Category: Bike Touring

10/13/17

Shrewsbury, MA > Boston,MA

Miles Ridden – 45.4

Mileage to date – 4,262.4

After 4,262 miles, 50 days of riding, 13 flat tires, 13 states, 4 replacement tires, and countless ascents of mountains and hills, John arrived safely in Boston yesterday.

John sent me a text yesterday before starting off for Boston.  I think the enormity of his accomplishment began to sink in when he arrived in western MA.  He said that the best parts of Thursdays ride involved  “getting a nearly free pizza and more importantly renewing an old friendship from college. I think it’s important for me to thank everyone that helped me along the way during this fantastic bike ride. The number of people that offered support is too long for me to try and write down this morning. I should make it clear that I think I owe you the biggest thank you of all. Thank you for helping me get this started and riding down some of the most challenging terrain of the entire trip. I’m not sure if I could have ridden through Nevada alone. Now that it’s almost finished, I wonder about lies ahead for me and once again there are million thoughts. I do know that I really like riding a bike.”

John spent Thursday night at a college friends house in Shrewsbury and had a wonderful time.  John met another friend yesterday in Waltham on his ride.  He met some other friends along the Charles river near the Mass ave bridge and they accompanied him to the Long Wharf.  John then rode his bike to work and met up with many of his colleagues.  He then headed to Sweet Cheeks restaurant near Fenway and had lunch with our sister Diana.

I had a chance to chat on the phone this morning with John about his trip.  He is in great spirits.  We talked about a lot of different aspects of the trip.  It was great catching up.  He mentioned that he thinks of his trip as 50 day rides on his bicycle as opposed to one long ride.  I think this is great way to look at any big undertaking – one step at a time.

What an epic ride and such a great accomplishment. There was never a doubt in my mind that John would complete the journey. He worked incredibly hard over the past year to get ready for this tour. Words can not express how pleased I am that John was able to accomplish this. I am very proud of him. My only regret is that our Mom and Dad are no longer among us to cheer John on us. They would have been very proud as well. I take great solace in that fact that so many of our family and friends were able to follow John’s adventures and offer encouragement.  I know this support mean a lot to him.  John has said a few times to me that a million thoughts have been in his head these last few days when thinking about his trip.  I am sure some of the thoughts include this –

I do appreciate all the positive feedback on the blog.  It has been way more fun that I ever imagined.

Some photos from John’s last day on tour –

10/12/17

Lee, MA > Shrewsbury, MA

Miles Ridden – 104.1

Mileage to date – 4,216.8

I only have a day left of updating the blog for John’s trip so why not lead with a pun? Especially one that pays homage to a Shakespearian comedy!

I don’t have a whole lot to pass on from John about yesterday but I did want to clarify one thing based on a couple questions that I got. John works for the Boston Symphony Orchestra so he works for most of the year in Boston. He spends summers in western MA at Tanglewood where the BSO performs so both places are home for him.

Yesterday he rode to Shrewsbury which is about 45 miles west of Boston and stayed with a friend. Today (Friday) he will ride to his Boston home. Apologies if my references to days seem a little confusing as I am in Germany this week and we are 6 hours ahead of the Boston. So technically it is Friday morning here as I write this and Thursday evening in Boston at least for another 5 minutes. Got it? Good!

I did get the following picture texted to me by John. He was pretty excited when he stopped for lunch and asked for 2 slices and got what looks to be an entire pizza-

Maybe he looked hungry?

In the meantime if I get any more info on the day from John I will update this post when I get back in the US later today.

Some photos for the day-

Not John’s house but maybe a long lost relative?

10/11/17

Amsterdam, NY > Lee, MA

Miles Ridden – 87.3

Mileage to date – 4,112.7

How do you follow-up a triple double (3rd occurrence of 2 flat tires in a day)?  Well if you are John then you ride over a nail and get your 13th flat tire on the same day that you enter the 13th state of the tour!  I think the only way it could have been more been interesting is if he waited until tomorrow Friday the 13th to do all this.

John made it to his home in Lee, MA yesterday.  I am sure it was nice to sleep in his own bed for the 1st time in over 7 weeks.  The plan is to take the next 2 days to ride to Boston and finish the tour tomorrow (Friday).

