 
I have to say I am finding it quite difficult to believe I have cycled here all the way from Seattle! It seems a lifetime ago. 3250 miles in 30 days! The last four, in particular, seem to have had us flying eastwards, first across Michigan in 2 days and now across Canada in 2 days. (Ok, perhaps that should be ‘a tiny part of Canada’ – I am in danger of getting carried away.) Anyway, tonight’s steak was washed down with a celebratory beer or two. 

Low cloud and light rain set the mood for the day. Add in more rough roads, a steady to strong easterley headwind, and very uninspiring scenery, and this was not a day to remember. For the first time on the trip, these seemed like a very long 7 hours in the saddle. One of the things I like about cycling is just letting my mind wander – but today I had completely run out of things to think about. And it was slow, because of the headwind. Our slowest 100 miles yet at 6:55.

Breakfast had been good, overlooking the tiny ferry dock and watching very large container boats come past. Then we boarded the ferry and left the USA behind.

 Two minutes, and a very friendly border post later, and we were in Canada. Though it looked remarkably similar – but with added rain. 

It will be a short blog today – because the only other highlight was a sewage truck. Don’t you love the Canadian sense of humour!

  
Eating in the local Wimpy tonight. Actually, not bad at all. Ended up dismantling a bench to retrieve a $20 bill – but the waitress took it all in her stride! One more long day tomorrow when we should at least have Lake Erie to look at for some of the day, and then a much needed day off the bike at Niagara Falls.

Well I don’t like to moan on the blog ….  But. Those were 138 miles of the worst roads I have ever ridden – anywhere. Including eastern europe. We had to ride a lot of it at low speed, standing up. 

The problem is that all the concrete roads – presumably from the 50s and 60s – are breaking up. Not just gaping joints between sections – thats a problem across the USA – bu-bump over each joint. No, here the entire slabs have turned to crazy paving, tilted at angles and with huge gaps. Nightmare! And noone has the huge amount of money it would take to dig out all the broken concrete and start again. Michigan has a problem.

Got that off my chest! Feeling calmer now. But it did provide the chance to road test the new Bianchi carbon fibre ‘countervail’ vibration damping technology that sold us the bikes. I think it works – but it’s hard to tell, what with all the bumps and crashes! 

Otherwise, the weather stayed fair, nice temperature for riding, still air with no wind. A mixed day scenically. We rode through Saginaw – a medium sized town where the suburbs are prosperous but most of the central housing is dilapidated, abandoned, boarded up or for sale. We were only a few miles north of Detroit. And we rode a lot of rural roads through farmland. Here is one of the posh housing estates where each detached house is the size of a small palace, set in enormous grounds.

  
The highlight of the day was a total of about 20 miles on 3 separate rail trails. These had good surfaces (yippee!) and were quiet and peaceful – if unspectacular and often hemmed in by mature, line-side trees. Out of 250 miles across Michigan in 2 days we managed nearly 100 on rail trails. Excellent.

Marine City is within sight of Canada, just across the Saint Clair river that links Lake Huron to Lake Erie.

 Our motel is on the waterfront. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Canada for a few days. Today was our 30th day of cycling and we have ridden 3024 miles – so we have crept over 100 a day average for the first time on the trip. 10 cycling days left. 

Yesterday’s ferry ride was a lovely, feet up, punctuation mark in the journey. Did you know that Lake Michigan is so big that, from the middle, you can’t see either shore. It’s like being at sea! 

The steamship was built to carry railway carriages across the same route. After the line closed the ship was converted to carry cars (though the crew drive them on and off – its very tight!). 

Ludington was a lovely holiday port, with a matina, nice shops and restaurants. Unlike industrial Manitowoc, where they used to build subs for the US navy.  Unfortunately I read too much on the ferry and flattened my phone battery – so no pictures! 

At our meal last night we met a couple of enthusiastic cyclists who wanted to tell us all about cycling in Michigan. It was a really friendly evening.

Today we spent the morning heading east on a highway, with our second breakfast  overlooking a lovely lake.

  
In the afternoon we rode 65 miles along the Pere Marquette trail – this section of the rail line to Ludington having been tarmaced for cycling. It was perfect. It cut straight through woodlands, and large areas of wetlands and nature reserves. Fantastic flat cycling with no traffic noise. Just a few other cyclists for company.

  
Pulling into our hotel just now we found a London bus parked outside – with no explanation!

  
Sorry I have not been responding to comments. I can’t. The server is going offline for several hours immediately after I post anything – so its one posted item at a time. And sometimes I can’t post at all (e.g. yesterday). When I get home I’ll move it to a better host server. 

Just a brief 52 mile farewell to Wisconsin this morning, and then a very peaceful 4 hour voyage this afternoon across Lake Michigan on the SS Badger – a real steam ship dating from the 1950s. 

We entered our 4th and  final time zone, and had an excellent meal in Ludington, outside and enjoying the sunset, before heading, late, to our hotel. I’ll write more tomorrow. 

It’s exactly a month since we left Seattle – but it seems more like a lifetime ago, and a very long way away. And there are only 2 weeks left until we roll into Boston. The trip is suddenly flying by. 

Last night’s hotel made a huge fuss of us, and we did an interview and posed for photos in our gear. We didn’t mind at all because it was a really nice place, brand new, and with a good restaurant. The Marshfield Hotel. 

Of all the states we have crossed, I would say that Wisconsin has provided some of the best cycling. The roads are almost car free, (off the few main arteries obviously), and they roll along gently through some lovely countryside peppered with lakes and waterways. It doesn’t have a ‘wow’ factor – but for relaxed cycling, this is very pleasant. Previous states have had so few tarred roads that we had to share them with the trucks.

Farms are typically wooden, painted in gentle Farrow and Ball colours, with mansard roofs and, incongrously, a couple of concrete silos for cattle feed sticking up highest.

Today’s second breakfast was at Steven’s Point. We stopped to admire a huge steam loco on display in a shaded shed.  Earlier on we had been racing the real thing – waving to the driver and sprinting past!

 We were directed to the local diner, which was more like a busy community centre. There were 60 people, at least, all having a cheap breakfast and a chat. We caused our usual stir just by walking in – and they were all very friendly. 

The remainder of the day passed pleasently enough – though I think I may have drifted off, because I have already forgotten about 50 miles of it! Though I remember another excellent chicken salad and ice cream for lunch, and posing for yet another picture for a hotel/restaurant facebook page!

Now we are in the delightfully named town of Neenah – I am still waiting to hear my first emergency vehicle siren – beside Lake Winnebago. Tomorrow morning we will leg it across to Lake Michigan for the afternoon ferry.