Wow, it's been a crazy week - headwinds, storms, sun, swimming, 2 countries, 4 states, lots of awesome people, Miss Milwaukee and even a tailwind when I most needed it.
Leaving Canada behind - for a few weeks...
After 2 days in Toronto, spent with old friends, and their growing families, it took only 2 long days to ride the 200 miles across Southern Ontario to the US border. Along the way, there were a lot of reminders of home - London, Thames River, Paris... none really lived up to the originals though, Paris was missing 99% of it's population and the Thames most of its water. Throughout the trip, people have been really generous and put my up (or up with me) in their house. Here Bonnie & Cheryl both hosted me and cooked up delightful food, mixing several culinary styles to create food a long distance cyclist dreams of. The long miles and hospitality mean that I'm feeling stronger, and even battled 100+ miles into a headwinds that had earlier flattened trees and knocked out power for 850,000 north of Chicago - a reminder that the big country here creates big weather and big storms. Getting used to straight, straight roads and lots of open fields - there'll be plenty more of this as I head west.
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| riding across the "River Thames" |
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| Back in London |
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| Sadly no beaver to be seen, just more headwinds |
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| Ferry across the St Claire River to USA |
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| Cheryl, my kind host back on US soil in East China |
Michigan & Milwaukee: Cars, Cheese & Miss Milwaukee
What was supposed to be 3 days of easy riding through Michigan to Muskegon turned into a good workout with roads sometimes resembling 4x4 assault courses, aggressive drivers a few wrong turns and some loose planning of overnight stops. I decided to take my unloaded bike along 8 miles of mountain bike trails in 7-Lakes State Park, providing a feast for the local mozzies but also finding some great views of the lakes and cool forest trails. This appeared even more foolish the next day when loose calculation of distance and a couple of wrong turns gave me a 112 miles to reach Bill and Kathi near Greenville, thankfully a slight tailwind pushed me along all day to a record average speed. It was all worth it though, their gorgeous house sat on a lake, and whist watching the sun set, discussing the merits of the NHS, we saw a muscrat swim back and forth across the lake. Reaching Lake Michigan the next day felt like reaching an ocean, clear blue water as far as you could see, wide sandy beaches and a lovely beach front bar to kill time in before the ferry across.
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| Big Red Drinks Cider in Michigan |
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| Lakeville, Michigan, a state full of lakes |
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| Google's cycle routing - USELESS |
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| Sand Hill Cranes, once endangered |
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| Farm country |
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| Bird on the loose at Bill & Kathi's |
Arriving in Milwaukee in the evening, my only intention was to find somewhere to stay, that soon changed though when I happened upon a criterium cycle race in Cunahy, just along the lakeshore path. Denied entry as unfortunately my bike was not suitable, I grabbed a beer and watch 70+ professional battle it out over 60 laps. I was soon chatting to people, having my photo taken with Miss Milwaukee, meeting the local sponsors and being invited back to the after party at the local cycle shop. Beers and stories flowed as Wisconsin Cheese was provided for substenance, finishing in the early hours - at least the bike was in good shape in he bike shop, the next day the same might not have been said for me.
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| Drinks at South Shore Cyclery |
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| The guys set me back on my way |
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| Having studied in London, the accent didn't work on Miss Milwaukee |
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