As usual John is in good spirits. His account of the day –

“I was moving quickly from Amsterdam to Schenectady when a roofing nail punctured my rear tire. Flat number 13 took me a while to replace. My bike is now equipped with Schwalbe Marathon tires, considered to be an excellent touring tire due to their thick rubber casing. They have a wire bead and can be very difficult to install on a wheel rim. I struggled for some time before I was able to remount the tire on the wheel. With the tire back together, I moved pretty well thru Schenectady and then Albany. Once I crossed the Hudson River, the hills started pretty quickly. The ride from Nassau to New Lebanon seemed to take forever. I took route 22 from NY near the Massachusetts border and got on route 102 in to West Stockbridge. When I crossed the MA state line I took a photo of the sign but I felt nothing. I moved forward and when I entered West Stockbridge the reality finally hit me, these roads are in fact all connected. I’m back to where I started, The Berkshires. I pedaled up Lenox Branch Road as I have countless times before and it felt pretty surreal. I moved at an even pace as I can no longer attack hills, they’re now nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Riding down Lenox Mountain road to Tanglewood was a highlight of the trip. The leaves have turned and the it was a very comfortable day and the woods smelled like the Berkshires in autumn. I arrived at Tanglewood visited with co-workers and friends and tried to fill them in on some of the things I’ve being doing over the last 50 days. It’s pretty great to be home.”

10/10/17

Cicero, NY > Amsterdam, NY

Miles Ridden – 121.6

Mileage to date – 4,025.4

In the spirit of the baseball playoffs, John achieved the triple crown today – his 3rd day on the tour with 2 flat tires in one day! I was able to witness his first 2 double flat days. Perhaps this is a sign that I should be riding with him on the last few days of his trip? I had thought of doing this but unfortunately I am on travel for work this week.

On a positive note, John passed the 4,000 mile mark on his trip today. He has a little more than 200 miles of riding to get to Boston. The plan is to stay at his house in the Berkshires tomorrow (10/11). My google map of his route shows him ending in Western MA but he will continue to Boston.

Despite his flat tire woes he is in good spirits – “Today’s ride started very well with cool but nice weather. While NY bike route 5 is a bit sterile, the track is pretty good with a sizable shoulder. Perfect conditions for a rider to move quickly to their destination. I stopped for my second breakfast when I discovered I had yet another flat tire. I pulled the tire off and checked for debris inside the casing and replaced the tube. A short while later I could feel my tire slowly losing air again, kind of a bummer. The leak was slow and I convinced myself that there must be some problem with the wheel that I wasn’t seeing. I decided I needed a bike shop and after riding most of the day periodically checking the tire I found one. It was 4 miles off route but I thought I should go there to get more tubes and have someone else look at my wheel, after all there was some mystery problem that required a professional. I went to The Bike Works in Johnstown NY and told them my issue. The guy in the repair shop had the wheel for about 5 minutes and told me there was a little piece of wire that got thru the tire casing and put a hole in the exact same spot on both tubes. I felt very relieved and very stupid. I looked for something like that when I replaced the tube earlier in the day but I couldn’t find it. If I’d have found it I would have ridden 114 miles today instead I rode 122. It’s a good thing I like to ride a bike…..oh well, you’re never going to bat 1000. Tomorrow should be about 90 miles to the Berkshires but I’ll see if it’s possible to add some more mileage, just to keep it real.”

Photos from today including what I assume is the culprit for the flats –

10/9/17

Rochester, NY > Cicero, NY

Miles Ridden – 92.4

Mileage to date – 3,903.8

Yesterday was a soggy and tough day on the bike for John – “I rode in the rain pretty much all day. This morning was pretty insane.” John spent most of the day on Erie Canal trail and rode there a lot during the hard rain in the morning to stay away from motorists. The Erie Canal trail is primarily dirt. All in all, it doesn’t sound like a whole of fun to me.

The weather should be better today. John is planning to take advantage of that and plans a long day of riding to make tomorrow an easier day when plans to ride to his house in Lee, MA.

Only one photo from today due to the rain-

10/8/17

Niagara Falls, ONT > Rochester, NY

Miles Ridden – 87.7

Mileage to date – 3,811.4

Yesterday’s destination was Rochester. By John’s recent standards it was an easy day for him. The early arrival in Rochester gave him time to go to a local bike shop. He had the chain and cassette (gears on the rear wheel). My guess is that between the tour and training John probably has over 6,000 miles on the chain and cassette so it was time for a replacement. While the bike was in the shop it developed a flat (naturally). This brings the total number of flats to 10 for John on this trip. It turns out the rear tire had developed a gash of some sort. Time for a new tire as well!

