Day 42. Sunday, July 28

Day 42. Sunday, July 28. Brantford to Niagara Falls, NY. 75 miles

What a day for a bike ride! The temperature was in the70s. The roads, for the most part, were in excellent condition and largely straight and flat with a few hills and rills, just for thrills (sorry for that). And a nice wind at our back. All that added up to a great day on the bike. For much of the day, I rode by myself, not trying to push too hard, but with the conditions, I often found myself just cruising along at 20 to 22 mph.

At one point, I rode up to someone not in our group and rode with her for a mile or so before she turned off.  Angie related that that she was out for a 90 minute ride. She is the manager at a blood testing service and likes to ride on the weekends, having just started cycling last year. She said she ran a marathon last year and now has her goal of riding in the Gran Fondo (Big Ride) of Niagara in September, where several hundred riders, perhaps thousands, will come together to challenge themselves to an 80 mile ride. It's not a race; the pace is whatever the rider sets it to be. You can stop and get a sandwich along the way or charge through. Just a nice time to be on a bike

Toward the end of the ride, I joined up with Ann, Gail, Gary and Yuval and we came into the Niagara Falls area together.  We came right to the Falls, got off the bikes and walked around a bit, taking in the sights, dodging as many of the other tourists as we could.

At the Falls, a couple stopped to ask about our ride. We were all wearing our orange America by Bicycle shirts. Most folks get rather impressed about our adventure, especially now that we are so close to the end. I learned that Bob and Dorothy are from Connecticut, but stopped by the Falls on their way home from Cleveland where Bob just finished competing in the senior Olympics! He competed in the triathlon and finished 13th out of 19 in his age category (I would guess late 60s or early 70s. He certainly looked trim and fit. Good for you Bob. Together they have two adult children. They related they tried to teach them the virtues of honesty and hard work.  They have been married 43 years and have never been to the Falls, so they plan to take three days and take it all in. 

Then we lined up to cross the Rainbow Bridge and enter the U.S. we simply got in line behind the cars. Traffic was moving so slowly, we walked the bikes across the.bridge. A nice photo  in coming
into New York, half a mile ride to the hotel and we're in. One of the riders, Rick, is from the Finger Lakes region. His wife, Cindy, was there with champagne! What a way to celebrate the end of the ride!



Don with Karen and Nazree
 

Sunday night I was joined by former colleagues at Catholic Social Services - Karen Washbush, director of development and marketing, and Nazree Gore, controller. We had an enjoyable supper catching up on what is happening at CSS. We had a lovely day together on Monday, driving up to Niagara in the Lake, a nice little tourist town on the Canadian side. had a great lunch at an Irish pub and then a fabulous ice cream cone. we topped it off by stopping by one of the local wineries. Karen and Nazree sampled; I napped.  While there we ran into Todd and Kim, a couple from Ohio celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Kim won over $500 last night playing the slots. Congratulations, Kim and Todd.  Thanks for making the trip, Nazree and Karen! I enjoyed it.



Be well.  Do good.

Don