On a related touring note, John’s riding companions, Jaime and Heather, finished their tour in Yorktown, VA. They had started out their on the same day we did in San Francisco. We met them in Austin, NV and we rode with them starting in Baker,NV. John rode all the way to Kentucky with them.

Today’s target is the Syracuse area. Looks like rain is in the forecast.

10/7/17

Westfield, NY > Niagara Falls, ONT

Miles Ridden – 88.2

Mileage to date – 3,723.7

As one of my astute readers (and neighbor) pointed out, yesterday was the one day on the trip that John was in 3 states. True. Well today he followed that up by being in 2 countries. He cross the border to go see Niagara Falls. He had planned ahead to do this and had mailed his passport to a friend in Buffalo. Unfortunately the timing was such that his friend was out of town this weekend, but he was able to work it out.

John’s account of the day –

“Today I rode to Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. I hate to say it, but for today the ride was secondary to the destination. I came here with my parents when I was a pain in the ass teenager and enjoyed my visit. So much, I vowed that I’d come back here one day. This morning I wasn’t 100% committed to crossing into Canada because of the recent weather and I needed to pick up my passport in Buffalo. Fortunately, the weather improved and my old friend, Yuki Numata Resnick made arrangements for me to get into her house despite her being away and I was able to retrieve my passport. I was off to Canada and I rode hard. I arrived here around 3:30 and coming into Queen Victoria park and seeing the falls again was a great feeling. Just like riding a bike, it made me feel like a kid again.”

John got the royal treatment crossing the Peace Bridge which opened 90 years ago-

“When I arrived at the Peace Bridge there was a sign indicating the sidewalk was closed. I had to call a phone number and they sent a shuttle van to pick me up and bring to the Canadian check point. Once I was near the checkpoint , they dropped me off and I headed thru the same checkpoint as motorists.”

Photos from the day –

10/6/17

Burton, OH > Westfield, NY

Miles Ridden – 125.0

Mileage to date – 3,635.5

John reached Westfield, NY yesterday which is the 12th state that he ridden though on his tour.  He is really starting to pile on the miles as the end is in sight.  After a bit of reprieve on the flat tire front, John managed to get one yesterday after riding 101 miles.  Hopefully, that will be the last flat tire on the trip.

Westfield is about 35 miles east of Erie, PA and at one point was the headquarters of Welch’s Grape Juice.  The local climate is ideal for growing grapes.  John texted after the ride and said “I bought some grapes at a roadside stand and they’re pretty delicious.”    I am sure they are delicious, but as I have told John before after you have ridden a bicycle all day a pine cone would test good!

John’s account of the day –

“Today was a big ride and I saw a lot of different places.  My ride started in Amish country and I found myself sharing the road with several horse carriages early this morning.

Before long I was on the Western Reserve Greenway Trail , yet another beautiful OH bike path.  Once I crossed into PA I rode along Lake Erie for several miles and traveled thru Erie PA.   In Erie, I went thru both its finest and least desirable neighborhoods in a matter of minutes and the differences/contrast between these locations is shocking.  Finally, passing many vineyards before crossing into NY on Route 5 reminded me of the foothills before Carson Pass in CA where this journey really began.  All in all, a challenging but amazing day of riding.”

Photos from the day –

Barcelona Lighthouse –

 

10/4/17

London, OH > Mifflin, OH

Miles Ridden – 117.0

Mileage to date – 3,415.4

Another day, another century ride for John. Yesterday John arrived in Mifflin (pop. 137) and found a really nice campground on Charles Mill lake which is known locally as Mifflin lake. It is a reservoir primarily for flood control located about 80 miles northeast of Columbus. John is about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.

John’s account of the day which included an encounter with an irate motorist –

“The campground is really beautiful. I had an encounter with a disgruntled motorist today. We were going thru an intersection and he flipped me off as we both turned left. At the next intersection he rolled down his window and I asked him why he was so upset? He claimed that I wasn’t following the rules. It’s funny but I was following the rules on that one. Later, I encountered a road closure that required a 3 mile detour. I know that you should obey the rules of the road and stay out of construction sites but I knew I’d be riding 100+ miles today and I didn’t want to add any more distance. (At least without earning it by missing a turn). So……I didn’t follow the rules and cut thru an active construction site and it felt kind of like slalom skiing…..”